Death of Superman 1 (Superman Man of Steel # 18)

 By Mark Rodriguez

I still remember the media uproar when DC announced the death of Superman. Of course nowadays superhero deaths don't mean much, but back then DC was really trying to sell that they were killing Superman off for good. I wasn't even that much into comics then and that news hit the papers and the evening news. I mean, everybody knew who Superman was, so this was a huge deal. In current day I don't remember all that many comic book events actually making it on TV news. I remember classmates saying it was a dumb idea and if DC was going to put everything on Batman since they killed off their main cash cow. The funny thing is that nowadays, whether Superman is alive or dead, DC is still putting all their bets on Batman.

"Doomsday Part 1" starts 'somewhere else' (it literally says so) as a gloved hand is punching away out some sort of metallic prison. After six pages of Kraanging against the metal prison, this mystery monster finally breaks free and bursts out from underground.

 

Superman flies overhead as a random black kid watches him, feeling lucky that he saved his life twice. He goes out to buy glow-in-the-dark spray paint. The owner asks if he's gonna use that in the subway... which is probably something he should have asked before he sold it to the kid.

Elsewhere there are monsters called Underworlders led by one called Clawster that are living in the sewers and hypnotizing the underground workers to help them take control of the power station. The kid gets his stuff together and heads out to the sewers, since the monsters have taken his mother. He plans to leave markers with the glow-in-the-dark spray paint to prevent from getting lost.

At the Daily Planet, Lois Lane gets an anonymous tip telling her to send Superman to the basement under the west side power station since Metroplis is in danger. She leaves Clark a message on his computer (at this point she knows Clark is Superman) and heads off.

Elsewhere, the monster, trapped in some kind of green containment suit with one arm still tied behind its back, reaches out and lets a bird fly to his hand. He then laughs evily as he squishes it in his grasp.

Superman returns to the Daily Planet after patrolling the city in search of the Underworlders, and turns back into Clark Kent. Just as he sees Lois' message on his comp, the lights go out. The Underworlders celebrate that they caused the blackout and can now control the city.

Underground, Lois is snooping around when suddenly a large hand grabs her shoulder. She retaliates with a back kick. Unfortunately, she just kicked Clawster, who has rock-like skin, so she falls and grabs her foot in pain. Clawster laughs at her plight, and guy with a shotgun that's with them recognizes her. Lois also knows the guy as someone named Charlie that she sees at a homeless shelter. 

Lois Lane is tied up and feels betrayed and Clawster explains that Charlie learned he is a reject from society just like them. They also have war machines they intend to use to attack the city. Charlie convinces Clawster that Lois would make a good hostage. Clawster agrees but mentions their boss doesn't take prisoners. The black kid is hiding in the area and overhears this, fearing the worst has already happened to his mother.

Elsewhere the monster punches a tree into splinters. He then starts destroying the forest... because he can.

The kid makes it back to the surface telling himself he should have alerted Superman sooner about the monsters instead of believing their lies. Maybe they don't really have his mother, but he knows they DO have Lois and she will die if he doesn't help. He heard of how the people in Gotham call in Batman with the Bat-Signal, so he tries spray painting a giant S on the street hoping he will see it. Sure enough, Superman does show up, and the kid, named Keith tells him what's going on.

 

Underground, the Underworlders are preparing to use a giant drill vehicle they call the Borer to cause damage in the city above. Superman shows up and quickly shoves the Borer back. One of the monsters tries to distract him with a grenade, but Superman snatches it and jams it into Clawster's mouth, making it explode and knock him out. The others activate their war machines, but Superman gets past them all and grabs their leader before he can make a break for it. He demands to know where Lois is, but the monster tells him she's probably been killed already by Charlie since they don't take prisoners.

Meanwhile the monster brings down a bridge, causing massive destruction with all the traffic in the way.

Superman soon arrives and sees Charlie with Lois and is about to sock him out. Lois kicks his butt and stops him, telling him that Charlie is their informant. He's a pacifist from the 60's and was able to get the inside info on the Underworlders, and was also the one that sent Lois the note earlier. He just didn't expect Lois to show up and get captured, but he managed to the convince the others that he was going to kill her.

 

Charlie will take Clawster and the rest to trial in the Underworld. Lois offers jobs for Charlie and his friend, but they both agree that they'd rather take their chances underground. As Superman and Lois leave, they wonder if they should have told him about another problem they have named Bloodthirst. Charlie's friend says it's their own problem but they at least know they can count on Superman if they need him.

Elsewhere, the monster runs into a driver in a big truck (the same kind that Optimus Prime is) and easily knocks it over and blows it up. As the monster walks off laughing, the state trooper starts to request for back up as the monster is tearing up all of the interstate as it heads East. The guy on the radio decides this is something bigger and its a job for the Justice League.

 

My thoughts-

Well this was an interesting start of an epic story. I assume back in the day everyone was full of awe and wondering just who or what this powerful creature was, able to cause so much destruction with one arm tied behind its back. Sadly we'll find out there isn't much to this monster except that it is an unstoppable force of hatred, deat and destruction and any other information we discover about Doomsday happens in future stories. 

I remember back in the day the news showed some pics of Superman getting beaten black and blue and my dad scoffed at the idea of Superman bleeding like a regular human. I had to explain to him that in this case, Doomsday was from another world and I guess he was just that strong to give Superman actual injuries. Keep in mind this was back in 1992 and I wasn't into his comics so I didn't know about characters like Lobo and Darkseid and whoever else that can trade blows and injure Superman. I mean, we sure we had Zod in the Reeves movies, but those movies didn't show actual blood that I can recall.

The rest of the story was ok, but I guess if I read the past 17 issues of Superman Man of Steel, I would have known more about Keith and the Underworlders. Clawster and his gang seemed to be recurring threats since Superman was already out on patrol looking for them before the story even started. As for Keith, no idea why he thought they had his mother, but I feel sorry for her (and Keith) if they really did kill her.

I have to say, Lois Lane was kinda bad-ass with that kick she threw. Too bad it was against a rock alien monster that could barely feel it. I have seen Lois use basic self defense skills before to try to prevent from being captured... but unfortunately for her, the kidnappers are either real big strong guys or monsters that would give Superman a run for his money... so she ends up being captured anyway.

Superman took care of Clawster and the rest without much problems. The war machines shooting at him slowed him down a little, but he still made short work of everything. A small example of how powerful the Man of Steel can be before he runs into the brick wall known as Doomsday, not that anyone needed a reminder of course.

If anything this book took me back to my high school days since I really haven't read this again since the day one of buddies let me borrow his trade paperback back in 92. It was a stroll through memory lane. While nowadays announcement of new movies coming and who the next actor will portray Superman or Batman or whoever is what makes the headlines, I wonder if we'll ever get such a huge comic book event that will make on the evening news ever again.