In Superman: The Final Days of Superman, Peter Tomasi shows himself up to the task of writing the Rebirth Superman ongoing. Tomasi makes Superman's final days quite moving, especially with the involvement of "super-friends" Batman and Wonder Woman. Tomasi's Superman is nicely selfless, decrying his own death only because he'll have less opportunity to help others. Tomasi also injects more humor than we normally see into Superman and Batman's interactions, as befits the themes of a friendlier, more cooperative Rebirth DC Universe.

If you think you know Superman - read these pages and see the Man of Steel as you never have before!   an absolute masterpiece.

'Superman: The Final Days of Superman' by Peter J. Tomasi tells the story of it's title.  But with a flagship character of a publisher, how final can it be?

This collects issues from Superman, Batman/Superman, Superman/Wonder Woman and Action Comics.  There is some crossover with issues in the graphic novel 'Superman, Volume 1: Return to Glory.'  Unlike that other volume this one does a better job of telling a cohesive story.  

Superman is dying due to things that have happened to him.  He needs to say goodbye to those he cares the most about.  In the midst of this goodbye tour, some new people claiming to be Superman show up.  This should sound familiar to those who were around the last time Superman died.

The question to be answered is, "can you create a dramatic story when a) the character has previously died, and b) the reader knows it is pretty likely that this death will be short-lived?

While I felt that the first death of Superman was more dramatic, this time around, it's more heartfelt because he has the chance to say his goodbyes this time.  He even gets thanked by Batman (!).  It does lack an emotional punch because final doesn't seem so final, but it's still not a bad story, and feels epic enough for Superman.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Well, that's definitely a way to start a TPB. Heh.

Lots going on again. Superman has gone through a lot in a relatively small amount of time. Fire Pits of Apokolips, Battle with Rao, the Kyrptonite Chemo, and other stuff too. He's dying.

There's also a bunch of China stuff which was interesting, and then there's a story of a crazy Solar Superman too.

There was more with Lois and Superman, which was very good, although there was also quite a bit with Superman and Wonder Woman, which I didn't like as much.

I do have to say that while I mostly enjoyed this TPB, I think (and if you want a much better Superman is dying TPB) that All Star Superman is where it's at for sure.

Still, this paves the way for Superman Rebirth, a title that I like a lot so far, so it's not an all bad TPB at all.

I got this ARC through Netgalley on behalf of DC Entertainment.

The New 52 comic line is coming to an end making the way for Rebirth.

If you haven't stayed up with the New 52 series, let me just ruin for you by saying this is a retelling of The Death of Superman grand event so many years ago. Remember Doomsday?

In this version of Superman's death, there is no Doomsday character, but there are the multiple versions of Superman. While they aren't the same as that comic from long ago, there is a similar feel.

This is a nice story as it reflects on Superman's time on earth and the people he has connected with. You know it really isn't the end as it clearly leads into the next series of Rebirth.

The death of these major characters in comics has sort of lost it's zing but even then, Tomasi does an adequate job of creating emotion and empathy for these characters.

This book was provided for review, at no cost, by DC Comics.

DNF 33%
I love Superman with all my heart and it breaks my heart not to love this comic. I couldn't connect with it because of the illustrations. It's not my style.

I enjoyed this book.  highly recommended.  It's a good book and I don't have enough words to describe how much I enjoy it.   I will be looking out for other books by this author.