Back in 1993, Superman died while fighting Doomsday. In the comics, the world mourned the death of the Man of Steel, and soon saw other Supermen rise to take his place. The real Superman eventually returned to life, and his adventures continued. That was in the previous comic continuity. In the current continuity, which started in 2011, Superman is dying again. This time, his death and return is something different.

There will be some spoilers for Superman #52, DC Universe: Rebirth #1, and Superman: Rebirth #1.

Superman has had a tough time lately. His secret identity was exposed to the world, he started to lose his powers, discovered his cells had mutated so he could no longer absorb sunlight, and had to use Kryptonite to destroy the mutated cells. His powers returned, to a degree, but now he had Kryptonite poisoning, which was killing him. If all that wasn't bad enough, a new threat arrived, and Superman used his solar blast to counter his foe's blast to take him out.

Superman was able to say his final goodbyes to his loved ones before his body disintegrated. He had already accepted that the Kryptonite poisoning was killing him so this final sacrifice was something he did without a second thought. As the energy within was expelled (and you'll notice some hit Lois Lane and Lana Lang), Superman died.

Strangely enough, there is another Superman in the world. When the DC Universe was rebooted in 2011 and became known as The New 52, the previous comic universe changed. The heroes were younger and didn't have all the experiences and relationships they had before. It turned out the Superman from the pre-New 52 continuity survived as a result of a crossover story called Convergence. This Superman was still married to Lois and had a son they called Jon. They lived, in secret, in the New 52 Universe.

The existence of this older Superman was revealed to the New 52 version during this last battle. He was later approached by a mysterious figure calling himself Mr. Oz who told him, "You and your family are not what you believe you are, and neither was the fallen Superman." With the revelation that Wally West from the old continuity was still alive, this brings into question how there could be two different Supermen? Mr. Oz's world could mean that the New 52 Superman wasn't actually the real Superman and the older version is actually the true one. This is a concern for a later day.

The fallen Superman was buried and honored, but the older version knew death wasn't necessarily the end for a Kryptonian. When he was killed by Doomsday, his body was revived in a Kryptonian regeneration matrix. With the help of Lana Lang, he took the remains of the fallen Superman to this world's Fortress of Solitude. Unfortunately, this Fortress did not contain a regeneration matrix.

The fallen Superman is dead and will remain so. The older Kal-El will honor the sacrifice and memory and reclaim the mantle of Superman.

Superman is dead, but the true Superman is back where he belongs.

"Superman is dead, but the true Superman is back where he belongs."

I could not have said it better myself. Long live the TRUE Superman!

Well said. Oz part in this is the most important thing of all. Dying to get the answers to this.

I just want to know who the hell Mr.Oz is

@tensor: I think people are reading too much into what he said. I think all he meant is that Clark and Lois are on their world not a parallel one. It's just has been heavily altered by Manhattan. It would be ridiculous for DC to introduce pre 52 Clark and then be like "FAKE OUT". Though I wonder who n52 Lois and Clark are. A lot of theories explain two Clarks but not two Lois Lanes.

@kiba: But how is there another Lois? How does that work?

Superman is dead, but the true Superman is back where he belongs.

I hope this plays out slowly and takes the time it needs to develop properly. What I would like to see is a connection between N52 Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes which would justify Saturn Girl's Rebirth words "Everything is going to be fine".

Superman is dead, but dont worry, it hardly matters because there is another one, and he has a beard.

So there were two Supermen and two Lois Lanes?

Geoff Johns in an interview also said of the Superman mystery brought up in rebirth that the way the new 52 Superman 'died' is peculiar. That he kind of exploded with energy and just left a pile of ash so that factors into the mystery of the two Supermen as well since rebirth makes it that they are supposed to be the same character.

I like new 52 Superman.

"Superman is dead, but the true Superman is back where he belongs."

And he'll be as boring as always.

I'll be honest. I was hoping a fresh start with simplified continuity would be the case with the New 52. I dealt with some characterizations I didn't like or like as much because it was a fresh take.

Now we're back to having all the universes and alternate takes and over complicated and muddled continuity. I would have preferred New 52 Clark become a bit more like our old Superman then have to deal with alternate universes and the like. Ah well, I guess I can find a more worthy publisher for my money.

