THE NEW SUPERMAN

Superman in "Action Comics" (Picture Courtesy of DC Comics.com)

In September DC will relaunch its line and all titles will start off with a new number one issue. This will include "Action Comics" and Superman.

According to an article in USA Today which you can read here: http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2011-07-18-superman-a-bachelor-in-comics-relaunch_n.htm, there are certain things that are changing about the Man of Steel.

Action Comics will take place in the past, at the time when Superman first starts his career as a superhero and Bleeding Cool News has provided bullet points on the changes in both "Action" and "Superman"

* This Superman is very much an alien, one struggling to adjust to his adopted home. In the series, he must come to terms with both the loss of his home world, as well as the loss of both of his adopted parents. He is more Kal-El from the planet Krypton than Clark Kent from Kansas. He’s a loner trying to find his place in the world.

* The series’ first storyline will explore the origins of Superman’s costume, as it evolves from a look that includes jeans and work boots to a new look: a suit of battle armor that pays tribute to his Kryptonian past.

* His great powers have limits. When the series begins, Superman can leap tall buildings, but his ability to fly is in its infancy.

Superman in Superman#1 (Picture courtesy of Google Images)

When "Superman" debuts in September this will be Superman in the present day and there will be some changes as well including that:

* Clark Kent is single and living on his own. He has never been married.

* Lois Lane is dating a colleague at the DAILY PLANET (and his name isn’t Clark Kent) and she has a new position with the paper.

My personal take on the new Superman:

Superman is my favorite Superhero of all time. I understand why DC is making these changes. No matter what, Batman will always be cooler than Superman and DC is hoping to make Superman more interesting by making him more like Batman with the loss of his adopted parents (Ma and Pa Kent) and make him angrier and more brooding. I don't think this take will be as effective in the long run but it should provide a short-term boost in sales for DC.

On the dissolution of the marriage between Lois and Clark:
Here's a quote in USA Today from Jim Lee, Co-Publisher at DC: “We just felt there were more interesting, creative stories to mine in that time period of Superman’s history prior to him getting married”

In other words DC couldn't think of ways to keep the marriage interesting without Lois continually playing the "damsel in distress" role so they're dissolving it. I loved the marriage but there were only a few writers that could handle it well. So I'd rather see it go away rather than be treated as an afterthought in the comics.

Look! Up In the Sky! It's a Bird!, It's a Plane!, It's Super Iron Man!!
And Finally, Why is Superman wearing armor? He's invulnerable. Unless DC has changed that fact then I don't understand the need for armor from a story standpoint.

I do understand it from a marketing standpoint though. In DC's mind if Superman wears armor then that will make him look cooler and equate him with Iron Man and Thor in the minds of teenagers and young adults.

As I stated earlier I don't think that this type of relaunch or reboot will give DC a boost in sales in the long-term but it will help them in the short-term. Probably if sales are bad again in five years we will see another reboot.

Class Dismissed,
The Professor