How do you view this past decade (2010-2019) for Clark?

[magha_regulus]

I enjoyed the new 52!! I always wanted to see SM and WW together as couple, I really enjoyed them being a couple!! It was to bad DC didn't keep them together!!

Yeah that could've been handled so much better. It started out so good and I'm very happy we got to see it at all.

[stargazer01]

So according to some called Superman fan on another forum, he thinks it's ok to treat Superman like they do (and belittle) in the Supergirl show because she is the star not him..

So, when Kara is a guest in a Superman show or story, Is ok if she tells him that he is the best and greatest superhero and Earth's champion, and the world doesn't need her because they have him? LOL.

[Adekis]

So according to some called Superman fan on another forum, he thinks it's ok to treat Superman like they do (and belittle) in the Supergirl show because she is the star not him..

So, when Kara is a guest in a Superman show or story, Is ok if she tells him that he is the best and greatest superhero and Earth's champion, and the world doesn't need her because they have him? LOL.

Haha, I used to think the opposite, actually! That it was okay for Batman to make him look like a dummy in that Superman: The Animated Series crossover, because Batman was the guest star; of course you want to emphasize how cool the guest star is!

Now I'm older and wiser than I was as a kid, and ultimately I've realized it's a false dichotomy. The reality is that writers frequently made Superman look worse and Batman look better for most of the last twenty years, and it has nothing to do with who's guest-starring where.

As for the last decade, 2010-2019, I've liked a lot, I've disliked a lot. But ultimately Zack Snyder and Grant Morrison have given me two of my favorite permutations of the Man of Steel, so I really don't want to dismiss this decade, even though I'm not feeling super optimistic about the franchise as it is right now.

[DochaDocha]

I'm not going to use Superfamily for my analogy, so let's just explain it this way.

On a Batman show, more often than not Batman should be portrayed as better than Robin. If they made a Robin show, Batman should still more often than not be portrayed as better than Robin. That's what you get when you're the hero and the other is derivative.

[stargazer01]

I'm not going to use Superfamily for my analogy, so let's just explain it this way.

On a Batman show, more often than not Batman should be portrayed as better than Robin. If they made a Robin show, Batman should still more often than not be portrayed as better than Robin. That's what you get when you're the hero and the other is derivative.

Exactly, very well said. I just can't understand why a so called Superman fan can be totally ok with the way Supes is treated in that show. He is freakin Superman. Supergirl wouldn't be here without his success.. Those CW writers should show more respect, but instead they make fun of him..

[Last Son]

I feel like they could have done things in a way that kept the "who's better?" question unanswered and ambiguous. I know they want to highlight Supergirl and they don't want Superman to overshadow her, but it's possible to do that without making either party look bad. When Spock and other Star Trek TOS crewmembers appeared on TNG, it wasn't about making either crew better than the other. They never tried to imply that Data was better than Spock or vice versa.

[manwhohaseverything]

I'm not going to use Superfamily for my analogy, so let's just explain it this way.

On a Batman show, more often than not Batman should be portrayed as better than Robin. If they made a Robin show, Batman should still more often than not be portrayed as better than Robin. That's what you get when you're the hero and the other is derivative.

If dick grayson is a grown up nightwing. He can and should be portrayed as an equal or better. Especially, if its his show.if he is a kid robin then whatever.

[stargazer01]

I feel like they could have done things in a way that kept the "who's better?" question unanswered and ambiguous. I know they want to highlight Supergirl and they don't want Superman to overshadow her, but it's possible to do that without making either party look bad. When Spock and other Star Trek TOS crewmembers appeared on TNG, it wasn't about making either crew better than the other. They never tried to imply that Data was better than Spock or vice versa.

Exactly. Unfortunately, the CW writers aren't nearly as good, or this show has the agenda that women have to be better than all men. Remember they also told us Mon-El was dumber and weaker than Kara. These writers don't know better. I just don't understand why DC/WB lets them do this to Superman. It's not right. If they wanted me a big Superman to like and support this show, they failed misearably.

