World Without a Superman

This story only partially answers the question of what the Earth would be like without Superman. I say only partially answers, because besides a few panels featuring people from around the world, the story is set in Metropolis and doesn't go anywhere else.

What this story does capture, and capture very well, is the emotion surrounding the death of such a beloved person. It picks up right where the end of issue #75 leaves off. The battle between Superman and Doomsday is over, both combatants are dead and now people are trying to do their best to save Superman.

EMS shows up and attempts to use a defibrillator machine to resuscitate Superman, but fails even with the assistance of Dr. Emil Hamilton and Bibbowski aka Bibbo (friends of Superman) and a leftover LexCorp. Security Guard armed with energy blasting armor. Dr. Hamilton tries using a machine that collects energy and then channels it through paddles (like a much more powerful defibrillator machine). Again, it doesn't work. There's a line about how Superman's skin is too strong that needles will just break against it.

As a young reader, these things didn't faze me. Superman died in the issue before. He's dead now. That's it. Remember, I had no idea what I was in store for. There was an internet back then, but my friends and I didn't have computers that could access it and there certainly weren't any comic book news sites to check. Heck, I didn't even follow the Comic Book News that was given away at local comic shops! So, I was happy to follow along with the story line.

The first few issues of the story arch are mostly about Lois dealing with the loss of her fiancé, the Kents handling the death of their son while also watching the world deal with the loss of their greatest hero.  Also, we start to get clues that Lex Luthor Jr. isn't the good guy he's made everyone think he is. **Quick back story on LL Jr.: some time before Doomsday arrived, the public found out that Lex Luthor Sr. had "died" in a plane crash. Not long after that, it was announced that Luthor had a son raised secretly in Australia. We later find out that Lex Jr. is actually Lex Sr. in a cloned body. More on this in another post!** So Lex Jr. is in charge of Superman's funeral. He's arranged a parade that leads passed The Daily Planet to Centennial Park where he's had a statue erected as a memorial to Superman. Here's a pic of the statue:

Martha and Jonathon Kent don't bother trying to get to Metropolis for the funeral because of how crowded it will be. They're not wrong. The whole city turns out, along with an appearance by then President of the United States Bill Clinton along with First Lady Hilary.

As it turns out, with Superman dead, the criminals of Metropolis start coming out of the woodwork thinking the city is theirs for the taking. Before the funeral, Supergirl takes up the mantle of Metropolis' Champion, along with help from some C-List heroes like Gangbuster and The Guardian. Then the day of the funeral arrives and with it, other Super Heroes. The Justice League is back to full strength with the arrival of the core group we're all most familiar with: Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Nightwing, and Captain Marvel.

After the funeral, the heroes come together to figure out a way for them to honor Superman. They find sacks of fan mail filled with letters to Superman from people thanking him for all the good he's done for them, and some with requests for help. One of the letters is from the Mom of the high school kid and baby, who's house was destroyed while the JLA fought Doomsday. The JLA decides to help this woman by rebuilding her house and finding her son, who's gone missing. It turns out that her son, Mitch, after learning of Superman's sacrifice left home for Metropolis to find someone close to Superman and apologize for being a dickhead teenager. The letter also talks about how the father of these two kids left the family some time ago. Guy Gardner goes off on his own to track down the Dad. Soon enough they're all reunited and the JLA is able to complete their own memorial to Superman. It's a nice moment during a time of loss and sadness.

Now, I wouldn't be writing about this series if this is all that happened. Issue 5 of the series ends with a cliffhanger. It seems someone has STOLEN SUPERMAN'S BODY!!!! There's a bunch of suspects to and it's up to Lois Lane, Supergirl, and Inspector Dan "Terrible" Turpin with his partner Captain Maggie Sawyer of Metropolis PD to find it!

Remember Project Cadmus that I briefly mentioned in my post about THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN? Well, they took Superman! Over the next couple of issues, Lois and Captain Sawyer fight to get it back. All while we get a look at how the Kents are dealing with the loss of their son. Jonathon is not doing well. He doesn't sleep and Martha finds him mumbling to himself one night while digging up the spaceship that brought Clark to Earth. The Kents are overwhelmed. First they loose their son, then they find out that his body has been stolen. Jonathon is already not doing well, because of a heart condition and now Martha finds him at the spot where the spaceship crashed. He says, "This is where the rocket brought him to Earth. He seemed so helpless then. I swore I'd protect him... I'd keep him safe. But I couldn't. I... just keep thinking how he said-- 'They all want a piece of me--UHFF" and he collapses. Martha gathers him into her arms screaming, "Oh Jonathon! Not you too!"

Jonathon's condition ends one issue and leads up right into the finale of this series. Lois, with some help from some weirdos on ATVs and Supergirl, are able to rescue Superman's body from Cadmus. But Jonathon is clinging to life back in Smallville. While doctors are doing their best to bring Jonathon back, he suddenly opens his eyes says, "CLARK!" and then his eyes close as his heart monitor gives off the long sustained beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

So what happens to Jonathon Kent? Is he dead now too? Did he see a vision of Clark before he died? Now that Superman's body is back, is that the end of the story?

HELL NO! Come back next week to see how all of this wraps up and then launches us into the RETURN OF SUPERMAN story. I know, the title spoils it, but hey we get to talk about one of the more memorable times of my early comic collecting life and the sub story of Superman's return with THE REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN!

Have a great weekend!