A journey in the past

[Klar Ken T5477]

believe it or not-- I have not read the 'whatever happened to the man of tomorrow'?

did he go someplace? :roll:

[Kal's Pal]

1) The last Superman story.
One of the most beautfully executed comic book stories I have ever read, if nothing else for the sheer emotion and affection it inspires toward Superman and his supporting cast, and the summing up of nearly 50 years of continuity. The sheer narrative and artistic details of Moore and Swan crammed into these two issues is incredible, featuring some wonderful throwbacks to highlights in Superman's life.

2) The reboot.
Unnecessary, and a tired rationale for it's conception, (considering the Pre-Crisis continuity can be used to create such a strong story such as the aforementioned example). That said, the six-issue Man of Steel limited series is a solid read, if oddly patronizing to it's reader at times. (Such as the painful dialogue that explains Superman's limited powers, development of costume, etc).

3) Superman as a killer.
As of February 2006, have yet to read it.
 
4) The death.
The whole 'Death of...' trilogy gets slighty tired toward the end, but is admirable in it's various juggling of different characters and sub-plots. (I think it's one true weakness is an explanation for where Doomsday actually came from and why he was on Earth, which would have to wait for a latter mini-series). 'Death of' and 'Return of' are standard action-packed superhero affairs, but 'World of' is interesting in examining how the passing of a major public figure can affect and inspire others in their abscence.

5) The long haired Superman.
Indifferent.

6) The wedding.
The story itself was perhaps not everythhing it could have been, but a welcome development and new spin on one of the long-standing romances of popular fiction that's provided some great and interesting stories and story developments, (such as a recent issue of Rucka's Adventures of Superman in which a certain imp from the 5th diemension introduces Lois and Clark to the idea of having a baby).

7) The Blue suit.
Never intended on reading any stories featuring it, and still don't, unless back issues are dirt cheap.

Waid's new origins.
Featured some nice moments in the story itself that made me smile, but featured a truly bizarre choice of artistic style for something that's ment to be a 'major event' for Superman. The tired rationale and execution (into continuity) of this new origin only serves to further highlight various writers' discomfort and dislike of using the various origins post-1986, Man of Steel, Return to Krypton and now, Birthright. Personally, I'd be more intent of focusing on telling good Superman stories, and only make fleeting references to the true and fully developed (over a number of decades) origin every so often: http://superman.nu/a/origins/1961/

[Genis Vell]

Superman making a porn movie with Big Barda (what the...?)

Luckily, Mr. Miracle stopped them!

[NotSuper]

1) The last Superman story.
A fantastic story and a fitting end to a character that shouldn't have ended in the first place. I only wish that it would've been longer.

2) The reboot.
Completely unnecessary, but not exactly bad. It seemed like an attempt to "Marvelize" Superman which had mixed results to say the least. (Note: "Marvelize" is a general term I'm using. I actually like Marvel quite a lot.) They should've moved forward with Superman after the Crisis. The "too many Kryptonians" rule doesn't hold water with me because (1) Supergirl was dead, heroically sacrificing herself to stop the Monitor (and whose sacrifice was later completely erased from history--bad move there, DC), (2) Kandor had been enlarged and was in another dimension, and (3) Krypto wasn't exactly a main character in the comics.

3) Superman as a killer.
Bad idea, plain and simple. What made it worse was that Superman didn't just kill them--he murdered them. Murder is the premeditated killing of someone else, it's much different than killing someone in the heat of battle. The Kryptonians were like ants to Superman without their powers and he had no qualms about stepping on them. That's not Superman.

4) The death.
It got me to start regularly collecting Superman comics, but looking back it wasn't really good. Doomsday was a terrible choice for Superman's killer.

5) The long haired Superman.
Holy middle age crisis, Batman! This was an attempt to make Superman "cool" and it failed (as it deserved to). Being a dumb kid at the time I kind of liked it--but now I'm older and see it for what it really was.

6) The wedding.
I'm not opposed to change in the mythos, and I'm undecided about the marriage. I must admit that I miss the love-triangle, though.

7) The Blue suit.
Again, a bad idea.

8) Waid's new origins.
I liked Birthright but wished that Waid could've gone even further with the changes. Also, it would've been good to do a universe reboot as well. Trying to retcon a new origin into Superman's existing post-Crisis history is going to be quite a chore.

[BMK!]

1) The last Superman story.
2) The reboot.
3) Superman as a killer.
4) The death.
5) The long haired Superman.
6) The wedding.
7) The Blue suit.
8 ) Waid's new origins.

