FEATURE / COMICS / FLYING HIGH / 75 YEARS OF SUPERMAN
1996 / Lois Lane and Clark
Kent get married.
1996 - 2000 / The acclaimed
Superman animated series
is launched and lauded by
critics.
1997 / Superman Red and
Blue appear and containment
suits are developed to
maintain the heroes' human
forms.
2001 - 2011 / Melodrama
Smallville airs on television.
2002 / The S-Shield drops its
iconic yellow background in
favour of a plain black version
during the Imperiex war.
2003 - 2004 / Mark Waid's
Birthright saga, saw yet
another retcon of Superman's
origins.
2005 - 2006 / A sequel to
Crisis, Infinite Crisis, undoes
all the changes made by
Birthright.
2004 / Yellow returns to
the S-Shield during the
'Vanishing' incident.
New 52 /
A New Superman
For a New Reader
Enter the year 2011 and the rollout of DC's genredefying (in good AND bad ways) New 52 titles.
Thankfully not totally reinventing origin stories
on the most-part, the re-launched books gave us a
new, more mature universe of superheroes. Some
of the books suffered from being too 'edgy', lacking
in substance and compensating with smut; while
others delivered some remarkable new stories for
the well-loved characters.
Action Comics gave us a younger Superman, still
learning to control his powers and a newcomer to
the city of Metropolis. In an homage to that very
first comic that appeared in June 1938, Superman
wasn't yet able to fly, but did have his bulletproof
skin, heat vision, speed and strength.
The titular Superman, on the other hand,
gave us a Superman that already had 5 years of
experience and a redesign of the original blue
and red spandex that removed the external
red undies in favour of a mandarin-collared
body-suit that could appear and reappear at
will (saving a fortune on button-up shirts). The
biggest change though was that Lois was never a
romantic interest, rather we saw the unexpected
relationship with Wonder Woman develop.
Superman Unchained
Finally, tied in with launch of the
Man of Steel film, Superfans were
delivered the rather excellent
Superman Unchained comic,
written by new-generation
superstar Scott Snyder (of
Batman fame) and illustrated by
the DC Editor himself, Jim Lee.
Filled with smart dialogue and an
endearing, relatable Superman,
we follow the hero as he steps in
to protect the citizens of earth
from a series of mysterious
Satellite crashes. Clark Kent
is finally treated with equal
importance to Superman, with a
gravity and tact that hasn't been
seen in quite some time.
What wowed me with the first
issues though, as I'm sure it did with
everyone that picked up the first
title, was the glorious, and massive
poster that's incorporated as a page
in the book. Lee's talent truly shines
here, because this work is compelling
and breathe-taking in its ar F