Five Biggest Ways DC's 'The New 52' Has Changed the Superman in Action Comics

The New 52 has managed to turn me away from my all time favorite super hero... how sad

This Superman is AWESOME!!!

It would appear to me that they have decided that the way to make Superman move forward is to make him decided LESS super. If he can be wounded so easily and can't fly then he is much less than he was before. I am more of a marvel guy but did enjoy watching Smallville that incorporates many of these type of changes routinely. However in a comic I'm not so sure it will be popular. I have always followed Hulk and one of things that really made it worse was when they went through a stage of making him weaker...discounting Grey Hulk...I kinda liked him :)

I guess I never have to read any comic cause comicvine will spoil the whole thing for me.

So basically they turned young Superman into Batman...  
 

Or actually, they turned young Superman into another Hal Jordan.
 

At last finally every one get's their wish, a weaker superman has finally been made to please fan's.  Now they can openly make him the heel and loser of all battle threads, He is now completely inferior to someone like Thor or Hulk that should make a lot of people happy, and he can now be hurt wow what an amazing feat....I cannot believe the guy I grew up with from pencil to Christopher Reeves is being turned into a complete weakling now because for some reason his strength level, makes him a bad character.  No don't create better villains, don't create better issues for superman or find better writers for the character let's just de-power him so he can get his a** kicked so people can have a better story?  How about we do away with the Lame Lois Lane thing, how about we give him different threats instead of Lex Luthor and Darkseid all the time?  How about we stop making him weaker with the Justice League but unstoppable alone, be more consistent.  I mean there are ton's of reason that Superman should have been rebooted but taking away his power is not one of them.  He can't fly now, he just jumps around like the Hulk.  How is this guy to be considered a savior for earth if he can't even get around it, I guess there will be no more last minute saves half way around the world by superman the next time a Volcano blow's up.  He's no longer the world class hero anymore personally with this new whack power setting I can't see him handling any issues outside of a 400 mile radius from Metropolis.  Everyone want's superman to be injured why?  I mean I personally feel like anybody who is as old as I am and have been following Superman since the made him better than his building leaping counterpart should view this as a set back for superman.  He evolved from the building leaping in the 80's nobody cared about why superman could fly or why he was so invincible or strong, it was superman and that's all there was to it no reality induced complaints about a fictional comic book character could change that.  Now for the new age people don't mind the whimsical fantasy exploits of the characters they like(Thor, Wolverine, Pheonix, Gladiator, Sentry, Blue Marvel, Hyperion etc), and demand reality and logical reasoning for the "overpowered characters" the don't(Superman mainly).  If this is how they are going to reboot superman then I'll just remember his greatness as it was, have your good stories at the expense of a legendary hero with legendary power.  Everyone swears Thor can beat superman and boast about all these extreme things Thor has done, but I've never heard one complaint about him being over powered the way they go on about Supes.  In closing this is all just my opinion and if this is the new Supes the only thing I like is the new Kryptonian armor looking suit, other than that as far as I'm concerned Superman can now RIP.  There I vented....

Let's not forget that Morrison's Superman pits truth and justice against the American Way. This is a post-Nixon Superman that is not the lapdog of the federal government (ie. Miller's Superman).

@Jekylhyde14:   Where do you think Morrison's will be in 10/15 years time, if not in the 50-cent bin?
And i never said "that Morrison should be doing things Byrne's way instead of doing this revamp"
 
and bye the way,  if you "studied creative writing" and "have no idea what point (i'm) trying to make with that "briefing" mumbo jumbo." then you have just told me why you really cant even imagine what I am saying. Even more, you don't know how to work as a creative writer commercially. That's plain sad. 
Get this through your thick skull, i'm not even saying that Morisson is a good or a bad wrighter, or even that the story is crap. What I saying, and that you clearly don't understand, is that it could have been much better. 

Besides regarding DC management your Mr Morisson says I'm right in that interview:

"DC is relaunching its entire line – is there some desperation there?
There's always going to be a bit of that because comics sales are so low, people are willing to try anything these days. It's just plummeting. It's really bad from month to month. May was the first time in a long time that no comic sold over 100,000 copies, so there's a decline."

 And I'll end the way I've started with an upgrade: I find this lack of creativity disturbing as well as your lack of vision and reason.

they ripped off Superboy's costume design!

