Doomsday: The Death of Superman Trading Cards

"Where Were You When Superman Died?"

SkyBox International released Doomsday: The Death of Superman Trading Cards in the fall of 1992. SkyBox produced 8,000 individually-numbered cases with ten boxes per case. Each box contains 36 foil packs with eight cards per pack. The base cards depict the fight against Doomsday with artworks from the "Death of Superman" and "Funeral for a Friend" comic book storylines. The card text was written by Roger Stern.

A black polyvinyl binder was sold separately without pages. The black binder is limited to 10,000 units. A collector binder that combines The Return of Superman series was released in in August 1993.

"A Memorial Tribute" subset consists of four randomly inserted Spectra Foil cards. The etched-foil cards feature exclusive artworks from the Superman creative team.

  

Two randomly inserted foil-stamped puzzle cards combine to form a bleeding Superman emblem. Spectra Foil cards and foil puzzles were also distributed in promotional packages from SkyBox. Uncut Spectra Foil panels are numbered to 1,000. Unnumbered panels have been observed in private collections.

The "Funeral for a Friend" inserts reprint covers from the nine-part story arc. The card backs form a nine-piece puzzle image of the funeral procession by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding. The procession is featured on a poster included with poly-bagged editions of Superman #75 (January 1993).

Batman, Robin, and Crimson Fox have been edited out of the "Funeral for a Friend" cards and procession puzzle. Batman is replaced by Shazam and Robin has been swapped for Changeling. Supergirl (Matrix) was added to card C5. During this time, Topps controlled card licensing for the Tim Burton Batman films. Batman and Robin would not appear in a DC Universe trading card set until the DC Stars series in 1994.

Three different prototype promo cards were issued through various channels. Some prototype cards were hand-numbered and signed by individual members of the Superman creative team. Red frame prototype cards are #0. Yellow frame prototype #00 is included with poly-bagged editions of Superman #75 (January 1993). The Superman headstone was digitally rendered by Eric Kachelhofer. The stele appears on the Memorial and Platinum Edition covers of Superman #75.

 

Prototype #000 depicts the bleeding Superman emblem inside of a white frame. The card was included with Wizard #17 (January 1993)

Autographed "Death of Superman" comic books and trading cards were sold on the QVC shopping network. On February 25, 1993, artist Curt Swan appeared in a two hour collector's special hosted by Steve Bryant.

The Death and Return of Superman was released by Sunsoft for the Super NES in August 1994. A Sega Genesis version rated MA-13 followed in 1995. Guinness World Records 2009 listed the title as the "First superhero game to tie into a contemporary storyline."