30 years ago, the unthinkable happened. The Man of Steel died fighting Doomsday.
To celebrate the special anniversary of this genre-defining moment, 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” no.1. Available at comic shops on November 8, “The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special” no.1 features 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 (W & A), Brett Breeding (A), Brad Anderson (C), and John Workman (L) – 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 (W), Butch Guice (A), Glenn Whitmore (C), and Rob Leigh (L) – The epic battle between Superman and Doomsday from the Guardians’ perspective.
- “Time” by Louise Simonson (W), Jon Bogdanove (A), Glenn Whitmore (C), and Rob Leigh (L) – The story of how the death of Superman looked from John Henry Irons’s perspective.
- “Above and Beyond” by Jerry Ordway (W), Tom Grummett (P), Doug Hazlewood (I), Glenn Whitmore (C), and Rob Leigh (L) – 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.
“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 no.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,” writer and artist Dan Jurgens said in a statement.
Jurgens continued in saying “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.”
Jurgens said that he’s not alone in that experience.
“It’s common for the entire team of writers and artists who worked on Superman at the time,” said Jurgens. “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.
According to Jurgens, it’s a great pleasure to get back together with the story’s original creative teams to “celebrate a truly exciting time in comics” all these years later.
“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,” Jurgens said. “Most of all, we hope all of you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it all together.”
Highlighting the milestone, “The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special” no.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.
“The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special” no.1 includes nine 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.
“The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special” no.1 will be available at comic shops on November 8 and fans are encouraged to order by FOC on Sunday, August 28, to ensure they are able to receive their copy.
