Is Superman awesome now?

[the Hornet]

A year ago Geoff said he was going to try to do for Superman what they did for GL in 2007. In your opion, did that happen? Are the Superman titles better now than they were 3 years ago? Was New Krypton amazing? Or do you prefer the current World of new Krypton and the new heroes in the core titles?

[Retro315]

That's a really good question.

Did that happen? No. No, they're not on par with his Green Lantern. But to be fair, Geoff is still writing Green Lantern. Even though he's pivotal in the architecture of the new Superman revival, he's left it in the hands of Rucka, Robinson and Gates. They're all doing fine of course ... but Johns took Gary Frank with him to Secret Origin! Of course, that's awesome ... but we all know from the cover art that even though Pete Woods art in WONK is pretty terrific, we know what Gary Frank would be doing with New Krypton and Zod.

Are they better than three years ago? Absolutely! There's a lot of interesting things happening in the Super-books, the characters are themselves, but still surrounded by dilemmas that are fitting and bold. There's been a smattering of great art. Supergirl is interesting. Villains are becoming massive, credible threats and to top it off, the whole Superman/Zod thing going on right now is so big that it actually required Superman leaving Earth and Lois for an extended period. (I'm wondering what story they made up about Clark ... it's been a while since we got much Daily Planet banter).

And it's both classic and modern, inspiring and with plenty of creepy Parasite moments or slimy Luthor or repugnant Lane moments. Plus we have more on the way with Adventure. And I think even with the lame Final Crisis label we can count Legion of 3 Worlds as a Superman event.

Was New Krypton amazing? No. It was a year's worth of story beats crammed into two months of weeklies and read like a plot outline or advertisement for what would come out of it. LUCKILY what's come out of it has been World of New Krypton and Action Comics ... Supergirl has been solid and Superman started a bit slow but seems to be catching up ... and now Captain Atom and Superboy are joining the family.

Or do you prefer the current World of new Krypton and the new heroes in the core titles? It's a mixed bag. WONK's story is great, but we get no cutaways to the supporting cast, instead the supporting cast are supporting substitute Supermen in his books. So while I really do appreciate that WONK is pretty self-contained and terrific, anybody who wants to know Lois's gripes has to wait and read Action (which isn't necessarily bad, because Action is awesome).

Actually they're all fairly self-contained in a pretty good way, allowing the writers to divide the Superman stable up as they like, and I think they're going about it in absolutely the right way - in fact, the interplay between the Super-books is top notch.

The stories are self-contained, each writer handling a stable of characters and keeping their stuff from cross-contaminating and screwing with other books and bringing up questions about timing and chrono order.

However, the stories are more inter-connected than the myriad of Batman books we get - but the writers aren't stumbling over top of each other with dilemmas like we've seen in everything from the lack of coherence with Morrison and the other books, or how characters in the BFTC one-shots are popping up when they logically shouldn't be.

So the Super-books juggle being tied together in a major, major way with all being off doing their own thing, without a hitch! And the framework for that, which seems to be General Lane's surveillance and screwing with of the various characters, never seems like it has screwy timing because he could very easily get periodic updates and step out of his office day after day and cover that kind of ground.

And they make it look easy. It's not as haphazard or fast-paced as New Krypton, just throwing ideas into a pile that'll get sorted out later. There's central mysteries for everybody, plenty of drama ... and threat of impending doom.

[Karl O'Neill]

They revitalised the superman books and I personally believe they done a decent job.

I am loving and enjoying Action comics, superman and world of New Krypton. Supergirl is fun but I think I am done with it for awhile, or until the next crossover which is coming soon anways.


The New Krypton crossover was lots of fun and had some cool ideas and moments in it.

I am definately looking forward to CODENAME:PATRIOT.

A 5 part crossover is a good idea because it is a fair size for a story to be told and it will be over in the space of a month, so next month after the crossover we can get new arc's all spinning into the other four titles.

