Originally Posted by
SuperCrab
When I look at it, I am not really sure Superman's relationship with Wonder Woman actually meant he cared about Lois any less. He clearly had feelings for Lois, but was clearly worried that dating her would endanger her, and distract his focus from his mission, meaning he was afraid he might prioritize protecting her over protecting Metropolis, the country, the planet, etc.. With Wonder Woman, there was no issue- she basically lived the same life he did and had a power-set and all that stuff, and was insistent that they both prioritize their missions over their relationship. It made perfect sense in a pragmatic sort of way, and they were a nice looking couple, and something that hadn't been explored yet to a large degree in the history of both mythos. It also made the friendly relationship with Lois more interesting- she made some sort of jealous joke about Greek gods that was a great one-liner.
Also, I felt like Lois was a better character in the New52 than in Rebirth. As Rebirth Lois herself said, there was no way she would have outed Clark's secret identity to the world. However, Lois Lane is supposed to be a hard-nosed reporter who believes the public has the right to know things like that. Also, the New52 Lois figured out Clark's secret identity faster- which makes sense, because she's supposed to be a good investigative journalist. She was a stronger character. Of course, she was revealing Superman's identity in part to prevent him from being blackmailed and tortured, which gave the writers an out and also makes sense, but the whole thing would have been great to explore had they kept Clark working with her during Truth, or if he returned to the Daily Planet after truth for a long time, and to see that dynamic play out and them not just say they are putting it behind them, but actually work on the resentments and the real feelings.
I also think he dynamic of Clark loving Lois and Lois loving Superman was always interesting, and that's another thing we lose with married Lois and Clark as a long-term status quo.
However, one thing I am beginning to see is that it isn't really just about that- who Superman is with and whether he's married or single. They could do some things with a married Lois and Clark that'd be interested if they had the same approach to storytelling as in the New52. Maybe Lois would have kissed the Mystery Clark and felt guilty, but not been as attracted to Clark the farmer, maybe at the same time, the history of the New52 characters would have caused some tension in the marriage with Lois not liking Clark's teaming up with Wonder Woman and Clark feeling like she was blaming him for something he didn't do, and Wonder Woman not wanting to break up a marriage but being written in a way where you knew she still loved Clark, then when Lois is cheating on Clark with Fake-Clark, maybe Clark has an affair with Wonder Woman, or comes close to it. These characters are not being written in interesting three-dimensional ways, they're written like they're in a children's cartoon show.
They should have told Perez what Superman's status quo was. There was no excuse for them answering him when he asked if Superman's adoptive parents were alive or not, and stuff like that. He needed to be let in on stuff. I don't know if they had no plan or didn't want to tell him, but either way, it's a bad situation to put him in that was bad for the comic. Still, I think his run is underrated- those issues were very good under the circumstances. I really liked them.
It'd be nice if it didn't have to be all one way or the other. They could have multiple Supermen, or one Superman, but comics with different sensibilities. Like, if they merge the two Supermen into one in the next couple weeks, as is rumored, why couldn't one Superman title be written in this cartoony family-friendly style, and the other be written in the New52 mature audience dramatic style, with artwork to match each style? They could be the same guy, but with each title having a very different tone and telling different types of stories aimed at different audiences with different types of artwork, obviously with some collaboration to ensure that they are in continuity with each other, but largely separate stories and feels. Maybe one title could even have Superman think more on his New52 memories and themes and the other could be more Rebirth/Post-Crisis memories and themes. They won't do it, but they could.
I feel like the way DC Comics always feels it "has" to go in one direction or another cheats the audience, in a lot of ways.
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