Clark's 8th decade (Spring 2008 - Spring 2018): how was it?

[daBronzeBomma]

I'm not sure what exact issue we'd use as the starting point for Super Decade 8 (starting point for Super Decade 9 will be Bendis' MAN OF STEEL #1), but it's ending point is clearly ACTION COMICS #1000, and we'll include the 80th anniversary hardcover as well.

How do you feel about this particular time period for Supes in general? Overall good, bad, or meh?

What is your most favorite memory / storylines of Super Decade 8?

Your least favorite storylinestoryline or memory?

The one issue that best summarizes your feelings?

Where does Super Decade 8 rank compared to the other Super Decades? Bonus if you were actively reading the issues at the time, but not necessary for comments.

Me:

Well, I think GROUNDED and WONK happened here, as did the entirety of both the NEW52 and REBIRTH.

The Marriage was dissolved via hard reboot and then confusingly brought back, accelerated by 10 years lost time in-universe. Superman died (again), was replaced, then merged into one being. We lost Conner but we found Jon.

Cinematically, you had Henry Cavill in MAN OF STEEL, DAWN OF JUSTICE, and JUSTICE LEAGUE.

Television, you had 4 episodes of Tyler Hoechlin on SUPERGIRL and the first season of KRYPTON.

Cartoons, you had JUSTICE LEAGUE ACTION and the various DC animated movies set in the New52.

Still no video game of note

And that's only a bit of the whole shebang. There's tons that I'm forgetting right now.


Bottom line: Super Decade 8 (Spring 2008 - Spring 2018) had as many lows as it did highs. Hard for me to go anywhere but 5/10 on SD8.

What about you?

[Miles To Go]

I lapsed hardcore during World of New Krypton, but I enjoyed what I read of the Black Ring storyline, I browsed through what I could of Grounded (both during and after JMS) and was wondering why it was taking so long to finish. New 52 was where I jumped off completely, as my worst nightmares came true...brash Superman, a barely showcased Lois, Diana as a love interest, an ice-cold Kara....just a disaster of a run IMO, although I concede it has a fanbase who'll passionately defend it.

Then Convergence came, and I came back. Jon's birth and character development caught my curiosity. I stayed around for Truth (big mistake), but I had Lois & Clark to cheer me up. Then Rebirth came a knocking and before I knew it, I'd become a regular reader again. The Super Marriage was back in play, Diana had been jettisoned hardcore, and Jon's fast friendship with Damien created a new and very commercially viable super team. Where's that Supersons movie DC?

JL Action was decent for an adventure/comedy show, but was often too short and too self-contained.

The track record of the Caville movies speak for themselves....a most divisive three films, but it's arguable Henry has come out of it largely loved and he's done a decent job of representing the character on screen and in media interviews despite everything collapsing around him.

So a meh beginning, a bad middle, and a strong end.

So far the latest Super Decade has kicked off strongly.

[Sacred Knight]

2008-10 was pretty awful. I tried, but he was just a mess after IC and never recovered. From WONK, to Secret Origins, to Grounded, just nothing worked. The most well-regarded run of that era was the Black Ring saga...which wasn't even about and did not even feature Superman. Pretty telling.

With the reboot of 2011 I was reinvigorated, and enjoyed pretty much that entire time outside of a couple hiccups.

Outside of the occasional fun issue, really disliked Rebirth mainly because of the stupid way they reincorporated Superman's history they wanted back; the two Superman thing was a disaster of an idea. It was a weight on anything anyone tried to do, and even then, the mantra of the era--Superman as a family man--didn't work for me, at least not the way it was portrayed. In regards to the two Superman nonsense, the merging only made it better in the sense that at least it was over, but it still lingers as a shadow to this day that just really has to be ignored rather tried to make sense of.

Right now, I'm currently having fun and looking forward to where things are going. Time will tell how Bendis portrays the family once that gets back together. I imagine it still being a tough sell for me but he's made me enjoy things again thus far so we'll see.

