Which era of Superman comics would you go back to?

[Ascended]

Part of me thinks that the DC editors and publishers want to functionally kill off all the old-gen characters so they don't have royalties to pay. I don't know if it's TRUE though. It would imply they're going to stop using the old characters, not sure if they actually will. I mean, the OLD OLD characters(like Alan Scott) are sorta still around.

Well, there's been some talk about DC wanting to distance themselves from the Golden Age roster because those guys will be entering the public domain in the next 5-10 years. But I'm not sure how much stock I put in that. Someone like Clark or Bruce entering the domain doesn't mean that anybody could use the characters as we currently recognize and understand them, and other considerations like film rights and trademarks means it'd be hard as hell to use a public domain DC character anyway.

I'm more inclined to think that DC was looking for a permanent Super replacement when the heirs were suing the crap out of them. I can believe that DC was going to put Kara or Conner at the head of the franchise just to avoid the heirs' legal entanglements (if that would've even worked), but all of that was settled years ago, and as far as I'm aware DC doesn't have to pay royalties for any of these guys. They had to pay, I believe, to use Milestone's characters, and maybe Black Lightning, but the OG big names? No royalties at all, that I've heard.

It's probably as simple as Didio and the other higher up's at DC/WB thinking that Clark himself was a broken character without value. Just like our fellow poster manwhohaseverything. I find it much more likely that those guys couldn't understand the problem was never Clark, and was instead their inability to understand the fundamental appeals of the IP. So in classic corporate style, they figured the best course of action was to burn everything to the ground.

[manofsteel1979]

But it’s not? We just had Superman ‘78. We’ve got another nostalgia book featuring Clark in Batman/Superman too.

That's the problem. I'm talking in continuity present day Clark. Yeah those books are fine, great even. I want to read the continuing adventures of Kal-El/Clark Kent. Not perpetual flashbacks or niche nostalgia projects.

They are introducing other Batmen in continuity, but Bruce Wayne is still clearly the star of the franchise and THE Batman. Over at Marvel Miles Morales is a big character but the emphasis is still on Peter Parker as the main Spider-Man. The vibe feels different with Superman. There has been this push to radically remagine Superman from one degree to another for about a decade or more. The hijinks around New Krypton and the fact they replaced Clark as the lead in both books for a time, the New 52 relaunch and their various attempts to remake Superman in that and now promoting Jon Kent as the main character of the franchise at least for now.

Clark is never truly going away. I understand that. But I get the feeling if DC and Warners (at least under previous management) could get away with relegating the classic Clark Kent illeration of Superman to just the occasional nostalgia based project, they would. And unless something changes i think that day is fast approaching.

Discovery may have different plans and its possible that in six months to a year things may begin to right themselves but until I see a tangible change I'm going to assume Discovery is going to keep business as usual for Superman.

[manwhohaseverything]

Just like our fellow poster manwhohaseverything.

Hey!fully acknowledge i was not a superman fan growing up and total outsider.I became attached due to dumb luck and certain similarities with characters i grew up with(whom for some reason all have hats..what is with that ..beats me)..I never thought the character itself is broken.I don't understand the concept of a character being broken in the first place.What i do however is disagree with certain way the character is written with and concepts which it promotes at present.I just prefer a more personal, energetic and vulnerable clark kent with glasses otherwise.Superman means more than other american characters for me in general at present.Which is wierd considering i should be a batman fan considering i am more into the phantom,zorro..etc(or revamped versions of those).

[Ascended]

Oh I'm just giving ya sh*t, manwhohaseverything. You're a Golden Age fan, as I am, and we always share common ground on that, at the very least.

I do think you'd enjoy more stuff with Clark if you didn't have such a strong anti-savior bias. I think that's colored your perception on several stories, including the current stuff. But that troupe has been used plenty in the past, so it's not like you're coming to this mindset without any reason. DC bent heavily around that for a little while so who could blame a man for feeling that way? But still, it's not (currently) the problem you seem to think it is.

