What Is Your Ideal Ending For Superman & His Supporting Characters?

[Mutant God]

Superman - Dies destroying a powerful dark magical weapon
Lois - Dies saving Superman in her old age
Jimmy - An elderly curator for the Superman museum
Perry - Dies from a heart attack
Supergirl - Retires on Kandor and becomes an ambassador for them
Superboy - Dies battling A powerful alien along with several Titans
Steel - He who lives by the hammer dies by the hammer A new crime lord attacks Steel and kills him with his own hammer
Lana Lang - Retires after being the mayor of Smallville
Pete Ross - Killed used as a suit by Brainiac
Lex Luthor - Sent to a prison in space for killing some alien
Brainiac - Killed by the gathering of a Green Lantern, Red Lantern, and a member of the Sinestro Corps
Bizarro - Killed by one of Superman's enemies thinking it was Superman.
Zod - Killed by Bizarro

[The Frog Bros]

Superman - Dies destroying a powerful dark magical weapon
Lois - Dies saving Superman in her old age
Jimmy - An elderly curator for the Superman museum
Perry - Dies from a heart attack
Supergirl - Retires on Kandor and becomes an ambassador for them
Superboy - Dies battling A powerful alien along with several Titans
Steel - He who lives by the hammer dies by the hammer A new crime lord attacks Steel and kills him with his own hammer
Lana Lang - Retires after being the mayor of Smallville
Pete Ross - Killed used as a suit by Brainiac
Lex Luthor - Sent to a prison in space for killing some alien
Brainiac - Killed by the gathering of a Green Lantern, Red Lantern, and a member of the Sinestro Corps
Bizarro - Killed by one of Superman's enemies thinking it was Superman.
Zod - Killed by Bizarro

Bibbo has to work at the museum, like head of security or something.

[PCN24454]

Bibbo has to work at the museum, like head of security or something.

Would he still be alive at that age?

[manwhohaseverything]

Bibbo has to work at the museum, like head of security or something.

Bibbo becomes the new doc savage or no ending at all

[Mutant God]

Would he still be alive at that age?

No, he passes away (or becomes Cyborg Superman), his daughter, Bimbo Bibbowski, takes over his bar

[OopsIdiditagain]

Superman is killed in the final battle against Darkseid when Orion finally and permanently ends his father.



Lois is killed by friendly fire during a battle of some kind. Death happens in a Lois focused story and has no connection to her being Superman's wife.



Jimmy is killed in action when the potion he consumed to gain powers wears off while he is performing a rescue in a hostile environment.



Perry dies of a heart attack upon learning of Lois' and Jimmy's deaths.



Kara is killed while assisting Raven in a battle with another daughter of Trigon named Linda Danvers. Linda briefly takes possession of Kara's corpse until Raven, John Constantine and Zatanna defeat her.




Conner dies in the first battle with Solaris as he carries the sentient star into deepest space.

Jon Kent is killed in his sleep by Damian Wayne as part of Damian's final acts before becoming the new Ra's Al Ghul.



John Henry Irons dies several decades from now as his artificial organs shut down. His niece Natasha is killed during a battle between her Justice League and the League of Assassins just shy of her 42nd birthday.



Lana Lang dies at the age of 99 in her sleep at the home of Jonathan and Martha Kent



Pete Ross is elected mayor of Smallville and then serves several terms in Congress. he dies on July 4, 2076 of a stroke.



Lex develops an aggressive form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and dies alone in his office less than a year later.



The artificial consciousness known as Brainiac vanishes from the known universe sometime in the 30th Century. Un confirmed rumors state it is incorporated into vast system of artificial intelligences monitoring the multiverse by the Legion of Dimensional Guardians.



Bizarro and his anti-matter duplicate met during the Inverse Crisis. Neither has been seen since.



Zod is remembered as the founder of Rokyn, home of the Zodite race which orbits the star Rao. Tales about his death differ depending on which sect of the Zoddite religion you follow.

