Death of Superman 2 (Justice League of America # 69)

By Mark Rodriguez 

If it's one of the things left out in the animated Superman Doomsday movie that woulda been cool is seeing Doomsday take down several DC superheroes before Superman himself stepped in. Kinda like in DBZ where the villains take out the regular fighters before Goku shows up, the Justice League of America all took a shot at Doomsday and were ripped apart to showcase just how powerful this new mystery monster was. Let's all see how this plays out as Bloodwynd, Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle, Maxima, Fire and Ice try to stop this unstoppable menace.

Last time a mysterious monster broke out of some sort of underground containment unit and started wrecking havoc wherever it went. Superman and Lois Lane were dealing with Clawster and some Underworlders, as the monster caused a truck to overrun and explode. Some people see this and decide it's time to call in the Justice League.

 

Justice League of America # 69 (heh) opens up with 'Down for the Count', as the JLA show up to rescue the victims of the burning truck and stopping the fire from spreading further. The authorities tells them that the monster escaped into the woods. Booster Gold tells them that ambulances are on their way and Blue Beetle tells them to go to The Bug (his vehicle) to look for it. Ice says it's a shame they had this emergency since she wanted to see the Cat Grant show in which Superman was a guest speaker at Roosevelt High School.

The heroes go into The Bug and Booster jokes about capturing the monster to make big bucks if it's really cool. Beetle sees a bunch of trees that have been plowed and know it's the trail of destruction left behind by the monster. Beetle suggests Bloodwynd use his psychic powers to tap into the enemy's mind. Maxima insists on doing so as well, but Beetle was hoping Bloodwynd  would do it alone so he could get an idea of the scope of his powers. Maxima taps into the monster's head and can only feel hatred, death and bloodlust personified.

On TV, Cat Grant mentions how some heroes like Wonder Woman and Enlongated Man live public lives, but they know nothing about Superman, the leader of the JLA. Superman says he's not the leader, and they all have equal roles and votes in the JLA.

 
The monster is destroying more trees and killing deer until he sees The Bug flying by. He picks up a stick and throws it at it.  The log smashed right through The Bug and it's quickly going down. The flying heroes rescue the non-flyers (Guy Gardner is happy to get his hands all over Ice) and Maxima lowers The Bug down slowly so it won't crash on innocent people. Booster asks if Weapons Master or Despero is behind this, and Bloodwynd says he senses the true creature responsible is nearby.

On TV Miss Grant asks Superman about his fight with Guy Gardner a while back. Superman says they may not always agree but they're colleagues and Guy always gets the job done. She then lets some of the students ask questions, and a girl asks Superman what they do in their free time. Superman says they're pretty normal when they're not fighting crime, Blue Beetle invents stuff, Maxima is adjusting to Earth life and so forth.

The monster sees a truck driving near him and he destroys it with a massive punch. The JLA hear the explosion and Guy Gardner is the first to fly off to kick some ass.

Another kid asks why Guy Gardner isn't a member of the Green Lanterns anymore (he's currently using a yellow ring), and Superman says they have no say in whatever the Green Lantern Corps decides. Kids watching the TV in Metropolis High Schools find the interview with Superman boring and say they should have had Guy Gardner instead since he 'has his head screwed on straight'.

The monster grabs Guy and slams him head first into the ground. He then stomps on his head and punches him in the head. He then grabs him by the face is suffocating him until Fire tosses green flames on him to make him let go.

One of the kids ask Superman if Ice is really as hot as she looks, and Superman, of course, pushes the question aside. A girl asks if he ever gets scared facing the things he does.

Back to the battle, Fire keeps the flames on the monster, but they don't even phase him. Bloodwynd summons the powers of the souls of people that died in the general area and delivers a powerful punch... that doesn't even hurt the monster. It punches back, sending Bloodwynd flying through a smokestack and setting him on fire. The others are amazed by the monster's power and wonder if he could survive such an attack.

Superman tells the girl she asked a good question and mentions he's always scared about hurting others and sometimes himself since there are things out there that can kill him. The girl asks if they ever get tired of fighting all the time, and asks if there's a better way to solving problems without violence.

The monster tosses a rock at Fire to knock her out. Beetle jumps into the fire to save Bloodwynd. Beetle manages to get a good look at Bloodwynd's secret identity and is surprised, but before he can announce who it is, the monster grabs him by the back of the neck. He then slams his face into a wall, then into the ground, and then into another wall. Beetle is now in horrible shape and close to dying.

Superman tells the girl that violence is something they wish to avoid but as heroes they choose to defend the world with their lives.

The monster tosses Beetle into the air, and Maxima and Bloodwynd try to catch him. The monster grabs Bloodwynd by the leg and smacks him into Maxima. The smokestack explodes around them. With noone to save him, Blue Beetle has a hard landing. Ice says he seems very still. Booster mentions taking him to the hospital, but Ice says she's afraid it might be too late. Booster Gold is pissed.

The TV show is interrupted with news of a monster attacking a refinery in Ohio, and giving trouble to the entire JLA. Superman flies off to investigate.

Booster fires off a high-intensity blast but the monster keeps on coming. Booster manages to raise his forcefield fast enough to withstand a powerful punch from the monster that sends him flying. As he knocked back, Booster wonders if the monster is alive or if it's some kind of doomsday device. Superman catches Booster mid-flight and says he hears they're having trouble. Booster says it's more than just trouble, it feels like Doomsday is here.

My Thoughts- 

This was an interesting read showcasing some lesser heroes, that with the exception of Guy Gardner, and later Maxima, I knew nothing about. Doomsday just tears these guys apart. Beetle never gets back up from that, and from what I hear he goes into a coma a little after this storyline. Guy Gardner is in horrible shape, but still in the fight. I'm surprised when I saw Maxima was a member of this team. For those that watched the Superman Animated Series, Maxima was a powerful woman from the planet Almerac that was looking for a suitable mate. I honestly thought she was made up for the cartoon. Shows how much I know, LOL

I know this is the JLA comic, so of course we'll only see members of the JLA, but I do wonder why with such a threat all over the news taking down superheroes left and right, the big guns like Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel/Shazam didn't step in?

The classroom scene was cool, I guess more of Superman's gosh-darn-goodness before all that ends next issue. It is is ironic when they ask if anything scares him and he says he knows there are things out that can kill him. Man oh man, he's about to meet one.

We'll see how it goes for Superman next time as he comes face to face with what Booster Gold is now calling... Doomsday.

And oh, and in case someone is wondering since this won't come up in this particular story arc... I looked it up. Bloodwynd was Martian Manhunter in disguise and since fire is his weakness, Beetle got to see his true form seconds before Doomsday turned him into paste. Apparently he was forced by a villain to impersonate the real Bloodwynd... and they eventually find and rescue the real one.