So Superman was in a coma? He's one heavy sleeper.
The Return of Bruce Wayne in April!
- Thread starter Admiral_Young
- Start date
Yes supposedly Clark was in a type of coma for several weeks after his fight with Doomsday and since he was buried his body was unable to soak up solar energy from the sun. I'm pretty sure though that this factor was retconned later in the Return of Superman arc and that Death of Superman intended Clark to be dead. The writers needed a way to bring Superman back after they killed him and this is what they decided to come up.
This was brought up in the audio commentary for Superman/Doomsday by Bruce Timm as he attempted to explain why the fight between Superman and Doomsday occured at night time in the film instead of in the day like in the comics, they were trying to find a way to touch on the solar energy thing.
This was brought up in the audio commentary for Superman/Doomsday by Bruce Timm as he attempted to explain why the fight between Superman and Doomsday occured at night time in the film instead of in the day like in the comics, they were trying to find a way to touch on the solar energy thing.
I could have sworn that they specifically said that Superman was dead. As in dead-dead. I remember a conversation between the Eradicator and the returned Supes (in Superman 82, I believe). The Eradicator said how he was able to come into being and Supes questioned if he really died, to which the Eradicator said "No, Ka-El. You were dead." I don't have the trade in front of me, so I cannot check. But I am pretty sure he was dead and the Eradicator jumpstarted him when he syphoned off Supes body.
If that has since been retconned, I cannot speak to that.
If that has since been retconned, I cannot speak to that.
^ I think I remember that too, Torg.
And even after Blackest Night is over, I hope they keep all the different colored Corps. At least the good ones (Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet).
And even after Blackest Night is over, I hope they keep all the different colored Corps. At least the good ones (Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet).
Okay, I had to dig it up from my collection, but Clark's resurrection is explained by Dr. Occult in Action Comics 692.
(I hope I haven't broken any rules by the amount of text I quoted. Not sure how that works exactly.)
And so I don't reprint the text of the entire book here, Occult goes on to explain how Jonathon Kent convinces his son to fight his way back to the land of the living, and how the Eradicator places Clark's body in the "Kryptonian Regeneration Matrix" and eventually sacrificed his life to save Clark from the blast of the deadly Kryptonite X.
So, biologically speaking, he was only mostly dead, but well on his way to being all dead. Spiritually, he was dead, dead, deadinsky, but not passed on to his final reward. And apparently, a lot of sun won't really help.
(I hope I haven't broken any rules by the amount of text I quoted. Not sure how that works exactly.)
Okay, that's just a mess. It does sound like they were trying to have it both ways, which I guess is what you'd expect from a gimmicky storyline where they "kill" a character that everyone knows is going to come back before too long. Of course it's all a fakeout, he's not really going to be killed off, but they want to pretend the story actually means something rather than just being a gimmick, so they come up with a convoluted explanation for how he really died, honest and for true, even though in practical terms he kinda didn't, since, hey, he's still here!
Anyway, I never read the actual comics, just the novelization. The book probably streamlined things a great deal.
Anyway, I never read the actual comics, just the novelization. The book probably streamlined things a great deal.
That's a very, very interesting theory.
I doubt it'll come out like that, but I would love to see it be so.
I vaguely recall that issue now...and as I explained above DC wanted the initial impact of Superman's Death to feel real, and believe me I thought it was real, being a naive 13 year old, my mom who doesn't read comics assured me that wait a few months and Superman would be back! My mom also said this about Bruce Wayne after Bane broke his back and the wise woman was correct on each account.
I wouldn't call it "a mess". It seems pretty straight forward to me. Basically, his spirit was caught between worlds, until his father, in Adventures... #500, brought him back. Then the regeneration chamber did the rest.
It seems to be one of the more interesting sci-fi resurrections I've seen. I'd wager it is better than Spock's, Trip's, and Carson Beckett's (although, that last one was clever on the part of the writers to use the show's established storyline to pull a fast one).
Christopher, do yourself a favor and check out the trades covering the Death/Funeral/Return. They are great, epic reads.
You can get them in the Death Of Superman Omnibus if you have seventy five bucks laying about...
Or buy each trade independently off Amazon Marketplace/Ebay for 5 bucks each.
Or just read them in the store...
Or just read them in the store...
That's what I do. At least I buy the Starbucks coffee, though.
According to The Return of Superman, when they "find" Clark Kent in the rubble, it's been a month since the Superman/Doomsday battle, which I always thought was absurd. That much time for Superman's absence to be felt, Supergirl, Gangbuster, and Guardian to begin filling in, the new Superman to appear and become trusted, and for the final battle? Really?
Heh... the "Return of Superman" arc was published over about six months, but if you watch the timeline while reading it, it appears that less than two weeks pass between his funeral and his reappearance on the docks in Metropolis.
Superman's funeral is on December 24th, 1992, while the issue of the Daily Planet about how Cyborg Superman saved President Clinton is dated to May 28th, 1993. That's a much more reasonable timeframe for the events, though you'd need a better excuse for Clark's disappearance.
Reading it monthly, at the time, it definitely didn't feel like it was a month. Maybe more like four or five.
If it weren't for the Metropolis Mailbag issue in Superman following the funeral in Man of Steel, I'd put the funeral after Clinton's inauguration in January 1993. While I thought it was cool at the time for Bill and Hillary Clinton to appear in the funeral issue in Man of Steel, realistically President Bush, not President-Elect Clinton, would have been the United States' official representative at Superman's funeral.
Yeah, that wasn't one of Clark's better excuses.
Deep undercover, on assignment? Still not that plausible, but damn sight better than being trapped under a building for a month or more, living off canned goods he found there. Supposedly.
No one's ever said anything to me. Fortunately for me, Barnes & Noble and Borders have free Wi-Fi.
I usually just read them at Barnes in the coffee shop and heh... 9 times out of 10... leave a small stack of books when they close LOL I'm soooo bad.
Oh, snap!
It depends on the bookstore. Places like Borders and Barnes & Noble are not going to care. Smaller stores that don't have a coffee shop attached to it probably will.
I liked how that was done in the Superman: Doomsday movie: Clark was on assignment to the Middle East at the time the Doomsday thing went down, so everyone assumed he'd been killed there.Yeah, that wasn't one of Clark's better excuses.
Deep undercover, on assignment? Still not that plausible, but damn sight better than being trapped under a building for a month or more, living off canned goods he found there. Supposedly.
They didn't assume that Clark was killed in Afghanistan but missing in action I believe is what Perry said to Lois.
The only time I've ever been bothered at a Chapters is this one time earlier this summer when this older clerk came up to me and said that soon all the graphic novels are going to be sealed up. Well it's been about seven months since he said that and while some are, really all the new shipments, the rest aren't and when has that ever stopped me in the past? LOL
The only time I've ever been bothered at a Chapters is this one time earlier this summer when this older clerk came up to me and said that soon all the graphic novels are going to be sealed up. Well it's been about seven months since he said that and while some are, really all the new shipments, the rest aren't and when has that ever stopped me in the past? LOL
