The Death of Superman was a major event back in the 1990s, with many news outlets giving it an unprecedented amount of coverage. This inspired DC Comics to stretch out the story and let readers see the full impact of a world without Superman. For several issues, fans got to see how Superman’s death affected his fellow heroes, his close friends, and his family.
And while Superman’s battle with Doomsday was a huge event, the following storyline, “Funeral for a Friend,” was considerably more tragic as readers saw Metropolis bury Superman in a massive ceremony attended by every foreign dignitary, celebrity, and U.S. politician… but not the two people who raised Superman.
That’s right – Jonathan and Martha Kent couldn’t attend their own son’s funeral, and had to watch it from their farmhouse in Smallville. Since only a select few people knew that Superman was really Clark Kent, Jonathan reasoned neither he nor Martha would be allowed to get close to Superman even if they did go to Metropolis. Although this broke Martha’s heart as she felt they should be with their son as he was put into the ground, both Kents stayed home during the funeral.
Although logical on the surface, Jonathan’s reason for not attending the funeral seems rather flimsy when examined closely. True, most people didn’t know Clark was Superman, but those who did – like Bruce Wayne – certainly had enough influence and resources to get them to the funeral. In reality, both Kents were too grief stricken to attend their son’s funeral and wound up having a small private ceremony at the crash site where Clark’s rocket crashed. Although they didn’t have Clark to say goodbye to, they buried Clark’s teddy bear, baseball, glove, and scrapbook at the site, hoping it would give them some closure.
Unfortunately, the ceremony didn’t do anything for the Kents, who still felt empty. Jonathan actually wondered if anyone needed them anymore and if there was any more point to living. Fortunately, as they returned home, Lois called and the Kents realized that someone did need them after all. Later issues showed Clark’s parents finally making it to Metropolis where they bonded with Lois and eventually saw the coming of the Supermen replacements (although Clark himself wouldn’t be back for quite some time).
The Death of Superman was such an influential story that it was adapted for animation multiple times, in the Justice League animated series, the Superman: Doomsday film, and The Death of Superman movie. In almost all of these retellings, the Kents show up in person at Superman’s funeral, although they need to remain anonymous. The funeral was even given a live-action version in Batman v Superman, although here, Clark’s body was delivered to Smallville (presumably thanks to Bruce Wayne), allowing Martha Kent to bury her son while Metropolis buried an empty casket.
Naturally, Superman would be resurrected in all of these cases – but the sense of loss felt by his family and friends was very real. While the scenes with Jonathan and Martha in “Funeral for a Friend” proved the most touching in the original comic story, fans were probably relieved that these two were at least given the opportunity to say goodbye to their son in later versions. Some losses are too hard to bear alone.