For someone who grew up being a Superman fan, following his adventures thru the 70's (the glory days) and the 80's, Superman's death obviously had a great impact on me. The writers truly brought out the core of what the Man of Steel has stood for all these years -- protecting the innocent and fighting evil at all costs. Yes, even at the cost of his own life.
However, I just did not think that "technically" Doomsday had the stuff to do it. I mean Supe has faced a bunch of other *really* strong super villians, but most of those storylines didn't make it past the second or the third episode. Remember Solomon Grundy? I mean that guy was shown to be stronger than Superman, and virtually unbeatable. But Superman outwitted him and pretty much settled him in one episode. What about Mongul? That guy was at least as strong, if not stronger than Doomsday. But the MOS had no problem putting him away in a couple of issues. And then there was Lobo. The list continues. My point is, Supes has handled some really tough characters in the past without too much of a hassle.
Which brings me to Doomsday. I remember when in the first panel that he takes his best punch at Superman, the MOS does not even budge! His expression is unchanged as he says something to the effect, "Oh, is this the guy you call Doomsday?" And the MOS NEVER managed to take a punch from any of the aforementioned supervillians and brush it off the way he did against Doomsday. And yet, while all the others are put away fairly easily, this guy manages to KILL Superman.
Agreed that the storyline keeps stressing the fact that Doomsday keeps getting stronger as he continues fighting. AND the MOS gets exhausted and hence weaker as the fight wears on. How so is he able to make an impact on Doomsday towards the end of the fight while not being able to do anything at his peak (during the initial stages of the fight)? The editors might say there was a last-ditch effort from Superman from sheer desparation, but still...
Finally, thru the years, we all know how the MOS has used brains over brawn to beat his enemy, usually taking advantage of one their tiny weaknesses. So how come this time he didn't take advantage of Doomsday's huge weakness of lack of flying power? I don't think this aspect got enough play in the series. Also, how come he never thinks of striking at those bony protrusions that hurt Doomsday so much towards the end of the series?
All this MAY have been plausible if somewhere along the line the writers had said that Supes was sidetracked with some issue, or that he was sick (Kryptonian "birthday"), or that he was simply not at his peak. But that wasn't the case either.
All in all, the adventure was entertaining, with a great deal of emotional impact for most fans. But in the end, I'll say that Doomsday wasn't the kind of villain who was worthy of giving Superman (at his prime) as hard a time as he managed to give him (he killed him!).
Well, that was my point of view anyway. However, if you are reading this review in order to know whether you should pick the TPB up or not, I can easily tell you to buy it. It's definitely worth it despite the issues outlined above. Historically, it's a very significant series (even it was a ploy to raise sagging sales), and if you are like me, you'll keep going back to it again and again...
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