I'm guessing tragedy is your favorite genre

[OopsIdiditagain]

Clark and Lois become editors of Metropolis' New York Times equivalent, they keep it up before passing it down to a mentee. They spend their old age traveling around the world writing interesting articles (and of course saving lives).

[Jon Clark]

I'm guessing tragedy is your favorite genre

Actually it's not.

As I said I took this to be "what is the last story?" not "what is the future for character x?"

If Superman hangs up his cape in Action #1250 and devotes himself to interviewing various ordinary people around the globe, I'd expect him to make future appearances probably even as Superman. That wouldn't be an ending.

A retelling of his battle with Doomsday except that since DC has Jon now so Clark never needs to come back to maintain character rights. That might be an ending.

[BBally]

I have one for Lex Luthor.

After one final attempt to kill Superman by creating a serum that would finally give him the power's Superman posses (All Star Superman reference), Lex is defeated again after Superman uses one of his gadgets to make Lex lose his powers, Lex goes on a rant about how he would have saved the world if it wasn't for Superman's presence when Superman retorts that if he truly wanted to save the world, he would have done it years ago. Defeated Lex offers no response, his short period of having Superman's powers caused him to have the same sense and awareness Superman has, which seems to have an effect on him.

Years later, during a final attack by Darkseid and his forces, Lex is offered a chance of freedom by the government if he would assist them in building weapons to take on the forces of Apokalips, Lex accepts despite objections from the Justice League stating Lex isn't to be trusted. During the battle, Lex apparently sacrifices himself to save Metropolis. After the battle ended and Darkseid is finally defeated for good, it's discovered one of Lex's clones has disappeared. The clone reappears years later under the name Leo Quintum who now works as one of the scientists working for Star Labs, he donates what's left of Luthor's shares to other scientific ventures that would try to find cures for diseases and provide other benefits for mankind. An older Superman is the only one who knows of his identity but decides to let him be, believing that Lex is finally seeking redemption for his past actions.

[Jim Kelly]

I like "The Amazing Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue" and "The Immortal Superman" both for different reasons.

In terms of the old school Lois Lane, I never thought that her marrying Superman on the quiet was in character for her. She's a bit egotistical and her quest to become Mrs. Superman was always important to her--not just because she loved Superman but because she had something to prove to the world. If she doesn't get to be Mrs. Superman in public then it makes her look like a dope to everyone.

The ideal outcome for Lois is to marry Superman in front of the entire world and beyond. It would be the biggest wedding ever in the history of humanity. Every super-hero, head of state and celebrity would attend and it would be broadcast to all the known galaxies and dimensions.

However, Superman would only marry Lois in public if he could be sure of her safety. Before he would ever entertain the notion of marrying her, he would first find a way to give her super-powers--as Van-Zee gave Sylvia super-powers. Then they would become a power couple, two of the World's Greatest Super-Heroes.

Of course, now that Lois was Mrs. Superman, she wouldn't be able to work at the Daily Planet offices--it would create too much havoc for the paper. Soon after leaving her desk, a new reporter would be hired--a cute blonde with cat-glasses named Doris Dane. She and Clark would hit it off and after a whirlwind romance they would get hitched in a quiet ceremony.

In time, Lois would give birth to dark-haired twins--one boy and one girl. Mrs. Superman's children would be Lara Kal-El and Jor-El II, otherwise known as Supergirl and Superboy. Meanwhile, Doris would deliver light-haired twins, named Laurel and Jordan.

[Doctor Know]

We all know evil and dark Superman is a thing. But has anyone else noticed the pattern of dark endings for Superman's storyline?

Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow - Alan Moore: Lana, Pete, Jimmy, Krypto and the bulk of Superman's rogue's gallery all die in this final Silver Age Superman story. Kara having previously died in COIE as well.

Kingdom Come - Mark Waid: Lois, Jimmy and everyone at the Daily Planet murdered by the Joker in a gas attack. Topped of with the meta human civil war, and the nuke that was dropped on all the combatants by the UN.