[Rev. Calibos]

I'm enjoying the books immensely. My feelings on the books were perfectly conveyed by retro. I, too, thought that New Krypton felt a bit forced and that there was at LEAST a year's worth of stories there crammed into a few weeks of books.

But World of New Krypton really has a lot of room to breathe and so far everything if firing on all cylinders as far as I'm concerned.


Loving Supergirl too, a title I steered clear from because I felt it was just an excuse to showcase Kara in her skimpier costume for 30 pages but since the tighter continuity between the Superman books it's been an enjoyable read, especially with the Who is Superwoman storyline picking up steam as it heads to it's conclusion.

I've been reading Superman off and on for most of my adult life and this period to me feels as strong as I've ever seen it.

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

Supergirl's the only one I'm still bothering with.

[eggie]

Superman, Action Comics, and World of New Krypton are all great books! I haven't been reading Supergirl but have heard a lot of good things about the title so I will check it out before the next crossover. There is a lot of cohesion between the books and they are all telling different stories that involve different supporting characters....these book are better than they have been in a long, long time.

Cannot wait for Superman: Secret Origin to get some monthly Geoff Johns/Gary Frank/Superman action!!!

[DonC]

A year ago Geoff said he was going to try to do for Superman what they did for GL in 2007. In your opion, did that happen?


I didn't read Green Lantern back in 2007 and am thinking of dropping Action Comics and Superman right now. So...yes? Or would that be a "maybe?"

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Robinson & Rucka's World of New Krypton has been surprisingly great so far.

James Robinson's Superman with Mon-El, Guardians and the rest has been uninspired and forgettable, but competent.

Greg Rucka's Action Comics with Nightwing & Flamebird has potential, but its too early to tell yet.

Sterling Gates' Supergirl is decent enough, but nothing special.

Geoff Johns & Gary Franks' Secret Origin can't get here soon enough.

[Mat001]

I've been enjoying the whole "New Krypton" arc. Course, I've also been enjoying the last three years, so I can't say that I was disappointed before recently.

[bongoes]

World Of New Krypton is great and so is Action Comics. Superman is okay and I'm not reading Supergirl but altogether it's not up to Green Lanterns level.

[KandouErik]

Yes - YES - YES - YES - YES - YES!!!

Reading the Superman books lately, I recall every failed attempt to revitalize the Man of Steel - and how irrelevent Superman was potentially becoming.

And, what astounds me the most continually, is the repeal of the John Bryne rules. Now there can be more Kryptonians, there can be a Super Dog, there can be ZOD!

After so many years of trying to fix Superman without any Silver Age content, suddenly the reemergence of Silver Age concepts have been the exact reasons Superman has become fun again.

There is simply no good reason why Superman has to be the only Kryptonian Left - or him being friends with the Legion of Super-Heroes. It was like, for years, Superman had self-imposed kryptonite shackles holding him back all these years - and finally Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, and James Robinson freed him.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

After so many years of trying to fix Superman without any Silver Age content, suddenly the reemergence of Silver Age concepts have been the exact reasons Superman has become fun again.

I think we needed some time away from it though - so that it could be missed and then examined to see what really worked and what didn't.
This wouldn't be such a big epic exciting and well thought out story if we never had anytime away from the silver age style.

I can't wait to people get bored with this and the next guy takes it back to the golden age style - Superman taking on the fat cats for the little guy!

It was like, for years, Superman had self-imposed kryptonite shackles holding him back all these years - and finally Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, and James Robinson freed him.

Busiek did some good as well - I think he was probably a bit too much of a 'take for the team' player doing fill ins for schedule holes, and tieing things into DCU as a whole, but it was his work that got me to see the fun side of the character - wish he was doing some New Krypton stuff as I think he'd have worked really well at it.

[Retro315]

World Of New Krypton is great and so is Action Comics. Superman is okay and I'm not reading Supergirl but altogether it's not up to Green Lanterns level.

I don't have anything to say in particular regarding your comment, it's a fair assessment.

