Bringing back Golden Age Superman

[Hypestyle]

so what all exactly happened when Golden Age Supes came back? What was his power set exactly?

[Ascended]

so what all exactly happened when Golden Age Supes came back? What was his power set exactly?

You mean in Infinite Crisis?

Same powers as the then-current Superman.

As for what happened...he was manipulated and used as a pawn against the heroes, eventually came to his senses when the then-current Superman pointed out some really obvious stuff that Kal-L should have picked up on from the start, then he helped defeat yet another Superman proxy called Superboy Prime and died.

Later, he became a Black Lantern and died again.

And it wasn't half as good as that description sounds.

[Francisco]

I'd want to have my cake and eat it. Why can we have a Superman that embodies all the great things that better represent each era? Social crusader, space god, farmboy and journalist bad ass who doesn't take crap from anybody?

[Ascended]

I'd want to have my cake and eat it. Why can we have a Superman that embodies all the great things that better represent each era? Social crusader, space god, farmboy and journalist bad ass who doesn't take crap from anybody?

We had that. Grant Morrison gave us that. So did Pak for the most part. Hell, even Scott Lobdell wrote a Superman that fit all that (if only his writing wasn't so terrible).

[Buried Alien]

You mean in Infinite Crisis?

Same powers as the then-current Superman.

That power-reduction for Kal-L in INFINITE CRISIS always struck me as a bit odd. Up to and including COIE, Kal-L had been portrayed to as approximately equal in power to Kal-El of Pre-COIE Earth-One, though his stamina was weaker due to his age. When he returned to the DCU in INFINITE CRISIS, though, Kal-L was only equivalent to Post-COIE Superman in power.

My reasoning for that is that the physics of the Post-COIE DCU can't support Pre-COIE power levels, but that limitation didn't seem to affect Superboy Prime, who I believe retained Pre-COIE levels of power.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[NeonZ]

In Convergence Action Comics, Earth 2 Superman was brought back. Did anyone read that? Depending on your interpretation of the ending--it seemed to insinuate the old earth 2 characters were once again in usable continuity, even though their usage seems highly unlikely.

The Action Comics Convergence mini-series was kind of weird, since the focus was on Kara, rather than Clark (although it's still Kal-L that saves the day there and stops Power Girl and Red Son Wonder Woman by himself). They also miscolored him in the main Convergence series. There's a page where a Superman without an S shield on his cape (but who wasn't the Kingdom Come Superman) comes out of nowhere and teams up with Pre-Flashpoint Superman, but he didn't have grayish hair there. It seemed like they really didn't care about his presence in the event at all and just included him there out of obligation.

[Francisco]

We had that. Grant Morrison gave us that. So did Pak for the most part. Hell, even Scott Lobdell wrote a Superman that fit all that (if only his writing wasn't so terrible).

I'm hoping that after all this superdad/depowering/death, that guy will be back.

[Ascended]

I'm hoping that after all this superdad/depowering/death, that guy will be back.

You know, I dont even need the exact same guy back (though that would be nice if it were combined with worthy talent). Just give me a Superman who shares the same traits and stays true to the classic vision, and I'll be good.

Don't give me a good ol' farmboy full of nativity and a pacifist nature who is half-ashamed of his heritage (if he bothers to think of it at all), considers himself a "human with benefits" and will let people suffer if it means upsetting the establishment. Give me the guy who is of two worlds but belongs to neither, who embraces the lessons of both completely, who's curiosity about the universe is as boundless as the rage he feels at corruption, and goes with his gut no matter who it might piss off.

That's Superman. The guy who will rebuild an old 1923 T-bucket Ford while also working on a Time Sphere and a cure for the flu. The guy who embodies the strange world view of The Other just as much as he embodies the quiet confidence and swagger of the Man's Man, who feels no need to puff his chest and act the fool.

[Ascended]

That power-reduction for Kal-L in INFINITE CRISIS always struck me as a bit odd. Up to and including COIE, Kal-L had been portrayed to as approximately equal in power to Kal-El of Pre-COIE Earth-One, though his stamina was weaker due to his age. When he returned to the DCU in INFINITE CRISIS, though, Kal-L was only equivalent to Post-COIE Superman in power.

