[.ca] Death of Superman (ISBN 185286480X)

From Amazon.co.uk:
There was an issue of Secret Origins that purported to have the most popular cover in the history of comics: it featured monkeys, including one in tears, and a cover blurb that posed a question. Inside, the editor explained that these were just three of the seven elements that the publishers had determined would help sell comics. The Death of Superman storyline was one of the biggest "events" in the history of comics; that it was handled clumsily, with the same thought process that leads to crying monkeys, is something not much brought up. Surely the death of the biggest character in the DC Universe deserves better than this: a multi-issue, multi-title crossover that pits the Man of Steel against an unknown being of unknown abilities (um, well, he was very strong) whose sole purpose was to smash up whatever got into his path. No amount of good writing could save this story, and none did--as inevitably as Doomsday made his way across the countryside, the series marched on to its pre-ordained conclusion. With no back story and a minimal supporting cast, the story was flat (the final instalment was told entirely in splash pages, though the art is nothing to celebrate); that Superman returned a mere few months later (his place taken, for a time, by a few weak alternatives) just means that, someday, the powers-that-be might just try the whole thing again. --Randy Silver