The following article contains spoilers from Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #6, on sale now from DC Comics.
Jon Kent went up against his worst nightmare in Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #6 (by Joshua Williamson, Daniel Sampere, Rafa Sandoval, Alejandro Sanchez, and Troy Peteri). To buy time for his friends, Jon fought against Doomsday, among many other powerful villains. The resulting battle nearly killed him, however, thanks to the timely arrival of his father he survived, and together they beat Doomsday back.
While this is undoubtedly a good thing, Doomsday seemed weaker than usual in his latest appearance. When he first debuted thirty years ago, he tore his way across the country, defeated the entire Justice League, and only died after fatally wounding Superman. So, for Jon to survive going up against him alone, with many powerful villains at his back seems to be an impossibility. Surely, he would have died well before his father arrived. Then again every appearance Doomsday has made since his first battle with Superman doesn't really have him live up to his full potential.
Doomsday Seems to Have Gotten Weaker In Recent Comics
Doomsday's claim to fame was that he was the one villain who successfully killed Superman. Since then, whenever Doomsday has shown up, the battles with him have been much more contained, and rarely end with a significant character dying. For all intents and purposes, the moment when he was a serious threat to Superman seems to have passed. For example, the last time he appeared was at the start of DC Rebirth. Superman teamed up with Wonder Woman to stop him, but Doomsday ended up getting captured by Mister Oz, in reality, a disguised Jor-El. Before, nothing could stop him, much less contain him. Now, he has not only been apprehended by Kryptonian science but also taken over by the power of the Great Darkness.
It's as if writers are relying more on the reputation of Doomsday than his actual power. It diminishes what he is: an uncontrollable force of violence and hatred that kills whatever is in its way. Sure, Jon would have lost the fight had he been left alone, but it wasn't just Doomsday fighting him, it was also people like Darkseid. Together, that wave of A-list villains managed to beat Jon nearly into the state that Superman was by the end of his first battle with Doomsday, but Jon was able to get back up.
What Caused Doomsday's Recent Weakness?
Perhaps an explanation can be found in the reason Doomsday is there at all: Pariah. The chains he wears signify that he is under Pariah's control, however, it has also been established that anyone under his sway isn't operating at their full potential. In effect, they are being held back, so Pariah can provide them with directions. That, and by the time the fight concluded, Doomsday was going up against not one, but two Supermen, a far cry from the fair fight he had all those years ago. So, not only was he limited but he was also outnumbered. This does not explain prior appearance and defeats though.
While a logical explanation can be given for Doomsday's latest appearance, his prior ones all seem to not properly utilize him. He is mostly there for his reputation to communicate stakes. People will always remember what he did, but instead of being some catastrophe like he was the first time, he usually gets handled with some clever solution that involves no loss of life. That isn't what Doomsday is for, he's not some idle threat, he is an omen of death that should be used to his full effect. As one of Superman's most powerful enemies, he should only be used only when the stakes are high and loss of life is a guaranteed part of the story.