Death of Superman/Funeral for a Friend/Reign of the Superman...

[CTTT]

I still say that this one of the great arcs of Superman. I remember reading this as a kid and being entranced. And what a long time Clark was gone too. To be able to write a Superman-less arc was pretty bold. But with FFAF his presence was still felt. Reign of the Supermen introduced some cool characters for us too.

[Sacred Knight]

Its how I got started reading Superman comics. Its become a crutch over the years, which is unfortunate, but at the time just great fun.

[marshal88]

death is just one long big fightscene

funeral is the emotional part and heart of the arc

reign is the mystery of the 4 supermen and the reveal and return of the one true superman

[Clark_Kent]

When I was a kid, reading it for the 5th or 6th time, it hit me just how Clark disappeared with no fanfare. Superman gets the obvious fight sendoff, but Clark got a couple of small panels in MoS #18 where he's shown checking his mailbox, and that's it...you never see Clark Kent again until the Return of Superman aftermath stuff. You would think Clark would be sent on assignment (only to "go missing"), but nope...he walks into the Planet, checks his mail, and he's off to save Lois and that was that.

I loved it. Still do. We, the readers, knew he was going to die, but the characters in the story didn't. So it all, to me anyway, added to the tragedy in-universe of what his death meant. While the world mourned Superman, some at the Daily Planet would have been spending quiet moments wondering when the last time they saw Clark was. There was no assignment, no memorable sendoff for Clark, he was just...missing.

I could talk about this story for hours. Some of it hasn't aged well, but pound for pound an epic story to this day.

[JAK]

When I was a kid, reading it for the 5th or 6th time, it hit me just how Clark disappeared with no fanfare. Superman gets the obvious fight sendoff, but Clark got a couple of small panels in MoS #18 where he's shown checking his mailbox, and that's it...you never see Clark Kent again until the Return of Superman aftermath stuff. You would think Clark would be sent on assignment (only to "go missing"), but nope...he walks into the Planet, checks his mail, and he's off to save Lois and that was that.

I loved it. Still do. We, the readers, knew he was going to die, but the characters in the story didn't. So it all, to me anyway, added to the tragedy in-universe of what his death meant. While the world mourned Superman, some at the Daily Planet would have been spending quiet moments wondering when the last time they saw Clark was. There was no assignment, no memorable sendoff for Clark, he was just...missing.

I could talk about this story for hours. Some of it hasn't aged well, but pound for pound an epic story to this day.

Absolutely. I still love it, and I still defend it on it's merits - especially since it wasn't the "cash grab" that it's been made out to be. Though one could say it was a catalyst for others that came later, I suppose.

On Clark, though: there were quite a large number of people missing after the Doomsday fight, so they very likely were hoping for the best and fearing the worst, not having any clue where he could be (just that he very likely was covering the Doomsday story like every other reporter would be). I think we got a bit of that, but it would have been nice to see more.

Overall, though, just masterful. And the emotions of reading at the time still fill me when I think of it in general, and especially certain scenes. Rarely has a comic storyline been so affecting - which is probably why DC can't stop themselves from continually milking it.

[dancj]

I love The Reign of the Superman (aka The Return of Superman). Just a completely crazy over the top story.

Doomsday (aka Death of Superman) and Funeral for a Friend (aka World Without a Superman) I just find absolutely tedious. They were bad at the time, and they haven't aged well.

[Myskin]

I didn't like the Death story when I was a 13-year-old kid and as years went by I have come to hate it.
Regardless of its obvious marketing value (which DC still milks, basically because most of its current readers are the same ones who read it 30 years ago - they are just older), it's probably the greatest burden of the Superman lore and an incredibly dated story. It's basically pre-Snyderesque destruction porn with Superman against a completely meaningless villain, and a story as subtle as a wrestling match and as rhetorical as a Trump speech. It's silly as only 90s comic books could be.

[Clark_Kent]

Absolutely. I still love it, and I still defend it on it's merits - especially since it wasn't the "cash grab" that it's been made out to be. Though one could say it was a catalyst for others that came later, I suppose.

On Clark, though: there were quite a large number of people missing after the Doomsday fight, so they very likely were hoping for the best and fearing the worst, not having any clue where he could be (just that he very likely was covering the Doomsday story like every other reporter would be). I think we got a bit of that, but it would have been nice to see more.