Superman & Batman Generations - John Byrne: Lois, Lucy Lane, Jimmy Olsen are all murdered by Ulta-Humanite Luthor. Kara Kent (Clark and Lois' daughter) is murdered on her wedding day by Joel Kent (Clark and Lois' son). Superman kills the Ultrahumanite Lutor and is later sentenced to 10 yeas in the the Phantom Zone.


New 52 Superman and his Lois died miserable deaths.


Can Supes get a break?

[seismic-2]

New 52 Superman and his Lois died miserable deaths.


Can Supes get a break?

So what would be a "pleasant" death for Kal-El? An old man, who was once able to leap over tall buildings but who now has trouble walking upstairs, who once could see through walls but who now has trouble reading The Daily Planet, spends his final years in an assisted-living facility and eventually dies in his sleep?

[Jim Kelly]

Given all the Elseworlds, dreams, possible futures, imaginary stories, parallel universes, we've seen the End time and time again. There is nothing new under the sun.

[Soubhagya]

Jimmy Olsen could do with something like a bonkers ending. He becomes the undead: an immortal vampire. Living on animal blood, like the so-called 'vegetarian' vampires from Twilight. He fights the undead who escape from the netherworld from time to time. But since that's not as often, he spends time moving around the world. You see Jimmy is alive even in 31th Century. But the guy who people think is a descendant of Jimmy Olsen, the friend of Superman of 21st Century, is actually Jimmy himself. And so was his father, and his father before him. All of the Olsen descendants are Jimmy himself: who is sometimes a painter, sometimes an actor, sometimes a spy, etc.

[Tzigone]

I'm a sucker for a happy ending. Someone else in this thread said they thought happy endings were overrated - well, I think tragic endings are overrated. Different strokes for different folks.

But Lex is a villain - a bad ending for him is a good ending for me (I really hate good!Lex a lot). Lex goes to prison and eventually dies there of age-related causes. It's an ignominious ending. No great achievement, no going out with a bang, no everyone-talking-about-him-all-the-time. Over the years, he's mostly forgotten - I mean people know he exists, but don't think of him. He dies a loser.

I prefer a Superman who ages as humans do, so he has a human lifespan. Superman has super powers, so he never has to retire due to age-related decline. He may not be at his peak, but he's still so much more than most that he's a net good instead a drag the way some might be (endangering civilians or colleagues due to physical decline). He would then die a relatively peaceful death at an advanced age. The more depressing version, for those who demand it, could be death in action or suicide-by-kryptonite if he begins to realize he is the early stages of decline towards dementia, and just what a danger he would be as it progressed.

Jimmy, Lois, and Perry would all die of age related causes, as is quite a common ending, I'll admit. But that is death, not the ending of their stories. To me, their stories primarily end with their leaving the action a bit earlier.

Perry very well might die still working - depends on your preferred version.

Jimmy, I think could retire (if ever he was allowed to be successful enough with money not to be broke) at around 60. Might have the good/bad fortune to fall into a story or two after. Most important is him being allowed to be a fully fledged adult (he's too often - though not always - kept a man-child for my taste). I do think he'd like being married having kids (I asked if he had AU kids once, but could only find the one). He could be a good dad.

Lois will keep on longer. Probably eventually retire in her late 60s. The way she does reporting, it involves at least some physical work. And (since we're making up a version that ends, anyway), she'd have grew-at-a-natural rate adult sons Jon and Chris and some grandkids, and she'd love them to death. But her career would be very important to her. I think Lois might feel a bit at loose ends during early retirement because of that. Not that she has no hobbies or anything, but her job was a big part of her life and letting go isn't easy. It's definitely an adjustment. I actually feel this way about a lot the heroes that retire, too (the ones that don't have powers or at least not those sufficient to compensate for aging). And they retire younger, because of the athletic demands of their avocations.