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In 1992, DC Comics showed that killing the Man of Steel could stop the world. Superman #75 sold over six million copies and became the top-selling comic of 1992, and news outlets around the world covered it. It wasn’t the first time he had died on the page, though. The first Death of Superman story came out in 1961. Since then, he has been killed by kryptonite, by rivals from other universes, by cosmic crises, and even by a zombie plague.
Most of those deaths were forgotten fast, but a few really changed comics. Here are five of the biggest, ranked by how much they mattered to the story, the continuity, and the industry.
1. Superman #75 (1992): The Death That Changed Comics
Nothing else comes close to this. By 1992, the Superman titles were selling only about 150,000 copies per issue, according to Mental Floss. Then DC released Doomsday, and Superman #75 sold over 6 million copies, becoming the top-selling comic of 1992. DC printed 3 million collector’s copies sealed in a polybag with a black armband and a Daily Planet obituary. The art team, writers, and editors planned the whole thing as a surprise to show that Superman is not invincible, and national and international news media covered it widely.
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2. The Final Days of Superman (2016): A Whole Era Ends
Now, this one counts because it killed off an entire continuity. The eight-issue crossover was the last story starring the New 52 Superman. Weakened and poisoned, he was caught by his pre-Flashpoint counterpart and died peacefully, with Batman, Lois Lane, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman beside him. One reviewer pointed out that he didn’t come back through a healing coma or as a being of pure energy. His death cleared the way for Rebirth, where the pre-Flashpoint Superman became the main Superman again. That older, married Superman with a son has led the books ever since.
3. Infinite Crisis #7 (2006): Kal-L Falls
The Earth-Two Superman, Kal-L, came back in Infinite Crisis convinced that the current Earth should be replaced with his perfect Earth-Two. He redeemed himself in the finale. Kal-L and Kal-El carried Superboy-Prime toward a kryptonite field around what was left of Krypton, and Kal-L died of his injuries in the arms of his cousin, Power Girl. His death closed out a Golden Age chapter, and the same issue left the main Superman without his powers for a year.
4. DCeased (2019): The Zombie Apocalypse
In Tom Taylor’s alternate-Earth horror series, a corrupted Anti-Life Equation infects most of the planet, and Superman is one of the infected. The anti-living Superman attacks New York, and Lois says he has to be stopped. Taylor said he rewrote Superman’s death and his goodbye to his family about eight times. According to Popverse, the loss also pushed Jon Kent forward, since Jon had to take on the Superman role when his father was suddenly gone. It’s brutal and memorable, but it stays inside its own continuity.
5. Superman #149 (1961): The First Death
Long before the 1990s, Jerry Siegel and Curt Swan’s 1961 story was both the first “imaginary story” and the first Death of Superman tale, per TV Tropes. Lex Luthor seems to reform, then lures Superman to a satellite lab and ambushes him with green kryptonite. DC later wrote it off as an alternate reality, Earth-149. Its impact was mostly emotional. The story ends with Supergirl and Krypto taking over Superman’s patrol, and it sets the pattern for every funeral that follows.
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