First off, I'd like to mention that I am currently 31 years old, and have been collecting Superman's adventures since before I could read, at least as early as 1977-78! That said...

1)  "Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow", was a milestone to me when it came out at age 11. It was a truly monumental story, but I couldn't help but feel so sad for the Man of Steel....loses his cousin, then Lana, Jimmy, Krypto, and his powers. As much as I was relieved that he lived happily ever after with Lois, it somewhat burned me that it wasn't as Clark Kent.

2)  I was excited for the reboot. It was all over the news. I remember discussing the pros and cons of it with my dad. Despite the changes, I did enjoy "Man of Steel". However, I really wasn't thrilled with the power degradement.

3) Unforgivable. And has always been a tarnish on the current version of the Man of Steel. How can you take a character at face value when he says in subsequent issues, "Superman does not kill!", when...guess what...he did! I'm surpised it has yet to be addressed in the current "This Is Your Life, Superman" arc.

4)  It was my first day as a senior in high school-English Literature. My teacher introduced herself by passing out copies of Newsday (Long Island newspaper), where on page 2 it showed the very first picture of Doomsday fighting Superman, announcing that in the upcoming issue, he was going to die. Our teacher wanted us to read that article as she explained that the theme for the year in English Literature would be "The Hero" in all of it's myriad forms. Then after reading the article, we went on to our first story and discussion of Beowolf, the super-strong hero who would do battle against the monster Grendel. The parallels were unmistakable. Overall, I enjoyed the death of Superman issue. I even played Queen's "Who Wants To Live Forever?" as I read it for the first time.
But if you want to see a really great "potential" Death of Superman battle, pick up the newest issue of Justice (#4). It had me on the edge of my seat!!!

5)  Thought it was really cool when I first saw it. Hated it very shortly after that. Can't bring myself to look at it now.

6) Loved the concept, hated the story. Very disappointing.

7)  Would have been mildly entertaining if it was a "Done-In-One-Issue" story, but not for as long as it lasted.

8 ) I enjoyed "Birthright", I feel that a legend that has lasted for as many decades deserves reinterpretation stories of his origin. It's fun. It's entertaining. But, as long as it rings true of the character and his trappings.

[TELLE]

1) The last Superman story.
As a fan of Moore at the time I relished his treatment of Superman (ignorant of his annual with Dave Gibbons until later).  I picked it up a few months after it came out and basically had the same recation Nightwing did.  Very good pacing, nice character moments, etc.  Outside of the Maggin novels I'd read years earlier, the best Superman story I'd read to date.  Introduced some characters I was unfamiliar with and really began my love-affair with classic Superman comics.  Because I was reading/had just read Crisis at the time, the story was extra-poignant.  The Mxy ending was kind of dumb.

2) The reboot.
Bought and read the miniseries.  Already falling out of love with Byrne and the idea of following artists from superhero book to superhero book (although I was to continue following Moore for awhile), Byrne's Superman was probably the last superhero comics I bought new on a regular basis (I gave Perez a shot on WW as well and bought Nexus when Rude did the art).  Byrne's laziness as an artist (not that I blame any pro for hacking it out to make a good living --monthly comics are backbreakers!) and the ugliness (Bloodsport) and dumbness of his stories (lightweight or reduxes of original Superman stories).  Isn't John Byrne crazy now?  The curse of Superman.  It turns out that as an adult I prefer the artists Byrne based his career on (Kirby, the classic Superman artists, even Neal Adams).
 
3) Superman as a killer.
Had stopped reading by then.  Bad idea.  I'm glad I don't know what this is about.

4) The death.
Read about it from a peak of indifference and scorn.  Manipulative consumer event that only idiots bought into, indicative of all that was wrong with DC and Marvel (ie, "mainstream" U.S. comics).  Sad that kids got such obvious poor value for money.  Read one of the issues in a Value Village last year: very ugly, poorly done, horrible character, just an abomination.

5) The long haired Superman.
Laughable.  Sad that artists thought that this was more "realistic" or something.  Saw from a distance using my super-refined sensibilities (TM).

6) The wedding.
Dumb.  I love romance comics and character growth, but wasn't it a dumb idea for Superman or serial childrens adventure comics in general?

7) The Blue suit.
I think I saw one of those covers.  Ugly.  Another fake hype thing, wasn't it, like the 80s Spiderman costume?

Waid's new origins.
Still haven't read this.  I like old Superman and good art.