The case for a Nonagenarian Superman

[Ascended]

You know how you do this? You let Clark read about the other Supermen's adventures in comics. Multiversity just established that all of the in each world are gateways to other worlds. You have Red Racer--the gay Flash analog who's a comic nerd and goes out with the GL analog--lend Clark some really old comics (I imagine President Superman will eventually be in touch with Clark sometime in the future. That or Clark build a device that picks up on Racer's frequency). Clark eventually finds out that these comics are of past incarnations of himself. You could play with the emotional aspects of this pretty well. Like that temptation all comics fans have to spoil themselves by looking ahead, however for Clark it might have parallels to his world, so is it immoral for him to NOT look ahead?

Eventually I imagine he puts the books down, never finishes them, and locks them away. He probably figures it was doing more to stagnate him than to help him move forward. He says something like "I think I'm done with back issue. It's time to move forward." As he says this, a kid in another world is reading the issue that he says it in.

This way it doesn't complicate his character too much, but he gains some knowledge from his past selves, and there's a nice little meta message in there for good measure. It's like a more personal and meaningful Civil War 2 but with Superman. Just picture him reading imaginary stories about his possible kids to get a handle on how to bring up Jon or stop things before they happen. It's more of an emotional crisis that ends in renewed resolve. That's how I'd do it.

I was thinking about making it an extension of his super senses, brought about by his exposure to higher dimensional forces (Morrison's Superman Beyond hinted at such things)......but this works pretty well too.

[titansupes]

I stumbled across a four page Elliot S! Maggin/Frank Miller Superman story I didn't realise existed until last night, and immediately thought of this current conversation.

http://theages.superman.nu/400/primelegend/?page=1

[SuperCrab]

I can see it working as one continuity. However, I don't like the idea of giving Lois and Jimmy perpetual youth. The reason behind characters like them and Perry is to surround Superman with real human beings. If they are more or less the same as him, they don't serve that function and become pointless.

Alan Moore solved this problem by giving Supreme a new girl friend.

How about Wonder Woman?

[Jon Clark]

Originally Posted by Jim Kelly
I can see it working as one continuity. However, I don't like the idea of giving Lois and Jimmy perpetual youth. The reason behind characters like them and Perry is to surround Superman with real human beings. If they are more or less the same as him, they don't serve that function and become pointless.

Alan Moore solved this problem by giving Supreme a new girl friend.

How about Wonder Woman?

I don't recall Alan Moore giving Wonder Woman a new girlfriend unless it was in Promethia

[Jim Kelly]

It would be a sad fate for Wonder Woman if she ended up being nothing but a supporting cast member in Superman's stories. She wasn't created for that.