Overall, though, just masterful. And the emotions of reading at the time still fill me when I think of it in general, and especially certain scenes. Rarely has a comic storyline been so affecting - which is probably why DC can't stop themselves from continually milking it.

On the Clark stuff, I agree. What I was trying to say about it was I appreciated the way he just subtly disappeared...in modern comics they would have had a scene devoted to him, saying something cliche like "I'll be right back!" before running out the door, only to not "be right back." I enjoyed how they did it back then, even though it was probably an accident lol

[JAK]

On the Clark stuff, I agree. What I was trying to say about it was I appreciated the way he just subtly disappeared...in modern comics they would have had a scene devoted to him, saying something cliche like "I'll be right back!" before running out the door, only to not "be right back." I enjoyed how they did it back then, even though it was probably an accident lol

OH!! Ok, got it. Yeah, that *is* a nice touch. And I totally didn't catch your meaning before, hence my over-explain-y geekery. (my bad!)

Thanks for clarifying - that's a great observation, and not something I'd thought of before.

[Clark_Kent]

OH!! Ok, got it. Yeah, that *is* a nice touch. And I totally didn't catch your meaning before, hence my over-explain-y geekery. (my bad!)

Thanks for clarifying - that's a great observation, and not something I'd thought of before.

Haha, I'm glad I got it right on the second try, it was difficult getting my thought across. It seemed very realistic if you think of "Clark" and his co-workers as real people...as in, in real life people go missing during catastrophies all the time, no foreshadowing or sendoffs. To the people who worked in the Daily Planet, they would have seen Clark checking his mail on 1 day and then the next he was gone. It's silly, but I just always appreciated how extremely underplayed "Clark's" final appearance was, pre-death. Very human-like. And especially fitting when you consider how the character was "Clark" first with Superman being "what I can do" in those days.

Another thing I love about this story, and this is something that people get wrong today, is Superman died. Like, died-died. The Eradicator speaks to this, and how "you were categorically dead" with revival being a one-time thing. Later, in Action Comics, Dr Occult (I think?) takes Lois & Clark through the process of Superman's spirit leaving his body, Jon Kent finding him in the afterlife to bring him back, and how the regeneration matrix repowered him somewhat. But at the time, he was dead. In the early-mid 2000's, I believe it was Winnick during 'Under the Hood' who wrote Superman suggesting he was only in a coma, a Kryptonian healing cycle, and this dumb idea stuck. I see comics guys on youtube and elsewhere on the internet speak all the time of how Superman wasn't really dead, and I just hate that slight retcon. To me, being in a coma/healing cycle takes away from his sacrifice in the fight. And it just means that he can't really die, and will always just "heal by sleeping".

Again, a silly thing. But I appreciated how the original story treated it.

[Tzigone]

I liked it, but didn't think it was great. Haven't re-read, so forgive me if I end up mentioning issues that aren't technically part of the story, but just touch on it. Or misremember details.

The Justice League getting stomped on and Clark's fight worked for me. Poor Ted - like he said, completely forgotten in wake of the tragedy (well, not by Booster).

Yes, Superman was dead. That matters. The emotions around everyone accepting that were great. Heck, I liked the guy who was more concerned Doomsday wasn't dead.

After that, it's a lot more of a mixed bag. The funeral was okay. The kid's dad coming back didn't work for me.

Great intro for Superboy, who grew so much, and had such a nice journey. Steel was the one worthy of respect from the start, even if I found his backstory a bit not-good (evil lover).

I liked Lex. The emotional instability, the pettiness. The way he murdered his martial arts instructor because of how she made him feel. How very much he was not in control of his emotions or everything around him. He manipulated Supergirl pretty well (she did go fight eventually), but failed at manipulating Superboy due to unfortunate timing and that the boy had the attention span of gnat and another pretty girl showed up.

I wasn't into the war-dream and Jonathan pulling his soul back and stuff. The war part bored me, and the heavy religiosity isn't my thing, and more importantly it's yet again dad-is-important-and-mom-is-not. A recurring problem with Superman...with both dads and moms.

I did like some people believing in the wrong Superman, but I can't recall that it happened with anyone who knew him well (though I wouldn't swear it didn't), and that makes some sense.

