DC Reveals The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special, Will Introduce New Villain Doombreaker

By Matthew Aguilar - July 27, 2022 12:00 pm EDT

It's hard to fathom that it's been 30 years since The Death of Superman rocked the comics landscape, and DC is celebrating the legendary story with an 80-page special issue with all new stories from the original creative teams that brought that iconic story to life. The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1 will celebrate the legendary battle between Superman and Doomsday with four all-new stories from the teams of Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding, Roger Stern and Butch Guice, Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove, and Jerry Ordway and Tom Grummett, and the issue will also introduce a brand new villain named Doombreaker to the DC Universe. You can get your first look at the new special starting on the next slide, and you can read the full issue when it hits comic stores on November 8th.

The special reunites the original creative teams from The Death of Superman in four new stories that explore the events of the original story from a unique point of view, including Clark and Lois' son Jonathan Kent. Steel, Guardian, and Ma and Pa Kent are also in the mix, and you can find the full rundown of all four stories below.

● "The Life of Superman" by Dan Jurgens (W & A), Brett Breeding (A), Brad Anderson (C), and John Workman (L) – A young Jon Kent finds out in school that his dad had died years earlier, as his parents never told him about that fateful day. In the midst of dealing with this emotional news, Jon and Clark need to team up to fight a new villain connected to Doomsday called
DOOMBREAKER.
● "Standing Guard" by Roger Stern (W), Butch Guice (A), Glenn Whitmore (C), and Rob Leigh (L) – The epic battle between Superman and Doomsday from the Guardians' perspective.
● "Time" by Louise Simonson (W), Jon Bogdanove (A), Glenn Whitmore (C), and Rob Leigh (L) – The story of how the death of Superman looked from John Henry Irons's perspective.
● "Above and Beyond" by Jerry Ordway (W), Tom Grummett (P), Doug Hazelwood (I), Glenn Whitmore (C), and Rob Leigh (L) – A powerful story of Ma and Pa Kent watching their son fight Doomsday live on television and going through Clark's photo albums with the feeling that their son always prevails.

Jurgens couldn't be more thrilled to reunite with the original team behind the original story, and he's also excited to provide those who weren't around when that original story hit a perfect entryway into one of comics' biggest moments in time.

"Even now, thirty after the 'Death of Superman' first came out, every single convention or store appearance I do has at least one person who comes up to me with Superman #75 or the first 'Death of Superman' collected edition and says, 'This is the book that got me into comics. And I'm still here, reading, all these years later.' Most times, it's more than one. Sometimes, multiple people arrive at my table at the same time and share their memories, which is always fun to experience," Jurgens said.

"Their tales are often quite similar. Typically, media coverage of Superman's death compelled them or a parent to drop by a local store to pick [the issue] up. In some cases, their parents let them skip school the day of the book's release so they could stand in line to get a copy. Some talk of how their store was sold out and they spent days looking all over town to find one. I'm not alone in that experience. It's common for the entire team of writers and artists who worked on Superman at the time," Jurgens said. "It was a singularly unique moment in comics, when a particular story was covered by every form of national and local media alike. It's hard to tell people what those days were like, but every comic shop in the country had long lines of people outside the door waiting to buy THAT BOOK."

"All these years later, it's a great pleasure to get back together with the story's original creative teams to celebrate a truly exciting time in comics. For those of you who remember those days, The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special will reignite some memories. For those who weren't around to experience it, well...we hope you get a hint of what it was like. Most of all, we hope all of you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed putting it all together," Jurgens said.

You can find the official description for the 30th anniversary special below.

THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1
30 years ago, the unthinkable happened. The Man of Steel died. After sacrificing himself to stop the unstoppable global threat, Doomsday, Metropolis and the rest of the DC Universe mourned the loss of their greatest hero. To mark this monumental moment in comics, DC has reunited the complete creative team behind the original event for four brand-new stories. Led by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding, the special kicks off with a new Superman story and villain...DOOMBREAKER! Followed by a series of short stories revisiting some of Superman's greatest allies and exclusive pinups done by some of comics' greatest artistic talent including LEE WEEKS, GABRIEL RODRIGUEZ, BILL SIENKIEWICZ, and WALTER SIMONSON.

Written by DAN JURGENS, ROGER STERN, LOUISE SIMONSON, and JERRY ORDWAY
Art by DAN JURGENS, BRETT BREEDING, BUTCH GUICE, JON BOGDANOVE, TOM GRUMMETT, and more!
Cover by DAN JURGENS and BRETT BREEDING
Open Order Variant Cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
Jon Kent Variant Cover by DAN MORA
Funeral for a Friend Variant Cover by IVAN REIS and DANNY MIKI
Doomsday Die-Cut Variant Cover by FRANCESCO MATTINA

1:25 Doomsday Variant Cover by FRANCESCO MATTINA
1:50 Variant Cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
1:00 Foil Variant Cover by DAN JURGENS and BRETT BREEDING
Premium Polybag Variant (w/armband) featuring main cover by DAN JURGENS and BRETT BREEDING
inside
$10.99 US | 80 PAGES
ON SALE 11/8/22

The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition will also include Superman: Day of Doom #1 – 4 for the first time ever, and will hit comic shops and bookstores on December 6th. There will also be a Superman #75 Special Edition that will feature the original story, and that will hit comic stores on November 1st.

Are you excited for the new Death of Superman special? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things DC and comics with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!