The death of Superman -- in 1988?

[Uncle Mxy]

Anyone else ever hear about how Superman may have been swapped out for the Sand Superman in 1988?

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/12/16/whatever-happened-1998-death-of-superman/

[India Ink]

I've heard about this before. It was thought that it might be used to nullify the marriage--which I would have supported, since I didn't really like Clark and Lois being married.

I guess DC really only had so much of a window of opportunity to use it. Spider-Man got in the way--first with that clone story and then years later with his own marriage reversal. If DC hadn't waited so long to use it, while there might have been an outcry from some fans, I think it would have been easy to take (especially with all the clues planted). But once so much time had passed, I don't think DC could have done it without a backlash.

Then again, they've managed to reboot their whole line and Superman too--which would seem a much bigger betrayal--and yet many are embracing the new Superman.

[Uncle Mxy]

It turns out that this is some kind of hoax or wishful thinking:

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/12/20/sand-superman-conspiracy-that-wasnt/

Having had wishful thinking when it comes to most modern renditions of Superman, I can relate.

[India Ink]

Given neither Jerry Ordway nor Walt Simonson were closely associated with Superman in the late 90s, the weight of their input while valuable doesn't fully account for everything. The theory that there was an early 90s conspiracy might be wrong, but what I remember from discussions on message boards is that the Sand Superman was held out as a possible way of resolving the marriage issue later on. Whether the editors in the late 90s and early 00s actually entertained this solution, I don't know. But given that it was often discussed among fans, the editors had to be aware the theory was out there as one option for resolving the marriage plot.

[DBN]

Given neither Jerry Ordway nor Walt Simonson were closely associated with Superman in the late 90s, the weight of their input while valuable doesn't fully account for everything. The theory that there was an early 90s conspiracy might be wrong, but what I remember from discussions on message boards is that the Sand Superman was held out as a possible way of resolving the marriage issue later on. Whether the editors in the late 90s and early 00s actually entertained this solution, I don't know. But given that it was often discussed among fans, the editors had to be aware the theory was out there as one option for resolving the marriage plot.

Ordway returned to the Superman books to help Karl Kessel around the time that Mike Carlin was promoted.

He's credited with the script on this story that was a part of the Dominus arc:

http://superman.nu/tales3/typical/?page=3

[Uncle Mxy]

(as opposed to the pre-Crisis Dominus who was in reality Lex Luthor:
http://www.x-entertainment.com/messages/317.html  )

Anyone check out the NSFW video history of the death and return of Superman?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PlwDbSYicM&feature=player_embedded