It's Time for 'The Death & Return of Superman' to be Retold

[Nelliebly]

In addition to the comics themselves, there have been several media adaptations that have taken ::some:. if not all the elements from Death and Return.

We’ve had 2(?—am I forgetting one?) animated adaptations both of which were pretty decent.

Smallville Season 9 did their own Death and Return arc even if the “death” part wasn’t literal and was more of a spiritual death. (Still really good though)

Batman v Superman.

I would guess Superman and Lois will tease ::something:. at some point even if it’s obviously not a straight up adaptation.

All of this media counts as creative new retellings of the story, does it not? I’m not sure why comics would need to retread it again.

[Vakanai]

I think we are past the point of worrying about new readers vs old readers and should just celebrate that a book has readers.

Pretty much, but I think the character should hsve at least this many fans.



There are a lot of reasons that comics as an industry should fail if we're honest, but those things make it so unique. Like to an extent they really can't worry so much about appealing to people who might stay on as much as people who do stay on. All of the bending over backwards for "new reader friendly" this and that, but the person buying this number one is more likely the same person who bought the last, and the person who keeps buying after your trade sized arc.

Which is why I think comic books as we know them are eventually going to have to be phased out for a newer model. DC as a publisher can't survive long term with no new readers.

[DABellWrites]

[QUOTE]I can hear some of the replies now, "We don't need to retread that story AGAIN" or "It's a classic and fine the way it is." So before I'm cast out for hypocrisy, hear me out.

I think the Death of Superman has become a story that's nearly as important as his origin. It introduces so many classic concepts/characters with Doomsday, Kon-El, Steel, Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, etc. And while it's the story that got me into Superman and I still love it to this day... it's starting to feel dated.

I wholeheartedly disagree with this sentiment. This story is not important as his origins story, it's just a like the rest of the 90s and 80s, DC Comics won't move on from it. I'd rather it's taken out of canon. It's just a pointless storyline to keep with the character. This isn't how these characters work. They need new ideas to stay fresh and new. If you have to update a story because it's becoming "dated", it's time to move on from it.

If you hand someone a copy, you have to explain why Supergirl gets punched into a blob, why Lex is a Luthor Jr with red hair and an Australian accent, why Cyborg Superman is a Reed Richards reject, the D-list JLA, etc. I could go on. And for some people, part of the fun is going back to the 90's era Superman and watching that whole epic unfold thanks to the tight-nit continuity. I know, I was one of those kids that loved being able to see Superman's adventures play out every week. But, as a self-contained story, it isn't holding up like it used to.

Of course it isn't holding up. DC Comic is long past the 90s, there is no reason why it would be able to hold up.

So what would I suggest DC do? Retell it. They recently released a Black Label book called "Harleen" that retells the origin of Harley Quinn (even though we already have the excellent "Mad Love"). I think that would be the way to go. Retell in under the Black/Digital label. Then people can pick which one they'd like to read, the old-school original or a self-contained modernization. It can be in continuity only if the reader wants it to.

Didn't they just do a "Dark Multiverse" story of Lois Lane becoming the Eradicator?

But they have to make sure the retelling hits all the major beats of the original without completely rewriting it. They just need to make it more self-contained. Something similar to the recent animated movie (without all the Darkseid nonsense).

If I had my way, I'd make it a 90's love-letter and tie in the engagement to Lois and maybe at the end of the story have them get married. Then you could have a solid before/after point in Superman's life. Any writer that want's to tell a classic Superman story before Lois knew Superman was Clark, can place it before this story. And everyone else can tell more modern tales with Lois and Clark married and their son Jon (who also needs a retelling of his origin because that's another continuity mess... maybe for another day).

But, why? What makes Death of Superman this important? I get it you love it, but I don't see the storyline as that important in this character's history.

So what do you all say? Am I crazy? Do you agree? If you do, what would be your take on a new Death & Return?

I'm okay with a re-telling outside of canon, but not keeping it in canon. Superman is stuck at DoS already.

[D.Z]

Retelling it to fit sure, but only slight diffences would be shown.

[Vakanai]

Robin Year One was excellent, but I'm not sure of the difference in the experience if one hasn't read the (obscure) Gauntlet story. They should really package those together, especially since Lee Weeks is well known with Batman work now.

JLA Year One was probably the best of its kind outside of the original. The Year One annuals across the board had some good ones. I'd rather they packaged the original 4 part Superman Year One (maybe with the zero issues, that's kind of a neat gimmick). But of course that wouldn't sell nearly as well as the three issues from Miller and eventual collections of that story, regardless of the difference in quality.

Is the Gauntlet story in any trade currently? Also, the Year One annuals/the old non-Miller Superman Year One stuff?

[JAK]

Ok, time for me to be that 90's fanboy. lol

Death/Return is just fine how it is. I started reading just before it, and I had all the questions mentioned here: "What's up with Supergirl?," "Lex is dead?," "Who's the Luthor with the red hair?," etc. But that made me want to go back and read those books to find out who they were.

What I think really needs to happen is for there to be a more organized way for people to do this. DC Universe (the site/app) would actually be a good avenue for this, if they could organize it right. Have a "released order" for a character, but also a "story order" that collects stories and orders them when the titles are split, and has them together during the triangle era. Is it messy? Definitely. But DC has a long, rich history with a great number of talented writers and artists, and I think (especially if the continuities all count again, more or less), that would be a much better way to go than retelling.

And, as others have said, DC often just seems to want to tell and retell the same stories over and over.

[Yoda]

What I think really needs to happen is for there to be a more organized way for people to do this. DC Universe (the site/app) would actually be a good avenue for this, if they could organize it right. Have a "released order" for a character, but also a "story order" that collects stories and orders them when the titles are split, and has them together during the triangle era. Is it messy? Definitely. But DC has a long, rich history with a great number of talented writers and artists, and I think (especially if the continuities all count again, more or less), that would be a much better way to go than retelling.

Don't they have this already? They have a "Triangle Era" reading order split into three parts that breaks out the big storylines and presents the books in the triangle order. There's gaps in the reading because some issues have not been digitized yet for some reason, but I think it has at least the major storylines complete.

I do thing us "olds" can sometimes minimize the barrier that writing and art style presents to newer younger readers. Same with older cartoons and television. There is significant value in retelling "classic" stories through a modern lens for younger readers.

[JAK]

Don't they have this already? They have a "Triangle Era" reading order split into three parts that breaks out the big storylines and presents the books in the triangle order. There's gaps in the reading because some issues have not been digitized yet for some reason, but I think it has at least the major storylines complete.

I do thing us "olds" can sometimes minimize the barrier that writing and art style presents to newer younger readers. Same with older cartoons and television. There is significant value in retelling "classic" stories through a modern lens for younger readers.

I think they do, but I'm also thinking about before and after the Triangle Era, so people can make (more/some) sense of the general order of collected stories through the history.

Art has changed some since the 90's, but I honestly don't think it's as high of a barrier as it seems since that time - mostly because we've been controlling the market, I admit, but still. It'd be a huge thing, but recoloring and digital cleanup should get us most of the way there, as those are what's changed the most. That having been said, books that recap larger points to catch readers up would also be a good way to go, for those that just want to jump on and don't want to read decades of books.

It just seems like every time they try to modernize or simplify things, it just ends up making them more complicated - so just going with it might be the better way to go.