Reign of Doomsday
Encyclopedia
"Reign of Doomsday" is a 2011 comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics
that will run through the Superman
family of books. The crossover involves Doomsday
hunting down Steel
, Superboy
, Eradicator
and Cyborg Superman, the four main characters introduced in the wake of the controversial The Death of Superman
storyline in 1992. Though the current iteration of the character was not present in the original The Death of Superman storyline, Supergirl
will appear in the crossover as well due to being part of the Justice League
. The storyline itself draws its title from Reign of the Supermen, the immediate follow-up to The Death of Superman.
one-shot published as part of the DC Icons line. The crossover is set to continue in March in Outsiders
37, where Doomsday will face Eradicator
, Justice League of America #55 and Superman/Batman Annual
#5, both of which involve him facing Supergirl
and Cyborg Superman, Superboy
#6, where he will face Superboy, and Action Comics
#900-904, where he will face Superman
. The storyline will conclude in #904, which will also be the final issue of Action Comics, since the book will be relaunched in to match DC Comics's move to reboot every major comic book and start from scratch. This effectively makes Reign of Doomsday the final story arc to run in the first volume of Action Comics.
one-shot, where the titular protagonist attempts to fight off Doomsday after the creature arrives in Metropolis. With Superman nowhere to be found due to the events of the Grounded
storyline, Steel is left to fight the creature by himself. Though he puts up a valiant fight, Doomsday is able to effortlessly overcome each of his attacks. Eventually realizing that Doomsday has come for him for some specific purpose, Steel makes one last attempt to stop the creature before being beaten into submission. Doomsday then takes Steel's seemingly lifeless form and departs from the scene, leaving his niece Natasha
to sob over her uncle's hammer and tattered cape.
Following this, Doomsday attacks the Outsiders
in Markovia, intent on finding Eradicator
. During the fight, Doomsday displays a frightening new ability; the power to absorb energy from Looker
and Halo
and then redirect it as a massive blast. After defeating all of Eradicator's teammates, Doomsday impales him with a blade generated from his forearm and then flees the battlefield with his body.
Doomsday later appears in the ruins of New Krypton, where he attacks the Alpha Lantern Boodikka
and several members of the Justice League
, who were surveying the remains of the destroyed planet. With help from Starman and Saint Walker
, the League members are able to hold off Doomsday long enough for Batman and Supergirl
to teleport the injured Boodikka to the JLA Watchtower. As Batman and Supergirl attempt to help Boodikka recover, Doomsday arrives to continue his attack. Just as the battle is about to continue, the Cyborg Superman emerges from Boodikka's body and reveals that Doomsday has come for him.
During the ensuing battle, Cyborg Superman violently flies through Doomsday, apparently killing him by causing his body to explode. However, Doomsday somehow assimilites Cyborg Superman's nanotechnology
into his own body, and rebuilds himself as a new creature dubbed Cyborg Doomsday. Supergirl and Cyborg Superman attempt to stop the creature, but Cyborg Superman turns on Supergirl at the last second and tries to shoot her, stating that it would be a disgrace for her to defeat the creature that so easily trounced him. With Supergirl momentarily distracted, Cyborg Doomsday knocks her unconscious and then violently eviscerates Cyborg Superman before teleporting away with both of them. Horrified, Batman orders Saint Walker to use his power ring to track down Cyborg Doomsday, but the ring is unable to locate him. As Saint Walker muses that the creature must be using some sort of cloaking device, Cyborg Doomsday is shown returning to the remains of New Krypton with his two unconscious captives.
Doomsday subsequently attacks Superboy
while the young hero is returning home from Titans Tower
, literally appearing from out of nowhere hundreds of feet in the air. While the two fight, Superboy notes that Doomsday is significantly stronger than he was when they last met, and that he now appears to possess the ability of flight. Badly injured, Superboy attempts to fight off the creature, only to be overwhelmed when Doomsday somehow begins to mimic Superboy's trademark tactile telekinesis, which allows him to attack the youth from long distances. After beating Superboy into submission, Doomsday grabs him and teleports back to the ruins of New Krypton, where he enters a large alien spacecraft with his prisoner.
Returning to Metropolis, Superman discovers that this was all part of a plot by Lex Luthor (who had previously been given Doomsday's corpse by Sam Lane) to distract him from Luthor's ultimate goal of finding a Black Lantern power ring. With Luthor defeated, Superman finds his allies trapped in a pocket dimension within a satellite. Superman attempts to free his allies, only for them all to discover the apparently still-inert body of Doomsday, as well as three separate clones or copies - each with a different powerset designed to specifically make them capable of eliminating the Superman they were sent after.
