Sometimes, it doesn't pay to be Superman. In the Silver Age, he (or someone he was close to) died every other issue, it seemed. I read them as a kid and was always deeply affected, even if it was an imaginary story. Despite the fact that characters rarely stayed dead for long in the Silver Age (with the exception of a couple of Legion characters) and they certainly weren't going to kill off their premiere character, I always bought the premise of mortal danger. I had to part with my 12˘ because what if it was true? What if Superman was really dead? Or Lois Lane? Or Clark Kent? Or – hurry, gimme the comic!
To my relief, there was always a gimmick involved, whether it was imaginary, a dream, or a clever ruse. Superman wasn't really dead. Lois was still writing up scoops. Clark was still playing second fiddle to his alter ego. Phew!
A glance at the cover gallery of Big Blue will tell the tale. In Superman #149, Lex Luthor achieves his goal of killing Superman. Well, sort of. Lex gets his in the end and Superman is still around to star in next month's issue.
His good health doesn't last long. Superman #156 shows him dying yet again. The cover shouts, "Not a hoax! Not a dream!" to get those dimes and pennies out of kids' hands as fast as possible. He's dying from Virus X! Oh, no! The worst part about this issue? I don't own it, so I just know if he really dies this time! After all, it isn't a hoax! It isn't a dream! It is on my want list!
For a change of pace, how about checking out Superman's funeral in Action #365? Apparently, he died in #364 of Kryptonian leprosy. Man, I did not see that coming. So many unknown diseases, all of which find their way to the not-so-invulnerable Superman. Death is everywhere!
Superman #213 has a very dead-looking Superman on the cover, along with a note on a steel door that says "This vault to be opened only in the event of my DEATH!! Superman." The 'n' on Superman trails off, as if he died writing it. I used that trailing-off device constantly when I was a kid to simulate a dying person writing a note. Why was I writing such notes? I was a weird kid; let's leave it at that. The story in this issue has a great twist that leaves Superman very much alive and Lex Luthor ruing the day he decided to kill Big Blue. There's even a guest appearance by a Legionnaire.
Sometimes, it's not Superman who dies, but those close to him. A favorite target is Lois Lane. If it was an imaginary story, Lois probably quaked in her boots because nothing was as fun as showing Superman mourning her death on the cover – always with a little super child to mourn along. Lois dies in Superman #194, while Supes and his son stare stoically at a carving of her face on a mountain. It happens again in #215 where Superman and his daughter grieve next to her gravestone. Even I'll admit that #215 is a bit of a twisted tale as Lois is disintegrated, their daughter "Laney" (I'm not kidding) is exposed to red Kryptonite and sent to a parallel earth and the Superman from that earth switches places with Laney's dad so that one Superman can have his family back and the other can live life as a bachelor. Combine death with an imaginary tale and you have no idea what will happen!
One of my favorites as a kid involved the death of Clark Kent. Superman #210 tells you right on the cover that it's phony, but I loved the twists that story took. Superman pretends to be a fortune-telling swami, Dr. Astar, in order to catch a crook. Lois catches him in his new guise (with a sexy goatee and a turban) and falls for the swami instantly. Liking the attention his new secret identity is getting, Superman fakes Clark Kent's suicidal leap over and falls in front of the entire Daily Planet gang. Dr. Astar starts dating Lois and everything would be fine except she can't get Clark out of her thoughts. His death made him far more desirable than he was in life and no matter what Astar does, Lois just can't quite fall in love. She has a shrine to Clark Kent in her apartment and that's the last straw for Astar. He uses his crystal ball to predict Clark's return and presto chango, there he is! It's a miracle (the explanation is that Aquaman saved him)! Lois kisses him for several panels, admires Clark's new, hipper wardrobe (a turtleneck instead of a tie? Why, Clark, you animal!), and everyone is happy.
Deaths in comics may not have been quite the nail-biters they purported to be, but they sure made for great stories and impossible-to-resist covers!
Joanna Sandsmark - A former writer for DC Comics and TV’s Weird Science, Joanna Sandsmark is also the author of The Wisdom of Yo Meow Ma, A Girl’s Best Friend, 10 Spiritual Lessons You Can Learn From Your Cat, 10 Spiritual Lessons You Can Learn From Your Dog, and Explore Your Destiny With Runes. If you'd like to learn more, including a detailed bio and more information about Joanna's books, please visit her Web site or visit her blog.
This is a guest article. The thoughts and opinions in this piece are those of their author and are not necessarily the thoughts of the Certified Collectibles Group.
