Before we discuss Superdoom, we need to be clear about one thing: The New 52. For those who are not familiar, The New 52 is DC Comics’ whole line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books that was rebuilt and relaunched in 2011. Are you still scratching your head as to how this relates to Superdoom?
In The New 52, Superman was transformed into a horrific version of the superhero, nearly bringing the world to an end. Yes, we are talking about Superdoom, and no one will be surprised to learn that this gigantic version was a lethal mix of Superman and Doomsday. If one were to be completely honest, this unusual hybrid possessed boundless power, implying that Superdoom was most likely the physically strongest beings in the DC universe at the time he existed.
The character created by Grant Morrison and Gene Ha first appeared in May of 2014 in Superman: Doomed, a Superman crossover story arc written by Greg Pak, Charles Soule, Scott Lobdell, and Tony Bedard. In today’s video, we will not only speak about Superdoom’s origins, but also the comic book, his powers, and talents, and, most significantly, how he was dealt with. You would better be prepared for this!
How Did It All Start?
Post coming back from a trip to Tibet, the trio of Clark Kent, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen were able to build a machine using sound vibrations with the sole purpose of bringing ideas to life. But with their budget running out, they were left with no other options but to look for corporate backing and eventually signed over the control of the device to a company called Overcorp.
However, unbeknownst to the trio, the company had its own plans. Overcorp ended up twisting the ‘Superman concept’ which initially meant ‘a thought-powered redeemer capable of saving the world’ into a living embodiment of the company’s warped corporate creed – it is its very own version of Superman or let’s say the horror that is otherwise known as Superdoom.
As a self-proclaimed ‘killer franchise’, Superdoom soon became unstoppable and Overcorp effectively took over the world with Superdoom’s distinctive logo everywhere. Driven by Overcorp’s corporate directives to obliterate every feasible form of competition, Superdoom entered ‘The Bleed’ with the objective of going after its creators as well as slay every alternate version of Superman.
Post annihilating numerous parallel planets and slaughtering several Supermen and Superman-analogues such as Optima, the leader of the Justice 9, and the Chibi Superman of Earth 42 to name a few, Superdoom was ultimately successful in hunting down his creators. Let’s not disregard the fact that he also killed Jimmy in the process and mortally wounded Clark too.
However, with the intervention of Kalel, the Superman of Earth 23, who joined hands with Lex Luthor, Superdoom was temporarily stranded between the universes so as to not inflict further damage. We are emphasizing on the phrase ‘temporarily stranded’ because, under the direction of Vyndktvx, an unsuspecting Lex Luthor eventually called for Superdoom to Prime Earth as a final doomsday weapon to be used against Superman along with the other members of his Revenge Squad.
What ensued was a violent fight and while Superman did manage to get the better of Superdoom, the latter post his defeat converted into an explosive device. Thanks to Superman being able to take it all the way up to the dark side of the moon right before it exploded, thus exterminating Superdoom once and for all.
How Did Superman Become Superdoom?
It all began with the people of Smallville getting attacked by a mysterious force that leaves a big chunk of them in a state of coma. Furthermore, without anyone’s knowledge, Lois Lane was discreetly put under the mind-control of a Brainiac. All of this was done as a setup stage for Superman’s confrontation with Doomsday, the latter for your information having escaped from the Phantom Zone.
Post-hearing reports about the re-emergence of Doomsday and how he had attacked a remote island, Superman confronted his nemesis and discovered that the latter had developed some kind of a virus in his blood, one that would incinerate anything within 100 yards of him.
Now, with Superman being the only one powerful enough to stay within close proximity and resist contact with the virus, somehow managed to lure Doomsday into outer space and have a face-off with him there alone to evade more collateral damage.
However, the confrontation landed the duo back in Smallville, where Superman eventually ripped Doomsday in half and also ended up inhaling all the toxins that were released from the hulking body of Doomsday so as to prevent them from spreading around the world. Soon afterward, Superman learned that the toxins have not only transformed his DNA but had also left him vulnerable to aberrantly angry and violent outbursts.
The Comic Book Appearance – The Curse Of Superman Explored
Post overpowering Lex Luthor, Kalel, the Superman of Earth 23 is able to make out that the requirement of Luthor’s alien battle suit clearly implied that his archenemy was working on something huge. Upon probing deeper, he is able to locate a red and green tesseract, one that apparently looked like it was generating some kind of music.
All of a sudden, a woman with an eye patch, and loaded with weapons jumps right through the tesseract. Believing Superman to be a possible threat, she fires at him but is surprised to see that he is resistant to her K-Laser.
When she looks behind, she sees her friends Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen acutely burnt and also finds Jimmy to be dead. That’s when she realizes and also explains to Kalel that by passing through the tesseract, they have established the fact that there is a multitude of parallel earth, each having its very version of Superman.
