The Death of Superman story line came about when the Superman creative teams were forced to abandon the marriage story they had planned due to the impending premiere of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
Superman #20 is written by Joshua Williamson and drawn by Dan Mora. On Earth, Superman and Superwoman (Lois Lane) fight to contain Doomsday, who is on a rampage through Metropolis. After slaughtering the Parasite, Doomsday resumes his attack on Superman. The action then cuts away to the planet Calaton, where a solitary figure notes “the Ultimate has returned,” and that the time has come for revenge. The figure stands up and pulls a green hood over his face, similar to the one Doomsday wore when he escaped imprisonment.
Doomsday’s Comic Book Origins, Explained
Doomsday Succeeded Where Lex Luthor and Brainiac Failed
In 1992, DC Comics published the epic Death of Superman story, which saw the Man of Steel fight Doomsday across the country. Their battle culminated in Metropolis, where the two seemingly killed each other. Both would eventually return, and in 1994’s Superman: Hunter/Prey, Clark was shocked to learn of Doomsday’s Kryptonian heritage. Created by alien colonizers on Krypton millennia ago, Doomsday is nearly impossible to kill, and when he does, can return to life. Furthermore, Doomsday will be immune to whatever it was that killed him.
Despite being created for one task, Doomsday has proven to have a shelf life, and is still striking fear into Superman’s heart 30+ years later.
Despite being created for one task, Doomsday has proven to have a shelf life, and is still striking fear into Superman’s heart 30+ years later. Doomsday’s origin and backstory was revealed piecemeal over the years, including the aforementioned Hunter/Prey. At that story’s conclusion, Doomsday is deposited at the end of time, where entropy seemingly crushed him out of existence. Thanks to Brainiac, however, Doomsday will survive, returning several times to menace Superman. Most recently, Doomsday was King of Hell, and another variant has been revealed as the latest incarnation of the Time Trapper.
Doomsday’s Legacy of Destruction in the DC Universe Stretches Across Centuries
Even Darkseid Almost Fell to Doomsday
Hunter/Prey not only reveals Doomsday’s origin, but also the extent of his legacy of evil. Doomsday had lived for tens of thousands of years, and laid waste to many worlds in that time, including Apokolips. One of these planets, Calaton, faced Doomsday’s wrath, but also found a way to counter the beast. The planet’s Royal Family sacrificed their lives and humanity to create a being called the Radiant. Immensely powerful, the Radiant engaged Doomsday several times over the span of a thousand years, making him one of the monster’s greatest foes.
Yet the Radiant learned that Doomsday is inevitable, and they too fell, as seen in Hunter/Prey’s final issue. Once again, Calaton was ravaged by Doomsday, and this time it had no champion to protect it. A year after Hunter/Prey’s conclusion, DC released Doomsday Annual #1, composed of short stories detailing Doomsday’s history over the past thousands of years. In the story ‘Requiem,” the Radiant seemingly returns, but only long enough to beg his people to press on and rebuild their society, and not let Doomsday win.
Has the Planet Calaton Lost Its Soul in Pursuing Doomsday?
Calaton Has Suffered Greatly at Doomsday’s Hands
Now, nearly 30 years later, DC is returning to Calaton, to view the aftermath of Doomsday’s attack. Calaton is full of gleaming buildings standing tall in the sky. The planet’s inhabitants seem to have taken the Radiant’s words to heart, but as the scene progresses, it becomes clear that something is very wrong. Before the action transitions to Calaton, Superman asks what could be scarier than Doomsday. The implication is that whatever the people of Calaton are cooking will be worse than Doomsday, and the solitary figure’s vow seems to confirm this.
Can Calaton Truly Kill Doomsday For Good? How Will They Do It?
Since Doomsday Always Returns, Calaton’s Quest For Revenge May Be Over Sooner Than Expected
It is possible they have created a newer, and deadlier, version of the Radiant, one that will not play as nice as the first.
The primary question on fans’ minds is just how Calaton plans to kill Doomsday. The Radiant worked well for a long period of time, and it can be argued that the Radiant is Doomsday’s true foe. Yet what worked once will not work again, and Calaton knows this. It is possible they have created a newer, and deadlier, version of the Radiant, one that will not play as nice as the first. A darker Radiant would certainly fit with the tone at the end of Superman #20, and could possibly be the one to kill DC’s Doomsday for good.
Superman #20 is on sale now from DC Comics!
