FEATURE / COMICS / FLYING HIGH / 75 YEARS OF SUPERMAN
1966 / The Broadway Musical:
It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's
Superman! is a financial flop.
1971 / All Kryptonite on earth
is stripped of its power in the
"Kryptonite / Nevermore!"
saga and Superman's powers
are decreased to compensate.
1973 - 1986 / Hanna Barbara's
animated series Super-Friends
debuts, featuring hour-long
episodes of teamups with
various DC characters.
1978 / The S-Shield grew much
larger during the Bronze Age.
Superman fights and loses
to Muhammad Ali, who
subsequently helps the hero
to fend off an alien invasion.
The first Superman movie,
starring Christopher Reeve
debuts.
1980 / Superman II opens in
cinemas, casting General Zod
as the main antagonist.
1983 / Taking on a comedic
tack, Superman III opens in
cinemas.
1984 / A Supergirl spinoff,
starring Helen Slater, is
launched.
1985 / A major retcon of the
DC universe sees the death
of Supergirl and significant
changes to superman during
the "Infinite Crisis" saga.
1986 / Introduction of The Man
of Steel.
1987 / Superman IV debuts in
cinema and is slated by critics
1987 / Superman's Infinite
Crisis suit (sewn by Martha
Kent) made its debut.
1988 - 1992 / Airing of the
Superboy television series.
1991 / Clark Kent reveals his
true identity as Superman to
Lois Lane.
1993 / Superman is killed at the
hands of Doomsday.
A series of replacement
supermen appear during "The
Reign of Supermen” including
Cyrborg Superman, Metropolis
Kid, Eradicator and Steel.
1993 / Following Superman's
death and return, he now
wears an all-black, capeless
suit with a metal S-Shield.
1993 -1997 / The Adventures
of Lois and Clark debuts on
television
96
"It is a remarkable dichotomy. In many ways,
Clark is the most human of us all. Then... he
shoots fire from the skies, and it is difficult not
to think of him as a god. And how fortunate
we all are that it does not occur to him."
- Batman
What's So Funny 'Bout Truth, Justice and the
American Way? (Action Comics, Vol. 1 #775)
In a statement of utter subjectivity, this is
undoubtedly one of Superman's greatest story
arcs, forcing him to make some of the toughest
choices in his history and introducing an utterly
unforgettable villain into the mix.
By this point, complaints were being made about
how omnipotent Superman was and how he always
seemed to use his abilities mawkishly, his dogged
determination to follow his moral code allowing
several villains to return, in spite of the severity of
their crimes. Then along came Manchester Black,
a lofty but pragmatic idealist and massive fan of
Superman.
Black also happened to be the most powerful
telepath that Superman had ever met. At first,
Black seeks to prove his worth to his hero by
working with his rag-tag team The Elite to battle
villains, very quickly winning over the support of
the everyday people because of their no-holds
barred approach. Things get sinister when The
Elite then begin to kill their enemies, transgressing
Superman's ethics and eventually resulting in a
climactic turning point for Big Blue. He is placed
in an untenable position when Black starts
threatening to destroy everything Superman loves,
even faking Lois Lane's death. When Superman
eventually snaps, he becomes a terrifying effigy of
rage and destruction, only for us to discover that it
was all a ruse to get in close and eventually defeat
Black. This is a MUST read.