But that Zod avatar made my week. Is there somewhere I can find it Extra Large for a background?

Just a side note ... I agree that a lot of the Superman revitalization came from reintegration of some Silver Age concepts that worked and were missed. However, I think the REAL clincher factor in the revitalization was the incorporation of the Richard Donner stuff. The crystals. The only Zod that ever mattered, and Ursa and Non. Lex Luthor, greatest criminal mind (which doesn't have to alter his history, it's more of a personal regress).

I also think the Super-Team has done wonders upping the levels of his Rogues. And that's saying a lot considering the only ones that've really gotten the "Greatness Treatment" have been Zod (and Ursa), Brainiac and Reactron ... but those were just the three niche roles Superman needed to have brought up to speed, and guys like Atlas, Codename: Assassin, Lane, and such are filling in the pegs of the B-List.

I'm curious ... has Gary Frank drawn Luthor yet anywhere other than the cover of Secret Origin # 4? I'm very curious to see if his Luthor looks anything like Gene Hackman ... (that'd be awesome!)

[NickFury90]

^Nope, still looks like Lex, which is a good thing since I think Hackman just was NOT right for Luthor at all.

http://www.comicartcommunity.com/gallery/details.php?image_id=25237

[Retro315]

^Nope, still looks like Lex, which is a good thing since I think Hackman just was NOT right for Luthor at all.

http://www.comicartcommunity.com/gallery/details.php?image_id=25237

Hey, Hackman was my intro to Lex ... so I think there'll always be room for a little bit of that pomp and gleeful ego and calling his henchmen incompetent ... but I can't dispute that others have done the Lex of the comics more justice. Kevin Spacey I think married the two quite well, having a bit of the mischief of Hackman's Lex but all of the hateful, bitter, epic spite of the Lex we all read about.

Now if they'd just show him dodging out of a board meeting to go tinker on something (kryptonite gun ... Metallo ...). Kidnapping cyberneticists from S.T.A.R. Labs? Etc ...

I remember that sketch now. I think Gary Frank's Lex is pretty spot on. And for some reason reminds me of Doctor Cox from Scrubs ...

[NickFury90]

Hey, Hackman was my intro to Lex ... so I think there'll always be room for a little bit of that pomp and gleeful ego and calling his henchmen incompetent ... but I can't dispute that others have done the Lex of the comics more justice. Kevin Spacey I think married the two quite well, having a bit of the mischief of Hackman's Lex but all of the hateful, bitter, epic spite of the Lex we all read about.

Now if they'd just show him dodging out of a board meeting to go tinker on something (kryptonite gun ... Metallo ...). Kidnapping cyberneticists from S.T.A.R. Labs? Etc ...

His was my introduction to, but after see his other variations in DCAU, various comics(specifically All-Star Superman), I don't look too fondly on Hackman's version(who is still a damn fine actor, just not Luthor IMO)>

[Will.S]

I'm only buying World of New Krypton since that's the only book that I've been interested in and has you know.....SUPERMAN in it.

But I think Geoff Johns had made the Superman books great again with his Last Son, Legion and Braniac stories on top of his Legion of 3 Worlds and contributions towards the New Krypton crossover. I'm very anxious to read the Superman Origins book since that should finally put to rest what's canon and what isn't canon but I'll also be dreading it to a degree as well since I hope it doesn't invalidate some stories that I did like.

I enjoyed the New Krypton story that lead into WoNK since it had a lot of cool moments and battles but it could have been far less drawn out. It also needed more focus and less glorified cameos such as by the Creature Commandos who while cool didn't add a whole lot to the story. There was also an inconsistency with Allura and Superman in New Krypton since the way they talked to each other in the last part of New Krypton didn't synch up too well with how they talked to each other in WoNK

[Captain Jim]

Robinson & Rucka's World of New Krypton has been surprisingly great so far.

James Robinson's Superman with Mon-El, Guardians and the rest has been uninspired and forgettable, but competent.