Superman, Superboy, Supergirl, Steel, the Eradicator and the Cyborg Superman encounter the three Doomsdays that Lex Luthor sent against the Supermen. The Cyborg tries to fight them, but Superman rips his central node off, knowing that they would not survive a confrontation with the Doomsdays. Superman and his allies escape, taking the original Doomsday with them. Supergirl is impressed by Superman's kindness towards Doomsday, even if Doomsday killed him. As the heroes advance through the ship, Steel notices that Doomsday is beginning to regain his brain activity. Suddenly, they are attacked by the Doomsdays. In U.S.A.F. Space Command, Colorado, the military detects an object falling to Earth at an impressive speed. If it hits, it will cause an extinction event. The President makes a call, requesting Superman's help in the upcoming disaster. The heroes get to an observation area and rearrange the internal structure to reach Earth. However, they are met by a new enemy, the Doomslayer. The Eradicator, against Superman's suggestion, fights the Doomslayer. However, the Doomslayer destroys the Eradicator.
The Doomslayer reveals its plan to the heroes: the Doomslayer believes Doomsday to be an infection, so it plans to destroy Earth as it considers Earth to be ground zero for Doomsday's "infection." The Doomslayer also expresses remorse for killing the Eradicator, but suddenly attacks Doomsday with its laser vision. Superman defends Doomsday, saying that while Doomsday maybe a mass murderer, the fact that the Doomslayer achieved sentice shows that Doomsday has the potential for redemption. But the Doomslayer refuses to listen and attacks the heroes. However, the heroes escape the ship with the original Doomsday. To stop the ship from crashing on Earth, Superman and his allies try to push the ship back into space. However, the Doomslayer reverses the ship's engines to increase the ship's falling speed, giving the ship enough power to destroy a continent. Superman advises Superboy, Supergirl and Steel to escape while he slows the ship down, intending to sacrifice himself. Superboy, Supergirl and Steel reluctantly agree. The ship falls in Metropolis's bay and creates a massive tidal wave. However, Superboy's tactile-telekinesis, Supergirl's cold breath and Steel's gravitron source dissipate the tidal wave, saving Metropolis. Superman crawls out of the sea, wounded but alive. Suddenly, the Doomslayer attacks the city with the four Doomsday clones.
The Doomsday clones spread across the world, wreaking havoc. Supergirl fights attacks Cyborg Doomsday in a nuclear lab, Steel fights Superboy Doomsday in Moscow, and Superboy fights Steel Doomsday in Haiti. In S.T.A.R. Labs, Superman, Lois and Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi use the original Doomsday's body to try and find a way to stop the Doomsday clones. Suddenly, Doomsday awakens, but the Eradicator speaks through him. The Eradicator that, as a being of pure information, he leapt into the technology Luthor used to clone Doomsday so that he could control the original Doomsday. Also, the Eradicator says that he can help Superman against the Doomsdays. Meanwhile, the Doomslayer directs the Doomsday clones from his tower. His plan is to get the Doomsdays reach Earth's core so that he can expand the universe inside the tower and destroy the planet from within. Superman uses an accelerator to reach the Doomslayer's tower before its defenses detect him. Meanwhile, Earth's heroes begin fighting the Doomsdays. Reaching the Doomslayer's tower, Superman flies through a tunnel that leads to the ship's core. To stop him from foiling his plan, the Doomslayers powers up the ship's informational engines. Meanwhile, the Eradicator defeats Steel Doomsday, but he begins to feel that Doomsday's mind is beginning to regain control of the body. To continue the battle, Zatanna teleports the heroes to Moscow. In the ship's core, Superman finds information about the Doomsday Supergirl threw into a tunnel. The Doomsday spent years trapped inside the tunnel, conscious and fueled by rage. The heroes reach Moscow and continue their attack. Meanwhile, the Doomslayer blasts Superman with the ship's informational engines.
