What do you think of when you hear the phrase ''classic Superman''?
This was inspired by the other thread about the need for the return of ''Classic Superman''...which of course, naturally begs the question what does one mean by ''[I]Classic[/I] Superman''?
I'm not talking about your favorite take on Superman or even which one you think is 'objectively' (is there such a thing when it comes to pop-culture?) great. I'm talking about what is your idea of a ''classic'' Superman? It may not even necessarily be [I]one[/I] particular version, but a blend of different versions and ideas.
To me, the ''classic Superman'' is the Superman of the 70's and 80's - the Bronze Age and the early Post-COIE era. Something like this:
[IMG]https://www.previewsworld.com/SiteImage/MainImage/STL140061.jpg[/IMG]
Or this...
[IMG]https://www.nicepng.com/png/detail/774-7744581_john-byrne-superman.png[/IMG]
I'm a child of the 90's and when I first discovered Superman, in the early 00's, through watching reruns of STAS, it was this broad 70's/80's era which felt ''classic'' to me. It did inspire STAS in no small measure. And later, when I watched the Donner movie, and its sequels, I broadly felt the same ''classic'' sensibility. A lot of the adaptations since then that I feel have starred a ''classic'' take on Superman and his world have been derived from some blend of Post-COIE and Donner - Lois & Clark, CWs Supergirl and now Superman & Lois.
Now mind you, these aren't necessarily my favorite takes on Superman. MOS remains my personal favorite Superman live-action movie (though even that film borrows heavily from the Post-COIE era and the Donner movie - albeit with a darker, or I would say more 'realist' tone). I [I]love[/I] Morrison's Golden Age-inspired New 52 Superman. I've come to develop a deep appreciation for the original Siegal/Shuster Superman as well. [I]American Alien[/I] might be one of my favorite reinventions of Superman. But to me, my baseline understanding of Superman, what feels like ''classic'' Superman to be, is a vague blend of the Bronze Age (mostly by way of Donner) and early Post-COIE. Everything else feels like a progression of that (S&L or any other post-marriage status quo), an intentional subversion or alternative to that (New 52, the Snyderverse to an extent), or a pre-cursor to that (the Golden Age and Silver Age).
I must make a note here of the Fleischer cartoons. Those these far predate the ''classic Superman'' I have in my mind, sometimes they do blend in with my vision of what's classic. Possibly because these cartoons [I]did[/I] heavily influence STAS and the rest of the DCAU that I grew up with. I guess after the Donner movie, it might be the adaptation that has endured the most through pop-cultural osmosis. It might be the earliest version of Superman that could be widely considered a ''classic''. So it rates an honorary mention for sure...
[IMG]https://filmschoolrejects.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Superman-Max-Fleischer.jpg[/IMG]