Superman Forever
Superman Family
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Posts: 117
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« on: March 04, 2006, 02:57:41 PM » |
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Obviously, this site is a celebration of the Pre-Crisis version of Superman, with enphasis in the Bronze Age and the return of classic elements and ideals by Waid, Morrison, Jeph Loeb and Mark Millar (I would include Joe Kelly, but he is not included in STTA pages). However, that doesn't mean we can't enjoy stories from the Byrne or Jurgens era. Even Busiek said he likes some of them. Even if it was not a real Superman, there was stuff to be apreciated in that years.
John Byrne used the Fleischer cartoons and George Reeves series as inspiration, but got the concept all wrong. Man of Steel, is an aberration, I agree with that, but works as a Marvel super-hero origin and still have the capacity to grab new readers. For this purpose, his origin is as eficient as Birthright or Superman For All Seasons. His later stories were all villain of the week, and the supermurderer storyline in the Pocket Universe is an insult. The later (good) writers, Jurgens, Stern, Ordway and Kesel. can't be blamed for using the Byrne origins, since it was editorial mandate. In my opinion, while apreciating the material, they did a better job and tried to restore something of what was lost.
Some good stories for me:
Homeless for the Holidays
The best Christman story by Roger Stern and Dan Jurgens. It's as inspiring as any Pre-Crisis tale, we have the Erradication storyline going on, that's the low point, but the human drama is poignant. It's good actions inspiring goog actions, with good interaction of the Dialy Planet supporting cast and a nice editorial by Perry White.
Krisis of Krimson Kryptonite
Okay, Superman without powers was nothing new, but I think they did it one right. Jurgens got his best moment with Superman stoping the Fatal Five villain, and there was the marriage proposal by Jerry Ordway. They were advancing the characters relationships, and their feelings seemed very real at the time. Sadly, the marriage was just a crap story.
Metropolis Mailbag
Probably the best of Dan Jurgens stories. It remind me of The Birthday Letter episode of the George Reeves series, and the Christmans 'Round The World story from Superman in the Fourties. With people asking for personal favors, expectind Superman when he is not needed, it also remind me of Maggin. Superman realizes that, and also that he can't solve everything, but still persevere, and we have beautiful moments. The Metropolis Mailbag 2 was also good, because it showed a victim of the Dommsday attacks, who later bacame a super-hero in the Supermen of America.
Superboy
Kesel work in general, and his Superboy creation and two runs on the magazine, were very fun to read. He antecipated Joe kelly in making the books with good sense of humor. He didn't make a boring marriage of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, he made it smart and passionate. It was all that Chuck Austen wanted but would never be able to do. Superboy was the best thing from the Dead and Return storylines, a very cool character, maybe dated to some now, but still more funny than John's version. The series had a nice supporting cast, lots of Kirby homages, and he really seemed a reckless teenager with superpowers. My sister is not a comic book reader, and I think she was 13 at the time, I showed her the Superboy stories by Kesel and she readed and enjoyed them. A good sign.
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