Is anyone else a bit upset that Superman's origin story written by John Byrne in the Man of Steel series is now no longer part of the official DC continuity? As I understand it, they first replaced it with Superman: Birthright, and now after the Infinite Crisis it's being retold again in Superman: Secret Origins. Frankly, I fail to see why they have to do this; Byrne's Man of Steel was great, the origin didn't need to be retold. I just feel a bit cheated.
John Byrne's MAN OF STEEL
- Thread starter EJA
- Start date
MOS was hands down the best reboot of a character I have seen in my long 35yrs of comic reading. It really is a shame that it has been replaced. Birthright was just horrid in comparison. I will reserve judgement on secret origins until I have read it all. MOS handled everything perfectly from the updating of Clark to the reduction of Supermans power. All the major plot points were covered. Ok now I will have to go out and reread it.
What about the stuff that came immediately after Man of Steel, e.g. Superman's first meetings with Metallo, Mr. Mxyzptlyk, Darkseid, etc? And his relations to characters such as Lois Lane and Lana Lang (I know Lex Luthor has already been retconned into having known Clark when they were kids in Smallville, whereas Byrne had their first encounter be when Luthor was already a shady mega-tycoon in Metropolis). Has all of that been rewritten as well? Does ANYTHING from those "early years" still remain in continuity?
Byrne's reboot was over twenty years ago. The DC universe has changed quite a bit in that time. I started reading comics in the mid sixties, and I have no problem with Superman's origin being updated, because that's what been going on ever since his debut.
That's very true, but I thought Byrne's reboot was the best of them. It's shame to lose it.
Agreed. That the character has any vitality at all now tracks to some of the major revisions Byrne introduced - a far more plausible and interesting relationship between Clark and Lois that emphasized Clark's humanity over his adopted "Superman" identity, and rethinking that ol' giant-robot-building-convict-genius Lex Luthor, to name two.
I was one who enjoyed the Superman as Superboy era, and I was sorry to lose that. I admired the attempt to reconcile things with the "Pocket Universe" idea, but I'm glad that we may get Superboy back in continuity.
"Superboy" never came across as anything other than Super Muppet Babies, IMAO - right down to retconning Luthor into Supes' adolescence and giving Clark an alliterative-L named gal friend.
Byrne's MOS is my favorite take on the origin of Superman. That being said, I have no problems with it being replaced. After all, it replaced something else which was just as well liked by someone. And at 20 years, it's probably past time for the latest updating.
Birthright never really made it full blown into continuity, although elements of it seemed to.
Birthright never really made it full blown into continuity, although elements of it seemed to.
I am really kinda upset about that, so essentially the past 20 years of comics are really worth nothing in the current scheme of things? From Supes and Lex meeting first when Lex was already a shady billionaire evil dude who owned half of metropolis, to the Lex II clone and all the subsequent stuff that happened until the Death of Superman, his return, the Fall of Metropolis, the rebuilding of Metropolis by Zatanna and the other DC Heroes from the mind of Superman and Perry White, to the Electric Superman, to the Imperiex war... I mean all of that kinda lead into each other. Now they're going "Oh yeah Superman knew Lex when he was a kid in smallville.. just like the TV show!"
I know Bryne's other reboots sucked ass, but Man of Steel was what created a great run of comics. MOS could have been Bryne's high point honestly.
I know Bryne's other reboots sucked ass, but Man of Steel was what created a great run of comics. MOS could have been Bryne's high point honestly.
Most of the post-MOS continuity is still in place. Some of it has to be tweaked to make it fit, but for the most part it still happened. Clark still made his public debut as Superman not Superboy. Clark didn't find out about his Kryptonion heritage until he was a teenager. Lex was still a genius billionaire industrailist who eventually rose to become president of the United States. Doomsday still killed Superman and Clark still reruned to life, turned electric, and married Lois Lane. I don't think Clark and Lex knowing each other in Smallville drastically alters much continuity. And at any rate, that was re-introduced into continuity YEARS ago, long before the latest reboot.
To be perfectly honest, Superman's origin is one that I never get tired of seeing retold. Byrne's "Man of Steel" was great, I also enjoyed "Birthright" and I'm looking forward to the new ones. I like seeing the different takes on what is all essentially the same story.
Exactly!
I think it reduces the character of Lex Luthor greatly to tie him to Clark's childhood. He comes off as just a crazed stalker. Often celebrity stalkers start as admirers or fans. But when their person of obsession does something to disappoint them the stalker turns against the star violently.
Meh. It was the first comic series I followed regularly. I still see the "silver" in the Silver Age.
Superboy gave me the Legion of Super-Heroes, so for that he will always be welcome in my longboxes.
Yep, and let's not forget about Krypto the Superdog. Personally I couldn't stand the Superboy series, along with such "classic" comics as Supergirl, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olson, and Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane. They were all pretty lame.
They need to bring back Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen. And I don't mean the recent serious toned one-shots. I mean I want to see Jimmy on a monthly basis get into some strange, over-the-top adventure that involves him getting transformed, or tricking Superman, or dressing like a woman. It can be out of continuity for all I care.
They might have been lame--if you are reading them as an adult. For the little kids they were intended for, though, they were awesome.
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