The DEATH OF SUPERMAN was a comic book crossover event which ran from Dec 1992 to Oct 1993 through all of the Superman family titles and several other major DC titles, in which Superman perishes in a battle with the bloodthirsty alien Doomsday. The event is comprised of three segments 1) the fight with Doomsday and Superman's death, 2) the funeral and emotional impact on those left behind, and 3) the emergence of four Superman replacements before Superman's actual return. Unprecendented media coverage of DC's intention to kill off Superman caused an equally unprecedented sensation, with the actual issue depicting his death selling over 6,000,000 copies. (The cover--with its 'cape-on-a-stick'--has since become an iconic cover, but speculators have still not realized the invenstment returns they greatly anticipated.) DC would go on a run of veritable wholesale slaughter of all their major characters, and Marvel would pull commesurate publicity stunts for brief sales spikes before the 90's comic industry downturn. Whether or not it was a sales gimmick, the DEATH OF SUPERMAN story is still a definitive Superman story. The story has been loosely adapted in animated film, as well as live-action film as part of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).