Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey # 2 1994 NM

Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey #2 (May 1994)—subtitled "Book Two"—is the middle chapter of the premium, prestige-format miniseries published by DC Comics. It functions as the critical narrative bridge that explicitly details Doomsday's full tragic origin while simultaneously dealing with an unstable civil war on Apokolips.

The Present Plot: Apocalypse on Apokolips

• A Fragile Alliance: Stranded on the hellish planet of Apokolips, Superman finds himself forced into an uncomfortable truce. He uses a high-tech Mother Box to physically heal his mortal enemy, Darkseid, who had just been brutally beaten and left for dead by Doomsday.
• The Cyborg's Gambit: To make matters worse, the maniacal Cyborg Superman (Hank Henshaw) has infiltrated Apokolips. He allies himself with Darkseid’s treacherous advisor, Desaad, attempting to permanently hijack the planet's weapon systems and seize absolute control.
• The Time Traveler: As the chaotic crossfire intensifies, the chronal protector Waverider arrives at the Vanishing Point. Recognizing the massive threat Doomsday poses to the timeline, he decides to intervene and reveals the monster's deep history to Superman.

The Core Lore: The Tragic Origin of Doomsday

The narrative highlight of Book Two is Waverider's psychic projection exposing how Doomsday came to be.

• Prehistoric Krypton: Hundreds of thousands of years ago, long before the humanoid Kryptonian civilization rose, Krypton was a violent, savage world populated by lethal predators and a toxic environment.
• The Madness of Bertron: An alien geneticist named Bertron established a laboratory there to engineer the "Ultimate Lifeform". His cruel method relied on accelerated evolutionary cloning.
• The Endless Deaths: Bertron grew an infant in a tube and released it onto the surface, where it was immediately killed by toxic gases or predators. Bertron’s team would harvest the genetic remains, clone the child with engineered immunities, and throw it back outside to die again.
• The Birth of Hatred: This process was repeated thousands upon thousands of times over decades. Through this brutal trial, the infant's DNA retained the agony and memory of every single death. It evolved the unique ability to automatically resurrect and mutate against whatever had previously killed it, fueling the creature with an unyielding, genetically hardwired hatred for all living things.

Creative Team

• Writer / Penciler: Dan Jurgens, the master narrative architect behind the Death of Superman era.
• Inker: Brett Breeding.
• Colorist: Gregory Wright.