Last time we saw Doomsday, he was ganged up by Kryptonian after Kryptonian, beaten down, and then taken into Project 7734 labs to be overlooked by Sam Lane and Lex Luthor. Both discussed potential regarding the archaic Kryptonian death machine. Other than that, we see references here and there to the lab experiment gone wrong and some appearances on covers (::coughs:: Adventure Comics 518 ::coughs::). End of story for this character then, right? Wrong.
Now apparently he's coming back in January with the proposed "Reign of Doomsday" story arc starting with Steel #1 . Evidently the tale continues on in titles such as Outsiders #37, Justice League of America #55 and Superboy #6. From there, its going to be linked up to a larger event of some kind. As far as this goes, I really just have questions as to what bigger event could he be coming up against? And look at what titles are part of the story. Outsiders. Justice League. Superboy. What's the common denominator? All these stories have characters that came out of Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday and the resulting "Reign of the Supermen" arc. The Outsiders have the Eradicator. The Justice League at times has John Henry Irons. Recently in Brightest Day there has been the revival of the Cyborg Superman. And Superboy, well that goes without saying.
All this points into a direction I see of all the events concerning Superman, from 1993 to 1994, coming full circle now if one looks at the issues that are being represented in the upcoming arc. And it begs the question then of what plans the powers that be have for Doomsday for the upcoming future? I'm one of probably the few in all comic-fandom who actually likes Doomsday despite the nature of his reactive-adaptive powers. The problem with such a character is, his power only increases and increases with each successive "death" that he suffers. While he's not completely invincible, he nevertheless does have the ability to overcome and adapt to situations he previously could not handle. He's the epitome of the statement that what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. And for a long time I think that's what had the readers worried of his character. I mean, what if he got so strong to the point that he could challenge the Spectre or even the Presence?
That's what stokes my curiosity for this arc because it makes me wonder just how long it can bring Doomsday's popularity again before writer and fan alike just abandon him for fear of becoming too powerful. It kind of almost makes you think there's only two ways for this Reign to go. Send him back to the very end of time and have Entropy destroy him, or keep him in the normal timeline and just have him wreck havoc over and over. So, can this event be good for him and get him back into steady appearances again, or will it be just a temporary spurt of popularity that bottlenecks like it has in the past for Doomsday?
I encourage your thoughts people! Post away!
Doomsday
Character » Doomsday appears in 548 issues.
Doomsday is a seemingly unstoppable behemoth who adapts his physical form to overcome and destroy anything or anyone in his path. He is best known for being the murderer of Superman in the "Death of Superman" storyline.
Reign of Doomsday - Can it get Doomsday back on the fast track?
No...
While Doomsday might be a good character, there's a limit to what you can do with him. He can't really have character development, you can't keep killing Superman, and it begins to look like PIS when Doomsday is defeated. So, while I might be sad to say this, Doomsday's days are numbered.
@Icarusflies said:
" No... While Doomsday might be a good character, there's a limit to what you can do with him. He can't really have character development, you can't keep killing Superman, and it begins to look like PIS when Doomsday is defeated. So, while I might be sad to say this, Doomsday's days are numbered. "...but we wanna be proven wrong.
I am going to be keeping an eye on this event as Doomsday is one of my favourite villains. I think it has potential but only in the right hands. Also with the Justice League #55 issue inclusion, it probably isn't just due to the fact Steel was a one time member of the League. Supergirl is currently a member of the JLA so that's probably the reason for the inclusion of the Justice League. However, there hasn't been any evidence as to what the last issue of the Reign of Doomsday will be. I hope it's either in Action Comics or Superman. Action Comics because it was probably Lex that made all those enhancements to Doomsday so he will now have to contend with this mistake. Also it would fit in with Lex having to fight the biggest and baddest villains in the DCU. It could work in Superman as the creature will be tracking him down due to the hatred it has for Superman. The fight would be dangerous and damaging, reminiscent of the Death of Superman. I hope that the final issue of Reign of Doomsday is in one of these issues IMO.
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