Clark Kent: Superman Appreciation 2018

[Hooah]

Thanks for the welcome manofsteel1979!

I hope I'll like it too! Having not read a Superman comic in ages (well except for the All Star Superman which I'm currently reading) I did think that picking an origin story would do me good and I picked Birthright, since it will hopefully lead me into the millennium/modern Superman stories quite nicely Upcoming relaunch? Now there's something I don't know anything about. Are they relaunching the series again? Maybe I can jump aboard that and actually follow something as it happens for once

Sound advice. Right now I'm just picking up stuff that sounds interesting but with a focus on post 2000 Superman since I want to know whats been happening in the last, well almost 20 years already

[Soubhagya]

Throughout this week, I read All Star Superman and it lived up to the hype.

Cool! I love it. My favorite Superman story.

[Soubhagya]

Thanks for the welcome manofsteel1979!

I hope I'll like it too! Having not read a Superman comic in ages (well except for the All Star Superman which I'm currently reading) I did think that picking an origin story would do me good and I picked Birthright, since it will hopefully lead me into the millennium/modern Superman stories quite nicely Upcoming relaunch? Now there's something I don't know anything about. Are they relaunching the series again? Maybe I can jump aboard that and actually follow something as it happens for once

Sound advice. Right now I'm just picking up stuff that sounds interesting but with a focus on post 2000 Superman since I want to know whats been happening in the last, well almost 20 years already

Awesome! New Superman fan. Welcome aboard.

All Star Superman and Birthright are great picks. Manofsteel1979 gave sound advice. Don't worry too much about details for now. Read the books which is mentioned in recommendations. Its at the top of this section.

The upcoming one is not a reboot-a full fledged restart. It builds upon the Rebirth run since 2016. Since they are starting with a Number 1 for Superman title i think it could be a jumping on point for new readers. That is one purpose of getting a new #1. So, i think you would be fine. Other fans may have different opinions regarding this. Ask this same question in the thread: Official Bendis gets both books. Most fans visit there then the appreciation page. A heavy discussion is going on there on the topic of the relaunch.

Birthright won't really help you for the relaunch. If you want to start reading Superman being published now and want the origin after all these relaunches and reboots like New 52 or Rebirth which DC has done read Action Comics #977 and #978. That speaks about the origin of present Superman. An update on his origin. It may feel weird. 'Update on an origin.' How can origins be updated? That's the case with an 80 year publication history. They keep updating his origin story. Latest one is presented in those two issues.

These are collected in "SUPERMAN: ACTION COMICS VOL. 4: THE NEW WORLD" which collects issues #977-984. Either you can get the tpb. Or get the individual issues. The individual issues can be found in Comixology.

A link.

https://www.dccomics.com/graphic-nov...-the-new-world

Feel free to ask.

[Powerboy]

Thanks for the welcome manofsteel1979!

I hope I'll like it too! Having not read a Superman comic in ages (well except for the All Star Superman which I'm currently reading) I did think that picking an origin story would do me good and I picked Birthright, since it will hopefully lead me into the millennium/modern Superman stories quite nicely Upcoming relaunch? Now there's something I don't know anything about. Are they relaunching the series again? Maybe I can jump aboard that and actually follow something as it happens for once

Sound advice. Right now I'm just picking up stuff that sounds interesting but with a focus on post 2000 Superman since I want to know whats been happening in the last, well almost 20 years already

Welcome.

Although I started reading Superman comics as far back as the 1960s, I'm in a similar boat because I have read hardly any of the current stuff and my Superman reading tends to consist of collections of older stuff plus the movies and television shows. But with all the range of Superman stuff to choose from, 1938 to present, you've got endless stuff to choose from. I'd just look it over, read abouty it and pick what interests you more than worry about stuff that is considered "great".

[Hooah]

Birthright won't really help you for the relaunch. If you want to start reading Superman being published now and want the origin after all these relaunches and reboots like New 52 or Rebirth which DC has done read Action Comics #977 and #978. That speaks about the origin of present Superman. An update on his origin. It may feel weird. 'Update on an origin.' How can origins be updated? That's the case with an 80 year publication history. They keep updating his origin story. Latest one is presented in those two issues.

These are collected in "SUPERMAN: ACTION COMICS VOL. 4: THE NEW WORLD" which collects issues #977-984. Either you can get the tpb. Or get the individual issues. The individual issues can be found in Comixology.

First of all, thanks for the welcome! Maybe I will move on to Superman Action Comics vol 4, after reading Birthright then. Or how about just starting at the Superman Action Comics vol. 1 collection? Would that be weird? I haven't finished All Star Superman yet but I'm a little over halfway now and I gotta say, I don't think this is the best starting point for a new reader like me. I like the overall premise of the story but there's a lot of "HUH?!" moments throughout. I'm sure as I get more knowledgeable about Superman then I think All Star Superman will be even better to revisit a long the way!

[Hooah]

Welcome.