[Jon Clark]

Exactly. Unfortunately, the CW writers aren't nearly as good, or this show has the agenda that women have to be better than all men. Remember they also told us Mon-El was dumber and weaker than Kara. These writers don't know better. I just don't understand why DC/WB lets them do this to Superman. It's not right. If they wanted me a big Superman to like and support this show, they failed misearably.

At the end of the day DC and it's corporate owners are looking to make money. If they thought that making the Injustice Superman the main universe version, killing Superman off permanently or reducing the character to a laughing stock earns them a bigger profit that is what they will do. And right now having Superman play second fiddle to his cousin and a rich Gotham street fighter is what they think is more profitable. Any damage to the Superman brand as a result is unimportant.

[JonSBF]

I keep up mostly with comics, so let me see.
We opened the decade with the New 52. I'll take the highly controversial opinion and say that the New 52 was not good to DC as a whole, not just Superman. That being said, Action Comics by Morrison was great. After Morrison AC and Superman -- well, the least we talk about N52 the better.
Then we have Rebirth, and I absolutely love it. Superman: Lois and Clark, Superman and Action Comics, I had a blast with those. It humanizes Clark, allowed me to have a a Superboy my age and, despite not being perfect that is true, it just brings me joy to read it.
And then we had Bendis, and I know some of you enjoy him but it doesn't do for me - his AC is unfocused and has been stalling a story that should be a 6 issue into about a year and half, constantly being plagued as a launch pad for every single side project Bendis has, and, while it toys with good ideas, the execution is so decompressed, he meanders so much, that I am just "why should I even care", and that is his least bad Superbook. His Superman is just a mess, his stories make no sense, they are disconnected and boring, he made sure to make the characters act and speak as weirdly as possible, Rogol Zaar is a villain so uncompelling and, after reading the conclusion, I never felt more justified in dropping a run.
So, for comics, it has been mostly bad with some sparks of good.

For movies. First off, I'm not really invested in the DCEU so I don't even know what is going on there. I like the DCAMU movies, as fast entertainment and not deep reflexive movies, and I must say I like his portrayal in this universe. Death and Reign are fun movies, despite low budget animation, with Death actually being a good movie on its own.

TV. Did we really have Superman on TV? Young Justice he is quite a minor character but he is the only member of the trinity not to go corrupt. Supergirl's Superman exists to show that Supergirl is a great character see she is better than Superman, so... a prop, not really Superman. That's all I'm aware in he is in.

Games. Injustice is fine, a very thin view of Superman as a dictator but I guess it plays well. The Lego games are fun, if we're really digging that deep.

[Robanker]

So according to some called Superman fan on another forum, he thinks it's ok to treat Superman like they do (and belittle) in the Supergirl show because she is the star not him..

So, when Kara is a guest in a Superman show or story, Is ok if she tells him that he is the best and greatest superhero and Earth's champion, and the world doesn't need her because they have him? LOL.

I remember getting flak for saying Clark would be a little proud that even though it took him and Kara coming to blows, she accomplished a goal she set for herself. Nevermind that he was a hurdle she wanted to surpass, she accomplished a goal that meant a great deal to her and he'd be proud of his cousin, much as an older brother feels proud of their younger sibling for besting them at something, even if they're too proud themselves to admit it. And yes, it's Kara's show. She's allowed to triumph over him, just as any guest star is allowed to either be used to highlight the main character or use them as contrast to sell us on another property. It's all about execution. It's a shared universe where every character can be a protagonist, so what matters most is how someone of Clark's level is beaten, not that he gets beaten.

From what I understand, it's never stopped and it's gone from "that one time Kara proved she can beat Superman" to "I mean how hard is it to beat Superman, though" which is just not alright. It does undermine the character. Reminds me of that "world of cardboard" every Superfan but me loves because he immediately jobs right after it, which kind of humiliated Clark by having him go all out, punch Darkseid 2-3 times and then get immediately stomped by a Darkseid who seemed no worse for wear.

