The "Death of DC Comics, and forever changed how death operates in superhero comics. First published between 1992 and 1993, it chronicled Superman's fatal battle with Doomsday ("Doomsday!"), the entire superhero community's response to his death ("Funeral for a Friend"), and the emergence of four characters all claiming to be Superman ("Reign of the Supermen!"). What also made the event remarkable was that it was told across four different Superman titles at DC: Superman, The Adventures of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman: The Man of Steel, in addition to issues from Green Lantern and Justice League America. As such, the creative team behind "The Death of Superman" was larger than most crossovers', featuring the talents of Dan Jurgens, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern, Jerry Ordway, Karl Kesel, Tom Grummett, Jon Bogdanove, Jackson Guice, Brett Breeding, and more.
Now, the core creative team behind "The Death of Superman" has reunited for a 30th Anniversary Special featuring new stories that ruminate on the legacy of the event, as well as introduce a new villain named Doombreaker. The Death of Superman: 30th Anniversary Special #1 will contain 4 stories – a Jon Kent-centered story called "The Life of Superman" by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding, along with "Above and Beyond" by Jerry Ordway, Tom Grummett, and Doug Hazlewood, "Standing Guard" by Roger Stern, and Butch Guice, followed by "Time" by Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove. In anticipation for the 80 page special, which releases on November 8th, 2022, we spoke to Dan Jurgens about the history behind the event, and what went into its anniversary special.
Screen Rant: Why do another special about The Death of Superman right now? And how did this special come about?
Dan Jurgens: It came about because we started to realize we were kind of hitting the 30 year mark. And once you get that far removed from the original project – I think we have a lot of people out there who are aware of this story, but weren't necessarily there when it first came out. So what we started to talk about was this idea of a project that if you were there at the time, and saw just kind of how crazy everything was, that we could do something that would appeal to you, as that reader and say, "Well, here's what it was like, you this," and they're gonna go "Yeah, I that, that was a lot of fun, that was a crazy time." And by the same token, do a bit of a commentary so that for readers who weren't there at that time, we could build some things into this particular story. And let them know what it was like. Because obviously, we have a number of readers who may not have been there in 92, when the story first came out, but have read the trade paperback or seen the animated movies, or whatever it might be since. And this just gives us a chance for them to see a different aspect of it. And also, kind of see, again, just what things were like at that time. And we build some of that commentary into this story, of course.
Screen Rant: Just as a creative, how has the meaning of this event changed for you over time? And what does it mean to you now?
Dan Jurgens: In of meaning, I would say that at the time, I won't say it was just a story, because we knew it was a special story. But it was something that we were doing at the time that I always knew would live in that moment. But that I thought that moment would probably last a year or two, something like that. And then you know, we continue to move on and do different stories. I could not have appreciated at that time how it would last and endure this many years. So I would then say that I think that in of meaning, for me, that meaning has changed just because it has endured. From a career perspective, I look back on it and realize [it's] what I am most known for and most ed for. And if that isn't the most notable thing, it's certainly one of them. So it takes on meaning from that standpoint. As I look back on it more and more, I think the whole entire storyline from "Death Of" through "Funeral for a Friend" through "Reign of the Supermen," is really damn good comic storytelling. And I don't say that to pat myself on the back. I do that for the other creators who were working together on this, that I think it was really, exceptionally good superhero comics that were told in such a specific way that people can still care for it all these years later.
Screen Rant: Absolutely. And I think also it's very interesting how the event has lived on, even through a specific artistic vernacular– I'm thinking of your Justice League: Road to Dark Crisis issue where we see Dick Grayson and Jon Kent talk about Clark no longer being there. With your art, it brings you back to that moment. And so it's been a very, very interesting part of the legacy of this event.
Dan Jurgens: Yeah, it's a little weird, because when I drew that, I was still working on the Jon Kent story for the anniversary issue. And then Josh Williamson wrote that one and of course, he had a couple of flashbacks in there to the funeral scene and everybody standing on the rooftop, looking down at the funeral procession, things like that. And it's like, well, I'm definitely getting my dose of that 30 years ago flavor here. So it was fun to do that and see a different perspective on it as well.
Screen Rant: And just to continue on with perspective, your portion of the special is focused on Jon Kent's point of view. Tell us about what went into that decision to tell the story from Jon's perspective?
