Superman Now!
By Adam Murdough
All-Star Superman is a spiritual sister to the mainstream in-continuity Superman titles in that its (re)creative agenda is similar to the "Silver Age renovation project" that those titles have been pursuing, albeit taken to a much further and higher degree. Both All-Star and the mainstream monthlies have displayed a predilection for exhuming and augmenting old concepts with a contemporary (or futuristic), cinematic twist. However, Grant Morrison has been quick to point out that his goal is not simply to reiterate the Silver Age for nostalgic reasons, but to recapture the imaginative energy of that time and harness it to take Superman in enjoyable and thought-provoking new directions; the other regular Superman creators would probably echo this sentiment regarding their own work on the character. Fan reaction to All-Star Superman has been mixed--some fans find it visionary and brilliant, others find it unintelligible and pointless--but generally positive. Its strongest supporters believe it to be nothing less than the next necessary stage in Superman’s evolution.
With Final Crisis in the offing, however, it is impossible to say exactly what form Superman’s future will take. DC Comics’ "Crisis" events have earned a reputation for the changes they impose on important DC characters, particularly Superman, and with infamous revisionist Grant Morrison in creative control of Final Crisis, Superman may be in for more unpredictable transformations than a truckload of red kryptonite could inflict. Or, less predictably still, he may not change at all. After all, Superman is already slated to costar in the Trinity weekly maxiseries, which will begin during Final Crisis and run for nearly a year after that series ends, so presumably Final Crisis will not take Superman too far beyond the pale. Since DC has been especially assiduous about keeping the plot details, and even the general premise, of Final Crisis a secret, all that can be said for certain as of this writing is that Superman will be very close to the epicenter of whatever happens in the series. In his seventieth anniversary year, it could not be any other way.
Taken as a whole, Superman between Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis has been a character in near-perfect suspension between convention and invention, between the familiar and the experimental, between the past and the future. In the past two years Superman has overcome new kinds of enemies and challenges, and overcome old ones in new ways. He has reopened contact with old friends, made new ones, and even welcomed a new addition to his family. He has displayed a greater degree of courage, determination, and conviction than readers have seen in him in some time. While future comics analysts may not commend the current Superman creative teams for their originality or risk-taking, those teams should at least receive credit for the strength and specificity of their creative agenda: rather than waffling along in trial-and-error as some past creators have, grasping futilely for something to say about the greatest superhero character in history, today’s Superman comics have a definite direction, even if that direction often entails going backward to go forward.
For longtime fans of Superman who fondly remember his pre-Crisis "classic period," the Superman comics following Infinite Crisis may represent a refreshing and encouraging return to type; for newer readers, they provide an introductory experience of many of the elements that historically have made Superman great, tempered by some familiar sights from movies and television; for fans of the post-Crisis Superman crafted by John Byrne, Mark Waid and others, they inspire mostly disappointment and frustration. Whatever one’s personal opinion of the Superman titles’ recent direction may be, there can be no denying that a new era of Superman comics has begun, with Final Crisis marking the end of that beginning. Yet another tomorrow has arrived for the Man of Tomorrow, and it certainly won’t be the last.
Happy seventieth anniversary, Superman. Many happy returns.
(Adam Murdough is a regular contributor to both Comics Now! Magazine and the Comic Geek Speak podcast. He blames his inability to meet deadlines on exposure to gray kryptonite.)
Look up your favorite comics (Superman, Black Cat) or topic (Artist Interviews, Reviews)