Spoilers for Hyperion and the Imperial Guard #1 ahead!
Through the use of fake fan letters, Marvel Comics has mocked DC’s epic “Death of Superman” storyline in Heroes Reborn: Hyperion and The Imperial Guard #1. Readers are treated to a fake fan letters page, with a hilarious call-out to DC’s landmark event.
The comic book industry of the early 1990’s was one of excess, fueled in large part by a speculator boom. This boom led to a proliferation of marketing gimmicks, such as foil-embossed covers or bagging comics with trading cards. Also popular were storylines where the hero was either killed and/or replaced by a darker, edgier version, and the “Death of Superman” was the starting point for such events. These two factors led to a huge explosion in comic book sales, but by the middle part of the decade, it had all come crashing down. The Death of Superman is still remembered to this day largely as a symbol of 90s excess, and this era gets a call out in the issue, written by Ryan Cady, with art by Michele Bandini, inks by Elisabetta D’Amico, colors by Erick Arciniega, and letters by Cory Petit.
In the fake fan letters page, one “Reese Chobbinson” hits many symbols of the 90’s excess in their letter. The person has been out of comics for a while and is amazed to learn they are now potentially valuable. Reese buys two copies of every book, hoping to flip them in the new millennium, and Resse singles out the “Death of Hyperion,” which came with “chromium blood” on the cover. The fan asks a question about Hyperion’s living costume (perhaps a swipe at Venom?) before taking a slight dig at Image.
The letter is played for full comedic effect and perfectly satirizes the ridiculousness of comics in the early 1990s. Reese’s story is not uncommon; as people began to realize the comics they read as kids were now potentially worth lots of money, they began hoarding and reselling them. Reese was not exaggerating when they mentioned buying two copies of every book either; this was something that happened. Superman #75, the infamous issue where Superman actually dies, was the perfect example of this. There were news reports of customers buying multiple copies on release day. The “chromium blood” reference was a swipe at the collector’s edition of Superman #75. The edition came bagged in a black, “blood-soaked” polybag, with a trading card, armband, fake obituary, and mini-poster - the epitome of '90s excess.
“The Death of Superman” is a landmark story in comics history, partially because of the speculator boom it helped fuel, and now Marvel is satirizing it through fake fan letters in Heroes Reborn: Hyperion and the Imperial Guard #1, currently available in print and digital.