The Death of Superman and Funeral for a Friend

In the early ‘90s, DC Comics, facing a changing comics market with the rise of Image Comics and the popularization of the grim ‘n’ gritty antihero, replaced the World’s Finest team of Superman Clark Kent and Batman Bruce Wayne with upstart newcomers before ultimately restoring the heroes to their original roles and reaffirming their importance. We’re spending the summer looking at these mega-epics, beginning with the “Death of Superman” arc. But once the senseless bloodbath is over and the Man of Steel and Doomsday are down for the count, we get to the real heart of the matter: “Funeral for a Friend,” in which superheroes, loved ones, and ordinary citizens of Metropolis alike must mourn the loss of their greatest hero and come to terms with living in a World Without a Superman. We’ll look at the first half of the death and return of Superman, share opinions about the Triangle Era of Superman comics, and discuss the real-world media frenzy that fueled sales of Superman #75 (and the lack of said frenzy that made Adventures of Superman #500 the common dollar-bin find it is today).Discussed in this episode: Action Comics #684-686, Adventures of Superman #497-500, Superman #74-77, Superman: The Man of Steel #18-21, Justice League America #69, Superman: The Legacy #1, plus Newstime, an in-universe glossy magazine commemorating the event