The End Of Superman
In June 1986, John Byrne's Man of Steel #1 began DC's first wave of wholesale revamps in the wake of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Part of Supes' revamp was a new Superman series, with the original renamed The Adventures of Superman.
Although not heralded as such, Thursday's Superman #225 was a milestone: that series' last post-Crisis story. Beginning with March's books, there will be only two regular Superman titles, Action Comics and the former Adventures, reclaiming its old name. However, is this the end of an era, or just a market correction?
Back in 1986 the Superman books seemed to be of two minds. On one hand, they told stories about a guy from Krypton who could do pretty much anything and chose to live behind a pair of eyeglasses. On the other, they seemed to point out how this was completely new and different from any Superman comic published in the last thirty-odd years. Hey! they nudged – Ma and Pa Kent are alive, even if they’re in that perpetual Aunt May age range which should be 50 but looks like 80! Look! Luthor is a fat tycoon; and Lana is the new Pete Ross, with jilted-prom-date angst overlaid! Psst! We ditched Superboy, Supergirl, and Krypto; and did you notice all the tattered capes?
Perhaps there is a bit of irony in observing that what started out as "the Byrne Superman" (with Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway on Adventures) turned into Superman-by-committee once Byrne left in 1988. The three books soon flowed into each other, joined by a fourth (Superman: The Man of Steel) in 1991, so that not a regular ship week passed without a new Superman title. What was virtually a weekly comic was actually a weekly comic at two separate times. The revamped anthology Action Comics Weekly featured a two-page Superman strip in its centerfold and ran for 42 weeks; and from 1995 to 1999 the regular titles picked up the fifth-week spares with the four-times-a-year Superman: The Man of Tomorrow.
By my count, that comes out to 821 monthly issues, not counting various annuals, specials, miniseries, spinoff series (Superboy, Supergirl, Steel), and Action Weekly. We’re back at three monthly books now, but back in the day I’m not surprised the suggestion came up at one meeting of creators to "just kill him off."
And in 1992 kill him they did, sparking a pretty decent epic called "Reign of the Supermen!" that romped through the four titles in the summer of 1993. Superman had already been an interstellar exile (1988-89), proposed successfully to Lois Lane (1990), and bounced back and forth through time, screwing up Legion of Super-Heroes continuity even more (1991). After his revival, he temporarily abandoned Clark Kent (1995), lost his powers and got married (1996), turned into a blue energy-being (1997), took over the world (1998), and fought off an alien invasion (2001). At times neither the supporting cast nor even the city of Metropolis itself was spared.
The nostalgia which fueled many of these creators’ work on the Superman books also restored much of what Byrne and Wolfman had stripped away. Supergirl and Krypto came back. The evil-scientist side of Luthor re-emerged, as did his forgotten connections to Smallville and Clark Kent. The once-sterile Kryptonian environment was replaced by one closer to the Silver Age’s pulp-fantasy trappings. (Or was it? One more mystery for Infinite Crisis....)
Even so, though, this Superman is recognizably different from his Earth-1 or Earth-2 predecessors. Married to Lois Lane, with both his foster parents still living, he has a much stronger connection to his human upbringing than either of his ancestors did. In recent years this has produced a number of stories designed to "test his faith," as if the moral code by which he lived was the only power that could fail him. Accordingly, the revamp that began as an attempt to simplify Superman has found itself, almost twenty years later, exploring complex ethical issues. In a sense the Superman books have gone from one form of soap opera to another, with simple stories about an ultra-powerful guy disguised as a nerd now in the minority.
Therefore, although I bought faithfully those 800-plus regular issues, I applaud DC pruning back the Superman line. Months-long epics told in weekly installments can be exciting, but they can also crowd out more traditional portrayals of the character. Whether it was replacement Supermen in 1993, Supes-Blue and -Red in 1997, or the current tormented Infinite Crisis participant, the more frequently it comes at you, the more chance it has of wearing out its welcome.
Only two "main line" Superman titles also means more of an opportunity for singular interpretations of the character. Despite the small army that worked on the post-Crisis Superman over the years, the fact that they essentially worked on the same book meant that in the end, everything had to agree. Although everything will still have to agree between the new Action and Superman creative teams, coordinating them has to be at least half as easier than coordinating four books' worth. Likewise, I'm sure DC wants readers drawn in by Superman Returns to be further attracted by a smaller investment.
Finally, it's appropriate that the Superman that began in the fall of 1986 will turn its attention to Earth-2 for one last issue. That series, and its siblings, spent the better part of twenty years rebuilding the Superman mythology from one proud of its differences to one which embraces its heritage. So far, the post-Crisis Superman books have been successful in recognizing that the two concepts aren't mutually exclusive.
