"The Death of Superman" is a crossover story event mostly featured in DC Comics' Superman-related publications. The crossover, which originated from editor Mike Carlin and writers Dan Jurgens, Roger Stern, Louise Simonson, Jerry Ordway, and Karl Kesel, began in December 1992 and lasted until October 1993. It was published in Superman, Action Comics, The Adventures of Superman, Superman: The Man of Steel, Justice League America, and Green Lantern. Since its initial publication, "The Death of Superman" has been reprinted in various formats and editions.

Development began after a planned story, in which Clark Kent (Superman) and Lois Lane would be married, was postponed to coincide with a similar storyline in the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. While pitching possible replacements, Ordway jokingly suggested that they should kill Superman. As Superman comic sales had declined in recent years, the writing teams felt the character had been taken for granted and decided to temporarily kill him to emphasize his importance. They wanted the crossover to surprise readers and show Superman is not invincible.

"The Death of Superman" is divided into three story arcs: "Doomsday!", "Funeral for a Friend", and "Reign of the Supermen!". The first arc chronicles Superman's fight with the monster Doomsday and concludes with his death. The second depicts Superman's fellow superheroes and the rest of the DC Universe mourning his death, ending with his adoptive father Jonathan Kent having a heart attack. The third sees the emergence of four Superman impostors before the original is resurrected. A number of characters in "The Death of Superman", such as Doomsday, Superboy, Cyborg Superman, Steel, and Eradicator, would recur in later DC publications.

When news broke that DC planned to kill Superman, a beloved cultural icon, "The Death of Superman" received unprecedented coverage from the mainstream media. Superman #75, which features Superman's death, sold over six million copies and became the top-selling comic of 1992, while Adventures of Superman #500, which began his resurrection and introduced his possible successors, went on to become the best-selling comic of 1993. Retrospective reviewers are divided on the story, with some finding it ambitious and influential, while others dismiss it as a publicity stunt.

The story has been adapted into various forms of media, including two novelizations in 1993 and a beat 'em up video game, The Death and Return of Superman, in 1994. A loose animated film adaptation, Superman: Doomsday, was released in 2007. A second animated adaptation was released as a two-part film, The Death of Superman and Reign of the Supermen, in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Superman is a superhero created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character debuted in Action Comics #1 on April 18, 1938, to immediate success, and the following year became the first superhero to headline his own comic book, Superman. Since his debut, Superman has been a cultural icon in the United States.

In 1985, DC launched the crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths, which took place in a variety of comics. Its conclusion resulted in the DC Universe—the shared universe that the publisher's comics, including those related to Superman, take place in—being rebooted. Writer/artist John Byrne re-envisioned Superman in his 1986 limited series, The Man of Steel. The following year, Byrne relaunched Superman with a new first issue and the original series was renamed The Adventures of Superman. In the reboot, Byrne removed various elements of the Superman mythos, like Supergirl, to streamline the character for modern audiences, which also allowed him to reintroduce them in a new way later on. The relaunch was a major success for DC and The Man of Steel #1 became the bestselling comic book issue of 1986. Byrne also wrote and illustrated Action Comics, and scripted The Adventures of Superman with artist Jerry Ordway. Under Byrne, a new Superman comic was released every week and each series maintained continuity with the others. He spent two years on the Superman comics before leaving in 1988, dissatisfied with DC's lack of "conscious support" for him and that the version of Superman licensed for merchandising did not reflect Byrne's stories.

As a result of Byrne's departure, Superman group editor Mike Carlin had to assemble new creative teams to replace him. Ordway began to write The Adventures of Superman, while Roger Stern, who had recently finished a 12-year stint at rival publisher Marvel Comics, took over Action Comics. Connecting stories also became harder due to the new, more diverse creative teams, whereas Byrne had managed most of them on his own. To control consistency in stories, the teams regularly attended a "Superman Summit", which started in 1988. The summit was a unique method of making the writers work together, focusing their attention to the next year's worth of stories. These meetings were often dysfunctional, with Superman writer/penciler Dan Jurgens noting they frequently disagreed when discussing story ideas and argued until one person was "left standing". Carlin recalled that he had to act like a "babysitter" for the 18 creators during summits, and the teams often compromised. When the writing teams were having trouble deciding stories, Ordway would jokingly suggest they kill Superman.