Doomsday: A History Of A Monster

     This character has always been one of the more “interesting” of the DC Universe. It’s origins and attributes have been altered throughout its history in comics and television. But whether it is a failed experiment of Cadmus Labs, an intellectual serial killer in space or the ultimate weapon/ killing machine from Krypton, there is nothing that can be as powerful, menacing or dangerous as Doomsday.

     Yes, you can obviously make the argument that Doomsday is not the most powerful. The first person that comes to mind would be Superman, of course, but as I distinctly remember, he died at the spike-knuckled hands of this creature.

     Many comic readers may just remember Doomsday as that mindless monster who killed Superman that one time (although it was a pretty great accomplishment, not many people can put that on their resume when applying for a job as a super villain), but Doomsday has a very rich history in comics, a history that began long before The Death Of Superman.

     Doomsday was once a character known as “The Ultimate”, who was born on Krypton during prehistoric times. Through a very hard to understand storyline, this baby would one day grow up into that monster we all love to hate. The Ultimate was able to escape Krypton by hitching a ride on a transport ship. And after years of killing on several planets, The Ultimate almost had a meeting with the infamous Darkseid. Unfortunately, toxic fumes from the planet’s chemicals made for a nasty battle arena, so Darkseid had to leave.

     I don’t want to get into more detail then I have to, but after killing a few dozen Green Lanterns, the inhabitants of the planet Calaton combined their powers to capture The Ultimate in a metallic casket, which was shot into space and eventually landed on a planet where the impact of the crash buried it miles underground. This planet was Earth.

     And thus began one of the best Superman stories ever. After years of new writers and new ideas, Doomsday’s story will change and hopefully improve. But with a character with so much history and potential, I think Doomsday writers will have more then enough ideas to possibly recreate another story as amazing as The Death Of Superman. Doomsday has become a household name (for comic fans), a comic book legend for years to come, one of Superman’s greatest adversaries of all time, and the one that defeated him.