What are the main sticking points within Superman fandom?

[Vordan]

The Daily Planet.


How do you keep the Daily Planet these days, when newspapers are downsizing?

News nowadays is in the moment. Especially online. Or even TV news. Rather than waiting on a printing press.
Newspaper journalism now is quite different than 1988 and especially 1938.



How do you do Jimmy Olsen when we have digital cameras now?

Ultimately Clark being a writer is what I care about the most. I was perfectly fine with him moving over to a blog, and ultimately I think something like that or maybe a podcast, is where he and Lois will end up. I doubt newspapers will survive to the end of the century, hell they might not even make it to the end of the decade the way 2020 is going

[godisawesome]

Arguably, Clark, Jimmy, and Lois’s job hasn’t really disappeared - the format of their employer has.

Written articles and in-depth investigations are far from dead, and people still want pictures (and film).

And arguably, the idea of Clark wanting a mainline to more in-depth and more thoroughly investigated emergencies and crimes is still a strong one - it just becomes more of a “I want to be well enough informed to be ready for foreseeable problems” rather than a matter of time.

[BBally]

I got some more:

Relationship with Batman

Ever since Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, the Superfriends dynamic between Superman and Batman was seen as outdated and since then both characters had a relationship that was less friendly but respected each other's values. Later stories provided a compromise between the two different dynamics, which I think works well.

Relationship with Wonder Woman

There is a fanbase who wanted Superman and Wonder Woman to have a relationship for years but became canon during the New52 before being retconned back to the status quo in Rebirth. I think the concept is too obvious for my liking then again I'm a biased Lois and Clark shipper.

Fighting Ability

There are fans who think Superman knowing any martial arts is another example of being overpowered however Superman needs to know how to defend himself when fighting someone as powerful as him or when he's powerless.

Superman Robots

The Superman robots have been a stable of the character beginning from the Silver Age and for most of the Pre-Crisis era but was removed Post-Crisis because it was seen as too Silver Agey for modern readers. The robots were brought back as a temporary change to the status quo but then was used a lot more frequently in recent years.

First Superhero or Post-JSA era

This is a big topic for vocal members of the fanbase, Pre-Crisis fans complained that bringing JSA to the main Earth and having Superman coming after them diminishes Superman's standing as the DCU's major superhero who inspires others to do good while others think keeping the JSA on their own Earth takes away the DCU's legacy of superheroes.

[Kuwagaton]

The Superman robots were actually "too Silver age for the Bronze age" as they were eliminated by pollution at the dawn of the 70s and didn't come back until Post Crisis (and early if we count Hamilton's inventions). There generally seems to be misconceptions that elements were removed by CoIE because they were too silly rather than just not having a place in the stories.

Superman vs Batman...man, that's like its own franchise now.

[BBally]

The Superman robots were actually "too Silver age for the Bronze age" as they were eliminated by pollution at the dawn of the 70s and didn't come back until Post Crisis (and early if we count Hamilton's inventions).

OK, I stand corrected.

[Will Evans]

Relationships outside of Clark and Lois.

Did Lucy get with Ron Troupe? And have a son named Sam?

Did Lana Lang get with Pete Ross? And have a son named Clark?

Did Luthor have an affair with Perry’s wife?

Did Cat Grant have a kid that Toyman killed?

Who is Lena Luthor? Is she Lex’s sister or daughter?

Does Lois have a niece named Susie Thompson’s?

Does Lex have a niece? Lori or Nasty?

[Restingvoice]

About the political part... in context of DCU with continuity... should Superman be able to stop warring countries or at least delay them... or should it reflect real-world situation? This ties into his involvement with U.S. politics because he's usually depicted to stay away because of his association with the USA in comparison to the Golden Age where he can just fly to another country and stops war generals.

The Daily Planet.

How do you keep the Daily Planet these days, when newspapers are downsizing?

News nowadays is in the moment. Especially online. Or even TV news. Rather than waiting on a printing press.
Newspaper journalism now is quite different than 1988 and especially 1938.

How do you do Jimmy Olsen when we have digital cameras now?

Then just go digital. Clark and Lois can still write and do interviews, the writing format doesn't disappear, they just have a different output, and there's still the opinion and analysis column. As for Jimmy, even digital newspaper still needs images from the field. It doesn't matter if he's using a digital or traditional camera.

This is a big topic for vocal members of the fanbase, Pre-Crisis fans complained that bringing JSA to the main Earth and having Superman coming after them diminishes Superman's standing as the DCU's major superhero who inspires others to do good while others think keeping the JSA on their own Earth takes away the DCU's legacy of superheroes.