I did not like the destruction of Coast City. Just not my thing.

Lastly, probably the weakest part to me, was Superman after he came back. In that outfit. With those weapons. It felt like they were going for badass!Superman, and it just seemed hokey, corny, out of character, or something. Don't really have the right words, but it just did not work for me, and I could not take it seriously.

For just a second, with Jimmy wondering if Clark could have been caught under debris like the kids, I wondered if he knew the secret. Of course, that didn't work with previous things even in that story - just so very pointed.

But I only read it a few years ago, and cannot know what it was like real-time and not knowing all the outcomes. I was bored by Cyborg Superman and Eradicator, because I already knew who they were, and bad guys bore me. Only the good guys reaction to them matters. I do think I would have been annoyed at how long it took to get Superman back, but only maybe not if I was only reading one title.

[Clark_Kent]

I liked it, but didn't think it was great. Haven't re-read, so forgive me if I end up mentioning issues that aren't technically part of the story, but just touch on it. Or misremember details.

The Justice League getting stomped on and Clark's fight worked for me. Poor Ted - like he said, completely forgotten in wake of the tragedy (well, not by Booster).

Yes, Superman was dead. That matters. The emotions around everyone accepting that were great. Heck, I liked the guy who was more concerned Doomsday wasn't dead.

After that, it's a lot more of a mixed bag. The funeral was okay. The kid's dad coming back didn't work for me.

Great intro for Superboy, who grew so much, and had such a nice journey. Steel was the one worthy of respect from the start, even if I found his backstory a bit not-good (evil lover).

I liked Lex. The emotional instability, the pettiness. The way he murdered his martial arts instructor because of how she made him feel. How very much he was not in control of his emotions or everything around him. He manipulated Supergirl pretty well (she did go fight eventually), but failed at manipulating Superboy due to unfortunate timing and that the boy had the attention span of gnat and another pretty girl showed up.

I wasn't into the war-dream and Jonathan pulling his soul back and stuff. The war part bored me, and the heavy religiosity isn't my thing, and more importantly it's yet again dad-is-important-and-mom-is-not. A recurring problem with Superman...with both dads and moms.

I did like some people believing in the wrong Superman, but I can't recall that it happened with anyone who knew him well (though I wouldn't swear it didn't), and that makes some sense.

I did not like the destruction of Coast City. Just not my thing.

Lastly, probably the weakest part to me, was Superman after he came back. In that outfit. With those weapons. It felt like they were going for badass!Superman, and it just seemed hokey, corny, out of character, or something. Don't really have the right words, but it just did not work for me, and I could not take it seriously.

For just a second, with Jimmy wondering if Clark could have been caught under debris like the kids, I wondered if he knew the secret. Of course, that didn't work with previous things even in that story - just so very pointed.

But I only read it a few years ago, and cannot know what it was like real-time and not knowing all the outcomes. I was bored by Cyborg Superman and Eradicator, because I already knew who they were, and bad guys bore me. Only the good guys reaction to them matters. I do think I would have been annoyed at how long it took to get Superman back, but only maybe not if I was only reading one title.

The bolded is the unfortunate part of reading the story in modern times, rather than when it was released...I can see how that may have colored your perception of it. As a reader of the story as it released weekly (weekly narrative over the 4 books...God I loved that), the mystery aspect really worked well, at least it did for me. It was obvious, of course, that John Henry was just a good man trying to help out and that no spirit actually entered his body, but for the other 3 it was really a big thing! 10-11 year old me had all sorts of thoughts...would they really move forward with a Superboy instead of the original? Nah, probably not since the body went missing (again). The guy with the shades looks like him, that's got to be the body right? And he just has amnesia or something? But this Cyborg guy...he acts the most like Superman, and he sought out Lois!

I was actually convinced the Cyborg Superman was the real steel deal, and that eventually something would happen that would restore his body & make him look normal again. Color me shocked when the twist happened lol But that was the brilliance of how everyone told the story back then...there were zero hints that Cyborg might be a bad guy. There were zero hints, or at least not solid ones, that 'The Last Son' was actually the Eradicator. Everything was revealed to the reader exactly when it needed to be. It was just great. I imagine if message boards had existed back then, there would have been many to theorize and correctly guess just who each of them were, but man...I grew up in a town of 1,000 people, and I was the only comic reader I knew. At 10 or 11 years old, this stuff was just magic.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

The "Death" story was basically just an excuse to highlight some great art (has Jurgens ever topped Superman #75 as an artist?), taking eight or nine issues to get to what it had been advertising for months. Funeral For a Friend and Reign/ Return, though, are just flat out great.