@Jekylhyde14:  
Really who are you? Are YOU Morrison? Do know Morrison? Because you seam to be taking this to personal.
I never said "Morrison doing this version of Superman for money", and you can not BELIEVE in good  faith that he would say that he was "told" to do so. wouldn't that jeopardize his career as a creative? 
How dumb you think , that I think, that he is? I'm not saying he's a genius but i sure he is not dumb.
Maybe you didn't understood, what I meant, so i'll keep it simple: DC had to know what was wrong to ask a revamp, so there had be a "briefing", and were there is a briefing there is "______________". 
Therefore when Morrison said he "Wanted" to do, it had to be according to that briefing. And DC comics either would say yes or no. Period!  
Or Morrison is God almighty at DC Comic and what ever he S**** is law?
I gess not.
Regarding my Byrne point of view, you can blame him for what happened when he left the character. Other writers (and DC creative staff) if they were good enough SHOULD have started an organic evolution on the character (you were not the same person you were 5 years ago or were you?), even with Byrne at the helm. Don't blame Byrne, blame DC Comics creative direction, and thats why the killed him in the first place, the needed a big bang to see if people would care. And if you don't understand that, you should not be ranting like you have been.
 
You might be a fan,  great fan, and you are looking at this with a fan's eye. I'm looking it as a creative exercise. So, when you use sarcasm, (Jekylhyde14:  "Alright, Mr. Creative, since you think you know better than men who have been working with and thinking about these characters for years then how would you creatively write Superman?")  like you have, andyou still don't have a clue to what I am saying, it almost seams that you have an agenda on protecting you precious "Morrison's Superdude". Well.. why continue?   One last try: Please, take your eyes out of comic books. Stop  bowing to Mr. Morrison. And look with a critic eye to what as happen at DC Comics and at Marvel in the last ... say 30 years. Compare them with cold critic eye, and you will see that history repeats its self. If you still cant see what I mean, you might as well keep calling me stubborn, as I might as well call def, dumb and blind. Sorry. And bye-the-way... let's see in 10/15 years time how is awesome Morrison's Superdude evolving.

Is this a 3 or 4 dollar book?

@Jekylhyde14:   Clearlly you didn't understand what I said, or don't want to understand. 

You said: "Leave him the way John Byrne made him. That character was a stiff, boring yuppie and is played out. If you've been reading Superman for the last few years then you'd know how bad its gotten." 
 

well.. that's precisly my point. The evolution form of Superman before Crisis to After Crisis was great, but as you said very well and I quote: "that character was a stiff, boring yuppie (...) (and in) the last few years (..) how bad its gotten."
And why is that? Crative righting any one?
Byrne give great the guide lines, now it was up to DC and their writers to start the evolution of the character, if they were not able to do the job, don't blame Byrne. This is like blaming a map maker because you missed an exit while you were talking one the phone while driving. 
Regarding the fact that I wrote something about. "focus groups" and that it is "laughable", let me tell you something, if you work in a creative environment you know what I meant, If you don't I'll explain... money. That is what it's all about. Not good characters nor great storys, it's about money: Marketing numbers (selling less), formal or informal focus groups or forums (People don't identify with a "self righteous" Superman, because people are bitter), this is how writers end up "appeasing" the mob and their job.
I can not care less what the Grant Morrison has done before Superman, because the specificity of that work is complete different. Yes he did a great job then because his "worries" were completely different. But no one is able to do great job all the time, and this is one of those cases, were e completely missed the ball. For instance if you were to get Alan Moore, I would not expect him to make a Watchmen-Superman or a V-Superman, I would expect him or any other, Morrison included, to take those 80 years of history and make some sense out of this.  
 
You said: "He CREATIVELY wanted to toss the dull character that Byrne left us with in 1987 and create a new man in his place." and I say "DO IT! BUT DO IT WELL!"
Regarding you saying that I'm "being stubborn because (I'm) afraid of change. (...) It's happening no matter what." Let me use irony to say  that, that makes perfect sense for from someone who likes the character. That "no matter what" will end on a second "death of Superman" within 10 years time. And that's what happens when you don't know what else to do with a character... or why do you think he was killed the first time?   And if you reply that marketing didn't had any part his "Death" then I won't reply because clearly we are speaking two different languages and my stubbornness realizes that is useless against someone who refuses to see the big picture beyond the comic books.

It's been a while since i cared about a superman story, but this is definitley worth it, he's much more belivable than the big blue boyscout, and now that he's not impervious to damage superman really make you care about what he's doing.

