Action Comics Presents: Doomsday Special #1 (2023)

Supergirl has a nightmare of Doomsday surrounded by fire, and it is still on her mind when she visits her cousin Superman for breakfast the next morning. When he asks her what's bothering her she tells him about the dream and asks Clark what it was like to be killed by Doomsday. He admits that fighting Doomsday to the death was one of the darkest moments in his life and asks her if she is sure it was just a dream; she says it was, although she is clearly still shaken. She wanders outside and the Martian Manhunter appears in front of her. J'onn tells her that he received a psychic message the previous night but could not understand it as the message was in Kryptonese, and so telepathically placed it in her mind to be translated. She confirms that, as he suspected the message was about Doomsday, which is why he sent it to her rather than Clark. He asks her to let him perform a psychic trace to determine where Doomsday is and she agrees. However, when he follows the source of the signal, they are transported to Hell, pulled there by a being of great power. Supergirl refuses to believe that Hell can exist in a rational universe but J'onn tells her that it will exist as long as humans believe in it, and surmises that Doomsday was sent to Hell after he was killed in the Dark Crisis. They see two demons torturing a damned soul and Kara flies over to save them. However, once they are free from the demons the damned attacks her, and the very ground rises up to grab her, as it is also made of the spirits of the dead. J'onn tries to help her, but a demon blasts him with hellfire, rendering him helpless. Doomsday appears and advances on them, but they are pulled to safety by the First of the Fallen, the Devil of human religion. The First allows J'onn to read his mind, as he knows what he sees will horrify him. He explains that he brought them to Hell, as the demons and damned alike have started to view Doomsday as the King of Hell, and if enough of them believe it, it will become true. Doomsday's powers as "king" have allowed him to create a gate to Earth which will soon open, at which point he would be free to leave Hell and return to the world of the living. He tells them to defeat Doomsday to break the denizens of Hell's faith in him. Kara refuses and tells the First to fight Doomsday himself, but the First replies that if he did, Heaven would assume he was preparing for war and attack Hell, triggering Armageddon. With no other choice, they agree. They attack Doomsday near the gate to Earth, with Kara clad in the armour the First crafted for himself to wear in the final war against God, but Doomsday is too powerful. J'onn telepathically calls out to the souls of the damned to help, telling them that if Doomsday returns to Earth, their still-living loved ones will be killed and condemned to Hell like them. At first nothing happens, but then one and then millions of dead crawl towards the gate and form a barrier around it, fusing into a single wall of hardened flesh. While beating Supergirl, Doomsday notices the wall, enraged he turns to finish off Supergirl, but finds the armour empty, as the First has sent her and Manhunter back to Earth. The watching demons realise that Doomsday has been tricked by the First and abandon him. Kara and J'onn reappear on Earth. Kara is horrified that Hell exists, and that so many people are doomed to it, but J'onn points out that even the eternally damned came together to protect the world from Doomsday, proving that there is always hope. Meanwhile in Hell, Doomsday furiously pounds on the wall in front of the gate, and a single fragment breaks off and falls to the ground.