certain his 'demonstration' had frightened those watching with the ugliness of it, Superman then revealed to the powerless Black that the rest of the Elite were only unconscious; he had not removed anything from Black's brain, instead merely causing a micro-concussion that temporarily shut down Black's powers, and that murdering opponents makes a hero no better than his enemies. Furious, Black declared that by not killing him, Superman had guaranteed that as long as Black was alive, he would come after Superman again and again, but Superman calmly replied that he wouldn't want it any other way, and that dreams like the ones he gave to Earth were what made life worth living until the example he and other heroes provided led to a better tomorrow. Suicide Squad A temporarily beaten Black was taken into custody, and his mental powers were restored over the next few months. In his next appearance (in the Our Worlds At War storyline in The Adventures of Superman #593), Black was hired by the American government and President Lex Luthor to lead a new Suicide Squad featuring Chemo, Plasmus, Shrapnel, Mongul and Steel. The Squad's mission was to release the monster Doomsday against the threat of the galactic conqueror Imperiex. Upon his release, Doomsday apparently killed the entire Squad, with the exception of Black (Steel was later saved thanks to the actions of the Black Racer and Darkseid, although Mongul survived under unspecified circumstances), who escaped after 'reprogramming' Doomsday's mind so that Doomsday's hatred for Superman was temporarily redirected toward the Imperiex probes. Suicide Black's final appearance (in the Ending Battle storyline running through the Superman titles in November and December 2002) found him mentally controlling dozens of supervillains by revealing Superman's secret identity and sending them en masse after the Man of Steel. Black targeted everyone in Superman's life—from Clark's old football coach to his current dentist—before launching a mass assault. Despite the odds against him, Superman managed to hold the villains back, later finding Black in his apartment, apparently having killed Lois Lane while Superman was occupied. Black taunted Superman, goading him into killing him, but Superman put Lois' body first and resolved to give her a proper burial. Despite fantasizing about killing Black, Superman resisted temptation and told Black that he would devote the rest of his life to keeping the villain behind bars and not in the morgue, as vengeance isn't