My favorite story in all that time was the entireity of Morrison's Action Vol. 2 run, followed closely by Pak's run. Soule's Superman/Wonder Woman rounds out the top three.

Least favorite was everything starting from Rebirth to Superman Reborn.

As for where the whole thing ranks in his total history? Pretty low. I think the 7th decade trumps it as the worst, but its probably the second worst after that.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

I wrote about it in April. In short: so, so bad.

[Adset]

i had a hard time with superman after the triangle era ended and i wasn't reading anything super-related prior to the new 52 launch. when did johns do his legion of super-hero arc in action? that was probably the last super-book i had picked up prior to the reboot.

i jumped on action when morrison started and stayed until he left. not his best. i read snyder's unchained and john's superman arc. neither were my favorite. i got most of my superman in the new 52 from justice league. i'm glad clark + diana was not a particularly long-lived idea.

i've always like jurgens and i liked the tomasi/gleason team so i picked up both titles with rebirth and have been reading both ever since.

the rebirth era has definitely been my favorite, in the time period provided (2008-2018). i dug the continuing adventures of lex luthor: superhero, and i felt that jon was a great addition to the super-family. speaking of the super-family, i don't think i've read any of the satellite books since kesel's superboy and PAD's supergirl in the 90s. i couldn't speak on any of those.

it's best that i say nothing at all of superman's foray into cinema with dc's cinematic universe.

[Sacred Knight]

I wrote about it in April. In short: so, so bad.

That's depressing. Because while there's instances here and there of subjective opinion, most of it is objective fact.

Maybe I have to rethink what really was the worst decade, 7 or 8.

[Miles To Go]

I wrote about it in April. In short: so, so bad.

Hard to disagree with any of that. It's rough man...at least you're somewhat hopeful with Bendis

[SiegePerilous02]

I wrote about it in April. In short: so, so bad.

Pretty much nailed it. A few bright spots do not change the fact that this was a shitshow decade for him.

[I]Grounded/I], the divisiveness of the New 52 reboot and Man of Steel, the Injustice canon, BvS and JL, the romance with Wonder Woman, lack of any interest in actually featuring him in tv shows or upcoming films but spin-off characters get them, the godawful means of "restoring" continuity with Rebirth, etc. This has been a rough ass ride. I'd like to say we can only go up from here, but...

[daBronzeBomma]

2018 will end with Superman appearing on the CW for a 3-part crossover. Even though we're technically already in the beginning of Clark's 9th decade, do you predict this crossover appearance will go down as a plus or a minus in Superman history?

[Lvenger]

2008 started off well with the tail end of Johns' Superman and the Legion of Superheroes and the Brainiac arcs but New Krypton was a huge mess. I liked WONK but the rest of the New Krypton titles were too generic and boring. And then Grounded made things even worse with a terrible story portraying a hopelessly lost Superman. My favourite run up until the New 52 was The Black Ring and that didn't have Superman in it until the last part. Despite Post Crisis Superman being one of my favourite versions of the character, his era ended very underwhelmingly.

Then came the New 52 reboot and although I did like some parts like Morrison's run, Pak's first arc, and Johns' run, I hated the majority of what the New 52 did to Superman. It made him into a hot headed, brash, reclusive loner who was more willing to talk with his fists than his heart. I hated that the character I had loved and read for so many years had been deconstructed, broken down and reconverted into a fascimile to make the character more 'relevant' and 'cool.' The entire approach to Superman during this period was totally and utterly wrong from what I saw and Truth/Savage Dawn personified everything I hated about what the New 52 did to Superman. Taking away his secret identity, his costume and his powers may as well have been the nail in the coffin for my dissatisfaction with the New 52 Superman era. Were it not for Convergence and the Lois and Clark mini, I would have stopped reading Superman comics period.