Oh, this is a good one. Having Superman be immortal and arrived Pre-WWII can solve this, but it makes a new problem for people who want The Kents to be alive.

[The World]

The "Is he Clark or Is he Superman" point rages because if you go one route or the other you effectively get a completely different character. Its a wedge point between two era's where Superman effectively shifted from one person to another. Really no different than Barry Allen to Wally West except he still had the same name and general backstory. If he's Clark first then he's going to be focused on being Clark first and put more effort into making Clark's life work out and vice versa. Pre-Crisis Superman simply would have never gotten with Lois and had the whole white picket fence deal Post-Crisis Superman got, Pre-Crisis Superman put being Superman first so it just wasn't in the cards imo. But for the near 50 years that Pre-Crisis Superman was at the plate he did keep it the universe from becoming and endless bog of misery that Post-Crisis couldn't avoid.

[witchboy]

Relationships outside of Clark and Lois.

Did Lucy get with Ron Troupe? And have a son named Sam?

Did Lana Lang get with Pete Ross? And have a son named Clark?

Did Luthor have an affair with Perry’s wife?

Did Cat Grant have a kid that Toyman killed?

Who is Lena Luthor? Is she Lex’s sister or daughter?

Does Lois have a niece named Susie Thompson’s?

Does Lex have a niece? Lori or Nasty?

I really loved Lex as a father to Lena, there was so much potential there, and I hated that she was quietly retconed out of existence.
Nasty is a fun character that could be used.

[DochaDocha]

Re: the Daily Planet, I think large newspapers like the NY Times still is pretty important, especially since they have wider resources to pool to allow investigative reporters to cover stories that independent blogs just aren't able to. They had an article a few weeks ago about how bailout money was being sent to some of the wealthiest hospitals that were sitting on large cash reserves. Issues like these are where larger newspapers can excel and smaller, independent media sources might struggle. I think if a Superman writer were thoughtful about the state of the industry, you can keep Clark Kent working at the Daily Planet until newspapers no longer exist.

[Robanker]

This is just becoming a Superman pet peeves thread, isn't it?

Lana Lang still being hung up on Clark. I get it. He's handsome and probably the best dude on Earth. Clark's corner of the world is about people rising above their station and making something better of themselves to establish a better tomorrow. Having Lana show up to be a homewrecker and trying to break up Lois and Clark is just the cheapest relationship drama imaginable and really feels out of place in Clark's supporting cast.

Do something constructive with her, which lately has been the take, so I'm satisfied. I kind of prefer her staying humble and not going hard into engineering (thus getting drawn into the power creep of the DCU and reaching John Henry Irons' level of ability just 'cuz) or reporting (quickly reaching just under Clark and Lois because of course). Keep her the big deal of a small town, an example of someone who went on with their life in their home community and made a big impact in a small town; a microcosm of what Clark's story is on a global scale. I usually say make her Smallville's sheriff, but it doesn't have to be that way.

But if they ever go full Chuck Austen again, I just might lose it.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

But if they ever go full Chuck Austen again, I just might lose it.

That was a real lowpoint. Staggering when you realise that was young Ivan Reis on art for that thing.

[Robanker]

That was a real lowpoint. Staggering when you realise that was young Ivan Reis on art for that thing.

I was curious where I'd seen his Superman before so I looked up which issues he did, checked them out on DC Universe and when I got two pages in I almost dropped my tablet as a cold shiver went down my spine at the sight of "Chuck Austen" on the credits pages.

Like a repressed nightmare, the memories flooded back.

Regrets, I have a few. But even then, that's among them.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I was curious where I'd seen his Superman before so I looked up which issues he did, checked them out on DC Universe and when I got two pages in I almost dropped my tablet as a cold shiver went down my spine at the sight of "Chuck Austen" on the credits pages.

Like a repressed nightmare, the memories flooded back.

Regrets, I have a few. But even then, that's among them.

Chuck Austen swung for the fences. He was swing in the wrong direction, but I will give him credit for making big choices, even if they were bad ones.

In the end, I blame Eddie Berganza, who clearly didn't have any idea what to do with Superman and kept trying anything in the hopes that it would work rather than simply finding great creators who likes Superman and letting them do good comics. Granted, that may have been difficult with all the larger editorial and corporate nonsense going on.

[Kuwagaton]

Austen and all of his writing are stuck in the Austenverse opposed to actually representing a push and pull in a fandom for any actual title. It's just too lopsided against his favor to be a thing. But it's kind of my "sticking point" because I don't think most people are fair to his Action and what he did with Lana even if I get not liking that direction for her.