Clark before Metropolis

[Ascended]

I used to pride myself on all my Superman triva knowledge--now I don't know diddly squat.

Given how continuity is these days, who does? Hell, practically any answer could be correct at this point; there's so many conflicting tales and contradictions and outright blank spaces......

But I don't mean the actual details of a era/continuity/whatever. I mean the basic, general approach, the main themes, stuff like that. I'm definitely not throwing the "you're not a real fan!" bullsh*t out there; if you like a character, even if it's just one particular version, you're a fan. There's no lines in the sand here, yknow?

What I mean is like, okay, maybe you really loved the Tomasi/Rebirth era stuff and someone hands you a Golden Age omnibus and you go "I have no interest in reading crappy, prototype comics from almost a century ago! The craft is more mature, intelligent, and refined now, why would I want to go back and read stuff that's completely disconnected from today and of lower quality?" But the Rebirth era was a continuation of a post-Crisis/triangle era take on Superman. As some of us have heard, Byrne built post-Crisis with a lot of Golden Age inspirations. So if Rebirth was inspired by Byrne, and Byrne was inspired by the Golden Age.....maybe that fan of Tomasi would discover those old comics are a lot more fun than they thought they'd be. And they'd get a wider, bigger view of who Superman has been through his different iterations too. I mean, more knowledge is never a bad thing right?

[Jim Kelly]

There are usually bits of continuity and mythology that stick to the character. They might be removed in a particular iteration, but they will always come back. So there's a certain Superman that most people commonly understand as the real deal. I don't think much of the monkey business at present is going to stick.

[Ascended]

You mean Bendis specifically or the larger modern era?

I'd agree that most of what's going on is unlikely to become staples of the IP. Krypton, how it's culture was structured and the details of its death, change with each new adjustment to continuity and often with new creators who just want to put their own spin on things. And Rogal Zaar hasn't done much to earn a spot in the core rogues gallery. Jor-El being alive in the present is unlikely to become a staple, especially given the latest issue.

The Legion can barely manage to find their way into any current continuity and usually disappear fairly quickly so I'm not expecting this newest iteration to last any longer than the last few have. But likewise, their involvement in Clark's origin has become a footnote when it's included at all. I think everything with the Legion is going to end up amounting to nothing more than another chapter in the IP's sad "fallen from grace" history.

The United Planets existing in the modern day.....that might actually stick, if Bendis can make it work and establish a solid precedent for using it before leaving the books. If I were a betting man I wouldn't put money on it, but it's possible this might actually help DC refine and focus their cosmic non-Lantern side, in which case it might actually become a fairly regular thing going forward. That's got a lot of potential for a lot of IP's beyond Superman and a lot of ways to have it active today. I think this might, maybe, possibly, stick around. Clark as President of Earth? I'm not really expecting that to last beyond Bendis' run, much less the next creative team or reboot. But you never know, some stories catch (like Death-Return and the marriage) and find their way into most re-tellings. President Superman might, maybe, possibly, end up being one. We won't know until we've read the story, and we haven't even hit the first issue of that yet.

I'm not convinced Jon is going to stick, whether he's ten or seventeen or forty. Clark's had kids before and they haven't stuck around. But of all the kids Clark's had I do think Jon's got the best chances of becoming a staple; if his character can hold on and sustain for a few more years....he might, possibly, become as much a part of the mythos as Kara.

The current family dynamic will change with the next writer, just like it always does.

I suspect the Invisible Mafia will stick around, but in completely different ways with completely different people, and the end results/future versions won't have much more in common with what we have now beyond the idea of criminals who actively work to avoid Clark's notice and stay out of sight. That's a solid idea we've seen before that Bendis has built on, and I think *some* version of this might possibly maybe become a regular aspect of Metropolis.

[boltmonster]

That seems an odd way to go about things. If you only read stories that reinforce the things you know, then you don't really know the character, just a specific version.

I understand the notion of just reading the stuff that appeals to your sensibilities; I wouldn't bother reading a funny Adam West style Batman book for example, since I prefer my Batman dark and crazy. But only reading the stuff that's similar to what you've already read and never branching out to try other elements just seems very limiting. I mean, what if you spent years only reading books with a more post-Crisis slant, only to learn that the Golden Age is actually much more appealing to you?

Here is a chronological list of Superman from the start:

Golden Age 1938-1956
Silver Age 1956-1986
Modern Age 1986- present*
* Birthright 2000-2006
*Post Infinite Crisis 2006-2011
*New 52 2011-present**
** New 52 Post Infinite Crisis 2015- present


The Superman I know is from 1986-1999. When I find stories that fit the character of that timeframe, I keep them. If I read a story that doesn't fit that timeframe I don't keep it.

I have very small amounts of anything since 1999. What I do have is the character I know.