Superman RIP : Man of Steel Gives His Life in Final Cause--Reviving Sales of His Comics

They looked like little more than a bunch of grown men who sneaked out of work with lame excuses like “I have to go to the bank” so they could stand in line for an hour and buy a comic book.

But they were really a subculture of pedestrian philosophers busy pondering the death of Superman--killed this week after 50 years of invincibility by the rampaging, psycho-villain Doomsday.

“And just who or what is this Doomsday?” Frank Piantini ruminated Thursday. “He’s just on this murdering rampage. Does he have a purpose? Does he have a goal?”

They could see right through this death thing. Sales had been slumping for our hero. Truth, justice and the American way weren’t selling comic books like they used to. Not when you share the rack with guys like The Punisher--whose entire family was wiped out, prompting him to embark on a one-man crusade against drug dealers--or the ever-popular Lobo, who killed Santa Claus last year and massacred his elves.

If the strategy was that death might breathe life into Superman, it appeared to be working. Across the nation, 3 million copies of the $1.25 comic book and a special $2.50 edition complete with black armband, poster, trading stamps and Daily Planet obituary sold so fast that a second printing was ordered. Diamond Comic Distributors said it had become the largest selling non-premiere comic book of all time.

“I’m just here ‘cause he dies,” John Kim, 11, said, adding that he had never bought a Superman comic book. “For years, I’ve been thinking he’ll never die. Now finally, aha!, here he is, dead.”

After half a century of fighting evil, Superman had too much baggage. What began as a simple resume--faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, leaps tall buildings in a single bound--had become too complex, even for this high-tech world.

Superman had been known to travel through time and navigate the globe in three seconds. He always won. Ho hum.

“Take Spider-Man,” said Bill Liebowitz, president and “Big Kahuna” at Golden Apple Comics in Hollywood, where fans were lined up before the doors opened at 11 a.m. “There is a guy who has to earn a living, take care of his aunt. He had trouble getting girls in school. And when he found out he had superhuman powers, his first order of business was to exploit it by going on the ‘Ed Sullivan Show.’ ”

What did Superman do when he discovered his superpowers? He went out to help humanity. The big blue Boy Scout. Who needs it?

“He got a little too goody-goody for me,” accountant Scott Russell said. “Comic books in the ‘50s were about brushing your teeth and washing your face. . . . I prefer the dark side.”

For those of you who missed it, here’s what happens:

Superman is locked in battle with Doomsday, a gray thing with fingernails that grow out of his knuckles. (This battle spans six already released comic books whose value has appreciated 500% in some cases.) Doomsday is killing people left and right in the city of Metropolis when Superman comes to the rescue, only to be deterred by the pesky newspaper photographer Jimmy Olson, who is snapping away while half the city burns. Superman kisses fiancee Lois Lane goodby, then sets out to “kick this creep’s butt.” But Doomsday’s bony protrusions cut Superman to shreds, including his cape, and he winds up limp in Lois’ arms. (Jimmy is still snapping away.) She calls the paramedics, but they are too late. “For this is the day . . . that a SUPERMAN died. . . .” The end.

Most dealers had to limit one per customer and were sure they would sell out by day’s end. The phone was ringing every 30 seconds at the Fantastic Store in Hollywood, where 2,000 copies sold in two hours. The shop was one of the few on the West Coast to receive Superman No. 75 Wednesday, and at 10 minutes after midnight a Simi Valley couple was banging on the locked door begging to buy one.

“I have a throbbing headache because of Superman,” manager Gaston Dominguez groaned, disgustedly picking up the deluxe edition, wrapped in a black plastic bag emblazoned with a bloodied “S.” “Look at it. It’s like a little body bag with a body in it. It’s morbid, ain’t it? America’s morbid fascination.”

If you’ve been thinking this will be your last chance to buy a Superman comic book, think again. Creators have already announced a nine-book series, “Funeral for a Friend,” in which Superman is laid to rest by such pallbearers as Wonder Woman, The Flash and Aquaman.

It appears in the comic that Doomsday gets it too, but fans are skeptical and his character has yet to be defined. (He was supposed to be an escaped lunatic from an intergalactic insane asylum but this description offended the mental health community and it was changed, fans said.)

There is already talk of a Superman resurrection. Seismic activity is picked up at Superman’s grave site and it turns out to be his heartbeat, one fan theorized.

Should “the Earth’s greatest hero” ever return to rescue Lois Lane from the lonely altar and make the world safe for humanity, will he be a darker Superman, the kind that will appeal to today’s cynical audience?

“It’s wish fulfillment for society that sells,” Golden Apple’s Liebowitz said. “People are looking for someone to avenge the effects of so much urban chaos. They want someone who operates outside the law. Superman wasn’t keeping up.

“There’s a lot more to comics than guys who wear their underwear on the outside.”