It has been 27 years and I still can’t believe it.
The day Truth, Justice and the American Way died.
On this day, November 18, 1992, Superman was killed by the monster DOOMSDAY.
When news broke that DC Comics planned to carry out this unwise and apocalyptic act, ‘The Death of Superman’ received unprecedented coverage in the media.
People around the world were horrified and shaken with disbelief. I know I was. I had grown up with Superman on my bedside table and by my side as I confronted bullies at school.
The world was safe from diabolical forces and global destruction — and bullies — as long as Superman was there to protect us all.
But then, Marvel Comics, on a whim, decided to end it all. Oh — and I say this in all sincerity —the horror, the fear, the humanity!
But what was a nightmare for me and fellow human beings of like mind was a gold mine for Marvel Comics.
The comic book Superman No. 75 about Superman’s death sold more than six million copies and became the top-selling comic of 1992.
THE GREAT CREATORS
Superman, created by Jerry Siegeland Joe Shuster, with John Byrne, debuted in Action Comics No. 1 on April 18, 1938 to immediate success.
The following year Superman became the first superhero to headline his own comic book, and thenceforth, the most famous American cultural icon.
The last 27 years have been rough. A panoply of super heroes have come along to fill the gap to save the world, but there will only be, for evermore, the one and only Superman.
It’s a long shot but profound grief makes one push the envelope.
First of all, let me tell you about this super hero, the Silver Surfer. Man, I can’t begin tell you what he can do (see footnote below). But just for starters, he travels throughout the Universe on a surfboard craft faster than the speed of light.
Now, as incredible as this sounds, there’s a remote chance that I can enlist the Silver Surfer to help find my wife, who, I hope beyond hope and pray beyond prayer, is somewhere out there, among the 100 billion galaxies in the Universe.
The Silver Surfer suffered his own loss of a soulmate, so he would understand my quest.
THE LONG LOST DAWN
I don’t mean to insult any reader, but in case you don’t know, the Silver Surfer is a humanoid alien with indestructible metallic skin who can travel through space on the surfboard at superluminal speed.
He used to be an astronomer, Norrin Radd, who lived on the planet Zenn-La, which was targeted for extinction by the planet devourer Galactus, a god-like figure who feeds on the energy of living planets.
GALACTUS
Radd confronted Galactus and offered to become his herald, seeking out new worlds for him to devour if Galactus would spare Zenn-La. Galactus agreed and transformed Radd into the silver-skinned, cosmic-powered super-being, imbuing him with a small portion of his Power Cosmic.* (see footnote)
Radd basically had sold his soul; he served Galactus for 100 years. But when Galactus planned to devour Earth, things changed radically for the conflicted Radd. It’s a complex story [see here] but with the help of the Fantastic Four, the Silver Surfer rediscovered his noble spirit and his soul.
The Silver Surfer defied Galactus and saved Earth! Galactus took his revenge by exiling him to Earth, where the Silver Surfer joined forces with the Fantastic Four and other super heroes to fight demons and destroyers throughout the Universe.
Heavy duty stuff! So here’s the deal. I have a supernatural acquaintance — I can say no more about that at this time — who has a way (again, secrecy must prevail) of contacting a certain member of the Fantastic Four, who in turn can contact the Silver Surfer.
As I said, it’s not going to be easy — in fact it’s going to be incredibly difficult — but I believe that nothing is impossible in this already impossible Universe.
*Herewith the “aesthetic evil” of the footnote: Power Cosmic is cosmic energy that allows the possessor to perform God-like feats, including creating life, resurrection, manipulating souls, memories and emotions, telepathy, telekinesis, size alteration, transmutation of matter, teleportation of objects across space, creation of force fields, inter-dimensional portals, and, the most formidable of all, mass-scale events such as re-creating dead worlds and destroying multiple solar systems simultaneously.
