rankly, I find it hilarious that of all the classic Superman elements that have been reintroduced, all the talent placed on the book and all the reaffirmation of Superman's classic identity, it's a cover with CHECKS ON IT that makes some people realize we're in a new age? Wha - ?
Oh and the wasn't the Checker box (there are actually two covers, a throwback one seen here and a modern version, which hasn't been posted yet) it was the the story
"Up, Up, Away". Which is the legit start of the
New Superman. A soft reboot, but clearly different than EVERYTHING before that issue. This annual, is the final nail, no more half ass superman comics. Birthright was a failure, it was never really embraced,
Is it? My understanding is according to Dan Didio is that it's still the current Superman origin, post-IC.
and the so called re-introductions of "classic" elements were all rather lame (Krypto isn't really from Krypton, Zod is what that is suppose to be, Kandor isn't really Kandor, etc.
Except for Krypto, all the reintroductions you're talking about happened considerably BEFORE the past few years (in fact except Krypto, none of the ones you're talking about were introduced this
CENTURY); hell, even Ron Marz at the height of his hackery, did a Kandor story in the 1990s. And I have to agree with you that they just didn't work. OF COURSE they'd be bungled; what the hell does Marz know about anything, anyway?
As for Krypto not being from Krypton...so what? I'm GLAD they didn't bring Krypto back exactly the way he was originally presented, because we've seen that before. In fact, I'd be somewhat disappointed if they didn't throw a few curve balls into the character.
and Supergirl isn't really Supergirl and I guess the real one is never coming back)
Now this one I just don't understand.
The Supergirl reintroduced was a Kryptonian cousin of Superman.
The Loeb character has a spunky, feisty personality, and she wants to be an independent woman distinct from her famous cousin. Well, what a coincidence, because that's her exact same characterization during the entire 1970s and 1980s. I'm glad she isn't being brought back as a ditzy, hero-worshipping teen as she was under Otto Binder, because this is a story we've already SEEN. We've already SEEN her become a woman. They had the right idea advancing her to that stage in her character development, because it won't duplicate anything seen before.
What do you want? Midvale Orphanage and a pigtailed decoy robot? While I have absolutely nothing but admiration for all the writers and artists involved in that period, it was something that it would be unwise for a writer to try to duplicate today.
This was my point back during the thread about Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family: there's no denying the Marvel Family stories were great (up until around 1948, anyway) but that does not automatically mean that someone wanting to not do Captain Marvel *EXACTLY* as he was done in that period is doomed to failure, just as Superman has not been doomed to failure.
I love - absolutely love - the Silver Age and Weisenger Superman more than life itself, but I can see why Loeb would go with the late Bronze Age characterization for Supergirl.
Is it because she's made "sexy?" Hey, I'm no hypocrite or prude: I admit, I enjoy looking at cheesecake of good looking adventure women. Some things can be "sexed up" and have it work, and other things don't, and I can see why Supergirl would be someone in the former category. This is the thing I like about the Andrew Lloyd Webber PHANTOM OF THE OPERA or the most recent "Will Smith" Doctor Who: they added elements of sexuality to a character that made them more interesting. What is "Music of the Night" about, where the Phantom asks Christine to "help him make the music of the night?"
HINT: Not
actually about making music at night.
This reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend of mine, where we were talking about Dan Slott's use of the villain Maelstrom in GREAT LAKES AVENGERS (
"See ME, Thanos! I will make whatever evil you have wrought look like CHILD'S PLAY!"). He said Maelstrom had been mischaracterized there. My response was "okay, did you read his appearance in FANTASTIC FOUR QUARTERLY?" He hadn't, so that issue didn't exist for him.
Real Superman fans, fans that actually care.
Are we fans, or an insurance company?