It was one of the most shocking stories to have been told. The Death of Superman found the Man of Steel fighting against the most ruthless villain yet, Doomsday.
What was supposed to be a Comic Book Storyline turned out to be a pop culture mega-event, turning Superman’s untimely demise into a Mega Pop-Culture Event, taking to mainstream news, raising curiosity, and provoking conversation. It would also bring in new fans to comic book shops, also spawned a trading card set, a video game, a novel adaptation, two animated movies, and more. This wasn’t just the biggest event in the character’s history, it was the biggest event in Comic Book History.
It was teased yesterday afternoon, regarding the Death of Superman. And today, it was confirmed to be a Special 30th Anniversary Event! To celebrate the anniversary, DC has reunited the original creative teams of Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding; Roger Stern and Butch Guice; Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove; and Jerry Ordway and Tom Grummett for The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1. Available in Comic shops on November 8th, The Anniversary Special will feature four all-new stories that explore the lasting impact that Clark’s death had on his family and friends as well as nine pinups and variant covers by some of the top names in comics.
Each of the original creative teams from The Death of Superman has reunited to tell a story that shows how some of Superman’s biggest allies reacted during and after his fateful battle with Doomsday:
- “The Life of Superman” by Dan Jurgens (Writer & Artist), Brett Breeding (Artist), Brad Anderson (Colorist), and John Workman (Letterer) – A young Jon Kent finds out in school that his dad had died years earlier, as his parents never told him about that fateful day. In the midst of dealing with this emotional news, Jon and Clark need to team up to fight a new villain connected to Doomsday called DOOMBREAKER.
- “Standing Guard” by Roger Stern (Writer), Butch Guice (Artist), Glenn Whitmore (Colorist), and Rob Leigh (Letterer) – The epic battle between Superman and Doomsday from the Guardians’ perspective.
- “Time” by Louise Simonson (Writer), Jon Bogdanove (Artist), Glenn Whitmore (Colorist), and Rob Leigh (Letterer) – The story of how the death of Superman looked from John Henry Irons’s perspective.
- “Above and Beyond” by Jerry Ordway (Writer), Tom Grummett (Penciller), Doug Hazlewood (Inker), Glenn Whitmore (Colorist), and Rob Leigh (Letterer) – A powerful story of Ma and Pa Kent watching their son fight Doomsday live on television and going through Clark’s photo albums with the feeling that their son always prevails.
Writer and Artist Dan Jurgens released a statement (and recently spoke to DC Comics in a new interview) on the legacy of The Death of Superman and the upcoming release of The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1:
“Even now, thirty years after “The Death of Superman” first came out, every single convention or store appearance I do has at least one person who comes up to me with Superman #75 or the first “Death of Superman” collected edition and says, “This is the book that got me into comics. And I’m still here, reading, all these years later.” Most times, it’s more than one. Sometimes, multiple people arrive at my table at the same time and share their memories, which is always fun to experience.
Their tales are often quite similar. Typically, media coverage of Superman’s death compelled them or a parent to drop by a local store to pick the issue up. In some cases, their parents let them skip school the day of the book’s release so they could stand in line to get a copy. Some talk of how their store was sold out and they spent days looking all over town to find one.
I’m not alone in that experience. It’s common for the entire team of writers and artists who worked on Superman at the time. It was a singularly unique moment in comics, when a particular story was covered by every form of national and local media alike.
It’s hard to tell people what those days were like, but every comic shop in the country had long lines of people outside the door waiting to buy THAT BOOK.
All these years later, it’s a great pleasure to get back together with the story’s original creative teams to celebrate a truly exciting time in comics. For those of you who remember those days, The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special will reignite some memories. For those who weren’t around to experience it, well…we hope you get a hint of what it was like.
Most of all, we hope all of you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it all together.”
According to the Press Release, The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1 will feature variant covers by artists including Jim Lee and Scott Williams; Dan Mora; Ivan Reis and Danny Miki; Francesco Mattina; Dan Jurgens; and Brett Breeding. Fans can also order a premium polybag variant that features a black armband with The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary logo and the main cover inside.
It will also include 9 pinups from some of the top names in comics today, including Jamal Campbell, Lee Weeks, Clay Mann, Fabio Moon, Walter Simonson, Bill Sienkiewicz, Gabriel Rodriguez, and more.
DC will publish The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition collection, which will include Superman: Day of Doom #1-4 for the first time and will go on sale on December 6th. DC will also publish a Superman #75 Special Edition featuring the original story by Jurgens and Breeding that will go on sale on November 1st.
Thanks for reading! If you have any suggestions, news tips, or questions, email them to: webmaster@bigrednerd.com.
Red's Nerd Den 