Improve a Retcon

[Patrick Gerard]

Basically, the idea here is to identify a retcon in Superman's history and identify how YOU think it could have been made better.

For me, I'd have kept the Kents dead after Crisis.

BUT I'd have simply introduced an Aunt Sarah and Uncle Eb (Jonathan's sister and brother-in-law?) who are in on Clark's secret and running the old Kent Farm.

You get the family/Smallville connection and a change of scenery whenever Clark needs folksy advice without undoing the Kents' death. It's a lot less invasive and more of a Leslie Thompkins type character addition. It also allows for richer flashback stories.

Bonus: Sarah and Eben were alternate names given for the Kents in the 40s.

[FishyZombie]

Never really understood why people can get so passionate about whether or not the Kents are dead or not. On one hand they've already served their purpose to the mythos by the time he becomes Superman. On the otherhand them being dead doesn't really detract from anything either and it's not like Clark became a hero because his parents are dead like Batman. Superman as a character is virtually the same regardless of whether Ma and Pa Kent are alive. Seems like such a non-issue to me.

[Patrick Gerard]

Never really understood why people are so passionate about whether or not the Kents are dead or not. On one hand they've already served their purpose to the mythos by the time he becomes Superman. On the otherhand them being dead doesn't really detract from anything either and it's not like Clark became a hero because his parents are dead like Batman. Superman as a character is virtually the same regardless of whether Ma and Pa Kent are alive. Seems like such a non-issue to me.

I think them being dead creates an absence of stronger moral authority figures in a way, positioning Superman more as his own judge of what's right and wrong.

[FishyZombie]

I think them being dead creates an absence of stronger moral authority figures in a way, positioning Superman more as his own judge of what's right and wrong.

i guess, but if that is the case, why introduce an aunt and uncle to play the same role?

[adkal]

Never really understood why people are so passionate about whether or not the Kents are dead or not. On one hand they've already served their purpose to the mythos by the time he becomes Superman. On the otherhand them being dead doesn't really detract from anything either and it's not like Clark became a hero because his parents are dead like Batman.

Well... back in the day, it's a dying Pa who encourages Clark to use his abilities for good

Superman as a character is virtually the same regardless of whether Ma and Pa Kent are alive. Seems like such a non-issue to me.

I've always 'liked' (for lack of a better word at the moment) the weight of the lesson Clark has (whether their passing is natural, tropical disease, accident etc) that, for all his powers, he couldn't save them.

I've no preference either way, to be honest

[FishyZombie]

Well... back in the day, it's a dying Pa who encourages Clark to use his abilities for good



I've always 'liked' (for lack of a better word at the moment) the weight of the lesson Clark has (whether their passing is natural, tropical disease, accident etc) that, for all his powers, he couldn't save them.

I've no preference either way, to be honest

me neither, just playing devil's advocate.

[superduperman]

There's quite a few things I would have done differently. My view of the post-Crisis version is that it went too far in the other direction. So one of the first things I would do is give him at least some powers from day one on Earth. Just a personal preference. I would also have "softened" Krypton. It's obvious they were going out of their way to not make it the SA version and went a little overboard. We get it, you don't want him pining for his homeworld but it's okay to also make it a technological wonderland that someone might actually want to live on. I would have kept the parents alive just because I want him to have as large a support system as possible. But most importantly, I would have had a harder reboot after Crisis. Namely, just started the whole universe over again from scratch with no connections to anything that came before. That would mean things like the Legion would probably just get the boot. He would also have more down to Earth adventures. More investigative journalism and less alien of the month. Make it truly more like the Golden Age.

[Atomic Man]

As for a DCU-wide retcon, I would have had no "main" Earths destroyed during COIE, with the story's climax creating a new Earth and universe cut off from the rest of the Multiverse. All previous DC continuity and characters (including Barry and Kara) are still there, though the denizens of the resulting New Earth know nothing about the rest of the Multiverse and couldn't reach it if they did. The same would apply for the rest of the Multiverse and this one universe.

I have many ideas for Superman, but I'll just share one now. I'd retcon post-COIE history such that Clark, even with just his Kryptonian physiology (thousands, perhaps millions of years more advanced than our own) is still quite super without the powers he'll have when he gets older. Clark would operate in secret (perhaps even from the Kents) as Superboy, wearing a jeans/t-shirt outfit and even a mask. There wouldn't be an \S/ or even the name Superboy outside of people referring to this mysterious savior as some sort of "super boy" or even just "super kid."

[Atomic Man]

I forgot that Clark would also venture to the future with the Legion, thus keeping their existence intact. Clark could maybe even wear a blank version of his future suit (no shield, no cape) along with a Legion flight ring. He may go by the codename Superboy while operating with the Legion, but they would erase his memory before returning him to the past one final time. Hints of that erased memory would influence his ideas for his Superman uniform years later.

[Jon Clark]

Post Crisis I'd have built Krypton off of Alan Moore's take in "For the Man Who Has Everything". It was the Silver-Age Krypton but less clean and unified. The idea that some people approved of the Phantom Zone, while others saw it as inhumane to trap someone in a phantom state or that Zod might still be viewed as a hero by some beats Byrne's universally sterile society any day.

[pacoloco]

Clark should have a big family, siblings and multiple aunts and uncles on both sides of his parents family. My opinion is Clarks family structure should resemble what the typical Kansas family is composed of. I would also have Martha's maiden name be Starr as a way to link Starr labs or Starr industries to the Superman universe story. Martha's first marriage would be to Lionel Luther. The marriage would basically be an arrangement between the heads of two very wealthly families to consolidate power.