Broken Frontier

As the Blackest Night spreads across the DC Universe, Broken Frontier unearths the histories of several of the players in the event.

SPOILER WARNING: Read no further if you’ve not had the chance to dig into your most recent Blackest Night titles…

Whether it is viewed as one of the most successful marketing triumphs in the history of comics, or the beginning of a speculator trend that nearly sunk the industry, “The Death and Return of Superman” remains a defining moment for DC Comics.  Although Superman was far from the first comic book character to return from the dead, Kal-El’s return also appears to represent the moment when Nekron’s influence changed the fundamental nature of death in the DC Universe.

The monster known as Doomsday proved to be the one being capable of felling the Man of Steel.  Following a month-long series of teasers, the rampaging behemoth made his first full appearance in the pages of Superman: The Man of Steel #18 (December 1992).   Following a brutal showdown with the Justice League of America (Justice League of America #69, December 1992), the near mindless Doomsday began a destructive march directly towards Metropolis, leaving a swath of death and destruction behind him.  Superman joined the fray in Superman #74 (December 1992), attempting to rally the League, but to no avail.  As the only hero left standing, Superman pursued Doomsday, realizing that Metropolis stood directly in its path. 

In an issue comprised entirely of splash pages (Superman #75, January 1993), Superman went toe-to-toe with Doomsday in the heart of Metropolis.  Following a brief reprise with Lois Lane, a battered and wounded Superman began throwing his most powerful blows against Doomsday.  Shattering windows across the city, the two titans hurled everything they had left against each other in a final effort.  Doomsday was killed instantly, as a mortally injured Superman crumpled to the ground.  Cradled in Lois’ arms, Superman asked “Doomsday…is he…is he..?”  As his weeping fiancée told him that he had saved the entire city, Superman closed his eyes and a legend died.

Even in death, Superman could not find rest.  Following a state funeral, the Man of Steel’s remains were interned in a memorial located in the heart of Metropolis (Superman: The Man of Steel #20, February 1993).  It was from here that his body was stolen by a secret government agency, Cadmus, which hoped to clone their very own Superman (Superman #76, February 1993).   The grave robbery was kept secret from the general population (at least initially), as Lois Lane, Lex Luthor and Supergirl spent the next month trying to retrieve it.  The trio finally returned the Man of Steel to his final resting place in Superman #77 (March 1993), at nearly the same moment Jonathan Kent suffered a near fatal heart-attack.

Adventures of Superman #500 (June 1993) marked the start of the Reign of the Supermen arc, which was the beginning of the resurrection of Superman.  At the time, the selling point of the issue was the debut of 4 new “Supermen,” each with varying claims to Kal-El’s legacy; The Man of Tomorrow (later known as the Cyborg Superman, a nihilistic madman with access to Kryptonian DNA), The Man of Steel (later just “Steel,” who never claimed to be Superman, but was the closest in spirit), The Last Son of Krypton (a cold hearted vigilante, who was revealed to be the computer entity dedicated to the preservation of the Kryptonian way, the Eradicator) and The Metropolis Kid (later known as Superboy, a partial clone of the Man of Steel). In the light of Nekron’s recent moves in the Blackest Night, what may now prove more significant is the near-death experience Jonathan Kent has in the book. 

As his body went into cardiac arrest, Jonathan’s journey into the light is halted when he encountered the spirit of his adopted son.  Surrounded by what seems to be a Kryptonian funeral procession, Superman was shocked into action upon seeing his “Pa.”  Seeing the “Kryptonians” for what the really were (some sort of monstrous demons), Superman joined Pa Kent in turning back from the light.  As father and son crossed back to the realm of the living, readers must now wonder what role Nekron may have played in this moment.

While Jonathan Kent returned from cardiac arrest instantly, Superman’s physical resurrection proved to be slightly more complicated.  Although the exact details were not revealed until later (Action Comics #690, August 1993), upon learning of Superman’s death, the Eradicator stole Superman’s corpse at some point following Superman #77.  Taking it to the Fortress of Solitude, the Eradicator placed Superman’s body in a Kryptonian matrix that harnessed solar energy through Superman’s Kryptonian cells, thereby allowing the computer entity to create a physical form resembling the Man of Steel. When Superman’s soul attempted to cross back over to the realm of the living with Jon Kent, it was only because his body was charged with solar radiation in the matrix that he was able to return to life (Action Comics #689, July 1993 - although it still took some time, and even then Kal-El was greatly underpowered).

Making his public return to a great deal of skepticism (Superman: The Man of Steel #25, September 1993), Superman rallied Steel, Superboy and the Eradicator against the Cyborg Superman, who had recently destroyed Green Lantern’s hometown of Coast City (in Superman #80, August 1993).  Thanks to a heroic sacrifice by the Eradicator, Superman was fully repowered, defeated the Cyborg impostor and resumed his career as Earth’s greatest hero (Superman #82, October 1993).

Superman was recently drawn into the events of the Blackest Night due to an assault on Smallville by Black Lanterns Kal-L and Psycho-Pirate (Blackest Night: Superman #1-3, October-December 2009).  Superman was also part of a brigade of heroes rallied to Coast City by Barry Allen and Wally West.  Fighting the resurrected corpse forces of Nekron alongside the likes of Wonder Woman, The Titans and Green Lantern, Superman was a witness to the Black Hand’s raising of Bruce Wayne.  As the Black Lantern Batman generated a new set of Black Lantern rings, Nekron announced that it was he that allowed many of Earth’s heroes, including Superman, to be resurrected.  With that, one of the new Black Lantern Rings affixed itself to Superman’s finger, as Nekron commanded the resurrected heroes to die (Blackest Night #5, January 2010).

With that, Superman, was inducted into the Black Lantern Corps, now compelled to aid Nekron in returning the universe to a “quiet, dark order.”