10 DC Characters Who Killed Superman (And What Happened To Them)

As the character considered most invulnerable in the DC universe - a result of both his incredible powers and his not inconsiderable plot armor - Superman is regarded as nigh-indestructible by a significant number of people, and not without good reason.

Perhaps once too often, the Man of Steel has proven his nickname correct by not being hurt or killed in scenarios that would have had a much more profound impact had he been literally anyone else.

This is why the (very few) times Superman has died in comics are all the more important. It really benefits the character to have the Last Son of Krypton appearing as though he's fighting despite the potential danger to him, instead of just fighting because he's incapable of being hurt.

Clark Kent's practical invulnerability to most attacks also serve to make stories where he is killed all the more exciting, too, because the elaborate lengths people have to go to in order to actually find a way to murder him are often the most interesting part of the entire comic. Plus, you get to see Superman exploded, frozen, or just talked to death, which is a win even if you don't always know it.

While Luthor has killed Superman a whole variety of bizarre and beautiful ways over the pair's rivalry, the golden standard for these antics is set by Superman #149, which features Luthor literally going as far as to create the cure for cancer in order to get the prime opportunity to kill the Man of Steel.

Of all the various convoluted schemes Luthor has been involved with - which often get as surreal as him creating a robot that can kill Superman a million years in the future, or becoming the President of the United States - this is still the most unusual in just how convincing it is.

Lex spends countless amounts of time bonding with the hero, and building him neat gadgets to help him, all with the express purpose of slowly weaselling his way into Superman's trust in order to murder him.

And it works, too - with this being one of surprisingly few comics to feature Superman dying for real, and not dying only to be revived by whatever weird circumstance can be dreamt up in a writer's fever dream - although Lex also more or less dies for his crimes when he is tried and sent to the Phantom Zone.