One of the most pivotal and historic moments in comic book history occurred over ten years ago when the powers that be at DC Comics decided to kill off Superman. The news was announced with little fanfare to the indifferent comics community, but it quickly became a huge news item when the mainstream press got ahold of the news. Reports spread like wildfire across magazines, newspapers, and even CNN, where it got up to a point when even my non-comic reading friends, neighbours, and family members got to know about it and actually wanted to read it.

I failed to obtain a copy of the now infamous Superman vol.2 # 75, the first print of it came bagged in a black bag, and had supplements such as a faux news report, a poster, and a black armband for fans to mourn the death of the Last Son of Krypton. A trade paperback collection was very quickly put into print with the low cover price of US$4.95, although the most recent printings sport a cover price of US$9.95. Regardless, it is still a value buy considering the amount of pages and quality of the art contained within.

You'll notice that I didn't mention the quality of the story, because simply put, there isn't much of a story involved. The book opens with the mysterious Doomsday literally punching his way out of what appears to be an underground cavern. As he lumbers along the United States, wreaking havoc and carnage along his path, the Justice League is summoned to contain him, only to fail miserably. Quickly and effortlessly putting the likes of Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle, Fire, and Bloodwynd out of commission, only Maxima, Booster Gold and Ice remained to hold the fort before Superman arrived at the scene.

Superman underestimates Doomsday's strength and finds himself playing catch up with Doomsday, with each encounter resulting in more death and destruction. Even with the help of Maxima, the Golden Guardian, Emil Hamilton, the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit, Team Luthor, and Supergirl, Superman finds himself getting increasingly tired while Doomsday shows no sign of stopping whatsoever. When Superman realises that Metropolis is in the path of Doomsday's rampage, he vows to contain Doomsday in Metropolis.

As we all know, Superman died in the battle with Doomsday in Metropolis at the doorstep of the Daily Planet building. And at the end of the day, although it brought a lot of media attention to DC Comics as well as comics in general and made lots of people a lot of money, it was heavily criticised by fans around the world for being nothing more than a protracted slugfest. Doomsday was nothing more than a stereotypical rampaging monster and is about as interesting and three dimensional as a piece of cardboard. Superman uncharacteristically did not fall on any strategy or planning whatsoever, and instead only resolved to put everything into his fists to beat Doomsday out of commission.

There were many holes in the story as well. Why didn't the rest of the heavy hitters of the DC Universe such as Batman, Green Lantern, Flash or Captain Marvel come to aide Superman when the Justice League fell? Why weren't any efforts made to evacuate the areas in the direct path of Doomsday's rampage? And most glaring of all, how was Doomsday defeated with a single punch by Superman? Granted Superman put his all into that final punch, but by then Superman was already very tired and greatly injured while the only damage Doomsday incurred was a broken spiky portrusion or two.

However, despite these criticisms, is it enjoyable? I can safely say that it is a good mindless read, and with hindsight, is part of a pretty awesome trilogy if read in conjunction with the Funeral For A Friend and Reign of the Supermen stories that came after this. The art never looked better, especially the pages by Jon Bogdanove and Dan Jurgens.