Greg Rucka's Action Comics with Nightwing & Flamebird has potential, but its too early to tell yet.

Sterling Gates' Supergirl is decent enough, but nothing special.

Geoff Johns & Gary Franks' Secret Origin can't get here soon enough.

I'm in pretty close agreement with Bored on this. The only one I came close to dropping was Superman, and I'm hanging in there because of the upcoming crossover. I wasn't reading any of these before Johns came on board Action; now I'm reading them all. That's a pretty good testimony in itself.

Oh, and btw, I'm also looking forward to Adventure Comics. :smile:

[Retro315]

I'm in pretty close agreement with Bored on this. The only one I came close to dropping was Superman, and I'm hanging in there because of the upcoming crossover. I wasn't reading any of these before Johns came on board Action; now I'm reading them all. That's a pretty good testimony in itself.

Oh, and btw, I'm also looking forward to Adventure Comics. :smile:

Adventure is definitely looking to be a big deal and a big draw ... I've never followed Superboy except for in Infinite Crisis, although I was at least aware of what Johns did with him in Titans, and remember his early appearances in the 90's.

But the promise of Johns doing something with the Brainiac cities ... Starman ... backup with the "new ultimate Legion" ... and that Francis Manapul art has me hooked already.

[Solaris01]

To answer the question, Superman is always awesome to me. And I'm particularly enjoying WONK and Superman/Batman a lot. Love the movies too and some of the cartoons. so yeah.

Oh, and I only read Superbooks so I have no idea about the Green Lantern books, and I'm not interested either.

[dupersuper]

Jones run has been very good, but Superman himself has always been awesome-regardless of the ups and downs of writers and stories.

[drpblunt]

I have to say, I'm really loving all the super titles, and thats really saying something, i hope DC is smart and leaves the creative teams alone, imo Action is the weakest title and even that one i really really like. the only thing a don't care for is the accelerated aging of characters and the dumb excuses that writers use to make them more adult, i would have liked to see chris returned mabey a year or two older and have him back as a child being raised by lois and clark. but hey i'll look the other way on that cause as a whole the super titles freaking Rock!

A few years ago if you told me my two must have books were supes and capt america i would have laughed, but those two books are really amazing now, I even love the supergirl title, and thats suprising (always been a PG fan)

so yeah, i think all the super titles ROCK!!!!!

[Alex L]

I'm only buying World of New Krypton since that's the only book that I've been interested in and has you know.....SUPERMAN in it.

But I think Geoff Johns had made the Superman books great again with his Last Son, Legion and Braniac stories on top of his Legion of 3 Worlds and contributions towards the New Krypton crossover. I'm very anxious to read the Superman Origins book since that should finally put to rest what's canon and what isn't canon but I'll also be dreading it to a degree as well since I hope it doesn't invalidate some stories that I did like.

I enjoyed the New Krypton story that lead into WoNK since it had a lot of cool moments and battles but it could have been far less drawn out. It also needed more focus and less glorified cameos such as by the Creature Commandos who while cool didn't add a whole lot to the story. There was also an inconsistency with Allura and Superman in New Krypton since the way they talked to each other in the last part of New Krypton didn't synch up too well with how they talked to each other in WoNK

Ha!

(Sorry.)

Secret Origins will be the ultimate, final, defining canonical origin for Superman til someone else comes up with their own idea. It'll last through Johns' run on Superman, maybe through DiDio's tenure, but once he's gone and someone else wants to give it a shot, Secret Origins will get tossed out the window without a second look.

Birthright was the final, definitive origin and that was back in '03.

[md62]

World of New Krypton: a great concept but it isn't holding my interest.

Superman (with Mon-El): I love Robinson as a writer but I have been really under whelmed with his work on the Superman title.

Action Comics (with Nightwing & Flamebird): It is much better than I thought it would be.

Supergirl: It is the best the series has ever been written.

