I've been reading Action Comics, mostly because they decided to take a fresh - and somewhat retro - approach with Superman. Basically, they put him in blue jeans, limited his powers, and gave him a rougher edge. I liked it. But it felt rushed, a little convoluted, and it lasted only about eight issues before he was back into his blue tights (sorry, body armor). Why would DC take a fresh, interesting approach to the Man of Steel only to abandon it so quickly?
DC finally made Superman cool again - then abandoned it?
- Thread starter Agenda
- Start date
If a minor costume change is required to make you think Superman is cool, I think the problem is more with you than Superman.
It wasn't just a costume change. They made him an underpowered underdog with a learning curve on how to be a superhero. Now - only eight issues later - he's back to being Mr. Perfect who can fly again. It's nothing I haven't read before.
As I understand it, those issues were always intended to be flashbacks to establish the new backstory they're using for Supeman as part of the New 52.
8 issues. Almost a year. That's quickly nowadays?
I don't get what the original poster is getting at either. Clark is hardly "Mr. Perfect" in fact he's just the opposite of that. In both the flashback arc and the present. Also regarding the costume...I thought it was explained sufficiently that the pants and t-shirt were merely a transitional costume. A proto-costume if you will. Basically Morrison's version of Clark's "Smallville" costume. Once he came across his Kryptonian origins and got his action suit those t-shirt and shorts were no longer needed. All of what the OP stated is still intact in the present day version of Superman as well.
Last edited:
I agree with the OP that the original story in Action became unnecessarily convoluted and rushed, and I wish they'd stayed in his "pre-Kryptonian" phase longer - in fact, Morrison could have gone on for years telling that particular story.
I mean, Smallville got something like three hundred seasons of TV out of a pre-pre-Superman storyline. The show sucked balls, but Morrison's take OTOH was going along great.
I mean, Smallville got something like three hundred seasons of TV out of a pre-pre-Superman storyline. The show sucked balls, but Morrison's take OTOH was going along great.
Well I for one disliked the pre Superman as presented in this series. The blue jeans and work boots just didn't work for me. I suffered through something like that for ten years on Smallville and it wasnt good then. Doesnt matter who writes it, stories of Clark Kent and his struggles pre-superman/learning to be Superman/doubting himself hold no interest for me. If you want to show some of that in flashbacks or time travel stories later on, so be it. I know it was done to rebirth the charcter in the 52 so I put up with it until the real Superman showed up.
Remember Untold Tales of Spider-Man?
This could have been so easily a series set in the past permanently.
So?
What's the point of this being identical to the other Superman title?
"Meh"
This could have been so easily a series set in the past permanently.
So?
What's the point of this being identical to the other Superman title?
"Meh"
TBH, I'm not quite sure what you're saying here.
I'm not disputing that, but if it was the plan all along, it was the wrong plan, imo. This was a remarkably fresh interpretation of Superman and should have been explored further.
That sounds like the worst thing ever.
Untold Tales was a comic made in the 90s but set in the 60s in between the original issues of the lee/Ditko run, paying extremely loyal seamless attention to the original continuity, complete with an annotated timeline in the letters column updated each month.
Cool?
Modern comics can be set in the authentic past.
There's precidence.
Surely different books about the same character should have a unique mandate, other wise they might as well just consolidate the numbering like they did all the old Spider-Man books under the singular Amazing Umbrella?
"Sigh"
Clearer?
You did notice that in Superman and Justice League, Superman is wearing the "blue tights".
Well the rougher edge is nothing new. They just reverted Supes back to the edgier personality of the Siegel & Shuster version rather than the boy scout version of the CCA-era Superman. If course it looks like the edgier personality has been treated as an immaturity that he had to grow out of to become a boy scout.
One thing I enjoyed in the Action issue that transitioned Supes from the kid beating up landlords ala 1939 into the Superman who's existed from the late 50s on was the visualization of his leap into space. There are a lot of little details about the design of the oxygen tanks, cabling etc. that are evocative of science fiction comics of the 1950s.
For that matter, the "Collector" itself with its exposed brain and tentacles is very retro.
Hopefully Morrison or a similarly inspired soul can revisit the early period of Clark's adventures later, now that it's established as the current canonical version.
For that matter, the "Collector" itself with its exposed brain and tentacles is very retro.
Hopefully Morrison or a similarly inspired soul can revisit the early period of Clark's adventures later, now that it's established as the current canonical version.
I guess he did, that's why he chose to read Action Comics.
I kinda agree with him, why did they abandon the rougher, weaker Superman so fast? They have two titles starring the present day Superman, they didn't need a third.
Well, hopefully they'll go back to him from time to time. Why not?
I'm thrilled that this version is now part of the character's "life story" - it honors the actual history of Superman from his introduction before WWII to the present in a way that cobbling together yet another version of the character in his "Silver Age" personna ever has.
I'm thrilled that this version is now part of the character's "life story" - it honors the actual history of Superman from his introduction before WWII to the present in a way that cobbling together yet another version of the character in his "Silver Age" personna ever has.
Similar threads