The best Superman stories tend to take place outside of continuity but in terms of the ongoing Superman books, these two stories are a highwater mark of the modern era. The Death of Superman was about as underwhelming and unsatisfying as most event comics are (though I would be lying if I said it didn't draw me in as a kid, though nowhere near as much as iconic sight of seeing the "S" drawn out of dripping blood did in the promotional materials that DC released in the months leading up to the event itself) but the Reign/ Return showed exactly how good event comics can be. And, in between those two, there's the genuinely moving character-drama of Funeral for a Friend, which may well be the very best thing to come out of the whole epic.

I actually read Funeral For a Friend for the first time in years recently and I was taken aback at just how good it was. These sorts of comics often don't hold up all that well but Funeral For a Friend is still about as good as mainstream superhero comics get, which is all the more impressive when you consider that it was released pretty much weekly by four different creative teams. It's a strange thing to say about a part of the biggest Superman event ever, but it's actually pretty overlooked and underrated these days.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

The bolded is the unfortunate part of reading the story in modern times, rather than when it was released...I can see how that may have colored your perception of it. As a reader of the story as it released weekly (weekly narrative over the 4 books...God I loved that), the mystery aspect really worked well, at least it did for me. It was obvious, of course, that John Henry was just a good man trying to help out and that no spirit actually entered his body, but for the other 3 it was really a big thing! 10-11 year old me had all sorts of thoughts...would they really move forward with a Superboy instead of the original? Nah, probably not since the body went missing (again). The guy with the shades looks like him, that's got to be the body right? And he just has amnesia or something? But this Cyborg guy...he acts the most like Superman, and he sought out Lois!

I was actually convinced the Cyborg Superman was the real steel deal, and that eventually something would happen that would restore his body & make him look normal again. Color me shocked when the twist happened lol But that was the brilliance of how everyone told the story back then...there were zero hints that Cyborg might be a bad guy. There were zero hints, or at least not solid ones, that 'The Last Son' was actually the Eradicator. Everything was revealed to the reader exactly when it needed to be. It was just great. I imagine if message boards had existed back then, there would have been many to theorize and correctly guess just who each of them were, but man...I grew up in a town of 1,000 people, and I was the only comic reader I knew. At 10 or 11 years old, this stuff was just magic.

Wow, your experience with it echoes mine to a tee.

How I wish that superhero comics still have the same effect on me that they did when I was first discovering them when I was all of eleven years old. I have a much greater appreciation for comics as an artform now, of course, but, man, nothing beats the feeling of reading and discovering these early '90s DC comics that I had when I was a kid. And these comics were up there with the Return of Barry Allen as some of the most impactful.

[Clark_Kent]

Wow, your experience with it echoes mine to a tee.

How I wish that superhero comics still have the same effect on me that they did when I was first discovering them when I was all of eleven years old. I have a much greater appreciation for comics as an artform now, of course, but, man, nothing beats the feeling of reading and discovering these early '90s DC comics that I had when I was a kid. And these comics were up there with the Return of Barry Allen as some of the most impactful.

Shared experiences are wonderful. Right on!

And I agree...there was a real sense of wonder in those days. As I said, I lived in a small town, and comics weren't easy to come by. The local grocery store sold them, but didn't always get every issue. I got my Dad to ask the store owner if he could get the super titles every week right around the start of DoS, and he ordered them in. Missing issues here and there prior to death left some gaps, and I'd sometimes be wondering "ok, who's this guy?" but the fun was discovering how things worked, finding that back issue to plug a hole, etc. Nowadays, I do believe comics are 'better'...better writing style, more detailed art...but there's no mystery anymore. Every issue gives you previews, so 5 or 6 of those 24 pages you're paying $4 for have been revealed before you get the book, and there are so many smarter readers here than I that most mysteries have been guessed or solved months in advance. Not complaining or anything (I could stay out of those threads), but the internet and modern consumption of entertainment certainly has changed things.

Anyway. Insert comment of getting off lawns here lol