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The Death And Return Of Superman Omnibus

November 12, 2007 | Trades

The Death And Return Of Superman Omnibus
Dan Jurgens, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern, Jerry Ordway and Karl Kesel; Art by Jurgens, Jon Bogdanove, Tom Grummett, Brett Breeding, Rick Burchett and others
DC Comics
$92/$75 US (Hardcover)
*** 1/2 (out of five)
It still cracks many comic book fans up how bent out of shape the rest of the world got about the death of Superman back in 1992.
Newspapers, magazines, radio stations and TV stations (thank goodness the Internet wasn’t the global force its become today) all jumped on the story, doing exactly what DC Comics wanted to happen: Driving everybody into their nearest comic book store to buy a copy.
For those of us who’d read a book or two it really wasn’t that big a deal (except it was harder to squeeze into our local store for a few months). We all knew Superman wasn’t going to stay dead. Nobody stays dead in comics.
So first came the big battle with the marauding villain Doomsday that led to the hero’s death. Then came the funeral and the mourning period. Next came the rise of the pretenders: Four “heroes” all wearing the “S” on their chests and claiming some part of the late legend’s legacy.
After months of that, inevitably, came the Man Of Steel’s dramatic return.
Wow. What a shocker. Truly, I am shocked. Or not.
When sitting down with the massive new Death And Return Of Superman Omnibus, collecting all 39 issues that tied directly into the story (and released in conjunction with the new direct-to-DVD animated film, Superman: Doomsday, which borrows elements from this book), it is an interesting reminder of how mainstream readers can sometimes get caught up in the world of comics for a while and, more importantly, how things so often return to the status quo.