Dan Jurgens: Well, I think it's a couple of things. But the biggest one was, as we put this together, there was that reader who was there 30 years ago, great. Well, I think you'll get some fond memories out of this one. If you weren't there, we hope you will find out a little bit more about what was a big event in the history of comics and enjoy it for what it is. Jon represented that reader. For Jon, I think, there are a lot of things that parents don't necessarily tell their kids. And one of those might be, yes, your father died and came back from the dead. So I thought that was going to be a natural and fun bit to touch on with Jon, where he's sitting in school, he finds out about it, and basically says to his mother, "Why didn't you ever tell me?!" Which I think as kids, we have all said to our parents on occasions, right? And usually, it might be about our crazy old aunt or uncle, or a long lost cousin who's still sitting in prison somewhere. This just happened to be a dad who came back from the dead. But I think Jon then ends up being a very good and logical viewpoint for new readers, as he finds out about what was the Death of Superman, and also gets embroiled in a new adventure now.
Screen Rant: With the Death of Superman, there's an interesting tension going on between death and legacy. When a character dies in comics, there's always the saying that no character stays dead, except for Uncle Ben. And so Superman's story on one hand stopped when he died, but it continued on through the rest of the event through the different perspectives of these characters. And that's now being explored in the 30th Anniversary Special. How does the idea of legacy and death, or the end of one's story, play out against each other?
Dan Jurgens: So if I go back to when we did that story, I don't think the notion of this idea that characters don't stay dead was nearly as ingrained as what it is now. I think now that has become this all encoming shorthand that people use anytime they hear of a character's death. And I think, obviously, that story you referenced earlier that I drew that was written by Josh [Williamson], which was Superman and Nightwing talking about it, that was very much what the commentary was based on. So I look back on it, and in of legacy, I think ours was still the story that was THEE all time death in comics, just because we touch on every aspect of that. That we spent a number of issues without Superman in them. The next couple of months' worth of issues really were built into being a eulogy for the character that then turned into a different sort of adventure overall, when four characters claimed to be Superman coming back. And so still, I would say that in of legacy, if there are any other writers rooms talking about killing a character or something like that, I'm sure that somehow the conversation goes back to "Death of Superman," and what they want to steer away from, or perhaps embrace, one of the two.
Screen Rant: And did you think people were going to believe that Superman was going to stay down at the time?
Dan Jurgens: We certainly wanted to do everything we could to make people think that. I don't know that we necessarily really considered how long they might think it. All I can say is this: in all honesty, when we planned that story, we were really just trying to tell the best Superman story possible, and something that would get into those concepts of who is Superman? What does he mean to us, etcetera, and really addressed that importance of the character. When we planned that whole story out, we did not have a plan as to how he would come back, we didn't have a timeline set as to when he would come back. We kind of assumed that once it would happen, Adventures of Superman #500 would probably be involved. But when I wrote and drew Superman #75, there was no plan in place at all for when or how he would come back. We just hadn't gotten that far. So I think the best way to look at it is to say, "Yeah, we were doing everything we could to deal with the idea of Superman being gone, and dead." And wanted everybody to have faith in that, because that's how we were doing it ourselves.
Screen Rant: Returning back to the special, what's been your favorite part about working on it, just in of also bringing back your collaborators from the original event?
Dan Jurgens: I think that in and of itself was the best part. We kept on phrasing it as "getting the band back together again." And some of that is because if we go back to those days, the way we would work is, this was basically pre-internet. So every Saturday morning, every single person working on the book – when I say book, I mean, the whole Superman line of books – would get a FedEx package in the mail that had photocopies of all the art that had been turned in, scripts, dialogue, whatever. So we could all see what each other was doing. So to get back to this point, we were all working together again. And I could see the scripts come in from Roger [Stern] and Weezie [Simonson] and Jerry [Ordway], and the art come in from Jon [Bogdanove] and Butch [Guice] and Tom [Grummett], it was just great to see that the traffic flow of art and script and story come across my transom again, even though it was electronic on my computer, rather than physical paper coming in on the doorstep.
Screen Rant: Right. It goes back to the creative energy that must have been felt when you had so many different Superman stories and series happening at the same time.
Dan Jurgens: Yeah, very much so. And a lot of it is that when you're in a group like that, we do get to have times where turning out comics can be quite a grind. And yet so when the package would come in, and here's Jon Bogdanove, his latest pages and they're fantastic, or Jerry's, or Grummett's, or Butch's, that it would always I think, fuel me a little more as an artist and say, "Okay, alright, now I've got to keep up with those guys." And you have almost a friendly competition going, but at the same time, you have it going because you don't want to let each other down. And especially when you're firing on all cylinders, and this story is something that is working for everyone involved. And you realize how many people are going to be reading this story. It really was a perpetual cycle of just enthusiasm and energy that kept us going across those books.
The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1 will be released by DC Comics on November 8th, 2022.