I can't wait to read Adventure Comics & Secret Origin!

[Will.S]

Ha!

(Sorry.)

Secret Origins will be the ultimate, final, defining canonical origin for Superman til someone else comes up with their own idea. It'll last through Johns' run on Superman, maybe through DiDio's tenure, but once he's gone and someone else wants to give it a shot, Secret Origins will get tossed out the window without a second look.

Birthright was the final, definitive origin and that was back in '03.
Has Didio ever explained why Birthright was discarded?

It still seems to sell at a brisk pace for an "elseworlds" story.

[Mat001]

Has Didio ever explained why Birthright was discarded?

It still seems to sell at a brisk pace for an "elseworlds" story.

No. What has been speculated and a bit confirmed is that not everyone at DC wanted to use "Birthright", after it was published. This is evident by the fact that most of the writers ignored it and a couple were using "Man Of Steel" as a reference point. DC was trying to have it's cake and eat it, by saying both origins were valid. All of the stuff since "Infinite Crisis" was about tying everything together for "New Krypton". That meant changing certain things and finding ways to make different aspects stick. The material in "Secret Origin" is meant to set up and reflect "New Krypton", as well as avoiding all that happened when "Birthright" came out. All the conflicting designs and attitudes and what not.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

No. What has been speculated and a bit confirmed is that not everyone at DC wanted to use "Birthright", after it was published. This is evident by the fact that most of the writers ignored it and a couple were using "Man Of Steel" as a reference point. DC was trying to have it's cake and eat it, by saying both origins were valid. All of the stuff since "Infinite Crisis" was about tying everything together for "New Krypton". That meant changing certain things and finding ways to make different aspects stick. The material in "Secret Origin" is meant to set up and reflect "New Krypton", as well as avoiding all that happened when "Birthright" came out. All the conflicting designs and attitudes and what not.

Just reflects the sorts of editorial tom foolery that get in the way of storytelling at both DC and Marvel.
Or at least the flat-out disrespectful treatment some editors have for Mark Waid and his work at times - which is odd as when his work sells, it sells big.

But it is interesting - Birthright seems to sell quite a bit, but is there any proof it leads to follow on sales on any other title?
Because if it does, and then it drops off, it shows they should be paying attention to it - if it doesn't, it just shows that people (the majority, not those who buy everything Superman), just wanted to read a ripper of an origin/first story for Superman.

[bongoes]

But that Zod avatar made my week. Is there somewhere I can find it Extra Large for a background?



Sorry I don't know about an extra large version I just saw it on another website and thought, "that has to be my avatar"

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Birthright was always treated a bit oddly. Dido sought out Waid to do the series as Superman's new origin, then failed to promote it as such, perhaps because he wasn't happy enough with what Waid & Yu created or for some other reason we've yet to hear. Regardless, DC Editorial, along with many readers, were lukewarm towards the story so no one was really comfortable with having it be the new origin.

Given the much more enthusiastic response given to Geoff Johns & Gary Frank's Superman stories, it makes sense that DC would go to them to create the latest version.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Birthright was always treated a bit oddly. Dido sought out Waid to do the series as Superman's new origin, then failed to promote it as such, perhaps because he wasn't happy enough with what Waid & Yu created or for some other reason we've yet to hear. Regardless, DC Editorial, along with many readers, were lukewarm towards the story so no one was really comfortable with having it be the new origin.

Wasn't it promoted as such?
I remember lots of people were running around screaming, crying and pulling their hair out* that it was going to be 'Ultimate Superman'.
Total editorial failure if he didn't like it - it sells!

My assumption - based on little actual proof - was that Superman editorial didn't force writers to play along due to Waid (Along with Millar, Morrison and Peyer) being banned from writing Superman - due to being asked for a pitch that another editor didn't think they should have handed in.

*Mostly the Byrne Robotics members!

Given the much more enthusiastic response given to Geoff Johns & Gary Frank's Superman stories, it makes sense that DC would go to them to create the latest version.