I'm so glad Darkhorse, IDW, Image, Valiant and other independents are so prominent nowadays, because Marvel and DC want to keep screwing things up.

@risingbean: I get where you're coming from but I think it's unfair to say Marvel and DC are screwing up. It's impossible to have characters that are 80 years old and have been written by hundreds of different writers without things being "confused and muddled".

"Superman is dead, but the true Superman is back where he belongs."

why did you go there? the review shouldn't have ended with those words. New 52 Superman was far more interesting and enjoyful than Post Crisis Superman. WTF DC? you were doing great with that Superman. And you bring this? And to remark it you give him man of steel's outfit?

@kiba: Dc made the decision to start fresh. Except they didn't. GL and Batman were selling well so the New 52 was a quasi reboot for them. Strike for DC for not having the balls to go all out. Then they went right back to making things over complicated and their "Story over continuity" concept doesn't sit well with me. It's been about 5 years and we don't have a fresh start. We have a muddled timeline with some out of continuity titles and now other universe beings are mingling and taking over and if that's going to be the case, rebooting was unneeded to begin with.

As far as Marvel, their mistake is killing/replacing most of my favorites in some twisted overly political correct agenda. 4/5 of my favorites have been replaced, and one just came back from that. So Marvel doesn't deserve nor shall receive my money because they don't respect my heroes.

New 52 supes will be back. Via Hydra

##@kiba: what the heck are you talking about? the true Superman ? really. this is what's wrong with today's fans. you are all some entitled, grown manbabies who cry about things being the same yet when you are given something different you oppose it.

• In 2011 DC decides to reboot their universe. Action Comics number 1 comes out with a younger, edgier Superman that many many many fans embrace. Keep in mind at this point we've had plenty of stories with the married Superman. Plenty. DC didn't know what to do with him. They had him 'WALKING' the earth like that Kung Fu guy for God's sake!
• Fast forward to 2016 and the all wise Geoff Johns (and company) decide it would be best to BACKTRACK. Thinking about it, no wonder he gave New52 Superman those lame ass powers where he exploded and turned human. what a load of you know what that was!
• This is a slap in the face to all those fans that embraced the New52! simply put they did not stick to their guns. is it because of fans like you? in big part yeah. but also because Geoff Johns loves to backpedal everything. he's the master of rebooting stuff for that mighty dollar. He did it with Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, the JSA, and many others.
• The worst part is that in doing stunts like these, he creates more messes. I'm sure he plans to kill New52 Lois Lane. But he makes sure to make money off of that first. how? well by making her Superwoman, but wait, her powers are killing her!! sound familiar?
• so the bottom line is that New52 Superman dies unceremoniously, where was the JLA? why didn't we see Barry, Arthur, Cyborg, Hal and all of Superman's friends mourn him properly? you know why, because it was necessary to DOWNPLAY his death for the benefit of not making a fuss. So that the manbabies all rejoice in the old universe Superman being back in a world that is not even his, with a Bruce Wayne that isn't even his old friend.

This is all a huge expensive clusterBJORK! yeah, celebrate you tools!

@risingbean: "rebooting was unneeded to begin with."

I think a lot of fans thought that from the start. Like I said I get where you're coming from and mostly I agree with you but I think the start fresh idea is something that should be explored in DC Earth One line, not by replacing a rich history of great characters.

And I could not agree more with your opinion of Marvel. They've ticked me off a long time ago and I see nothing that'll make me come back anytime soon.

@kiba: What is funny is I really enjoy the Earth 1 line. (at least Batman and Superman. I've yet to bother with Titans or WW)

I'd have been ok with a lack of reboot. While I do like starting from the ground floor and stuff like the Ultimate Marvel universe and the DC reboot caught my attention, I wouldn't have minded if DC didn't kill off the Post Crisis. Sadly Marvel lost confidence in the Ultimate line, and DC has been wishy washy in the new continuity. I'll probably give chances to stuff I really enjoyed such as the Flash, but DC is diminishing their space on my bookshelf with moves like this.

A fistbump on Marvel. If they looked to their studio arm and see that new stories with classic characters who remain true to their history sells, they would be on the right track.

