90% of The New 52 was crap. I have long and short boxes filled with half read series and cancelled storylines. Before The New 52, DC wasn’t doing much better. Needless to say, if DC books were flying off the shelf and / or getting rave reviews they would not have felt the need to restart their entire DC universe.
Before we go on, let me lay my cards out on the table. You don’t need to be Mike McDermott to read me like KGB in order to tell that I’m not a fan of Superman. No sir, I don’t like it. Creating a compelling Superman story is one of the hardest jobs in comic book writing, if not in all of storytelling. Don’t confuse the idea of Superman with the need of a good Superman story. You can’t have DC without Superman, which makes him an even more daunting character to write. Superman is one of the world’s most recognizable symbols. Every kid, even me, at one time wished he (or she, let’s be politically correct without shoehorning Wonder Woman in as a token) had the unlimited powers and strength of Superman.
And there lies the problem. Essentially Superman is unbeatable. In reality, any earthly problem could be resolved in a laser blink of an eye, a puff of frozen breath, a flick of his wrist or at the speed of a bullet. With no apparent weakness, even the best of writers would inevitably lean on the same tropes; some new and unusual way to use Kryptonite (which for an element only found on an exploded dead planet lightyears away, seems to run abundant on earth…), an other worldly galactic enemy or a lack of exposure to a yellow sun (global warming couldn’t come soon enough for Supes) as being the only way to defeat The Man of Steel.
There’s been some good Superman stories over the past few decades but it’s been few and far between for the main character in DC’s stable and a character that usually has no less than two solo books per month and is in various other team books. Geoff Johns had two great arcs. Grant Morrison ripped off a good 12 issue All-Star run. Scott Snyder’s Superman Unchained was surprising good. I might be one of the few to enjoy J. Michael Straczynski’s Superman: Earth One graphic novels. In fact, the best part of The Death of Superman, was the aftermath and chaos that ensued when four separate characters all claimed to be “Superman” and the stories that unfolded.
How do you break the unbreakable? How do you defeat… literally… The SUPERMAN?
DC Rebirth found a way. Take his universe away from him.
On my regular monthly trip to my favorite comic book store (shoutout to Jud and crew @ Blastoff), I went through my pull list, checked out the various new books and Indy section. Since the end of The New 52, I’d vowed to switch all DC pulls to Trade Paperbacks or Hard Covers only. I wasn’t going to get caught up on monthly issues of a crap product, especially if they were going to now be putting out bi-weekly issues. In the immortal words Roger Murtaugh, “I’m getting too old for this shit.” Soon the new “DC Rebirth” Trades started to roll out. I had read a few reviews online (as you are doing now) and was surprised to see more positive takes than in past years for many of the DC series. I asked Jud, “So, is Superman still a complete shit show?” Jud and I have known each other for years and our relationship extends into a personal friendship at this point (reason #1 to frequent your local comic book store). I know he’s much more of a Superman / DC fan than I am and he knows my feelings (or lack there of) in regards to Superman. There’s no bullshit. He’ll tell me if I’ll like something or not at this point.
Again, get up, get out and go to your local comic book store, run by comic book people.
I was shocked at what his response was, “Buy it.” Not only that, he referred me to Superman: Lois and Clark. “Start with that and pick up Superman Vol. 1, trust me.” I’ll never forget his tagline that really hooked me, “It’s OUR Superman.” That got me interested. Never did I think a Lois and Clark Trade would be good. I thought is was some sort of retcon of the old TV series. Dan Jurgens has been writing Superman forever so what possibly could he have to say? But I trust Jud so I picked up both Trades, added it to the rest of my stack and went home.
I build up my comics in runs and will read them in Trades or when I’ve collected full arcs of 6-12 issues. I also like to flip between Marvel / DC / Indy books just so I don’t get board. I couldn’t get Jud’s words out of my head. Reluctantly and with no expectations I started to read Superman: Lois and Clark. God damn, it was really good. It took an old version of Superman and set him in a post-New 52 world where the young / hip Superman had just died. Somehow this older version of Superman had been able to escape the collapse of his universe, bring Lois and their newborn child with them this new universe. Not to spoil anything, but once the “new” Supes died, this wiser family oriented Clark Kent emerged from the shadows to take up the mantle of Superman, because the world always needs a Superman. This time, he was a reluctant hero. This Clark would much rather stay at home with his family but with great power comes great… sorry, wrong book but you know what I’m getting at.
There were touches of Robert Kirkman’s Invincible within the relationship and growth of his son Jon. Superman Rebirth #7 is probably the best single “bottle” issue example of the family’s new universe dynamic. Writer Peter J. Tomasi has always been an underrated favorite of mine. His work with artists Patrick Gleason and Doug Mahnke have been some of my favorite works even when DC was at it’s darkest (Superman #7’s art was by Jorge Jimenez). You can find some of their combined and solo works on Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps and Batman & Robin if you want some solid overlooked gems from past years. What DC has done is stressed the “man” part of SuperMAN. He’s older and wiser than his younger, now dead, counterpart was. He may have lost a step or two but he’s still Superman. His drive to have a good relationship with Lois and raise a decent son is more important than the “threat of the week” that befalls earth. No longer treated as an invulnerable god, this Superman has died before and fears it could happen again. This Superman has lost everything except his wife and child and will do anything to protect them. He’s more vulnerable, inside and out, than he’s ever been.
In the second Trade of the latest Superman series, we get a great storyline between Superman and his son, and Batman and his son Damien. This Batman still doesn’t totally trust the man that took over the mantle from his former friend. What they do have in common is that they both want to raise the next generation of heroes the right way, and be the true fathers that neither of them had. Not inconsequentially, Jon and Damien now have their own series, Super Sons.
Dan Jurgens is still turning out a solid story in Action Comics. It is a more broad comic that shows Superman interacting with the rest of the world, including a maybe / maybe not to be trusted version of Lex Luthor?
I’m now a recovering Superman hater. While I’ve found great joy in these latest offering of The Man of Steel, I found myself increasingly angry at DC comics. I’ve spent tons of money and too many hours slogging through reading hundreds of horrible Superman titles. For years Superman has been a mess. The New 52 reboot was a disaster. Not even Grant Morrison could lay the groundwork for a solid series in his initial run on Action Comics a few years back. This more simplified Superman story and motivation has proven to be exactly what the character needed. I’m still shocked and couldn’t recommend starting with Superman: Lois and Clark and continuing with the Rebirth Superman series more.
Thanks,
WK
@wkbear on Twitter
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