Which Superman writer was handed the biggest opportunity?

[tib2d2]

Who was given the keys to the car with the highest stakes? Its not really about how they did with the opportunity, but who was given the biggest opportunity?

Hey John Byrne, reinvent Superman after Crisis!

Hey Dan Jurgens, kill Superman!

Hey Grant Morrison, we're rebooting it all, reboot Superman!

Who else?

[Vordan]

Byrne and Morrison were the two who got to essentially start the mainline Superman from scratch so I’d say them.

[Laufeyson]

Byrne and Morrisson are the two that came to mind, because they reinvent Superman for the next decade to come which every writers after that largely ignored.

[Restingvoice]

Byrne even moreso than Morrison since the latter only stay long enough to make his mini series while ignoring other writers

(The first inconsistency I noticed in New 52 was Johns established that the League besides Batman didn't know that Clark's a reporter even 5 years since their origin while in Morrison wrote that the League knows since the beginning. Morrison's version makes more sense but New 52 is built with Justice League as the main book.)

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I'd say Byrne and Morrison, but both were derailed by choices made on the editorial level that prevented both from being as successful as they could have been.

Had Byrne been able do more of a soft reboot as he was initially intending, it wouldn't have caused the headaches that unmoored Supergirl & Superboy, and torpedoed Legion of the Super-Heroes for decades.

Had Morrison been allowed to make his neo-Seigel & Shuster Superman reboot a more self-contained book that could be a complete restart existing on a new Earth that didn't replace the Pre-Flashpoint Superman incarnation, and been given the lead time to give Rags time to do all the art, the relaunch would have certainly been more successful.

[manwhohaseverything]

Dan jurgens with death of superman. The other two were pretty big when they got the gig of re-adapting superman for modern audiences.

I'd say Byrne and Morrison, but both were derailed by choices made on the editorial level that prevented both from being as successful as they could have been.

Had Byrne been able do more of a soft reboot as he was initially intending, it wouldn't have caused the headaches that unmoored Supergirl & Superboy, and torpedoed Legion of the Super-Heroes for decades.

Had Morrison been allowed to make his neo-Seigel & Shuster Superman reboot a more self-contained book that could be a complete restart existing on a new Earth that didn't replace the Pre-Flashpoint Superman incarnation, and been given the lead time to give Rags time to do all the art, the relaunch would have certainly been more successful.

Heck Yeah! Jesus superman could have had main line(anything after donner movies is jesus superman ) . Moses superman could have returned in another book.

[Adekis]

I'd say Byrne and Morrison, but both were derailed by choices made on the editorial level that prevented both from being as successful as they could have been.

Had Byrne been able do more of a soft reboot as he was initially intending, it wouldn't have caused the headaches that unmoored Supergirl & Superboy, and torpedoed Legion of the Super-Heroes for decades.

Had Morrison been allowed to make his neo-Siegel & Shuster Superman reboot a more self-contained book that could be a complete restart existing on a new Earth that didn't replace the Pre-Flashpoint Superman incarnation, and been given the lead time to give Rags time to do all the art, the relaunch would have certainly been more successful.

Definitely all true, and in fact I don't think the Legion has ever fully recovered. Of all DC's big guns, Superman's sort of the one whose various origins come across as most - incompatible with each other, at times. Well, maybe Wonder Woman. But the Superboy thing was a huge deal.

On Morrison's side, I don't think he was quite given a fair shake by either Superman fans or DC themselves. Having to coexist with Johns' JL, Perez's mediocre run on the Superman title, and deal with a 5 year timescale, did not help Morrison's Action run out - and it's still one of my favorite Superman runs of all time! A more self-contained version of that story might have taken off better.

[Powerboy]

I would have to say John Byrne got the biggest opportunity because it happened during a time when comic readership was still very high and he got to define who Superman would be at the foundation for the next 25 years.

Grant Morrison would be up there but that happened after comics were much more of a niche market.

In terms of mass recognition, I'd have to say Richard Donner was handed a huge opportunity even though he really wasn't the screen writer but that Superman defined the character perhaps to this day.

We could say the same about the opportunity Zack Snyder had. Again, not the writer but I'm talking about mass recognition and opportunity.

[Hol]

Who was given the keys to the car with the highest stakes? Its not really about how they did with the opportunity, but who was given the biggest opportunity?

Hey John Byrne, reinvent Superman after Crisis!

Hey Dan Jurgens, kill Superman!

Hey Grant Morrison, we're rebooting it all, reboot Superman!

Who else?

Jurgens! Everyone in the world knew about the Death and Return of Superman. It was on the news...non comic fans were talking about it. It drove so many non comic fans into stores. I would say more than any other Superman story.