30 Years Later, Marvel's First Reboot Is Still One Of The Most Important Comic Events Of All Time

Published Sep 29, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT

Derek is the Training Lead for ScreenRant. Before his current position, he spent 20 years working in games, TV, and film while also writing for several entertainment sites.
Derek is also the co-host of three pop culture podcasts: Across the Omniverse, The Bad Batch, and Watch Men.

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The biggest Superman story of the 1990s is undoubtedly the Death of Superman. Seeing the first ever superhero sacrifice himself to save the people of Metropolis — and the world — from Doomsday became primetime news, as fans wore black armbands and lined up at their local comic shop to get a copy of the monumental issue. The story has been turned into a number of animated movies and played a heavy role in the TV shows Smallville and Superman & Lois, as well as the movie Batman v. Superman making it the most adapted Superman story of all time. But, as important as that storyline has been in the comics, there is another '90s tale that has just as much - if not more - of an effect on the Superman mythos.

In 1996, nearly 60 years after they first met in Action Comics #1, Superman and Lois Lane finally made things official and got married. The wedding was long planned and even pushed back by corporate demands on more than one occasion, but when it happened, the people of the DC Universe and the real world celebrated. And all it took was a lot of behind-the-scenes planning and more pieces to fall into place than anyone could have expected.

DC Editorial Worried How Superman And Lois Getting Married Would Affect Sales

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From the very beginning, Superman, Lois Lane, and Clark Kent were set up as an unusual romantic triangle. Clark Kent loved Lois Lane, but Lois loved Superman and thought Clark was kind of a wimp. Wishing to keep it secret that he was Superman, Clark spent decades being rejected by Lois while she pined over the Man of Steel. At the same time, Superman would consistently push away Lois's advances, often with the added element of torturing the poor reporter to teach her some sort of lesson.

While writers often wanted to move the story forward by having Superman reveal his identity to Lois and, eventually, marry her, DC editorial was against it. Their concern was that if Superman got married, young readers would be less interested in the character, seeing him as too "old" in their young eyes. During this period, the comics had plenty of "imaginary" stories showing the wedding that never was. But after 40 years, a compromise of sorts was struck.

In 1978's Action Comics #484, the Earth-Two versions of Superman and Lois Lane did wed, which may have temporarily satisfied readers who wanted to see the big day, but since the vast majority of stories were set on Earth-One, the primary Last Son of Krypton and ace reporter were still living separate lives. Things got worse when 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths reset continuity and erased Earth-Two from existence, sending those versions of Superman and Lois off to live in a pocket universe never to be seen again (until Infinite Crisis, which wasn't a very happy return).

A Hit TV Show Delayed The Nuptials Even Further

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John Byrne's controversial reimagining of Superman for the post-Crisis continuity made Clark Kent less meek and more self-assured. Before long, he and Lois were dating and, in 1990's Superman #50, Clark proposed to Lois, making readers believe that wedding bells would not be far behind. But Warner Bros. execs squashed any wedding plans.

Just as Superman and Lois were getting ready to mail out invitations, ABC TV bought the pitch for Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. With a live-action series that would mix superheroics with sexual tension on the way, DC Comics was told that, in no way, shape, or form, were they allowed to have Clark and Lois go through with the wedding that had been planned to take place in Superman #75. Suddenly in need for a new event to celebrate the milestone issue, comics legend Jerry Ordway joked that they should just kill off the Man of Tomorrow. Before long, that joke became a reality.

Superman spent the better part of a year being dead in his own books, but when he came back from the grave, the team behind Lois and Clark, worried that having the couple get married would kill viewer interest in the series, still weren't ready to have its wedding episode. To fill the time, the comics destroyed Metropolis, had the couple go on a few adventures, and did all they could to keep readers from asking "when will these two finally tie the knot!"

Finally, Lois and Clark decided to actually have the wedding take place during the third episode of the fourth season. The comics hurried up to meet the date and, just as Lois and Clark said "I do" on TV, Superman: The Wedding Album hit comic shelves, changing the history of DC Comics forever. Since then, DC has gone through a few continuity resets — and even got rid of the marriage for a few years — but the most beloved comic book couple has always come back together. Now, no longer worried about aging Superman in the eyes of readers, DC has even let The Man of Tomorrow and Lois have a kid.

So, while the Death of Superman may have made the biggest noise, it was the wedding of Lois Lane and Clark Kent that truly changed Superman's life forever.