The blast from the ship's informational engines does not destroy Superman, instead it converts him into data and transfers him into the ship's informational engines, where he meets the ship's artificial intelligence. The AI reveals that the ship is actually a sentient creature from another universe that got injured during a journey. When it was healing itself, Luthor attacked it and modified it to suit his needs. When Supergirl threw the Doomsday clone through the creature's tunnels, it was infused with the creature's knowledge, becoming the Doomslayer. Superman tells the creature that it can help, so the creature shows its internal schematics, teaching Superman how to repair it. When Superman learns everything he needs, the creature returns him to solid form. The Eradicator, meanwhile, defeats Superboy Doomsday in Moscow, and Zatanna teleports him to the ship and the heroes to Kansas, where they help Supergirl defeat Cyborg Doomsday. With the clones defeated, the heroes throw them down into the pit the tower is located in, since the tower will also teleport things that are close to it. In the tower's bridge, Superman manages to activate a sequence that will teleport the tower to its home before it reaches Earth's core. Suddenly, the Doomslayer attacks him but the Eradicator appears to help Superman. Although Doomslayer protests that "murderer and victim" cannot work together, Superman grimly notes that the Doomslayer is repeating Luthor's mistake of believing that life must have simple solutions, reflecting grimly that the current alliance is because life is complicated. Although the Doomslayer is defeated, the Eradicator, knowing that Doomsday will soon regain control, tells Superman that it was an honor fighting alongside him before throwing out of the tower, seconds before it teleports away into another dimension. Later, Clark and Lois eat dinner in a restaurant. There, Clark admits to Lois about the Eradicator's sacrifice and that Luthor found out about his double life, but it didn't change anything. He also says that maybe he should reveal his secret identity, but Lois says that is not necessary, since the people trust Superman no matter what happens. Clark and Lois then return home.
From May the storyline is being retitled, The Reign of the Doomsdays
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
that will run through the Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
family of books. The crossover involves Doomsday
Doomsday (comics)
Doomsday is a fictional character, a supervillain that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Superman: The Man of Steel #18 , and was created by writer-artist Dan Jurgens. IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time ranked Doomsday as #46...
hunting down Steel
Steel (John Henry Irons)
Steel , also known as the Man of Steel, is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Universe. First appearing in The Adventures of Superman #500 , he is the third character known as Steel and was created by Louise Simonson and artist Jon Bogdanove...
, Superboy
Superboy (Kon-El)
Superboy is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe. A modern update of the original Superboy, who is a younger version of Superman, the character first appeared in Adventures of Superman #500 , and was created by writer Karl Kesel and artist Tom Grummett.Originally...
, Eradicator
Eradicator (comics)
The Eradicator is a fictional comic book superhero character having a recurring role in Superman stories published by DC Comics. Originally created as a weapon by an ancient alien race, he is over 200,000 years old and is considered an artifact of Krypton...
and Cyborg Superman, the four main characters introduced in the wake of the controversial The Death of Superman
The Death of Superman
"The Death of Superman" is a 1992 comic book storyline that occurred in DC Comics' Superman titles. The completed multi-issue story arc was given the title The Death and Return of Superman....
storyline in 1992. Though the current iteration of the character was not present in the original The Death of Superman storyline, Supergirl
Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)
Kara Zor-El is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and related media, created by writer Otto Binder and designed by artist Al Plastino. As Supergirl, Kara Zor-El serves as the biological cousin and female counterpart to DC Comic's iconic superhero Superman, created...
will appear in the crossover as well due to being part of the Justice League
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
. The storyline itself draws its title from Reign of the Supermen, the immediate follow-up to The Death of Superman.
Publication history
The crossover began in January 2011 in the SteelSteel (John Henry Irons)
Steel , also known as the Man of Steel, is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Universe. First appearing in The Adventures of Superman #500 , he is the third character known as Steel and was created by Louise Simonson and artist Jon Bogdanove...
one-shot published as part of the DC Icons line. The crossover is set to continue in March in Outsiders
Outsiders (comics)
The Outsiders are a fictional DC Comics superhero team. As its name suggests, the team consists of superheroes who allegedly do not fit the norms of the mainstream superhero community, namely the Justice League....
37, where Doomsday will face Eradicator
Eradicator (comics)
The Eradicator is a fictional comic book superhero character having a recurring role in Superman stories published by DC Comics. Originally created as a weapon by an ancient alien race, he is over 200,000 years old and is considered an artifact of Krypton...
, Justice League of America #55 and Superman/Batman Annual
Superman/Batman
Superman/Batman was a monthly comic book series published by DC Comics that features the publisher's two most popular characters: Batman and Superman...
