Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic DC comics reboot

So apparently the reboot is out there online, but doesn't look good. Here's a blurb from an article on NPR:
:rolleyes: , right?

I liked the article's writer for this too:

And the whole article if you're interested.

Anyone got their hands, er eyes (since it's just available online so far) on this yet? What do you think?

The fanboys will probably love it but personally I hate the "brooding" protagonist. I have always equated "brooding" with feeling sorry for oneself. The whining, miserable, "poor-little-me, I'm-so-angry because of all the wrongs I face" attitude equates to me with whining little kids. I want the protagonist to be a grown-up for once, with a healthy personality, not one who is borderline psychotic. I see enough of the results of that in real life on the news every evening. It isn't pretty.

So agree, Nan. This new Superman sounds like Batman with psych issues.

Ditto. And if I wanted to read Batman, I would just read Batman. One of the things I like about Superman is that he is, overall, a very positive, optimistic character. Yes, he does have his down moments -- even in L&C where he will go to his parents to mope -- but they are the exception rather than the rule.

I only hope that rumours of his anger and angstiness are overblown, or that the feedback DC receives makes them decide to take the character in another direction.

Well, speaking of L&C, if the new comics are really horrible, there are always the DVDs and fanfic to keep me happily entertained for years to come, at least until the next DC reboot.

Joy,
Lynn

The plan is for the two Superman titles, Action and Superman, to explore different periods in the life of Clark Kent/Superman.

I believe in Action we will see a post adolescent young man learning to cope with who he is and his powers. He won't start out flying but will be able to leap hundreds of feet at a time. A nod back to the original Superman of 1938.

It's my understanding that Ma and Pa Kent aren't around and so Clark doesn't have the same support structure that he gained when they rebooted back in the late eighties.

In Superman we see that Man of Steel in Metropolis in current time. This is the Superman of the new briefless uniform and a member of the Justice League. Clark works at the Daily Planet, but is not married to Lois Lane. In fact, Lois will start out the series in a dating relationship with someone else.

I'm not thrilled by what I've heard so far, but I'll give them a chance. If the stories are interesting and the characters are consistant with who they need to be then I'll be on board... but if not... then I throw myself back into Lois and Clark fandom and save some money on comics.

Tank (who wasn't happy about Lois and Clark not being together but who isn't too upset since the comics have done a terrible job of the Lois Lane Clark/Superman marriage anyway)

I, too, am disappointed with angry Supes too. One of his best qualities is his undying optimism- optimistic to a fault, at times. That's what makes him Superman, what makes him keep saving the world, and keep trying to get the girl. I hope that they eventually lead the reboot into what we know as more traditional Superman... though I agree with Tank's statements on the matter. If they can fix it, then that's great. If they can't, then I will remain an ardent Lois&Clark supporter, as always. Ball is in their court.

Reminds me of the very first LNC fanfic I read, about half an hour after getting hooked up to the net for the first time. In which, Clark and Lois are having an argument and Clark loses his temper and in a rage throws her against a wall, killing her.

I almost didn't read another LNC fanfic ever again. Luckily, I found our Archive and the good stuff shortly afterwards.

LabRat

That sounds awful, Labby! I wouldn't blame you if you didn't come back... Clark can't afford to react that way. That's why I'm hoping angsty/angry Superman is just a phase that DC is going to help him work through in the comics as he grows to be a better person (fingers crossed)

Sooo, What does "angrier" Superman do that makes him a hero? Rescue cats? Out. Stop muggings? Other than the opportunity/justifiable motive to beat up criminals I don't see it. Help with natural disasters? Why?

Rivalries with criminal masterminds? I can see it going something like this: Lex Luthor unsuccessfully tries to kill Superman. Superman's narrow escape outrages him. Shortly afterward Lex Luthor disappears. In 2235 a colonist causes a minor stir when he finds a body in a shallow lunar grave.

The idea of an angry superpowered juggernaut has been done before. Different color palette but essentially the same as the Hulk. If you're interested, why not by Hulk comics?

I suppose "angrier" Superman could be motivated to do good by guilt...Oh yeah, that'll be fun to read.

There are so many ways "angrier" Superman can go wrong that I'm surprised that someone thinks they can do this right.

Doh!

..."buy" Hulk comics.

Alot of firms fill the need to re-boot or re-brand a line to take it to the next leval this making it more attractive to the new customer So they can take more money in alot of case it works just a new case or diffant colour or a totally new packaging works wonders but in some times it can be devastating to a business one such case was coke-cola a few year back change there recipe a new improved recipe and expected it to increase there sale in the end it turn out to a complete nightmare they loss sales and they had lots of complaints about the taste they had little old lady's ringing crying down the phone about how they taken away there childhood drink
In the end they whent back to the old recipe and re-brend it as classic coke-cola and then they took more money then b

Your probably wondering what this has to do with superman
Not a lot
but businesses make decisions that will take them money that is really all there are interested in and let's be honest dc and marvel don't listen to there loyal customers they have made a right mess of some the back story of the most important characters by chopping and changing so we are left not knowing what's going on
And I total agree if we wanted to read batman or the hulk we would but no we read superman because in a lot of ways we all identify with the different struggles he faces and take inspiration from how he over come these struggles and in a world let's be honest in serious need of people being inspired for good and in some cases just basic kindness to each others so what do the clever people at dc do they make our hero just like the hard nose ones just to sell some more issues
We will have to hope that they learn quickly just like coke did that change is not always the best way and that classic superman is much better then the new improved superman
Let's all hope

I agree with Mpj, Classic Superman is like Classic Coke; New Superman sounds like New Coke. Great analogy!

Strangely enough, the analogy may be more accurate than most people realize - The biggest reason Coke went to New Coke (and darn near killed the company) was that a blind taste test study showed that people liked the initial sip of Pepsi better than the initial sip of Coke.

But they completely forgot two BIG things -
One, people don't just take one sip, so how the last sip tastes is even more important than the first sip.
and two: nobody EVER buys a brand 'blind'. People buy Coke because, if everything else is equal, they want COKE!

So if I want an angry superhero - I'll go look at Batman, or Hulk or...

It is to be expected that those who frequent these boards would be, lets say, not entirely in favor of some of the changes being made to our iconic character.

But to be fair, how many folcs who play here actually buy Superman comic books?

As was mentioned, it's all about the dollars.
Superman has not been selling that well for years. Mature adults are not considered the primary audience for SuperHero comic books. It's all about who they feel 'should' be their demographics.

One of the 'problems' that keeps getting trotted out is the idea that books with numbers like Action 800 on them are too intimidating to 'new' readers. They feel they would have no chance to be able to understand so much prior continuity.

So, you reboot and renumber the books making new readers think that they are in at the beginning of something NEW! And the older readers will stay on board because they are fans of the character and are still interested in stories concerning them.

I'm not thrilled with some of what I've heard so far, but I will give it a shot. Worst case scenario is that I save a few bucks and hope that the gentle writers here produce more stories for me to enjoy.

Tank (who wonders, with the new Clarkless Lois, if we'll get to see the eventual building of a new relationship or just a lot of Lois vs. Clark in the world of news reporting)

I'm one of them that was reading the current comics and actually had been initially curious about the reboot but was quickly turned off by it. As a result, instead of buying current ones coming out I'm trolling through the back issues to see which ones could/will be inspiration for fanfic for this or another couple of Superman Unis that I've written in/attempted to write in.

I definitely didn't care for the introduction of Lois the way they did.