Hopefully he won't be but I'm not holding my breath

@blackdog2009: excuse you but I was never crying about things being the "same". In fact I've disliked the n52 for a while now. Especially a "younger, edgier" Superman. IMO Superman is the measuring stick for all heroes, the hero of heroes and that's what I see in Pre 52 Clark. The n52 Clark? Just a guy with a S on his chest. I'm sincerely sorry you've lost a character you and "many many many" fans liked but I'm not going to stop being happy the character I and many many many many fans liked is back.

@risingbean: "A fistbump on Marvel. If they looked to their studio arm and see that new stories with classic characters who remain true to their history sells, they would be on the right track."

Exactly!!! The movies and television shows are great. I was so happy when I found out the comic guys no longer have say in what's happening over there.

@kiba: "just a guy with an S" yeah, right. that right there throws your argument out the window. you didn't read New52 Superman. If you did you wouldn't say that.

Flawed, not to your liking, different ... yeah, I can buy all that but "just a guy with an S" gtfoh .

@micah007123 said:

I think the stories with Lex, both Lois's and the new Superboy will be good, but Superman will just remind people why DC rebooted Superman and made him more edgy. That's way the best Superman stories are all non-canon or mini-series.

@iragexcudder said:

Pssst.

HAIL DARKSEID!

@blackdog2009: not every issue that came out with him in it no but I've read a good amount to give a fair opinion of and in my opinion yes he's a guy with an S and that's it. Morrisons work on action, all of JL with the exception of the latest trade and the first trade from SM/WW was more than enough for me. Heck most people of these forums say his behavior in Truth was not Superman by any means. Again I'm sorry you lost a character you liked and I'm not going to stop being happy my character is back, along with everything I liked about DC, but you do not have to take it personal or attack others who don't share your views. Have a nice day.

The fans got what they wanted.

Do not like the way this was worded

@kiba: You know, I actually liked Morrison's run on Superman. I think the biggest issue is they tried so hard to do new stuff at the expense of tradition and the continuity of the trades not being linear hurt him. I kid you not, I think I have a trade or two where you need to stop reading midway and go to another.

I'm with you on the Marvel stuff. I feel their comics arm doesn't know what the hell it's doing. Feige has a pretty good record so my feeling is let him do his thing.

@laabitres:Two posts above yours a guy got a language warning and you drop an F bomb. Common sense much?

The failed dull New 52 aberration known loosely as "Superman" ain't coming back with the S shield. That would just be pointless. The kid is a fifth wheel.

@risingbean: it had its moments for sure. I grin a little every time I think of Clark telling Sam Lane that guns are for sissies.

Boo this is terrible

When I started reading the new 52 two years ago I started with Action Comics, then read batman/superman and superman/Wonder Woman. The only superman I know died so "classic" supes won't get my $2.99 even once a month let alone 2 or three times with the other titles.

Way to go @G-Man, putting a goddamn huge spoiler in the title in the center of Comic Vine.

I wonder if Jordan Elliot(Pre-crisis superman) will return one day too.

Also looks like pre-52 current story is pretty much the same as the pre-crisis,will every old version of superman retire ,marry with louis lane and have a son?

Last time they killed Superman they sold a hell of a lot more comics....... I mean a hell of a lot more comics.

@emers109: As did I

@comicace3: Outspoken fans got what wanted. I never asked for this to happen

Thought...Supppsedly Manhattans purpose was stealing the relationships...the love...the Hope from our heroes.

What better way to do this than give us a fake Superman who was "dark, edgy" etc.

Superman is the heart of the DC universe whether we find him boring or not.

My theory is the return of Wally West...of the true Superman will cause truth to be unveiled.

Anyone even semi keeping up with DC knew Superman was dead though.

People will complain about how confusing this is, keep buying comics, and then continue the cycle.

They sold a hell of a lot more, had crazy ass lines around the block, and it was all over the news. This blah clownish version? Except for a few salty fans on the internet--crickets.

*sigh*, poor poor confused child. There are plenty of reasons why this isn't the same as that time, but I guess ignoring the facts, lets you enjoy this delusional dream world of yours. And I'm not one to break down that view, despite how silly it is.

@saintwildcard: Hours ago I was "old," and now I'm a child. Stay classy, bitter N00b52-ers.

Delusional? You seem to be hallucinating things that I didn't write. What in my post was counter-factual? How is it silly? It's literally what happened (and didn't happen). I was expounding on what that poster wrote. There is no "view" to break down.