Originally Posted by
manofsteel1979
Well....as no one wanted to respond to this...let me be the first.
I do think the Loeb/Kelly run gets overlooked because it gets lumped in to the whole of the 2000's,which, less face it, wasn't overall the best of times for the character.
However, at the time, the Loeb/Kelly run was a breath of fresh air the Superman books needed at the turn of the century. The Ordway/Jurgens/Simonson/Kesel regime had run it's course, and frankly, had been running on fumes since the mid 90's. The teams still turned in competant work, and there still was the occasional good issue,but...it all felt by the numbers and bland. Plus, add to the fact that the supporting cast had grown to a gargantuan proportions, overshadowing our hero at times, it was clear SOMETHING needed to change.
I have said before, and will say to this day....that initial run of stories from October 1999 to the first RETURN TO KRYPTON arc (January 2001?) was the last truly great sustained run as a whole across the Superman books until the New 52. There was a palpable energy and sense of getting back to basics, while at the same time introducing new concepts, locales, villains etc. There was a heavy dose of bronze age sensibility brought into the line via Loeb mostly, while Kelly brought a whimisical irreverance to the character and his world. The two writing styles balanced each other out well and gave Superman a forward thinking direction that ironically seeked to return some of the larger myth that had been stripped away with the COIE, and retaining the more positive aspects of the Post-Crisis vision of the character that had existed to that point.
However, it didn't last...after RTK we got the build up to OUR WORLDS AT WAR...which was very ambitious in it's intentions, partially suceeded in execution ...but largely failed in the aftermath as it seemed immediately that DC rolled back many of the consequences of the fallout of the story. (although it's unclear whether or not that was because of the real world events of 9/11, or editorial not wanting to delve into darker themes that Loeb and crew were wanting to pursue in the aftermath, or editorial politics at DC or a bit of all three.) Loeb would soon leave to start writing Superman/Batman (ironically to be temporarily replaced by Geoff Johns until Steven T Seagle started his run), the books were no longer interconnected, and while there were still highlights (Kelly's ACTION was still a solid read and Joe Casey's criminally underrated run on ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN was a revelation.) the over all quality tanked and soon would follow creative shuffle after creative shuffle that lasted even into the early months of the New 52.
I enjoy that era very much still. Although some of it sowed the seeds for the problems that hurt the character and the franchise in the decade that followed (after all, that era begat multiple Zods, Supergirls,Brainiacs etc while Sending Superman off to therapy), as a whole, particularly the first year or so worth of stories, was a bright spot in a down decade for our Man of Steel.