Is DC's biggest mistake having the Supermen as different persons altogether?

[Ascended]

Yeah, Berganza is still editor. Far as I know he's not going anywhere either.

[Stanlos]

DC should have used The Multiverse like it was supposed to be: a place to retire Old Continuity and tell out of continuity stories. Hell, they could've relabeled Elseworlds as "The Multiverse" line of comics if you wanted to do Superdad stories. You know what? It wouldn't work. Why? Because some of you would be like "Nooooo! I'm not gonna read old red underpants Superman! I only reads Nu52 Superman, best Superman EVAR!" Then the other faction:"Nooooo! I want red underpants Superman to be the onliest Superman! Not alternate universe! Bring it all back! Booo 52!" The fanbase is broken into constant irresolute factions (kind of like our politics) In trying to please everyone by literally splitting the baby, DC pleases no one.

I just wonder why they keep making a 'new thing' to do that. Wasn't this problem essentially solved by Hyper Time?

[Jon-El]

I remember buying Who's Who off the stands back in the day & assuming there would be a listing for three versions of Superman. I was bummed to see one for the Earth two version & one for the new version. I liked the Byrne reboot but not having the version I'd read for 10 years acknowledged really stunk. I prefer to think of them all as separate.

The art by Curt Swan & Byrne just felt weird.

[bat39]

I remember buying Who's Who off the stands back in the day & assuming there would be a listing for three versions of Superman. I was bummed to see one for the Earth two version & one for the new version. I liked the Byrne reboot but not having the version I'd read for 10 years acknowledged really stunk. I prefer to think of them all as separate.

The art by Curt Swan & Byrne just felt weird.

Ultimately, it comes down to perceptions, more than anything else.

In terms of semantics, yes, Post-COIE Superman became New 52 Superman. In fact, Morrison's run implied that some aspects of the New 52 continuity (such as the death of the Kents) were not the result of Flashpoint, which seems that the 'original' state of the New 52 Superman was much closer to the Post-COIE Superman.

However, semantically speaking, Post-COIE Superman (or someone like him) was pulled from the 'past' and ended up in the New 52 timeline as a separate entity. So that's how he became a different person. And while earlier, DC preferred to treat Superman as the same character rebooted, now they want to promote the return of the 'true, classic Superman' and they've got the plot mechanics to explain this shift in perception.

Ultimately, perception is all that distinguishes between the different Supermen OR renders differences negligible. And it varies from character to character. Hal Jordan, for instance, has been pretty much perceived as the same character throughout, from Silver Age to today, with a few cosmetic changes to his backstory. Wonder Woman on the other hand, has changed a LOT over time, to the extent that its easy to perceive at least four distinct incarnations (Golden Age, Silver Age, Post-COIE and New 52). Batman is a whole other story.

The circumstances of a 'reboot' matter a lot as well. Compare the two causalities of COIE - Barry Allen and Supergirl. Barry died, but his entire history stayed intact in the new continuity and when he eventually came back, he was the same character (even with massive changes to his backstory, which were explained by time travel). Supergirl died, and her entire history was erased. So when she showed up again, decades later, she was treated as a 'new' rebooted character.

[Jim Kelly]

I remember buying Who's Who off the stands back in the day & assuming there would be a listing for three versions of Superman. I was bummed to see one for the Earth two version & one for the new version. I liked the Byrne reboot but not having the version I'd read for 10 years acknowledged really stunk. I prefer to think of them all as separate.

The art by Curt Swan & Byrne just felt weird.

You must be my counterpart on another Earth--because I had the exact same experience. Odd.

I think DC missed an opportunity with Multiversity to devise a different labeling system for their alternate Earths. Now we have at least two Earth-Twos, at least two Earth-Ones, etc. It's two too confusing.

I think they wanted to lay claim to those trademarks--since Marvel and other companies have been raiding DC's idea fund for years. However, they should've cut their losses and imagined some new naming system that would make it very clear which earth is which--such as Earth-Paul, Earth-John, Earth-George, Earth-Ringo. Or maybe after all the 100 names of the Kauravas from the MAHABHARATA.

It's easier to remember names than numbers (at least for me).