“The Death of Superman” was one of DC Comics’ most publicized storylines. Shocked that the comic book company would actually kill their flagship character, many news outlets gave the comic book story unprecedented coverage. The publicity encouraged DC to extend the event for several extra months as Superman’s friends and family dealt with the fallout of his murder at the hands of the monster Doomsday.
Remarkably, however, a later storyline revealed that Superman knew he would fall in that battle – back when he was only a teenager! Thanks to some time travel adventures with the Legion of Superheroes, Superman (or Superboy) gained an unsettling glimpse into his own grim future.
The story actually happened after DC Comics experienced multiple reboots that rewrote the timeline and re-established that Superman had started his career as Superboy when he was a teenager (much like he did during the Silver Age). Most of Superboy’s adventures, however, happened in the far future thanks to his friendship with another group of teenage superheroes – the Legion of Superheroes.
Another product of the Silver Age, the Legion of Superheroes was a large group of teenage superheroes from the 30th century. Inspired by historical documents of Superman, the Legion held regular “superhero auditions” that allowed teenagers with unusual powers to try out for their group. Eventually, they even acquired a time machine that let them go back to the original age of heroes and recruit Clark Kent himself.
At the time, Clark was just a teenager still getting used to his powers. Although he wore his Superboy costume, he operated mostly in secret and wouldn’t go public with his superhero identity until he was an adult. When the Legion found him, however, Clark seized on the opportunity to regularly visit them in the future and help them out with missions, feeling he could exercise his full abilities and not have to hide who he was.
Naturally, there were a few complications. Since Clark was still meant to live his life in the Legion’s past, the Legion telepath Saturn Girl made sure to install a post hypnotic suggestion in Clark’s brain that would cause him to forget anything that might damage the timeline or alter his personal history when he returned to his present. This allowed Clark to learn about his own future without potentially causing it to not unfold the way it had to.
For the most part, Clark enjoyed learning about the adventures he would have as Superman – but on one visit to a Superman museum in Adventure Comics #518, he came across an exhibit that showed he would die at the hands of Doomsday. Shaken, he refused to look at the exact date of his death and decided he couldn’t wait for Saturn Girl’s failsafe to kick in when he returned to his own time so he could forget about the revelation.
Of course, readers know that Superman’s death at the hands of Doomsday was only temporary and that he would be back – more powerful than ever before. At the time, however, Clark seemed certain that he would die permanently. Being shown these disturbing facts, yet still being willing to meet his future certainly says a lot about Clark Kent’s bravery and reveals that Superman will continue to do what’s right - even if he knows it won’t end well for him.