Superman #52
Superman #52 (May 2016) is the final issue of Superman Volume 3 — the New 52 series launched in 2011 — and serves as the death scene of that continuity's Clark Kent, bringing a five-year publishing experiment to a close. The New 52 Superman disintegrates in a burst of solar energy, a deliberately un-reversible-looking end designed to clear the stage for DC Rebirth and the return of the pre-Flashpoint, post-Crisis Superman. The issue's narrative ripples extend well beyond its own pages: the energy released from the dying Superman's body empowers both Lois Lane and Lana Lang, seeding the concurrent Superwoman ongoing series, and the appearance of the bearded pre-Flashpoint Superman in the final pages functions as the first in-continuity handoff between the two eras. As the concluding chapter of the eight-part 'The Final Days of Superman' crossover — itself marketed as a 'Road to DC Rebirth' title — the issue is a structural hinge between two distinct eras of DC publishing rather than merely a single story's finale.
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Writer Peter J. Tomasi scripted the entire eight-part 'The Final Days of Superman' crossover solo, an unusual move for a multi-title event, explicitly intended to give the arc tonal consistency across Superman, Action Comics, Batman/Superman, and Superman/Wonder Woman. The arc had originally been solicited under the working title 'Superman: Super League' before DC renamed it ahead of publication. Tomasi, who had previously served as a group editor at DC before transitioning to writing, was simultaneously being positioned to launch the Rebirth-era Superman title — making him both the writer who ended the New 52 Clark Kent and the writer who would chronicle the post-Crisis Superman's reintroduction. Artist Mikel Janín, who had built a reputation on Grayson, opened and closed the crossover on Superman #51 and #52, with additional interior pages in the finale contributed by Miguel Sepulveda, while Janín's colorist collaborator Jeromy Cox provided colors throughout.
Trivia · 7 facts
- This is the final issue of Superman Volume 3 (the New 52 series that ran from November 2011 through July 2016), and the concluding chapter — Part 8, titled 'Do or Die' — of the eight-part 'The Final Days of Superman' crossover.
- The New 52 Superman dies in this issue, his body disintegrating into ash after expending the last of his solar energy to defeat the villain Denny Swan (the 'Energy Superman'), a man whose body was accidentally infused with Superman's solar genome by a bolt of lightning.
- The pre-Flashpoint (post-Crisis) Superman appears in the climactic pages, dressed in the black suit, to witness his counterpart's death and promise to carry on — the narrative bridge directly into DC Rebirth's Superman titles.
- The dying Superman's energy discharge strikes both New 52 Lois Lane and Lana Lang, imbuing them with superpowers; this moment is the in-story origin for both characters' roles as Superwoman in the subsequent Rebirth-era Superwoman series by Phil Jimenez.
- The crossover was originally solicited under the title 'Superman: Super League' before being renamed 'The Final Days of Superman' prior to publication.
- The full arc spans Superman #51–52, Action Comics #51–52, Batman/Superman #31–32, and Superman/Wonder Woman #28–29; all eight issues were collected in both hardcover and paperback as Superman: The Final Days of Superman (DC Comics, November 2016) and marketed as a 'Road to DC Rebirth' collection.
- Superman's cause of death is established as cumulative cellular damage from three prior story events: Kryptonite exposure during the 'Savage Dawn' arc, immersion in the fire pits of Apokolips during the 'Darkseid War,' and energy drain from his battle with the god Rao in Justice League of America.
Reprints
Reprinted in Superman #2 (2016), Superman: The Final Days of Superman #[nn] (2016), Superman: Fim dos Dias #[nn] (2017), Superman #2 (2017), Superman: The Final Days of Superman #[nn] (2017)
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