#5, both of which involve him facing Supergirl
Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)
Kara Zor-El is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and related media, created by writer Otto Binder and designed by artist Al Plastino. As Supergirl, Kara Zor-El serves as the biological cousin and female counterpart to DC Comic's iconic superhero Superman, created...
and Cyborg Superman, Superboy
Superboy (Kon-El)
Superboy is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe. A modern update of the original Superboy, who is a younger version of Superman, the character first appeared in Adventures of Superman #500 , and was created by writer Karl Kesel and artist Tom Grummett.Originally...
#6, where he will face Superboy, and Action Comics
Action Comics
Action Comics is an American comic book series that introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
#900-904, where he will face Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
. The storyline will conclude in #904, which will also be the final issue of Action Comics, since the book will be relaunched in to match DC Comics's move to reboot every major comic book and start from scratch. This effectively makes Reign of Doomsday the final story arc to run in the first volume of Action Comics.
Plot synopsis
The storyline begins in the SteelSteel (John Henry Irons)
Steel , also known as the Man of Steel, is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Universe. First appearing in The Adventures of Superman #500 , he is the third character known as Steel and was created by Louise Simonson and artist Jon Bogdanove...
one-shot, where the titular protagonist attempts to fight off Doomsday after the creature arrives in Metropolis. With Superman nowhere to be found due to the events of the Grounded
Superman: Grounded
"Grounded" is a 2010-2011 comic book story arc that ran through the Superman monthly ongoing series. It was written by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Roberson, and penciled by Eddy Barrows, with covers by John Cassaday....
storyline, Steel is left to fight the creature by himself. Though he puts up a valiant fight, Doomsday is able to effortlessly overcome each of his attacks. Eventually realizing that Doomsday has come for him for some specific purpose, Steel makes one last attempt to stop the creature before being beaten into submission. Doomsday then takes Steel's seemingly lifeless form and departs from the scene, leaving his niece Natasha
Natasha Irons
Natasha Irons is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Universe and the niece of John Henry Irons . Natasha first appears in Steel #1 . She becomes the fourth superhero to use the name Steel when her uncle is injured. In the 2006 limited series 52, Natasha gains superpowers and uses the...
to sob over her uncle's hammer and tattered cape.
Following this, Doomsday attacks the Outsiders
Outsiders (comics)
The Outsiders are a fictional DC Comics superhero team. As its name suggests, the team consists of superheroes who allegedly do not fit the norms of the mainstream superhero community, namely the Justice League....
in Markovia, intent on finding Eradicator
Eradicator (comics)
The Eradicator is a fictional comic book superhero character having a recurring role in Superman stories published by DC Comics. Originally created as a weapon by an ancient alien race, he is over 200,000 years old and is considered an artifact of Krypton...
. During the fight, Doomsday displays a frightening new ability; the power to absorb energy from Looker
Looker (comics)
Looker is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Universe of comic books. The character's first appearance was in Batman & the Outsiders #25.-Emily Briggs:...
and Halo
Halo (comics)
Halo is a fictional superheroine that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. She first appeared in a special insert in The Brave and the Bold #200 , and was created by Mike W...
and then redirect it as a massive blast. After defeating all of Eradicator's teammates, Doomsday impales him with a blade generated from his forearm and then flees the battlefield with his body.
Doomsday later appears in the ruins of New Krypton, where he attacks the Alpha Lantern Boodikka
Boodikka
Boodikka is a fictional character featured in comic books published by DC Comics. Boodikka is a tall, well-muscled humanoid alien female with pink skin and reddish black hair...
and several members of the Justice League
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
, who were surveying the remains of the destroyed planet. With help from Starman and Saint Walker
Saint Walker
Saint Walker is a fictional comic book character published by DC Comics. Created by writer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver for the Green Lantern series, Saint Walker is an alien member of the intergalactic Blue Lantern Corps, an organization dedicated to spreading peace and harmony...
, the League members are able to hold off Doomsday long enough for Batman and Supergirl
Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)
Kara Zor-El is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and related media, created by writer Otto Binder and designed by artist Al Plastino. As Supergirl, Kara Zor-El serves as the biological cousin and female counterpart to DC Comic's iconic superhero Superman, created...
to teleport the injured Boodikka to the JLA Watchtower. As Batman and Supergirl attempt to help Boodikka recover, Doomsday arrives to continue his attack. Just as the battle is about to continue, the Cyborg Superman emerges from Boodikka's body and reveals that Doomsday has come for him.