My reasoning for that is that the physics of the Post-COIE DCU can't support Pre-COIE power levels, but that limitation didn't seem to affect Superboy Prime, who I believe retained Pre-COIE levels of power.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Huh.

You're right. I never noticed that before. They were still roughly equal and I didn't consider the substantial power-drop in post-Crisis.

[Francisco]

You know, I dont even need the exact same guy back (though that would be nice if it were combined with worthy talent). Just give me a Superman who shares the same traits and stays true to the classic vision, and I'll be good.

Don't give me a good ol' farmboy full of nativity and a pacifist nature who is half-ashamed of his heritage (if he bothers to think of it at all), considers himself a "human with benefits" and will let people suffer if it means upsetting the establishment. Give me the guy who is of two worlds but belongs to neither, who embraces the lessons of both completely, who's curiosity about the universe is as boundless as the rage he feels at corruption, and goes with his gut no matter who it might piss off.

That's Superman. The guy who will rebuild an old 1923 T-bucket Ford while also working on a Time Sphere and a cure for the flu. The guy who embodies the strange world view of The Other just as much as he embodies the quiet confidence and swagger of the Man's Man, who feels no need to puff his chest and act the fool.

Yes yes yes

[kimbra3500]

I was personally glad to see Kal-L utilized in Convergence even if it is a valid point that it does seem like he was included strictly via some sense of obligation. At least he appeared and his characterization seemed, to me at least, more spot on than the Infinite Crisis business and sort of helps wash away the golden age zombie of Blackest Night. The ending seemed to restore him to life in arguable continuity and seems a more fitting status than ignoble end and then zombie rebirth.

[The Shredder]

That power-reduction for Kal-L in INFINITE CRISIS always struck me as a bit odd. Up to and including COIE, Kal-L had been portrayed to as approximately equal in power to Kal-El of Pre-COIE Earth-One, though his stamina was weaker due to his age. When he returned to the DCU in INFINITE CRISIS, though, Kal-L was only equivalent to Post-COIE Superman in power.

My reasoning for that is that the physics of the Post-COIE DCU can't support Pre-COIE power levels, but that limitation didn't seem to affect Superboy Prime, who I believe retained Pre-COIE levels of power.

That's true. Although there wasn't a confrontation between Kal-L and Superboy Prime prior to Kal-L and Pre-Flashpoint Superman pushing SBP thru a red sun, I would think Kal-L would have taken down SBP quite convincingly. I mean, Kal-L literally knocked out Pre-Crisis/Earth-1 Superman, in order to save his life, right before going in with the intent to take on the Anti-Monitor alone (although that wasn't how it worked out since SBP and Alexander Luthor Jr. decided to stay behind as well).

[Last Son]

I don't remember every last detail from Infinite Crisis, but Superboy Prime was going around pushing planets as part of Alexander Luthor Jr's plan, wasn't he? And by then, even the post crisis Superman wasn't quite as depowered as he used to be.

[The Shredder]

Yeah, SBP pushing around planets was something that kicked off the Rann–Thanagar War limited series that was another lead in to Infinite Crisis.

[cxranger]

I'd buy any book that featured a return of the Golden Age Superman (as well as the return of the pre-Crisis Earth Two).

A little late, but I love this thread.

Few moments made me as happy as when Kal-L returned in IC. Of course, then just a hand-full of months later he was pathetically killed off for no reason. It was stupid and ridiculous.

I love the concept of the older, seasoned, grizzled, introspective, even tired Superman. Not the Man of Tomorrow, but the Man of the People. Perhaps not as powerful as the Silver Age Earth-1 or the modern Supermen, but a dedicated warrior nonetheless. Instead of asking “How are we going to do this” he says “this is what we are going to do.”

The death of Kal-L changed the way I look at and feel about DC. Since then, I have been highly skeptical and cynical of their direction and just have not been willing to support as I previously did. I wait and see a lot more. What bothered me even more was the hinting that he would be back and when did, they made him a killer zombie. Why? So his fans would go away? Well a lot of us did. I was so hoping they do something with him, even if it was not on the prime Earth. Perhaps him as a Blue Lantern and send him on his own new adventures with Lois bringing Hope to other worlds.

There is room for several variants of a character. There are 4 or 5 distinct mainstream variants of Superman and they are in many ways their own personality. We are all fans of imaginary characters and are not confused by 2 or 5 versions doing different things.