Where Do You Rank "the Death of Superman" Among Superman Stories?

[Robotman4]

So did they eatablish that Doomsday has super speed? I remember Superman and Booster being surprised at how quick he was for such a monster. That's basically the only way he would be a threat to Superman. I never understood the whole Hulk vs Supes thing. If they're about equal strength but one can move faster than a speeding bullet, it's not much of a fight. Superman could hit him a thousand times before the Hulk could blink. But that's a topic for another thread.

[onemotive]

So, to answer the original question (and Ive noticed I am a huge minority here), The death/return IS in my top 5. I was a kid when it came out and the 'reign of the supermen' was SO exciting for me... I just bought the new HC omnibus and am loving it. Of course, I recognize the popular opinion and if i was recommending something to a new reader, it wouldnt be this... It'd be All-Star superman...

[onemotive]

Time and time again is up there too ;)

[NotSuper]

I rank it very low. It barely qualifies as a story. It works as a cynical money-grabbing event, but that's it.

A monster shows up. It's tough and kills some stuff. Oh no, it's heading for Metropolis! Superman arrives and begins punching it. Punching won't beat it! So Superman keeps punching it. Punching won't beat it! So Superman keeps punching it. Punching won't beat it! So Superman keeps punching it as they arrive in Metropolis proper. Suddenly, punching works for some reason, and they both fall over dead. Ta-daaaaah! THE END

That is terrible. Everyone involved on the Superman books at the time was capable of so much better than that. And they didn't even explain who the monster was, where he came from or why he was like that. He just showed up, "killed" Superman and "died" and was gone.

Pretty much my opinion. The story is only remembered because it made money and a few good characters came out of it (like Steel). It doesn't hold up well as a story.

[NotSuper]

So, to answer the original question (and Ive noticed I am a huge minority here), The death/return IS in my top 5. I was a kid when it came out and the 'reign of the supermen' was SO exciting for me... I just bought the new HC omnibus and am loving it. Of course, I recognize the popular opinion and if i was recommending something to a new reader, it wouldnt be this... It'd be All-Star superman...

I was interested in it as a kid too. The media frenzy got me to seriously look at and start collecting the comics. But, looking back and reading it now, it has a lot of flaws. Doomsday started out as a one-note character and didn't become any better when they gave him an origin. And the Cyborg being an obscure Reed Richards character was a lame reveal (although I did like what Geoff did with him in Sinestro Corps--the only real time I've found the character interesting).

On the plus side, we got Superboy and Steel out of it.

[NotSuper]

As others have said there was a story before where Superman was killed by Lex by Kryptonite poising during the Silver Age (non canon of course), and you know Supergirl comes out as she was Superman's back up at the time. It didn't have as powerful of a impact, almost because it was basically a story about how Superman could be tricked because of his naivety.

I disagree entirely. Luthor CURING CANCER just to make the world believe he'd turned over a new leaf solely as a ploy to kill Superman was one of the most Magnificent Bastard moments ever. Then having him stand trial in Kandor, completely confident he could get out of being sent to the Phantom Zone by offering to enlarge its people--and his horror at realizing they cared more about justice for Kal-El than themselves was fantastic. It was, for me, a much more adult story than the canon Death (which was an overly long fight scene).

[Ismail's Light]

So did they eatablish that Doomsday has super speed? I remember Superman and Booster being surprised at how quick he was for such a monster. That's basically the only way he would be a threat to Superman. I never understood the whole Hulk vs Supes thing. If they're about equal strength but one can move faster than a speeding bullet, it's not much of a fight. Superman could hit him a thousand times before the Hulk could blink. But that's a topic for another thread.

That always made me laugh. Aside from the super-speed thing, there's also the fact that it would take Hulk about a week of being perpetually pissed to get to Superman's level.

[Mat001]

So did they eatablish that Doomsday has super speed? I remember Superman and Booster being surprised at how quick he was for such a monster. That's basically the only way he would be a threat to Superman.

He didn't turn into a blur, if that's what you mean. But he was fast enough to catch everyone, including Clark, off guard.

I never understood the whole Hulk vs Supes thing. If they're about equal strength but one can move faster than a speeding bullet, it's not much of a fight. Superman could hit him a thousand times before the Hulk could blink. But that's a topic for another thread.

But both the Hulk and Doomsday can take a lot of hits before going down.

That always made me laugh. Aside from the super-speed thing, there's also the fact that it would take Hulk about a week of being perpetually pissed to get to Superman's level.

You should read "World War Hulk".