How would YOU merge the Supermen?

[JBatmanFan05]

I think that integrating the usuable elements of Nuperman into Superdad are the way to go

I agree. But I happen to think there's not many elements of Nuperman I like except his dead parents and lack of marriage.

The origin flashbacks in Superman #1 are where a merged Superman needs to continue to go. But we cannot have these two main Supermen IMHO, even if Nuperman is "dead." One main Superman, one Kal-El IMHO and DC better get it right.

Merged Superman for me would be: Merging of all prior continuities (the big things happened near the same way, smaller things did not), underpants were a prior costume for new merged Superman, no marriage, Ma alive or both parents dead (Pa died ala Donner's film), pre-COIE-ish Jor-El & Lara like the latest Superman #1, red & blue rocket like the latest Superman #1, Fleischer and other old media stories all (vaguely) in for the classic fun of it, new very simplified very pre-COIE origin, Silver Age-esque powers, etc.

[Jim Kelly]

I'm not happy with the smörgåsbord of choices that Rebirth is serving up. One of the things that turned me off before Flashpoint was the sense that DC didn't have any confidence in the character of Superman and they were giving us all these alternatives to the Man of Steel himself. Now it's the same thing--the Superman Family Smörgåsbord. Choose which Supers you want to have on your plate.

I want DC to pick one Superman and stick with that. Don't give me Super-Lex, Super-Lois, Super-Men.

Have they no faith in the character anymore? And why should I buy a product when the company producing it isn't prepared to stand behind what they're selling?

[Sacred Knight]

They haven't had any faith in Superman for a long time. And they don't seem to grasp that its from their own internal misunderstanding of who the character is. The current atrocious direction is just the biggest example yet. I mean, they wrecked an entire budding mythos to introduce a kid which I'm entirely confident will end up hijacking both books in time. All this, for a character made a year ago. Its not for Superman, its for Jon. That's what continues to piss me off today. Its at the expense of their icon of 75+ years. If this was a huge undertaking to fix Superman, I'd try to be more understanding. But its not. Its to shoehorn in someone's pet character. If that doesn't spell out the lack of faith they have in Superman, not to mention what I see is a blatant lack of interest altogether, I don't know what does.

[suemorphplus209]

They haven't had any faith in Superman for a long time. And they don't seem to grasp that its from their own internal misunderstanding of who the character is. The current atrocious direction is just the biggest example yet. I mean, they wrecked an entire budding mythos to introduce a kid which I'm entirely confident will end up hijacking both books in time. All this, for a character made a year ago. Its not for Superman, its for Jon. That's what continues to piss me off today. Its at the expense of their icon of 75+ years. If this was a huge undertaking to fix Superman, I'd try to be more understanding. But its not. Its to shoehorn in someone's pet character. If that doesn't spell out the lack of faith they have in Superman, not to mention what I see is a blatant lack of interest altogether, I don't know what does.

It has always appeared to me to be a form of an internal conflict. They didn't keep the adopted son named Chris Kent (Lor-Zod) for very long. Why? That was around 10 years ago, IIRC. They changed their minds now for some reason. I am beginning to think if they kept Chris Kent and avoided New Krypton altogether, they wouldn't have had the reboot. Someone can correct me on that if they want, but it seemed that the reason for ever rebooting Superman was a long, drawn-out borefest of New Krypton. As long as they avoid some drawn out boring story, they will be okay. I hope that they learned from that.

[JBatmanFan05]

They haven't had any faith in Superman for a long time. And they don't seem to grasp that its from their own internal misunderstanding of who the character is. The current atrocious direction is just the biggest example yet. I mean, they wrecked an entire budding mythos to introduce a kid which I'm entirely confident will end up hijacking both books in time. All this, for a character made a year ago. It's not for Superman, it's for Jon. That's what continues to piss me off today. It's at the expense of their icon of 75+ years. If this was a huge undertaking to fix Superman, I'd try to be more understanding. But it's not. It's to shoehorn in someone's pet character. If that doesn't spell out the lack of faith they have in Superman, not to mention what I see is a blatant lack of interest altogether, I don't know what does.

You know, this reeks of a good deal of truth perhaps. Jon. And that would suck. I do think they can merge the Supermen and, though not ideal, keep Jon like a Conner-like son-but-not-son-to-the-particular-merged-Superman (who hopefully never married) time-anomaly multiverse thing (i.e. basically all that really ends up remaining of pre-FP Supes is Jon & some pre-FP memories/canon).

[MyriVerse]

To be totally honest I wouldn't. I have enjoyed reading about Superdad in his mini and current apperances more than I think I ever really did the Nu52 Superman. I even thought having Jon becoming the new Superboy was the dumbest thing I had ever heard until I actually read about the kid, but now I am OK with it.

I am OK with just letting the Nu52 Superman become a memory at this point.

That's the way I feel, too. Nuperman was just some sick joke they played on everybody.

Plus, I want at least Martha back.

[Jim Kelly]

I'm for anything that stops people from using nu as if it's the same thing as new. I realize some people are using very small keypads, but it's only one extra letter. You're hardly saving yourselves that much effort.

[The Shredder]

I'm not happy with the smörgåsbord of choices that Rebirth is serving up. One of the things that turned me off before Flashpoint was the sense that DC didn't have any confidence in the character of Superman and they were giving us all these alternatives to the Man of Steel himself. Now it's the same thing--the Superman Family Smörgåsbord. Choose which Supers you want to have on your plate.

