Superman’s lifeless body after his battle with Doomsday is one of the most haunting and iconic images in comic history. But now, DC has unveiled a game-changing detail that will forever reshape how fans see this legendary moment, making it all the more tragic and devastatingly heartbreaking.
Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora’s Superman #23 opens with the long-awaited showdown between Lois Lane and Doomsday. However, instead of the monstrous, Superman-killing Kryptonian beast fans know, Doomsday approaches Superwoman in his more composed Time Trapper form.
With time frozen around them, he attempts to persuade Lois into an alliance—an offer Superman had already refused. It’s during this tense exchange that Lois drops a startling revelation about the events of Dan Jurgens’ The Death of Superman, forever reshaping how fans will view this iconic moment.
Superman Dies as Lois Lane Weeps: “He Died Doing Something He Hated.”
Lois Lane Reveals The Real Reason She Cried in The Death of Superman
In their conversation in Superman #23, Time Trapper reveals that the last thing he heard before dying was the sound of Lois’s anguished cries. He mentions this with the intent to dredge up her grief over Superman’s death in his infamous battle with Doomsday, emphasizing that her husband’s current fight against the other Doomsday could lead to a similar fate. Playing on Lois’s fears, he tries to manipulate her into siding with him, even offering her a glimpse into her future as an incentive. Lois, however, refuses Time Trapper’s deal with a firm “no” and a punch to the face.
Superwoman's New Title Proves She Is a Bigger Threat Than Superman Ever Could Be
Doomsday has officially crowned Lois Lane’s Superwoman with a title that underscores her as a far greater threat than Superman ever could be.
She then calls out his manipulations, itting that while she did cry when Superman died, her tears weren’t solely for his loss. Instead, she reveals, “They were because [Clark] died doing something he hated. Something he never wanted to do… take a life.” In this moment, Lois makes it clear that a significant part of her grief wasn’t just for losing the Man of Steel but for the pain Clark must have felt in betraying his own moral code—something likely even worse for him than death itself. This revelation casts an entirely new light on the iconic image of Lois cradling Superman’s lifeless form, forever altering its meaning.
33 Years Later: DC Makes 'The Death of Superman' Even More Profound
Main Cover by Jon Bogdanove for Superman: The Death of Superman TP (1992)
The fact that The Death of Superman is still being discussed 33 years later speaks to its impact as a character-defining and lore-shaping moment for the Man of Steel. Even more remarkable is how Williamson has given fans an entirely new perspective on this iconic event—without altering a single detail of the moment itself. The revelation that Lois’s tears weren’t just for Superman’s death but also for the fact that he died doing the one thing he hated makes the battle against Doomsday even more tragic and heartbreaking, adding a profound new layer to an already legendary narrative.
Superman #23 is available now from DC Comics!
