The monster that killed Superman gets some time in the Villains Month spotlight, unfortunately in a confusing issue which fails to address some serious continuity problems.
Written by Greg Pak
Illustrated by Brett BoothLong before Superman fought the unstoppable monster known as Doomsday, the beast’s reputation for death and destruction haunted The Man of Steel’s home world of Krypton.
Doomsday is one of the most infamous villains in the entire DC universe. Other bad guys have challenged Superman, warped his mind, destroyed things he loved and forced him to make terrible choices, but Doomsday is the only one who killed the Man of Steel. The 1992 story arc ‘The Death of Superman’ is a watershed moment in comic book history for multiple reasons; it killed off the greatest superhero ever and sold millions and millions of units at the height the spectator market, and disappointed many people unfamiliar with how death in comic books functions when Superman returned to life the next year. Collectors who bought dozens of copies, expecting to make a fortune, cashed out as quickly as they could, a trend that predicated the market bust of the late 1990’s.
Doomsday’s legend was already established, however, and he survived as a symbol of the big, dumb, muscle bound 90’s which had almost brought down these golden aged heroes forever. When the New 52 rebooted the DCU a couple years ago, at first it seemed like this messy era of history was finally erased, but soon it was established that Superman indeed had fought Doomsday to the death in the history of the New 52. This created a whole mess of continuity issues, as certain elements of the wider ‘Death of Superman’ event had already been rewritten and changed.
With this Villains Month one-shot issue, it looked like Greg Pak, who had already impressed with his previous “Zod” and “Darkseid” issues, along with artist Brett Booth, would sort out the strange history of Doomsday and Superman in the New 52. This issue begins, surprisingly enough, on Krypton with Jor-El, Zor-El, and their wives Lara and Allura, the parents of Superman and Supergirl. They are gathered for Kryptonian Remembrance Day, marking the attack by Doomsday on the planet. Lara flashbacks to her time as a soldier when she fought against the beast, and a young Colonel Zod was the one who stopped the rampage. The story switches perspectives again when a young Kara Zor-El overhears the freighting conversation. Her father calms her down by telling her one of the family legends of the House of El, which speaks of a knight who will stand up to the terrifying monster and slay it at great cost.
Writer Greg Pak has been on a bit of roll with his various Villains Months titles, as both the “Zod” and “Darkseid” issues avoid many of the tropes and redone origin stories to create compelling stories. With “Doomsday”, however, it seems Pak’s luck has run out. The structure of this issue is frankly a mess, and features three different perspectives crammed into less than 30 pages. There’s a soldier’s flashback, a fairy tale/legend and then a child’s nightmare/inter-dimensional conversation. The shifts in viewpoint and changes of tone are very jarring, and makes for a rather disjointed read.
The major problem with this “Doomsday” issue is that it features very little of Doomsday itself, nor does it make sense of the conflicting story points within the New 52. Recasting Doomsday as something akin to the boogeyman of Krypton is not a bad idea, but the execution effectively renders him as a tertiary character in what’s marketed as his own book. Setting the book in the past on Krypton and the fairy-tale rendering of the highlights from ‘Death of Superman’ mean that the readers learn nothing new about Doomsday. If anything, Pak uses the book to shed more of a light on General Zod, whom he already devoted an entire issue to, and moves his story further along, in a bizarre twist. The New 52 has already introduced the characters of Steel and Cyborg Superman with new origins and backstories; these characters had originally appeared in the aftermath of Superman’s apparent demise, and now the storyline exists in a strange sort of limbo where some of it happened but some of it didn’t. Pak side-steps these problems with use of the story’s past setting, and the result feels like a bit of a copout.
Continued belowThe art is “Doomsday” is handled by Brett Booth, best known for his past time on “X-Men”, and for his New 52 work on “Teen Titans” and “Nightwing”. With all the flashbacks within flashbacks and storybook legends and interdiminsional nightmares, this issue certainly gives Booth a lot to work with, and for the most part his succeeds. His rendering of Krypton is realistic and doesn’t stray far from the established New 52 look of the planet. The initial battle scene has a great sense of kinetic energy, and conveys the unstoppable force of the creature. The El family legend allows Booth a great opportunity to switch up the look of the book, and experiment with something other than the standard DC realistic house style. The art in these sequences almost resembles a stained glass window, like this is a tale laid out along the roof of a Kryptonian monastery. The shift is so jarring it might actually be off-putting to some readers, while others will certainly appreciate the unique look and feel of the sequence.
Booth also gives the character of Doomsday himself a bit of a redesign. In his original incarnation, Doomsday embodied some unfortunate design tendencies from the era he was created in. The character was huge and bulky, with muscles coming out of muscles, and jagged bones protruding from his skin in way surely meant to be (no pun intended) edgy. In “Doomsday”, Booth has adjusted some of the proportions, while leaving the creature’s intimidating size intact. The biggest change has been the addition of two large horns on Doomsday’s head, giving him a much more demonic appearance. It’s quite easy to see how this villain quickly became an infamous boogeyman of Krypton. There are a few problems that arrive in the last couple pages, as one scene overlaps with another flashback battle. The panels here become cluttered and confusing, making the books conclusion feel rushed.
As the only character to ever kill Superman, Doomsday holds a special place in the DC Universe. Unfortunately, the “Doomsday” issue of Villains Month is a jarring mass of flashbacks and perspective shifts. It does nothing to address the character’s confusing place in the New 52, and in actual fact features little of the titular villain at all. There are some interesting moments, with visually interesting art, but it isn’t enough to prevent “Doomsday” from feeling like a missed opportunity.
Final Verdict: 3.0 –Skip this one. A couple interesting moments can’t distract from the fact that this Villains Month issue barely features the villain in question.
