Legal Stuff: All characters, references and images of Superman and other comic characters are copyright DC Comics.
Okay. That's out of the way. In the past I have focused more on the comic book industry and business, and not so much on story lines. This editorial is the second in a series on my general comments on major comic storylines. This week I focus on the "Death of Superman" saga from a couple of years ago.
One business comment...DC did an excellent job of promoting this saga. A new comic related to the story was released four times a month, so it was nearly continuous story (and revenue stream).
It all started with a conflict between Superman and Darksied where Superman apparently "dies" Four "substitute" Supermen emerge to each claim they are a "reincarnation" of the real thing.
The first is "The Last Son of Krypton". A being apparently from an advanced civilization held in stasis in a remote location on the earth attended to by robotic servants.
The second was apparently "cloned" and "grown" in a laboratory for just such a contingency.
The third is a cyborg, thought to be rebuild from the original frame.
The fourth is an ordinary man, caught at the scene of the conflict, thought to perhaps have the "spirit" of superman transferred to him, who must carry on the tradition as best he can.
To summarize, each of the four attempt to fill the role of Superman, as best they can. Each is new, untested, and learning their limitations. Except for the cyborg, who turns out to be an advanced scout for a large scale invasion force of earth. The original Superman does, miraculously, make it back from the dead, and lead the others in an effort to get rid of the traitor, and repel the invaders.
My comments on this series of comics ............
The story line was excellent and well thought out. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing, particularly Simonson and Stern. DC did a excellent job of developing the characters of the "substitutes". The boy who is very unsure of himself. The man who must use his strength and education to carry on the spirit of a tradition. The last son, homeless, who doesn't really know or understand who he is.
The way DC developed these new characters is far superior to their previous attempts. Pre-crisis, DC had a reputation for creating characters at the drop of a hat (Captain Thunder comes to mind) Alternate Universe characters, Earth 1, Earth 2, Earth A, Earth C+, Earth C-,....and the list goes on. Even in the Late 1980's DC continued to try to create new characters through miniseries like 'Legends" and 'Millennium'. The new characters were usually introduced in the last few panels of the last issue of the series. Although they looked really cool, no one understood who they were and what they were about.
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