Although I started reading Superman comics as far back as the 1960s, I'm in a similar boat because I have read hardly any of the current stuff and my Superman reading tends to consist of collections of older stuff plus the movies and television shows. But with all the range of Superman stuff to choose from, 1938 to present, you've got endless stuff to choose from. I'd just look it over, read abouty it and pick what interests you more than worry about stuff that is considered "great".

Thanks for the welcome!

It's awesome that there's people like you just sticking to the old stuff as well, that's pretty admirable too! It's what I'm the most used to also, reading old Superman comics at my neighbor

[Powerboy]

Thanks for the welcome!

It's awesome that there's people like you just sticking to the old stuff as well, that's pretty admirable too! It's what I'm the most used to also, reading old Superman comics at my neighbor

I would also echo what people have said about "Birthright". I think it's the most amazing retelling of his origin that's ever been done and it's a shame that most writers after it was written didn't seem to do much with it and I don't think it was enforced by editorial policy as his origin but it's still a fantastic story.

[Hooah]

Great! I'm looking forward to reading it Powerboy

I hope its OK if I ask a quick forum related question; but shouldn't I be receiving notifications when someone quotes me or is that not a feature on these forums? Or do I need to do something in my notification settings?

[9th.]

I was gonna make a thread on this but I figured this was a good a place as any. Why was there such a big gap between Superman movies? Superman 3 and Returns are 20 years apart. Was it because of Smallville? I noticed Bat's had movies in the 80s, 90s and 00s.

[Miles To Go]

I was gonna make a thread on this but I figured this was a good a place as any. Why was there such a big gap between Superman movies? Superman 3 and Returns are 20 years apart. Was it because of Smallville? I noticed Bat's had movies in the 80s, 90s and 00s.

It wasn't by design. Various film projects fell through, such as Superman Lives, the original Batman V Superman, and JJ Abram's script

[Powerboy]

Great! I'm looking forward to reading it Powerboy

I hope its OK if I ask a quick forum related question; but shouldn't I be receiving notifications when someone quotes me or is that not a feature on these forums? Or do I need to do something in my notification settings?

I'm not sure. I've never known it to send a notice when I was quoted.

[Hooah]

I was gonna make a thread on this but I figured this was a good a place as any. Why was there such a big gap between Superman movies? Superman 3 and Returns are 20 years apart. Was it because of Smallville? I noticed Bat's had movies in the 80s, 90s and 00s.

There was a 4th film as well. Superman: The Quest for Peace. Released in 1987 on a very low budget. Apparently it didn't do very well which might have influenced the big gap...

[Hooah]

I'm not sure. I've never known it to send a notice when I was quoted.

OK good to know. I'm used to that from another forum - makes it easier to catch when someone is actually addressing you

[Powerboy]

I was gonna make a thread on this but I figured this was a good a place as any. Why was there such a big gap between Superman movies? Superman 3 and Returns are 20 years apart. Was it because of Smallville? I noticed Bat's had movies in the 80s, 90s and 00s.

Well, there was *cough* Superman IV: The Quest for Peace *cough* in 1987 and it's considered one of the worst movies ever made which has a lot to do with killing the movie Superman franchise for a long time.

I think maybe they decided to test the waters with "Lois and Clark" as a television show and it got canceled after four seasons so not a good sign there. But "Smallville" was highly successful.

But keep in mind that we're in an era now where they do remakes of movies that started a few years earlier. It's a sign of how fast everything moves now. We had "The Amazing Spiderman" in 2012 just ten years after the first movie in the first Spiderman series and just five years after the last movie in that previous series. We had a remake of the Hulk just five years after the first version. But, until very recently, if a movie or movie franchise flopped as badly as the last two Superman movies (3 and 4) did, it would have been common wisdom to wait 20 years before doing a restart or a continuation (which Superman Returns was sort of both). So, 20 years between S IV and SR. But, by then we were in the 21st century so only 7 years from SR to trying it again with Man of Steel.

[WillieMorgan]

I was gonna make a thread on this but I figured this was a good a place as any. Why was there such a big gap between Superman movies? Superman 3 and Returns are 20 years apart. Was it because of Smallville? I noticed Bat's had movies in the 80s, 90s and 00s.

As mentioned above, the fourth Christopher Reeve Superman movie 'Superman IV - The Quest For Peace' tanked. It was a godawful film and was a bit of a triple whammy as far as the series was concerned. Superman III (1983) wasn't exactly a flop but certainly underperformed in comparison to the first two. That was followed by two genuine box office turkeys, Supergirl (1984) and the aforementioned Superman IV (1987). After that the series went into hiatus.

This was in a period where Hollywood still hadn't developed a successful formula for the superhero film genre. These movies were hugely expensive to produce but were hit-and-miss affairs, in part because Hollywood couldn't get the tone and balance right. The studios still hadn't figured out exactly what audiences demanded from these films, despite Superman I being the perfect template. This would also affect WB's Batman films a decade later.