Fueled by hatred and jealousy, Lex Luthor masterminds an elaborate plot to kill the Man of Steel — and it works. Poisoned by solar radiation, Superman is dying. With weeks to live and his efforts to find a cure failing, Superman prepares for his fate by fulfilling his life's dreams — including revealing his true identity to Lois Lane. But when Luthor proclaims his plan to control the world with no alien hero to stop him, Superman rallies his fading powers. He gives Lois a serum that grants her superpowers for 24 hours, and together they battle subterranean creatures who are attacking the surface world. After solving a seemingly unanswerable riddle posed by the time-traveling Ultra-Sphinx, Superman defends Lois from the amorous advances of Samson and Atlas. Later, as Clark Kent, he writes a Daily Planet article with the headline "Superman Dead".