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Whatever Happened to The Superman of Today?

By Andy Frisk
July 19, 2011 - 23:00

As confirmed across the web and through an interview with Dan DiDio and Jim Lee over at Newsarama, Superman is dead…well, not really. The Superman that the majority of the comic book readers and buyers, men and women in their early to mid-thirties, have grown up with and followed religiously is now on the scrap heap of history though. Superman will be unmarried to Lois, more alien feeling than human, the Kents will both be dead, he will be feared and mistrusted (at least at first), and a key word that DiDio and Lee seem to think will make Superman much more relatable to new readers is the word “isolated.” Times change and characters change, as DiDio and Lee argued, but this new DCnU Superman is so radically different, he just might be unrecognizable to long term fans. Yes, there have been some drastic changes to Superman before ( the Post-Crisis Kents were alive, etc.), but changing Superman from a happily married model citizen, metaphor of the positive immigrant experience, and inspiration to a whole generation of fictional heroes into a twice orphaned, isolated, homesick, feared, angsty, and single twenty-something kid is a change so drastic that he almost isn’t even spiritually Superman anymore. Again, DiDio and Lee are making these changes in order to make Superman more “relatable to.” To whom I ask? The angsty twenty-something kids who aren’t buying comics anyway? Again, I am astounded at the brilliance of this move. (If you can’t detect the sarcasm, you haven’t been reading my stuff recently, have you?)

 

Superman battles an invisible monster that makes him look like he's trashing the city insanely...

Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m the only Superman fan left who actually liked the direction that Geoff Johns took Clark Kent/Kal El/Superman in with Secret Origin. Maybe I’m the only one that saw merit in the whole, albeit now aborted, "Superman gives up US citizenship" plot? Maybe I’m the only one who thought that New Krypton was one of the best Superman stories ever? Maybe I’m just too old to salivate over the newest Wolverine splattered comic book cover, even though I’ve rediscovered my love for all things X again. The X-Men have changed though. Cyclops has grown up and matured. Wolverine, for the most part, has grown and matured as well. X-Men readers are older now than they used to be, but the X-scribes still manage to keep the younger readers hooked with their artists’ visuals on their books. They also do this by introducing a fresh new set of supporting cast members now and again, many of whom go on to graduate into starring roles themselves (Hope Summers anyone?) The X-books stay fresh and age much more slowly. As I’ve bewailed in the past, the Super-scribes who penned New Krypton, who introduced some brilliant supporting cast characters into Superman’s life, weren’t allowed to let them grow, breathe, get interpreted by other writers, and basically keep Superman’s stories fresh. Remember those guys from that little story called “Reign of the Supermen?” They lasted. They even starred in their own well selling books now and again. Superboy, as he’s going to be incarnated after the “soft reboot” (as their calling it, even though it’s more like a sledgehammer hard, smashing re-blast for Superman), is even keeping the main traits of the Superboy of “Reign.”

...just like he did 24 years ago. This is new storytelling?

"We wanted to have that sense of isolation that might come with being an alien among men. The two choices that were made, with both his parents being dead and not being married, isolated Clark a little bit more, so that he really had to do more exploration about mankind. There wasn't that one strong human tether that he was bonding with and learning through.”
                                                                                Dan Didio via Newsarama

Again, I ask is Superman dead? Superman, in every single other incarnation of the character in what can be called a mainstream or DC proper universe, is an alien, who was raised as a human, thinks as a human, fits in with humans, and wants to be a part of what is considered the human race even though he is an alien. His spirit, upbringing, and values, instilled in him by his human parents, make him human. Now, Superman will be an un-human alien. I’m sorry, but the fact that many people might feel isolated or excommunicated from the great chain of being now and then doesn’t mean that they are all angst ridden or dwell on that fact. It also doesn’t mean that being full of angst makes them cool. The X-Men have virtually trademarked the teenage angst thing, but they also have mature characters whose life goal is to not be an angst ridden outcast, but seek out societal acceptance and companionship. Superman isn’t a misunderstood mutant, and to make him one thematically is tantamount to admitting that Marvel Comics and The X-Men are cooler than Superman, therefore his stories have to mimic theirs.

Don't make him angry...you wouldn't like him when he's angry. Especially when he lets himself get put in the electric chair!

I’m beginning to repeat myself though. It’s a foregone conclusion that Superman will be radically changed. His books didn’t sell despite the great stories that were being told, and now the dictates of the market demand that the character be rewritten into something that DC Comics prays will sell. If you're reading DiDio and Lee, I'd really appreciate some reassurance that something to do with this new Superman will make us long term fans actually want to read. You, or any reader, can list your comments below, or you can email me at afrisk@comicbookbin.com. I'd be happy to share the news with suffering Superman fans everywhere, as well as any feedback any readers have, or their opinions on, this new Superman.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12