Rebirth restored my interest in Superman and DC in general. The Superman I wanted to see was back, the Super Family living in Hamilton was a great status quo for the time it lasted, there were new angles like Superman figuring out how to raise Jon and teach him to control and use his powers properly as well as Lex Luthor as an ally of Superman instead of archnemesis. I liked the initial premise of the Pre 52 Superman and his family as interdimensional refugees though I knew it would have to be resolved sooner or later (admittedly Reborn's attempt to merge the Pre 52 and New 52 Supermen was a tad messy) I liked the stories during Rebirth, I loved the characterisation of the Super Family and I loved how it introduced another fan favourite character in the form of Kenan Kong, the New Super-Man as well. It may not have been perfect and making Oz Jor-El is a decision I still dislike but I greatly enjoyed the majority of the Rebirth Superman era and I certainly miss the quality of writing.

Another thing that made it hard for me to be a Superman fan were the movies. Man of Steel still ignites a fire in me for how much Zack Snyder betrayed what Superman is supposed to be in how he represented him in Man of Steel. A Superman who was told to hide and maybe let people die by Jonathan Kent, whose sole focal points of humanity are his mother and Lois and who divides people more than he inspires was a fundamentally wrong depiction of the original superhero. BvS and Justice League continued to dump on the character's cinematic portrayal as well. It's no surprise this version is so divisive with the direction Snyder and WB took the character in.

JL Action was decent and I love Superman vs The Elite but for the most part Superman animation didn't really stand out during this time.

My favourite stories would be Superman and The Legion of Superheroes, the vast majority of Tomasi and Gleason's Superman run, Revenge/Men of Steel & Action #999 from Jurgens' run and Morrison's Action Comics run from 5 onwards. My least favourite stories are Truth/Savage Dawn, Grounded, H'El on Earth, Doomed and the first Justice League arc.

I agree with MTG's rating, a meh beginning, terrible middle and a strong ending.

[The World]

I think the worrying thing for me is how many of the really old school fans seemed to have slowly left the fanbase over this past decade or so. I'm talking about the guys that had been reading from back before the COIE and had a good memory of the character prior to it. The guys that use to argue with the post-crisis fans over what Superman was all about. I worry for a world where the understanding of the character is nothing but post-70's/modern times reinterpretations.

[BBally]

It started off well as Geoff Johns' Superman and The Legion of Superheroes was still running (one of Johns' best Superman stories), New Krypton had potential but then it all went downhill, which led to Grounded, which i would argue consists of 2 parts one bad part (JMS) and one good part (Roberson), The Black Ring arc was fantastic wonderfully written by Paul Cornell and the Reign of Doomsday arc wasn't a bad story to end Pre-Flashpoint Superman era on.

I loved Superman: Earth One Volume 1, which I felt worked as an alternative take on Superman and would've made a much better film than either Returns or MOS. (So I disagree with Dispenser Of Truth of it being one of the worst Superman stories), haven't read the rest of the Earth One books though.

The New52 happened and it had its share of good moments such as Morrison's run on Action Comics, Greg Pak's run on Action and Batman/Superman were for the most part good stuff, Unchained was enjoyable too. However this was the most inconsistent the character has ever been, he would either to still feel like the familiar Superman accept younger and with a different suit or he would be written as young and brash. Not to mention whatever good runs he had were interrupted by events pushed by editorial and this all culminated in TRUTH, which overall wasn't as bad of a story as Superman fans made out to be (still a better story than JMS part of Grounded, the post Johns New Krypton arch, Chuck Austen's run and another of bad Superman stories from the mid 2000s).

Outside of New52 we series like Adventures of Superman, which was an enjoyable out of continuity anthology series, Superman Family a fun comic series for younger readers and Smallville Season 11, which was so good that even who didn't like the TV series enjoyed it. We also had Superman: American Alien, which was another enjoyable alternate take on the character.

We got Rebirth, which really breathed new life into the Superman lineup and the sales showed for a while, I absolutely enjoyed the Super family's adventures and seeing Jon teamup with Damien for Super Sons was a treat to read. Reborn came fixed some continuity hiccups although not completely but at least his continuity isn't as confusing as it was during the final years of Pre-Flashpoint so it still a huge step up in my book. Action 1000 was apart from the final story grand fitting for a character as long lived as Superman. Bendis run so far has been good overall although I still have my gripes, which include Rogol Zaar and the destruction of Kandor (there better survivors when this whole ordeal is over). Still following Doomsday Clock as I'm actually enjoying this story.

