What is your ideal Superman? (Take the Quiz!)

[RobinGA]

It was a different world.

I saw it with my parents at night. Everyone had to go home.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I had no idea New 52 Superman had so many fans. I liked Morrisons run but other than that I do not remember any sorties sticking out. What is it about the New 52 ersion that people latched onto.

Morrison's conception of him, mostly. The rest was pretty terrible and bungled badly by editorial, which is why the character was soon replaced by his Pre-Flashpoint incarnation.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I think Jeans Superman was the greatest addition to the Superman myth but someone pointed out how that was Conner Kent first! The Cape being indestructible again was nice as was all the Krypton stuff. I think Christopher Reeve looked much more gentle than I imagined Superman or Curt Swans version. García López looks more like Reeve to me.

(Reeve or Reeves?)

Christopher Reeve and George Reeves. I used to make the same mistake all the time

[Jim Kelly]

(Reeve or Reeves?)

Reeve for Christopher and Reeves for George. I remember them the same way I remember the difference between St. John, New Brunswick, and St. John's, Newfoundland. It's the conservation of the S.

George and Chris each get one S. George has it in his last name, Chris has it in his first name. New Brunswick already has an S, so it has none to spare for St. John, while Newfoundland has no S so it has a free S to attach to St. John.

Now guess how I know that Yellowknife is in the N.W.T. and Whitehorse is in Yukon (hint: it's about the W and the Y).

[JediBatman54]

Golden Age
Injustice

[manwhohaseverything]

Golden Age
Injustice

How come you got two?

[Lightning Rider]

How come you got two?

Don't think he's referring to the quiz; Injustice is not an option.

[Lightning Rider]

I'm not sure if I completely agree, although I can see why people today would make the association between Chris Reeve Superman and the 1960s or 1970s Superman.

As I've probably posted too many times on this board, the first day I went to see SUPERMAN (1978) at the movie theatre, I sat through it twice. The first time, while I enjoyed the movie a lot, I was too stuck on all the ways it was NOT my Superman. So I had to sit through it again, to relax and enjoy it for what it was rather than what I had expected it to be.

How it's NOT the Superman of the 1960s or 1970s:

• Krypton is completely different--and Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van look nothing like themselves
• Clark was never Superboy and he never met Luthor when he was young
• The Kents live on a farm somewhere in the Mid-West (actually Alberta) and not near Metropolis (nor do they run a general store and Martha survives Jonathan)
• Jimmy Olsen is a photographer and he doesn't have red hair
• Luthor acts nothing like himself
• The Phantom Zone is absurd--some sort of flying mirror in space?

Furthermore, Clark is still a print reporter, whereas he was a T.V. news broadcaster in the comics at that time. And there are other inconsistencies that bothered me in the first showing. But by the time the movie came up on the screen again, I completely made my peace with that and accepted this as a different adaptation of the material.

To me, there was a lot in the movie that was referencing the pre-1960s Superman--the Superman of Bud Collyer, Kirk Alyn and George Reeves. Given a couple of the writers had done IT'S A BIRD . . . IT'S A PLANE . . . IT'S SUPERMAN--and that comes across as already out of date with the 1960s comic books--that might be why the movie has those qualities. At the same time, the movie was breaking with tradition and presenting the Man of Steel in a completely modern way, beyond what the comics had done with him (which is probably why John Byrne liked this version so much).

On the other hand, Christopher Reeve looked a lot like the Curt Swan Superman--which was highlighted by the publisher before the movie came out. And the movie's spirit felt familiar. So it wasn't completely divorced from what I knew Superman to be.

You know, I've been thinking on this, and while there are important differences, I think I underestimated them. Perhaps I should add Reeve as his own unique option before sharing the quiz beyond this forum and tracking the data. I mean, DCEU Superman is only subtly different from Post-Crisis, it's probably the same degree of difference between Reeve and Silver Age Superman.

What do other folks think?

[Thor-Ul]

Post Crisis. Yes, that seems me to be.

[Thor-Ul]

Reeve for Christopher and Reeves for George. I remember them the same way I remember the difference between St. John, New Brunswick, and St. John's, Newfoundland. It's the conservation of the S.

George and Chris each get one S. George has it in his last name, Chris has it in his first name. New Brunswick already has an S, so it has none to spare for St. John, while Newfoundland has no S so it has a free S to attach to St. John.

Now guess how I know that Yellowknife is in the N.W.T. and Whitehorse is in Yukon (hint: it's about the W and the Y).

Nice mnemotech trick. Thanks, now I will never be confused again.

[Ascended]

You know, I've been thinking on this, and while there are important differences, I think I underestimated them. Perhaps I should add Reeve as his own unique option before sharing the quiz beyond this forum and tracking the data. I mean, DCEU Superman is only subtly different from Post-Crisis, it's probably the same degree of difference between Reeve and Silver Age Superman.

What do other folks think?

I feel like Reeve is close enough to the Silver Age to be lumped in. The differences are obviously there, but there are some pretty big and obvious (and subtle and layered) differences between post-Crisis in 1989 compared to post-Crisis in 2009. There have been so many different takes on the character, each option has to be fairly wide. Like, if you add in Reeve, do you add in Reeves? The animated series? Radio serial? How fine do you want to split those hairs?

I don't remember from taking it the other day, but did you include the recommended reading selection for each result? I feel like we talked about that back when you were making this?

[Lightning Rider]

I feel like Reeve is close enough to the Silver Age to be lumped in. The differences are obviously there, but there are some pretty big and obvious (and subtle and layered) differences between post-Crisis in 1989 compared to post-Crisis in 2009. There have been so many different takes on the character, each option has to be fairly wide. Like, if you add in Reeve, do you add in Reeves? The animated series? Radio serial? How fine do you want to split those hairs?

I don't remember from taking it the other day, but did you include the recommended reading selection for each result? I feel like we talked about that back when you were making this?

Maybe you are right. We could keep it going forever if we got specific enough.

I did want to include that recommendation section, but I don't think I was able to fit them in given the character limits and formatting.

[JAK]

You know, I've been thinking on this, and while there are important differences, I think I underestimated them. Perhaps I should add Reeve as his own unique option before sharing the quiz beyond this forum and tracking the data. I mean, DCEU Superman is only subtly different from Post-Crisis, it's probably the same degree of difference between Reeve and Silver Age Superman.

What do other folks think?

Definitely don't put DCEU with Post-Crisis. I wouldn't call those differences subtle. DCEU shares more with Pre-Flashpoint than Post-Crisis.

Reeve is a bit of a touchstone; it's influenced by many past things (Silver and Bronze ages specifically, but also Reeves and Americana in general), but also influenced nearly everything that came after it... so that's a hard call to make.

[Johnny Thunders!]

I don’t think you should change the poll. People feel happy how they land so it may be pretty accurate as it is now. I agree that Donner Superman is it’s own animal. It really is a good distillation of all eras and it’s forward thinking. I do kind of think the 50s Superman is it’s own thing, the TV series, but he reminds me of those ultra patriotic Golden Age Superman covers. I wonder if Atomic Age would count? Anyways look at the Superman 78 series and compare it to Bronze or Silver Age comics.

[JorgeJ77]

Definitely don't put DCEU with Post-Crisis. I wouldn't call those differences subtle. DCEU shares more with Pre-Flashpoint than Post-Crisis.

Reeve is a bit of a touchstone; it's influenced by many past things (Silver and Bronze ages specifically, but also Reeves and Americana in general), but also influenced nearly everything that came after it... so that's a hard call to make.

What's the difference between Post-Crisis and Pre-Flashpoint? Aren't they the same era?