What was a better reboot, Crisis or New 52?

[tony ingram]

Crisis because it was intended to be a reboot.

Except it wasn't intended to be a reboot. And, indeed, it wasn't a reboot (as has already been pointed out by more than one person in this thread).

The core idea and appeal of Superman is that under the veneer of a meek Clark is a powerful Superman. Byrne's Clark was a high school football player, a successful writer, and most importantly, women were attracted to him. He was not Clark Kent and Clark Kent is a huge part of the success of Superman. When Byrne removed that Clark and made his Clark into the "real" persona and Superman a disguise (even though they were practically the same person), he turned Siegel and Shuster's core concept around completely.

And made it considerably more interesting and Clark/Superman a lot more relatable as a character in the process.

[Kurosawa]

Except it wasn't intended to be a reboot. And, indeed, it wasn't a reboot (as has already been pointed out by more than one person in this thread).

And made it considerably more interesting and Clark/Superman a lot more relatable as a character in the process.

Well, you completely misunderstand Superman if you think the Pre-Crisis version was a caredboard cut out and there's really no point in discussing the character any further with you. As soon as someone says that I pretty much dismiss everything they have to say as they obviously don't have a clue about Superman.

[dupersuper]

The core idea and appeal of Superman is that under the veneer of a meek Clark is a powerful Superman. Byrne's Clark was a high school football player, a successful writer, and most importantly, women were attracted to him. He was not Clark Kent and Clark Kent is a huge part of the success of Superman. When Byrne removed that Clark and made his Clark into the "real" persona and Superman a disguise (even though they were practically the same person), he turned Siegel and Shuster's core concept around completely.

So...you hated the 50s TV show?

Well, you completely misunderstand Superman if you think the Pre-Crisis version was a caredboard cut out and there's really no point in discussing the character any further with you. As soon as someone says that I pretty much dismiss everything they have to say as they obviously don't have a clue about Superman.

It's really hard to take you seriously when you dismiss huge portions of your fellow Superman fans so constantly and condescendingly...

[tony ingram]

Well, you completely misunderstand Superman if you think the Pre-Crisis version was a caredboard cut out and there's really no point in discussing the character any further with you. As soon as someone says that I pretty much dismiss everything they have to say as they obviously don't have a clue about Superman.

So basically, you and only you are qualified to judge what Superman is or should be, and everyone else is wrong unless they agree with you? OK.Thanks for clearing that up.

BTW, from the sentence I've bolded, I'm guessing this particular incorrect view is pretty widespread in your experience? Hmm. Could it be, I wonder, that you are wr...nah, surely that's just too far fetched...

[stk]

The core idea and appeal of Superman is that under the veneer of a meek Clark is a powerful Superman.

The original Clark wasn't meek until he made the conscious decision to start acting meek as an adult after taking the Daily Star job. His life growing up was conceivably closer to the Byrne version than the pre-Crisis version once they added the Superboy aspect to his past.

[bat39]

While its arguable which of the two ushered in the 'better' era of stories...in terms of semantics, the new 52 IS a much better 'reboot', simply because COIE, as has been mentioned before, was hardly a 'reboot' per se.

The decision to reboot Superman and Wonder Woman was taken after COIE. And when all was said and done, they were the only ones who were really 'rebooted' (along with Hawkman, though that was later). Most of the other characters were simply retconned to varying degrees. Most of the continuity hiccups resulted from the reboots of Superman and WW, and the erasure of Earth 2.

The new 52 rebooted pretty much the entire universe save for Batman and Green Lantern (and Batman has been heavily retconned).

[The Darknight Detective]

The original Clark wasn't meek until he made the conscious decision to start acting meek as an adult after taking the Daily Star job. His life growing up was conceivably closer to the Byrne version than the pre-Crisis version once they added the Superboy aspect to his past.

Did Siegel and Shuster actually create stories of a non-meek Clark before working for the Daily Star/Planet or was that retconned in later on? The Golden Age stories that I own don't have any pre-reporter Clark at all (other than a brief origin here and there).