I think Clark has the dubious dishonor of, well, being Superman. He's the gold standard, the idea, the face of the genre. He's the bar. He's there to be surpassed by whichever character we want to prove is cool and capable, so every writer has a crosshair on him... That said, The CW is absolutely garbage at portraying characters who don't have their own shows. Hell, I don't think they're very good at portraying any character, so it's more of the same.

[KC]

Superman's comics from the last decade have been a mixed bag. Pre-New 52 had the awful Grounded arc in Superman and the surprisingly good The Black Ring arc in Action Comics. The New 52 started well with Morrison's Action comics, but the accompanying Superman book was terrible at that time and the wheels fell off both books when Morrison left. I actually did enjoy Johns' crack at the Superman book and I was even ok with Superman getting a new power (this may be controversial but I stand by it)

Rebirth started well as Jon Kent was a breath of fresh air for the franchise. The quality of the main Superman books at the time fluctuated but there are a few stories that I think are great.

I could go over everything, from the overly serious and extremely boring DCEU movies to the kind, caring, funny and charming Tyler Hoechlin version of Superman on the CW. But that would take forever.

Overall, I will give this decade a C. It has been rough in places but it does have some good points.

[daBronzeBomma]

Time for the All-Decade awards, Superverse edition!

1. Best / Worst Single Superman Issue of the Decade

2. Best / Worst Superman miniseries / trade paperback of the Decade

3. Best/Worst animated Superman moment of the Decade

4. Best/Worst Live action Superman moment of the Decade

[Jon Clark]

Time for the All-Decade awards, Superverse edition!

1. Best / Worst Single Superman Issue of the Decade

Worst: Superman #702 with it's preachy hit you over the head depiction of actual space aliens in a story about Superman walking across America. If they wanted to do a Superman dealing with real problems then using space aliens as stand-ins for actual undocumented persons was silly. And if they wanted an allegory then they were too much on the nose in trying to deal with US immigration issues. While there were worse story arcs, this stands out as the worst self-contained issues in Grounded as opposed to things like Truth where there isn't a single issue that stands out on it's own as bad.

Best: Again going for a self-contained story I have to go with Superman (2016) #7 where we see Clark, Lois and Jon at the fair. No ludicrous challenges, just a nice day in the life that shows great characterization.

2. Best / Worst Superman miniseries / trade paperback of the Decade

Worst: Superman: Savage Dawn The worst of Truth all in one place. The final nail in the New 52 Superman's no longer invulnerable chest. Vandal Savage with over 5 millenia of experience suddenly pops up for no logical reason as the mastermind behind revealing Superman's secret ID and then reverts to an idiot with even less intelligent underlings while Superman at minimal power acts out of character and develops kryptonite based powers. It makes Grounded seem like a masterpiece by comp-arison.

Best: American Alien which I liked despite myself and despite not really wanting to see Superman in some of these situations. Best take on the origin which isn't trying to fit into any other continuity, I've seen.

3. Best/Worst animated Superman moment of the Decade

Best: Every Superman in a "How it Should have Ended" Cafe" scene. Yeah, it's a snarky parody version but somehow it just feels more like Superman than a lot of other attempts at animation.

Worst: Didn't see it but I'll go with any Lego Superman use just on general impression of it.

4. Best/Worst Live action Superman moment of the Decade

Best: Superman's first flight in Man of Steel it just encapsulates a perfect Superman moment.

Worst: The fight with Batman in Dawn of Justice. Either Superman is an idiot or … No, I'm good with just assuming he is an idiot. I get he was trying not to injure Batman, but is flying him away from the area and simply peeling him out of that armor not an option? And a better option than waiting for batman to run out of ammo or tire himself out?
Honorable mention of Worse- the pair of boots on a bed in the final episode of Supergirl's 1st season that represented Superman.

[Electricmastro]

So to be incredibly straightforward, out of these three runs, which one have you guys enjoyed the most as of now?: