When I was a kid growing up in the late 70's and early 1980's, reading a comic book was an escape. When Spider-Man stopped a couple bank robbers, it was like I was hanging from a web watching the action from behind with a camera in hand taking pictures for Peter Parker to sell later to JJ Jameson at the Daily Bugle.
By the time I was eleven and twelve years old, the stories became much more deep. Writers such as
FRANK MILLER and
ALAN MOORE were becoming more and more popular. I was still an active bystander in my comics I read, but the stakes were much higher. Heroes clashed with each other. The history of characters flashed years into the future to reveal darker fates and darker origins. I was a spectator to potential world destruction or universal oblivion.
In Alan Moore's
ACTION COMICS #583, we are not only given an imaginary tale of how the Silver Age Superman's story "ends", but the next issue would serve as a reboot of the Superman mythology by none other than comic book legend, John Byrne.
In this issue, Superman has retreated with Krypto and his closest friends and family to the Fortress of Solitude after receiving an ominous revelation by the Legion of Super-Heroes in the first act (found in Superman (Vol 1) #423) that Superman would soon face his greatest challenge...and he would not survive.
As the Brainiac/Luthor composite, Kryptonite Man, and Legion of Super-Villains begin their assault on the Fortress, other heroes arrive to try to help but are stopped by an energy shield that prevents anyone from getting out or getting in. Many are killed in the assault, including Lana Lang, Jimmy Olsen, Krypto and others.
Superman and Lois retreat inside the Fortress where the mastermind is revealed behind the entire plot as Mr. Mxyzptlk. The imp from the 5th Dimension reveals his truer, darker form and he is here to destroy Superman once and for all. Superman retrieves his Phantom Zone Projector and uses it on Myyzptlk just as the creature announces his name backwards in an attempt to escape. The imp is torn in two.
Superman, realizing he has broken his vow never to kill, walks into a room filled with Gold Kryptonite and disappears.
The story was a terrific homage to a character who has a very sorted and deep history. Looking back at this story in comparison to anything with Superman from THE NEW 52 and it's hard to deny that Superman's best days might be back in the 80's when writers such as Moore were willing to push the envelope. The Superman that exists today is a pale comparison of this classic incarnation, and DC can change
THE MAN OF STEEL all he wants, but this story remains one of the best Superman stories of the last 30 years in my opinion.
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