Although not heralded as such, Thursday's Superman #225 was a milestone: that series' last post-Crisis story. Beginning with March's books, there will be only two regular Superman titles, Action Comics and the former Adventures, reclaiming its old name. However, is this the end of an era, or just a market correction?
Back in 1986 the Superman books seemed to be of two minds. On one hand, they told stories about a guy from Krypton who could do pretty much anything and chose to live behind a pair of eyeglasses. On the other, they seemed to point out how this was completely new and different from any Superman comic published in the last thirty-odd years. Hey! they nudged – Ma and Pa Kent are alive, even if they’re in that perpetual Aunt May age range which should be 50 but looks like 80! Look! Luthor is a fat tycoon; and Lana is the new Pete Ross, with jilted-prom-date angst overlaid! Psst! We ditched Superboy, Supergirl, and Krypto; and did you notice all the tattered capes?
Perhaps there is a bit of irony in observing that what started out as "the Byrne Superman" (with Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway on Adventures) turned into Superman-by-committee once Byrne left in 1988. The three books soon flowed into each other, joined by a fourth (Superman: The Man of Steel) in 1991, so that not a regular ship week passed without a new Superman title. What was virtually a weekly comic was actually a weekly comic at two separate times. The revamped anthology Action Comics Weekly featured a two-page Superman strip in its centerfold and ran for 42 weeks; and from 1995 to 1999 the regular titles picked up the fifth-week spares with the four-times-a-year Superman: The Man of Tomorrow.
By my count, that comes out to 821 monthly issues, not counting various annuals, specials, miniseries, spinoff series (Superboy, Supergirl, Steel), and Action Weekly. We’re back at three monthly books now, but back in the day I’m not surprised the suggestion came up at one meeting of creators to "just kill him off."
And in 1992 kill him they did, sparking a pretty decent epic called "Reign of the Supermen!" that romped through the four titles in the summer of 1993. Superman had already been an interstellar exile (1988-89), proposed successfully to Lois Lane (1990), and bounced back and forth through time, screwing up Legion of Super-Heroes continuity even more (1991). After his revival, he temporarily abandoned Clark Kent (1995), lost his powers and got married (1996), turned into a blue energy-being (1997), took over the world (1998), and fought off an alien invasion (2001). At times neither the supporting cast nor even the city of Metropolis itself was spared.
The nostalgia which fueled many of these creators’ work on the Superman books also restored much of what Byrne and Wolfman had stripped away. Supergirl and Krypto came back. The evil-scientist side of Luthor re-emerged, as did his forgotten connections to Smallville and Clark Kent. The once-sterile Kryptonian environment was replaced by one closer to the Silver Age’s pulp-fantasy trappings. (Or was it? One more mystery for Infinite Crisis....)
Even so, though, this Superman is recognizably different from his Earth-1 or Earth-2 predecessors. Married to Lois Lane, with both his foster parents still living, he has a much stronger connection to his human upbringing than either of his ancestors did. In recent years this has produced a number of stories designed to "test his faith," as if the moral code by which he lived was the only power that could fail him. Accordingly, the revamp that began as an attempt to simplify Superman has found itself, almost twenty years later, exploring complex ethical issues. In a sense the Superman books have gone from one form of soap opera to another, with simple stories about an ultra-powerful guy disguised as a nerd now in the minority.
Therefore, although I bought faithfully those 800-plus regular issues, I applaud DC pruning back the Superman line. Months-long epics told in weekly installments can be exciting, but they can also crowd out more traditional portrayals of the character. Whether it was replacement Supermen in 1993, Supes-Blue and -Red in 1997, or the current tormented Infinite Crisis participant, the more frequently it comes at you, the more chance it has of wearing out its welcome.
Only two "main line" Superman titles also means more of an opportunity for singular interpretations of the character. Despite the small army that worked on the post-Crisis Superman over the years, the fact that they essentially worked on the same book meant that in the end, everything had to agree. Although everything will still have to agree between the new Action and Superman creative teams, coordinating them has to be at least half as easier than coordinating four books' worth. Likewise, I'm sure DC wants readers drawn in by Superman Returns to be further attracted by a smaller investment.
Finally, it's appropriate that the Superman that began in the fall of 1986 will turn its attention to Earth-2 for one last issue. That series, and its siblings, spent the better part of twenty years rebuilding the Superman mythology from one proud of its differences to one which embraces its heritage. So far, the post-Crisis Superman books have been successful in recognizing that the two concepts aren't mutually exclusive.
posted by Tom Bondurant @ 10:15 PM
1 Comments:
I don't think that what DC has donde with Superman has been that bad, except from 96 to 99 where must of the stories and art sucked. But, for some reason DC thinks that Superman's titles are the X-men, and it just isn't.
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