During the ensuing battle, Cyborg Superman violently flies through Doomsday, apparently killing him by causing his body to explode. However, Doomsday somehow assimilites Cyborg Superman's nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
into his own body, and rebuilds himself as a new creature dubbed Cyborg Doomsday. Supergirl and Cyborg Superman attempt to stop the creature, but Cyborg Superman turns on Supergirl at the last second and tries to shoot her, stating that it would be a disgrace for her to defeat the creature that so easily trounced him. With Supergirl momentarily distracted, Cyborg Doomsday knocks her unconscious and then violently eviscerates Cyborg Superman before teleporting away with both of them. Horrified, Batman orders Saint Walker to use his power ring to track down Cyborg Doomsday, but the ring is unable to locate him. As Saint Walker muses that the creature must be using some sort of cloaking device, Cyborg Doomsday is shown returning to the remains of New Krypton with his two unconscious captives.
Doomsday subsequently attacks Superboy
Superboy (Kon-El)
Superboy is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe. A modern update of the original Superboy, who is a younger version of Superman, the character first appeared in Adventures of Superman #500 , and was created by writer Karl Kesel and artist Tom Grummett.Originally...
while the young hero is returning home from Titans Tower
Titans Tower
Titans Tower is a fictional building in the DC Comics universe. Its various incarnations have been home to the superhero team called the Titans...
, literally appearing from out of nowhere hundreds of feet in the air. While the two fight, Superboy notes that Doomsday is significantly stronger than he was when they last met, and that he now appears to possess the ability of flight. Badly injured, Superboy attempts to fight off the creature, only to be overwhelmed when Doomsday somehow begins to mimic Superboy's trademark tactile telekinesis, which allows him to attack the youth from long distances. After beating Superboy into submission, Doomsday grabs him and teleports back to the ruins of New Krypton, where he enters a large alien spacecraft with his prisoner.
Returning to Metropolis, Superman discovers that this was all part of a plot by Lex Luthor (who had previously been given Doomsday's corpse by Sam Lane) to distract him from Luthor's ultimate goal of finding a Black Lantern power ring. With Luthor defeated, Superman finds his allies trapped in a pocket dimension within a satellite. Superman attempts to free his allies, only for them all to discover the apparently still-inert body of Doomsday, as well as three separate clones or copies - each with a different powerset designed to specifically make them capable of eliminating the Superman they were sent after.
Superman, Superboy, Supergirl, Steel, the Eradicator and the Cyborg Superman encounter the three Doomsdays that Lex Luthor sent against the Supermen. The Cyborg tries to fight them, but Superman rips his central node off, knowing that they would not survive a confrontation with the Doomsdays. Superman and his allies escape, taking the original Doomsday with them. Supergirl is impressed by Superman's kindness towards Doomsday, even if Doomsday killed him. As the heroes advance through the ship, Steel notices that Doomsday is beginning to regain his brain activity. Suddenly, they are attacked by the Doomsdays. In U.S.A.F. Space Command, Colorado, the military detects an object falling to Earth at an impressive speed. If it hits, it will cause an extinction event. The President makes a call, requesting Superman's help in the upcoming disaster. The heroes get to an observation area and rearrange the internal structure to reach Earth. However, they are met by a new enemy, the Doomslayer. The Eradicator, against Superman's suggestion, fights the Doomslayer. However, the Doomslayer destroys the Eradicator.
The Doomslayer reveals its plan to the heroes: the Doomslayer believes Doomsday to be an infection, so it plans to destroy Earth as it considers Earth to be ground zero for Doomsday's "infection." The Doomslayer also expresses remorse for killing the Eradicator, but suddenly attacks Doomsday with its laser vision. Superman defends Doomsday, saying that while Doomsday maybe a mass murderer, the fact that the Doomslayer achieved sentice shows that Doomsday has the potential for redemption. But the Doomslayer refuses to listen and attacks the heroes. However, the heroes escape the ship with the original Doomsday. To stop the ship from crashing on Earth, Superman and his allies try to push the ship back into space. However, the Doomslayer reverses the ship's engines to increase the ship's falling speed, giving the ship enough power to destroy a continent. Superman advises Superboy, Supergirl and Steel to escape while he slows the ship down, intending to sacrifice himself. Superboy, Supergirl and Steel reluctantly agree. The ship falls in Metropolis's bay and creates a massive tidal wave. However, Superboy's tactile-telekinesis, Supergirl's cold breath and Steel's gravitron source dissipate the tidal wave, saving Metropolis. Superman crawls out of the sea, wounded but alive. Suddenly, the Doomslayer attacks the city with the four Doomsday clones.
