THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN (2018), REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN (2019)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological*

As of this writing I've never read all of the DC stories associated with the company's "Big Event" of the nineties, "the Death-and-Return-of-DC's-Meal-Ticket." I have a general acquaintance with the high points of this long and drawn-out saga, and I summed up my opinion of the concept in my review of the TPB "The Return of Superman."

This blandness dominated the creative tone of DC’s Superman titles since the beginnings of the “post-Crisis” Superman. Most of the stories, whether produced by wunderkind writer-artist John Byrne or by those who followed in his creative wake, were depressingly sterile in terms of any symbolic depth. Editor Mike Carlin may deserve most of the blame for continually keeping the Superman titles oriented on a particularly dreary version of superhero soap-opera, and many fans were particularly cheesed at the ham-handed handling of Superman’s death at the hands of the monstrous Doomsday.

“The Return of Superman” story-arc offered a little more potential for mythic storytelling. Superman’s return from death was inevitable, but it was probably beyond Carlin’s abilities to emulate the Jesus-parallels seen in the Richard Donner films, even if Carlin had wanted to pursue that line of discourse. It’s often been suggested that the follow-up to Superman’s death was modeled less on Christ than on Elvis, for as soon as the Man of Steel has been declared deceased, four “Superman-imitators” show up in Metropolis. All four assert some claim to either being a reborn Superman or a hero capable of carrying on the Kryptonian's tradition.

These two DTVs, though, had a little more potential for mythic discourse simply because they had to condense the death-and-return saga down to two features of about ninety minutes apiece. In addition, the writers drew upon later iterations of pivotal characters and injected new material. As I recall neither Darkseid nor anything associated with his realm of Apokolips had anything to do with Doomsday, the monster who beats Superman to death. But other comics-writers crossed over the monster and DC's biggest Big Bad, so Darkseid is rather awkwardly woven into the continuity of the adaptation as well.

The script for DEATH by Peter J. Tomasi first posits a continuity in which Lois Lane isn't in love with Superman, but has been dating Clark Kent for some time, to the point where the hero is seriously thinking of proposing. However, Tomasi's Superman is largely characterized by incessant worrying: he wants Lois in his life but he anticipates causing her harm by revealing his true nature. Much of this dramatic back-and-forth is well-done melodrama, though I could have lived without the hero consulting with the other members of the Justice League for their opinions on his problem. None of these characters say or do anything memorable; they're present in DEATH just so they can get stomped by the rampaging Doomsday, thus making clear that Superman alone is the world's only hope. (It was moderately diverting that Tomasi worked Hawkman into a big fight-scene, given that the character hardly ever shows up in DCAU movies.) 

A frequent complaint about the original comics-battle between Superman and Doomsday is that the hero had various chances to counter the monster without just resorting to a direct punch-up. It's to the credit of co-directors Sam Liu and Jake Castorena that the battle in DEATH is so vivid that it never seems as if Superman has a moment to catch a breath and pursue any other strategy. He does destroy Doomsday, but he himself dies-- or appears to do so-- and all the world mourns-- particularly Lois, who learns of the Kryptonian's secret ID just moments before he's called into action.

The title of the story's second part, REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN, is derived from a later arc of the "Death" saga. It's also a fun Easter egg for the knowledgeable fan, since "Reign of the Superman," was the title of a 1933 prose story by Jerry Siegel in which "the Superman," a villainous telepath, plans to conquer the world. The story appeared a few months before Siegel decided to use the super-name for a more heroic character.

As the story commences, Superman's passing has been immediately followed by the appearance of four crusaders who wear the "S" symbol. Two, later named "The Eradicator" and "The Cyborg Superman," claim to be recrudescent versions of the Kryptonian, which even to a 1990s audience almost guaranteed that they were impostors. The other two, Steel and "Superboy II," made no such claims and went on to enjoy their own features at DC Comics. Steel's role is relatively minor, though the Tim Sheridan-Jim Kreig script at least gives him more consequential things to do than the members of the Justice League, who get shunted off into another dimension by Darkseid. Superboy the Second gets meatier treatment by virtue of his complicated genetic history, in that he's a clone created by Lexcorp Labs from the genetic material of both Superman and Luthor. (This was a bad idea in the comics and doesn't improve in the video, but director Sam Liu does get the maximum melodrama out of Superboy's confusion over his heritage.) 

The scripters also do a good job by keeping much of the film's focus on Lois Lane as she doggedly pursues the true identities of the four wanna-bes, providing better than average continuity with Part I. The resurrection of Superman due to an "X-factor" is necessarily telegraphed, since a ninety-minute feature couldn't allow for the slow buildup seen in a comics feature. The most interesting aspect of REIGN is that in the absence of Superman and the Justice League, the Cyborg-Superman, acting on Darkseid's orders, cons an assortment of Metropolis residents into becoming a phalanx of mindless guardians. Did the writers want to emphasize the dangers of hero worship? Well, more like incorrect hero worship, for the naive converts have deviated by falling in line with Superman's cyborg impersonator, while correct hero worship is shown by a group of citizens who protest the cyborg's high-handed actions. 

Darkseid, as I said, is clumsily inserted into the story, and the plot to conquer all of Earth with the Cyborg-villain's pawns is never compelling. But the fights are well done, and the romantic arc of Superman and Lois is adequately handled, which is better than par for the course.