Another reason Superman is so perennial, so iconic, is that you always know where you stand with him. Superman doesn't change: he is almost always seen in his same costume, or a variation on it; he will always be Clark Kent, and always have a relationship with his Daily Planet co-worker Lois Lane; and he will always have those superpowers listed in the radio serials and Max Fleischer cartoons. One of those superpowers puts paid to his constant popularity and place in the public consciousness: he is indestructible. Which is why, when news of his mortality reached first comic book fans and then the general populace, it was such a big deal. Superman's invulnerability had always been a given. He would never die. He was an important cultural landmark, something that you could always depend on, which was forever. He was dependable. And yet, in 1992, DC Comics announced that the Man of Steel would be killed off in an upcoming storyline called - imaginatively - The Death of Superman. The fact that he was brought back to life a few months later, making the character's position as a Christ analogue all the more apparent, in the Return of Superman story hardly mattered. Superman dying was a close to a national tragedy as you could get, short of another president being assassinated. Nobody other than the Commander in Chief more exemplified the United States of America, and seeing this paragon beaten to a bloody pulp and left for dead by a new supervillain was a heartbreaking image for millions. Nobody, perhaps, other than Captain America. Marvel's own personification of every principal Americans hold dear received just as many grief-stricken obituaries in broadsheet papers as Superman did when he was struck down at the culmination of the Civil War event, during which he fought against draconian laws brought in by the government he represented. Like the Man of Steel's death, Steve Rogers' assassination was a big deal, right up until he was brought back to life. News of Superman's and Captain America's deaths were inescapable at the time. It appeared in every paper, on every news programme. Supes got spoofed on Saturday Night Live. Cap was on the BBC's front page. The Death of Superman was the biggest-selling single issue of the year, and Cap's death knell followed suit, with people who hadn't picked up a comic book in years - or ever - picking up multiple copies, as if that would soothe the shock. The Deaths of Superman and Captain America may not have mattered much in the long run, but at the time? It was huge, shocking news.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