I want DC to pick one Superman and stick with that. Don't give me Super-Lex, Super-Lois, Super-Men.

Have they no faith in the character anymore? And why should I buy a product when the company producing it isn't prepared to stand behind what they're selling?

I just view the notion of multiple Supermen/women to be DC's effort to replicate the success of the Batman line. It's the most straightforward, and simplest way to put it. Bat Family, meet Super Family. BatDad, meet SuperDad. Son of Bats, meet Son of Supes. I'm not going to give any slack to DC in saying they have done a stand up job with Superman over the years, cause they most certainly haven't. All the bad choices and writing for Pre-Flashpoint, all the horrible writing and gimmicks for New52. It was all mediocrity at best, and that's being polite. It's apparent DC doesn't know/or can maintain quality in a line of books that, outside of Supergirl/Superboy, focus pretty much entirely on Superman, this has been evident for well over a decade, and thus the Rebirth 'smörgåsbord' as you put it, is born. Giving teams an opportunity to flesh out and put their stamp on newly created and introduced characters, which I can see as appealing to any creator.

It may not be to certain people's liking, but I will give DC just a little bit of lead way in their effort in making an attempt to try something a little bit different. Confidence problems or not, incompetence has plagued Superman for years, and the Rebirth Superman line does come across as giving readers some more variety, which once again, is similar to the Batman line of books.

Will it work? Who knows. Some are hoping it'll crash and burn, some are hoping it will be a success. I say, anything is worth a shot in getting Supes out of the creative and pitiful sales ditch it's been lying in for some time now.

[manofsteel1979]

I'm for anything that stops people from using nu as if it's the same thing as new. I realize some people are using very small keypads, but it's only one extra letter. You're hardly saving yourselves that much effort.

Personally speaking I've always thought NU didn't stand for just "new",but for New Universe, as in the DC New Universe. So when I type Nu Clark its short for New Universe Clark. I guess it depends on how you look at it.

[JBatmanFan05]

I'm for anything that stops people from using nu as if it's the same thing as new. I realize some people are using very small keypads, but it's only one extra letter. You're hardly saving yourselves that much effort.

Yea, that's not the only reason: Superman = Nuperman

Edit: And also DCNU

[manduck37]

Personally speaking I've always thought NU didn't stand for just "new",but for New Universe, as in the DC New Universe. So when I type Nu Clark its short for New Universe Clark. I guess it depends on how you look at it.

This was my thinking as well. Like Nu52, New Universe 52. Just like DCAU, or even DC itself.

[Jim Kelly]

Can't say why the nu bugs me so much. Maybe it's because I studied Ancient Greek and nu = ν. Or maybe it simply gives me ennui

[manduck37]

Can't say why the nu bugs me so much. Maybe it's because I studied Ancient Greek and nu = ν. Or maybe it simply gives me ennui

We all have little things that bug us. I wish I nu why this bothers you so much too (kidding, of course)

[andersonh1]

They haven't had any faith in Superman for a long time. And they don't seem to grasp that its from their own internal misunderstanding of who the character is. The current atrocious direction is just the biggest example yet. I mean, they wrecked an entire budding mythos to introduce a kid which I'm entirely confident will end up hijacking both books in time. All this, for a character made a year ago. Its not for Superman, its for Jon. That's what continues to piss me off today. Its at the expense of their icon of 75+ years. If this was a huge undertaking to fix Superman, I'd try to be more understanding. But its not. Its to shoehorn in someone's pet character. If that doesn't spell out the lack of faith they have in Superman, not to mention what I see is a blatant lack of interest altogether, I don't know what does.

Show me the evidence that Jonathan will hijack the books. You believe it, so produce the proof. This type of attitude bothers me.... DC moves Superman forward and does something new with him, no mean trick for a character that's been in continual publication for over 75 years. And in doing so, they add a new character to the Superman mythos. A character full of potential. This is character growth and development, both for Superman and Jonathan. It's not rehashing tired ideas and punching out the bad guy for the hundredth time. There's an opportunity to show a whole new side of Superman and Lois here, and it's a good thing.

You're unhappy because they took your version of the character. I get that. Welcome to August 2011. Is it fair to DC or the writers for you to write off a genuine bit of creativity after just a few issues? Did you ever intend to give it a fair chance? I gave the New 52 Superman title and New 52 Action Comics eight months before I dropped both, each for different reasons. I wanted to be fair. I wanted to like Superman. In the end, that version never worked for me. I'm glad to get back to to a more familiar version.

I have to say, I found more to relate to in Superman #1 than I have for years when it comes to the character. I'm a father raising two daughters. I'm looking at the parent-child relationship, and for that matter, the way Clark and Lois interact as a married couple, and I'm seeing a lot more that's familiar to me than I did with young, angry New 52 Superman with Wonder Woman on his arm. I can relate to everyday family life and the challenges of raising a child to be a moral individual in this world. It's nice to have one of my favorite characters at that point in life as well.

Hopefully Wally West will get his wife and kids back at some point. There aren't many parents in the DCU, but I imagine there are a ton of parents in their reading audience. We could all use a bit more families in DC comics.

[Francisco]

Actually this is not at all like what happened in August 2011. Pre-flashpoint Superman wasn't killed. HE GOT his happy ending. While New 52 Superman gets the shaft so Clois shippers may have their way.