They are also writing the main title, with a pretty free hand, which has to really help!

It should also help - if DC plays it's cards right - that at the end of the trade, you can easily run an ad pointing you to 'Up Up And Away' or 'Superman Last Son' - you know, if you enjoyed this start here, so new readers are pointed directly to the title by the team they liked that will be using stuff that happened in this book as a basis.
(This is something that I think is sorely lacking in most DC trades - they all have ads for Kingdom Come and Identity Crisis, but don't point you were to go next to check out what happens next. Even the Sinestro Corps war has an ad for the first trade of the current series, but then ads for Emerald Dawn... surely a picture of the cover for the next trade would be more helpful, an order list of the current series to date, and then an ad for any other books featuring the character - if there's space_.

[Mat001]

Just reflects the sorts of editorial tom foolery that get in the way of storytelling at both DC and Marvel.
Or at least the flat-out disrespectful treatment some editors have for Mark Waid and his work at times - which is odd as when his work sells, it sells big.

But it is interesting - Birthright seems to sell quite a bit, but is there any proof it leads to follow on sales on any other title?
Because if it does, and then it drops off, it shows they should be paying attention to it - if it doesn't, it just shows that people (the majority, not those who buy everything Superman), just wanted to read a ripper of an origin/first story for Superman.

It sells out still because of Yu's artwork, which is big right now. And for those curious about it.

Birthright was always treated a bit oddly. Dido sought out Waid to do the series as Superman's new origin, then failed to promote it as such, perhaps because he wasn't happy enough with what Waid & Yu created or for some other reason we've yet to hear. Regardless, DC Editorial, along with many readers, were lukewarm towards the story so no one was really comfortable with having it be the new origin.

Given the much more enthusiastic response given to Geoff Johns & Gary Frank's Superman stories, it makes sense that DC would go to them to create the latest version.

"Secret Origin" was planned before Gary Frank came on. Johns had this in place since early 2007. He just wasn't going to tackle it right away. I think it might've been out of respect to Waid or editorially mandated.

Wasn't it promoted as such?
I remember lots of people were running around screaming, crying and pulling their hair out* that it was going to be 'Ultimate Superman'.
Total editorial failure if he didn't like it - it sells!

It was promoted as the origin, but not the official one. Not until Superman #200 came out and then DC came out and said it was the origin. Once that happened, I think I recall reading that sales began dropping and the complaints got going.

My assumption - based on little actual proof - was that Superman editorial didn't force writers to play along due to Waid (Along with Millar, Morrison and Peyer) being banned from writing Superman - due to being asked for a pitch that another editor didn't think they should have handed in.

It's hard to say what exactly went on.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

It sells out still because of Yu's artwork, which is big right now. And for those curious about it.

That can't be right - he's current 'hotness' is based on his Marvel work, and this was done well before then - pretty sure it was Birthright which made him big.

It was promoted as the origin, but not the official one. Not until Superman #200 came out and then DC came out and said it was the origin. Once that happened, I think I recall reading that sales began dropping and the complaints got going.

Waid seems to think he was writing the official origin re-jig - seems that way in interviews now... in fact the mini doesn't really work as anything but a 'Man Of Steel' type story - it's not radically different enough to be elseworlds, it really feels like a launching point.

[Mat001]

That can't be right - he's current 'hotness' is based on his Marvel work, and this was done well before then - pretty sure it was Birthright which made him big.

Doesn't matter what his current assignment or company is. If an artist is hot, any work that they've done previously will be hunted down. He was big for his run on Wolverine and one of the other X-Men books. Then he did "Birthright" and a couple of others, I believe. Then he moved over to New Avengers, which then lead to "Secret Invasion".

Waid seems to think he was writing the official origin re-jig - seems that way in interviews now... in fact the mini doesn't really work as anything but a 'Man Of Steel' type story - it's not radically different enough to be elseworlds, it really feels like a launching point.