Despite being messy in places, I enjoyed Man Of Steel but BVS was hot garbage and Justice League was frustrating to watch (it had good moments but not enough to save it). I absolutely adore Supergirl, it was nice to Kara get some love outside of the comics and I've heard positive things about Krypton and we're getting a second season.

While I had issue with Superman's portrayal in the early seasons, I've enjoyed Young Justice. I absolutely adore Justice League Action as its a fun show and Superman is awesome in this show. As for the animated movies while we had some duds like Superman Unbound and Justice League War, we still had gems like Superman Vs The Elite, All Star Superman and the recently released Death Of Superman.

[oldschoolfan]

I think the worrying thing for me is how many of the really old school fans seemed to have slowly left the fanbase over this past decade or so. I'm talking about the guys that had been reading from back before the COIE and had a good memory of the character prior to it. The guys that use to argue with the post-crisis fans over what Superman was all about. I worry for a world where the understanding of the character is nothing but post-70's/modern times reinterpretations.

I'm still here. Been reading since I was 11 or so (Superman 231 was my first). I just don't want my opinions to bog down someone else's enjoyment of the character, and I have some controversial opinions: Curt Swan's portrayal of the character held him back. Grant Morrison's idea of Superman isn't all that. Dan Jurgens is underappreciated and Louis Simonson and Jon Bogdonove are REALLY underappreciated, actually all of the creative talent from 1990 to about 1998 is underappreciated So I guess that makes it my favorite decade. Mike Carlin was the BEST Superman editor. Frank Miller's portrayal of the character is excellent in it's context, but if you take it out of that context so much is lost.


Any way, 2008-2018 started out dismally. Unfortunate too, because JMS really does have great writing chops. (His Thor is one of the best.) The highlight of the decade for me was Geoff Johns/John Romita Jr.'s run on the book. Greg Pak's Action stories were also excellent. I would love to see John Jr. work with Bendis (I noticed that he and Miller were on a post-it on Clarks computer in Action 1002). I really enjoyed Rebirth, in fact over all there were way more good years and good Superman stories in this decade than the last.


I try to restrict myself to the comics, so that's all I've got for now.

[Kuwagaton]

It's weird to think that it was so up and down that it was somehow even. I mean when you think of listing pros, you think of the same things you would put in the cons column. They tried everything and nothing seemed to stick, but we did get everything. It felt worse losing something promising than not having a chance, and usually it felt like something didn't live up to expectations or suddenly went south. Specifically:

What is your most favorite memory / storylines of Super Decade 8?

Storylines plural, we have All-Star Superman, Action vol. 2 #0-18, Lois and Clark, Final Crisis, Last Family of Krypton, Maelstrom, the beginning and end of Rebirth, Coming of the Supermen, several new titles that ran briefly and trades... by this time in 2008 that cool Legion story was only recently wrapped up, and the upcoming Johns issues up until Secret Origin were strong. One of my favorite comic book anything memories is just the first viewing of Man of Steel. That blew me away.

Your least favorite storylinestoryline or memory?

Usually the follow up to whatever I really liked. New World of Krypton had me weary, that last Cornell story was kind of a mess, the first half year after Morrison left. Anything H'el related has to be my least. Even Grounded turned around, but later attempts at world building/big changes during the New 52 were really off-putting with few exceptions.

The one issue that best summarizes your feelings?

Superman #679

Oh, please tell me someone remembers this comic.

Where does Super Decade 8 rank compared to the other Super Decades? Bonus if you were actively reading the issues at the time, but not necessary for comments.

I've been reading consistently for about 2 decades and well, what I can say is that 8 was weaker than 7. 2012, 2013, and 2016 were the only years out of the ten that yielded superior results IMO.