When Lois starts thinking about what is it that makes Kalel so special, the latter tells her about his world, Krypton, about his parents Jorel and Lara, and how his parents had sent him to earth by putting him inside a prototype rocket when he was literally a baby. As an infant, Kalel was found by a loving family on earth and he eventually grew up as Calvin Ellis, later becoming the President of the United States of America, and Superman.
Looking at Clark, Lois explains to Kalel that there won’t be any time to save him because something seems to be following them. She grieves at the fact that the whole tragedy took place only because Clark dreamt of changing the world. Clark, post his trip to Tibet had come back with an understanding of the Tulpa, which is the concept of generating a living thought with its self-sustaining presence. The idea tempted Lois as well as Jimmy and together the trio built up a machine that was capable of bringing ideas to life.
Taking it to the next level, the trio chose to make use of the device envisioning it as a redeemer, one that was powered by thought and had the capacity to save the world. They had even named their creation as Superman, who in a span of just 25 minutes was able to win over the trio’s heart with his code of thoughtful and moral ethics.
Very soon, the group realized that they were in definite need of a means to make Superman more real, and with their budget running out, they started looking for corporate funding. Eventually, they approached Overcorp and sold out the device as well as the control to the megacorporation and its mysterious CEO.
Of course, Overcorp ended up creating exactly the opposite of what the trio had planned. What was once supposed to be a messiah was altered into a brutal, face-less anti-hero, leading to the new Superman becoming an internationally recognized brand and extensively used by Overcorp to take over the world.
In the meantime, Clark upon realizing that their machine could tap into the sounds coming from what had to be the other universes managed to jump between the worlds along with Lois and Jimmy. However, the Superman that they created in the first place was now on a mission to hunt them down.
The new Superman would not just pursue them but would also cause unthinkable, disastrous devastation in every new world. So much so that Lois had actually been a witness to Superman slaughtering as well as devouring a Superman analog from another Earth known as Optima.
Lois has barely finished narrating her story when the new Superman is seen emerging from the tesseract and when he finally appears, he states his object – to kill his creators. Kalel vows to put an end to Superdoom right there and then.
Kalel begins to attack Superdoom’s post asking Brainiac to cover for him at the White House. No points for guessing that he gets beaten back by the monstrous Superdoom. Realizing that there only happens to be one person who will be more than happy as well as equipped to fight Superdoom, Kalel reaches out to Lex Luthor.
Together, they are able to knock Superdoom into the tesseract and strand him there between frequencies. Later, the Justice League arrive to clean up the mess and also probe deeper into the mysteries of the Transmitter Symphonic Array. Kalel provides Lois a place to stay, in his very home and promises to cure Clark. The comic ends with Lois commenting that Kalel might just be the right Superman.
Why Is Superdoom So Powerful?
A living franchise, one that only got larger the more you thought about it – you do get an idea about what we are dealing with here, right? The infamous Superdoom was shown to grow both in terms of size as well as strength the more people came to have faith in what he represented. Speaking of his superhuman strength, it was variable.
It would not be wrong to say that his superhuman strength was sort of based on the gathered belief of the people of the multiverse in what it characterized. We will give you an instance; so, by the time Superdoom reached Earth 23 following Lois and her companions, his strength was pretty much similar to that of Kalel aka Calvin Ellis. No wonder, he matched him blow by blow and also had him incapacitated. Well, we are talking about someone who stands at about 8 feet 10 inches, weighed about 915 pounds, and featured glowing red eyes and jet-black hair with a white streak down the middle.
Now, in addition to having razor-sharp claws at the end of his fingers, he also had long bony protrusions from his gray-skinned body. Besides boasting unlimited stamina, invulnerability, superhuman speed, reflexes, enhanced senses, and the ability to fly, he has also been shown to radiate beams from his eyes, in short, he had heat vision.
How Was Superdoom Dealt With?
Earth faced a major threat from Brainiac, one who literally possessed the power to rewrite reality simply by enhancing his powers through those he had full mental control over. By this, we are stressing the citizens of Smallville who were still in a state of coma.
Now with Superdoom laying waste to Brainiac’s defenses, the latter admits his intention of recreating his own world, one that included his wife as well as son, to Superman. Please know that while Brainiac was elucidating his intentions, he had restored Superman to his normal self.
Therefore, before he could carry ahead with his master plan, Lois, who was also under the mind control of Brainiac, regained back control of herself and gave Brainiac’s gathered psionic power to Superman. No points for guessing that Superman made use of the very power to free everyone under Brainiac’s control and also cured himself of the Doomsday virus.
With Superdoom finally gone and Superman back to his regular self, he ends up trapping Brainiac as well as himself in a singularity that sends them both hurling through the DC Multiverse, thus saving the earth in the process.
Sixty days later, Superman emerges alone from the singularity and returns back to Earth. While he wonders if his existence puts the planet in severe danger or not, Lois along with Wonder Woman restores back his self-confidence.