Waid knew that he was writing it as the official origin from the get go. But DC did not promote it as such until Superman #200. They treated it as just an origin story that would not carry the Elseworlds label, which is what cased the mummerings on the internet. "Return To Krypton" wasn't that old and the stigma from that was still fresh in the minds of many a fan. Fans were already aware that DC was considering a change in the origin as far back as 2000. So this is probably why DC handled it the way that they did with BR.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Doesn't matter what his current assignment or company is. If an artist is hot, any work that they've done previously will be hunted down. He was big for his run on Wolverine and one of the other X-Men books. Then he did "Birthright" and a couple of others, I believe. Then he moved over to New Avengers, which then lead to "Secret Invasion".

Yeah, but it was Birthright that made him huge, in the way that it was Long Halloween that made Sale huge.
His current 'hotness' came about because of Birthright.


Waid knew that he was writing it as the official origin from the get go. But DC did not promote it as such until Superman #200. They treated it as just an origin story that would not carry the Elseworlds label, which is what cased the mummerings on the internet. "Return To Krypton" wasn't that old and the stigma from that was still fresh in the minds of many a fan. Fans were already aware that DC was considering a change in the origin as far back as 2000. So this is probably why DC handled it the way that they did with BR.

Mishandled would be a better way of describing it.

[666MasterOfPuppets]

A year ago Geoff said he was going to try to do for Superman what they did for GL in 2007. In your opion, did that happen? Are the Superman titles better now than they were 3 years ago? Was New Krypton amazing? Or do you prefer the current World of new Krypton and the new heroes in the core titles?

I'm way behind (I need to read lots of Action and Superman issues to catch up, and I haven't even started to read WoNK), but I'd say that Superman has always been awesome. However, in the context of your question, I'd have to say not yet.

See, we had this little argument at the DC Comics boards, where some people said that Johns and Superman didn't feel the same way as Johns and GL. It's as if it was an assignment for Johns to fulfill, rather than a guy being passionate about the character.

But then again, I have to read the entirety of the Brainiac/New Krypton storyarcs, so I might be dead wrong. And I thought Busiek's run was awesome, so...

Anyway, just get Grant Morrison and Mark Waid in those books already, dammit.

[NickFury90]

I'm way behind (I need to read lots of Action and Superman issues to catch up, and I haven't even started to read WoNK), but I'd say that Superman has always been awesome. However, in the context of your question, I'd have to say not yet.

See, we had this little argument at the DC Comics boards, where some people said that Johns and Superman didn't feel the same way as Johns and GL. It's as if it was an assignment for Johns to fulfill, rather than a guy being passionate about the character.

But then again, I have to read the entirety of the Brainiac/New Krypton storyarcs, so I might be dead wrong. And I thought Busiek's run was awesome, so...

Anyway, just get Grant Morrison and Mark Waid in those books already, dammit.

I read that little argument as well. I really can't see that though, because Johns did some GREAT stories for Action Comics. Last Son, Legion of Superheroes, Brainiac, a Toyman that actually makes sense. That, coupled with the best Supes story ever in All-Star Superman, and I'd say Superman definitely went up in my book.

[Seven_Ride]

Interesting that some consider Johns' Superman below his other works (JSA, Green Lantern.) I think his Superwork from Last Son to Brainiac is better than his other books, by far.

Johns/Frank make a great team, as did Busiek/Pacheco/Guedes. I haven't been too impressed by what Robinson has done so far, but I'm a Starman-believer, so he'll make me buy into his Superman at some point.

Pretty much everything Superman has been great since Up, Up and Away. The stuff from the years before pales in comparison, for me.

[Alex L]

I consider Johns' Superman to be a step below his best JSA work, but above the latter end of his JSA stuff and the entirety of the Justice Society run.

Gary Frank's work on Midnight Nation and even Gen13 are better than his Superman.

[Duy]

Johns and Frank's Legion storyline is my favorite arc featuring any mainstream superhero in the last five years.