DC is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Superman’s death, and they are doing their best for a Superman story that truly shocked a generation of comic fans. The Death of Superman Anniversary Special brings back the original creative teams from Death of Superman for four new stories based on the events of the original event, which include Standing Guard, an all-new story featuring The Guardian by writer Roger Stern, artist Butch Jess, colorist Glenn Whitmore, and character John Workman. ComicBook.com recently had a chance to talk to Stern and Guice about the new Guardian story and return to the world of such an unforgettable time in DC Comics history.
Well, to me, it was kind of weird because I’m going to go, ’30 years? truly? “And I looked at the calendar, oh yeah, that’s 30. I don’t feel like 30 years older. Looks like we only did a couple of years ago,” Stern said. “But that’s it. It’s like, cool. I think we’d better get off the bat and do something important here.”
“Well, for me it was totally unexpected. I didn’t expect to be asked to step back and get involved, especially that story, and with Roger,” Guice said. “So I’ve been busy just getting around, having some time in my life, and 30 years, it just faded away in that time.”
“When Brittany Holzer from DC called me about this, she said, ‘We want to do some things.’ And I’ll go, well, yeah. The Guardian will work because it’s been there in certain parts, but in the comics, even. So in this story, we can show How did he learn about things to show, and what happened between the paintings,” Stern said. And when I was told, ‘And Butch will paint it! “I’m going, okay. Sign me up. Let’s go. Let’s do this.”
Standing Guard takes place during the battle with Doomsday, and because of that readers get a closer look at the devastation Doomsday wrought on the way to the Metropolis, including the massive explosion that Stern and Guice put so much research into creating.
“Yes, when we wrote the story, the first time, Mike Carlin was making sure everyone got Xerox copies every week of what everyone else was doing,” Jess said. “So there was this wonderful synergy of looking at the person who came before you, and then trying to build on that. And this time it was like looking at the whole story, 30 years later and going, well, the explosion is going to be three times bigger now. You know?”
“Sure,” Stern said. “The adventures of Superman preceded Action Comics. Man of Steel followed, Superman followed, and again. So there was the explosion.” “In action, Guardian appears, and here’s this city devastated. We’re going to show Guardian going there, a big withdrawal for that big bang, when Superman and Maxima fight Doomsday in a small town, and it’s all up a gas station, Blue E! Indeed, I went to Google and found many references to Jackson for gasoline explosions, and I said “Here. Make something better out of those.” And he did, because that’s what he does.
The story also provides a much clearer picture of the material losses the Man of Steel incurs throughout the fight, and it always looks worse than wearing it. “Yes. That’s right,” Stern said. “Every time the Guardian catches up with Superman, Superman looks worse than he did the time before.” And the Guardian is going, ‘Oh man! I’ve never seen this guy with bruises on his face before. What is this thing that is fighting? “
Bruising has always been more influential to me in terms of Superman’s deterioration than the presence of blood, and I wasn’t alone. “The bruising, the bulging eye, the bulging bulge on the side,” Jayce said. Stern added, “You know, up to this story, I think the only time I saw Superman bruised was a wrap that Neil Adams did 15 or 20 years ago, when he was new and he didn’t know you didn’t show Superman bruises.”
Stern explained that in many ways, the Guardian is an alternative to the audience in this larger-than-life story, as well as an example of heroism in the face of overwhelming odds.
“The Guardian … is such a great hero as the Guardian,” Stern said, “he’s kind of playing a standby for the readers, for the audience, in this story.” “He learns more about everything as things progress, and whatever he learns annoys him more, but he keeps on going off the bat and does everything he can.”
The Standing Guard will also deal with events that occur after Superman’s death, but for those details you just have to wait and read the full story. On November 8th, the special and collector’s editions of The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary will go on sale on December 6.
What does Superman’s death mean to you and are you excited for the 30th anniversary special? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk to me about all things pictured on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
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