But in any case, what I think doesn't matter. It's all about whether you enjoy the story in your hands or not, and you don't need to justify your own entertainment.

[Rod G]

Take the Post-Crisis (1986-2000) era as a whole, sprinkle in some Bronze Age feels and mix in the Tomasi/Jurgans era and you got the right ingredients. Consolation of origins to the point it doesn’t contradict itself. Make a cohesive timeline that slides appropriately. Age down Jon so we can get those great coming of age stories that we never saw.

As for the actual story beats: Keep the basic premise of the Byrne/Ordway/Jurgans/Stern stuff. That was tight continuity. Weave Jon’s birth in the timeline where it fits (I’m thinking Lois gets pregnant around Final Night, when Clark was pretty much powerless.) Lex was a contemporary of Perry. Lex was a businessman turned President turned fugitive turned back to businessman. Lucy and Ron have a kid, as does Lana and Pete. Give Clark back his secret identity. Lex is self made by way of killing his parents and building his empire.

Even though you keep this “feel”, you still can move forward. Jon will slowly age. Bring back Linda Danvers while still having Kara. By opening up the books on that reality of stories, the possibilities would be endless.

So you’re okay with Superman kissing Luthor’s @$$?

Nobody else is.

[ironman2978]

Golden Age, Early New 52 with Morrison, Bronze(Martin Pasko/Cary Bates/Elliot S. Maggin stuff) or Johns/Busiek era

[ironman2978]

Take the Post-Crisis (1986-2000) era as a whole, sprinkle in some Bronze Age feels and mix in the Tomasi/Jurgans era and you got the right ingredients. Consolation of origins to the point it doesn’t contradict itself. Make a cohesive timeline that slides appropriately. Age down Jon so we can get those great coming of age stories that we never saw.

As for the actual story beats: Keep the basic premise of the Byrne/Ordway/Jurgans/Stern stuff. That was tight continuity. Weave Jon’s birth in the timeline where it fits (I’m thinking Lois gets pregnant around Final Night, when Clark was pretty much powerless.) Lex was a contemporary of Perry. Lex was a businessman turned President turned fugitive turned back to businessman. Lucy and Ron have a kid, as does Lana and Pete. Give Clark back his secret identity. Lex is self made by way of killing his parents and building his empire.

Even though you keep this “feel”, you still can move forward. Jon will slowly age. Bring back Linda Danvers while still having Kara. By opening up the books on that reality of stories, the possibilities would be endless.

Honestly, I never was a big fan of Byrne's material. I was more into Ordway/Jurgans/Stern's stuff and the later Triangle/Loeb work

[krazijoe]

New 52.....

[sunofdarkchild]

I'd love to be able to go back to the 90s when there was a superman book every week, the continuity was super-tight, and the human cast was large. Also a situation where Linda Danvers exists. Maybe we don't need the same characters from that period, but let's make Metropolis feel like a place people live in again.

[DrewHLMW]

Rebirth era, Tomasi and Jurgens should have been allowed to continue their runs, kicking them out for Bendis was the beginning of the end for not only superman but the entire feel good factor rebirth had brought and DC hasn't recovered since, in fact they're still falling as infinite frontier was a massive failure that they're still trying to get over instead of admitting they screwed up and trying something else. lets hope Dark Crisis ends this awful era and the new year brings a better DC.

[SuperCrab]

New52 Superman

[Rod G]

New52 Superman

I agree with you 100%.

[Stanlos]

Triangle, in a freaking heartbeak. Starting from just after the "Exile" storyline.

However, the Golden Age would be fun, too - especially if I can bring the issues back with me! lol

Yeah, the love for the character, the heart, and the vision from this era is unmatched

[Stanlos]

Is his leading the League a separate era unto itself? Or us it a subset of the triangle era?

[DABellWrites]

None. I want to read Superman going forward and see where the character can go. If this mean staples like Jimmy Oslen dies or Clark leave Metropolis for like five years, so be it. Hell, let's see Clark and Lois gets a divorce, let's see where it goes.

I don't have a strong attachment to a particular period in Superman.