The Doomsday clones spread across the world, wreaking havoc. Supergirl fights attacks Cyborg Doomsday in a nuclear lab, Steel fights Superboy Doomsday in Moscow, and Superboy fights Steel Doomsday in Haiti. In S.T.A.R. Labs, Superman, Lois and Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi use the original Doomsday's body to try and find a way to stop the Doomsday clones. Suddenly, Doomsday awakens, but the Eradicator speaks through him. The Eradicator that, as a being of pure information, he leapt into the technology Luthor used to clone Doomsday so that he could control the original Doomsday. Also, the Eradicator says that he can help Superman against the Doomsdays. Meanwhile, the Doomslayer directs the Doomsday clones from his tower. His plan is to get the Doomsdays reach Earth's core so that he can expand the universe inside the tower and destroy the planet from within. Superman uses an accelerator to reach the Doomslayer's tower before its defenses detect him. Meanwhile, Earth's heroes begin fighting the Doomsdays. Reaching the Doomslayer's tower, Superman flies through a tunnel that leads to the ship's core. To stop him from foiling his plan, the Doomslayers powers up the ship's informational engines. Meanwhile, the Eradicator defeats Steel Doomsday, but he begins to feel that Doomsday's mind is beginning to regain control of the body. To continue the battle, Zatanna teleports the heroes to Moscow. In the ship's core, Superman finds information about the Doomsday Supergirl threw into a tunnel. The Doomsday spent years trapped inside the tunnel, conscious and fueled by rage. The heroes reach Moscow and continue their attack. Meanwhile, the Doomslayer blasts Superman with the ship's informational engines.
The blast from the ship's informational engines does not destroy Superman, instead it converts him into data and transfers him into the ship's informational engines, where he meets the ship's artificial intelligence. The AI reveals that the ship is actually a sentient creature from another universe that got injured during a journey. When it was healing itself, Luthor attacked it and modified it to suit his needs. When Supergirl threw the Doomsday clone through the creature's tunnels, it was infused with the creature's knowledge, becoming the Doomslayer. Superman tells the creature that it can help, so the creature shows its internal schematics, teaching Superman how to repair it. When Superman learns everything he needs, the creature returns him to solid form. The Eradicator, meanwhile, defeats Superboy Doomsday in Moscow, and Zatanna teleports him to the ship and the heroes to Kansas, where they help Supergirl defeat Cyborg Doomsday. With the clones defeated, the heroes throw them down into the pit the tower is located in, since the tower will also teleport things that are close to it. In the tower's bridge, Superman manages to activate a sequence that will teleport the tower to its home before it reaches Earth's core. Suddenly, the Doomslayer attacks him but the Eradicator appears to help Superman. Although Doomslayer protests that "murderer and victim" cannot work together, Superman grimly notes that the Doomslayer is repeating Luthor's mistake of believing that life must have simple solutions, reflecting grimly that the current alliance is because life is complicated. Although the Doomslayer is defeated, the Eradicator, knowing that Doomsday will soon regain control, tells Superman that it was an honor fighting alongside him before throwing out of the tower, seconds before it teleports away into another dimension. Later, Clark and Lois eat dinner in a restaurant. There, Clark admits to Lois about the Eradicator's sacrifice and that Luthor found out about his double life, but it didn't change anything. He also says that maybe he should reveal his secret identity, but Lois says that is not necessary, since the people trust Superman no matter what happens. Clark and Lois then return home.
Reading order
In addition to the Steel one-shot, the crossover includes issues of Justice League of America, Outsiders, Superman/Batman, Superboy and Action Comics.- Part 1: Steel #1 (January)
- Part 2: Outsiders (vol. 4) #37 (March)
- Part 3: Justice League of America (vol. 2) #55 (March)
- Part 4: Superman/Batman Annual #5 (April)
- Part 5: Superboy (vol. 4) #6 (April)
- Part 6: Action Comics #900 (April) - This issue is also the conclusion to Lex LuthorLex LuthorLex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
's The Black Ring storyline
From May the storyline is being retitled, The Reign of the Doomsdays
- Part 7: Action Comics #901 (May)
- Part 8: Action Comics #902 (June)
- Part 9: Action Comics #903 (July)
- Part 10: Action Comics #904 (August) - Conclusion and final issue of Action Comics volume 1.