@Neuron said:

It's fascinating to see so many people rail against the "boring Boy Scout" Superman that always had the strength to do the right thing.  That's not easy, and you'd better be superpowered if you're going to try it.  More than that, it's the reason that he WAS the icon and symbol he was (and is).  Using intimidation, interrogation, and light torture is Batman's realm.  It's too early to see why Clark's okay with using those methods, but I do give Grant Morrison credit and I'm really curious to see where it goes.  I thought it was a great issue.  But I find it really interesting and more than a little unsettling that so many people are eating up this new Jack Bauer type of guy, willing to go as far as necessary to get what he sees as justice.  Is that really the best possible hero?  Do it to them because they can and will do it to us?  No thanks.  I had no problems with the "old" Superman, but I'm also liking this new take and definitely intend to check out more.

But IS he acting like a Jack Bauer type who's "willing to go as far as necessary"? So far we've only seen him interrogate a guy by scaring the bejesus out of him. It's not like he was electrocuting or water boarding the guy. So far he hasn't killed anybody. Yeah, he's taunted and evaded the police and gone head to head with military tanks but that was more in self-defense and in the interest of protecting civilians. I see this more as a cocky, brash Superman who bucks authority and is actually willing to hold the people in charge accountable. I don't see the ruthless vigilante who's willing to cross lines quite yet.

he is not untouchable yaaaaaaaaaay

Something people should take note of is that Superman is only a jerk to the bad guys and the people that are trying to stop him from helping, your average Joe one the street still see him as a hero its only the government that doesnt trust him.

I wasn't really too much of a fan of the new Superman. Unlike many here I actually liked the old boy scout personality. I am hoping in time he is humbled by future experiences and maturity to turn him back into the character I enjoyed for so many years.

That being said I may have not been a fan of the new Superman, but I did enjoy the writing and art.

AY....

@Jekylhyde14: certeinly I did not "work" and "think"  "these characters for years" (your words) but I've been a fan for many years and so to see Superman "reworked" this way makes me wonder if DC Comics has a perfect character (like many on the DC portfolio) but does not know what to do with it. And it's not in the 5 minutes that will take me to write this post that I will solve the problem that the DC writers and artists could not, or would not or were not authorized to figure out in the right way.  That said, i think that, when Superman was created, it was SUPER because there was nothing like him in comic books.  But now there are hundreds like him (Shazam was almost his replica), and if DC continues do "downgrade" Superman, then in the near future it will be senseless to still call him Super.  Superman is one of those characters, like Dr. Manhattan in "The Watchmen", that can afford to look like a jerk without being one because they are "God-like" perfect, unbeatable. What infinite Crisis did a few years ago, and very well, was to retain does God like features but give it some humanity (I bow to Mr. John Byrne).   Remember this: the guy is an Alien!   Why not making him a protector of the earth, like the Green Lanterns for instance. It would be more interesting then making him another Batman.  I recently saw a movie about the CIA onde of the things the said was something like this: "Our failures are known to all, but our successes aren't"... so why not make this the "new tag line" for superman, a silent protector?   Imagine Jor-El would say that he was intended to come to Earth to protect it from a greater "evil", that his infancy and adolescence was the preparation for something dreadful, making him an hero more detached form society like a spy, but and alter-ego still working journalist or as an hot-dog stand seller, whatever.What this is, is the oblivion of  79 years of history and story, and a victory of the marketing department and focus groups. And if look at it, is the same thing happing to Spiderman at Marvel.  And if all of this is not enough, I ask you: if it was you, would you run up and down the street fighting crime wearing jeans and a red cape or would you do it Batman style?

I also like how Clark's journalism career seems more connection, a natural step, in his superhero career.
Being a journalist who, as they mention, reports about crime and corruption and intergang and risks brutal retaliation, showing him to be more like Lois Lane.  I like that.
I also like how he was portrayed as Superman here, being a bit of a jerk, a hero for the common man, having the comic reference old comic stories from the original series where he stopped Nazis, Domestic Abuse, Crooked Bosses, etc.  I like it.
His costume may be more to show him as a blue collar hero or maybe to connect him to his Smallville parents and his roots there.
 
In JLA he clearly is more powerful, so here he is (more like Superboy than Man) with his powers still developing.  I love it so far.  Not too sure about Lex's motives though.
 
As far as he and Lois, maybe something this New 52 is doing by breaking them all up is to restart their relationships.  Maybe before he starts dating Lois fans will get to see Superman date Wonder Woman.  Then he dates Lois and (them both being daring news reporters who take great risks) they have more in common than before.
Maybe the creators want to get a chance to give their spin on these super relationships.  But eventually I would hope that Flash ends up with Iris, Superman ends up with Lois, etc.
However if they aren't restarting (eliminating past stories where Lois and Clark were dating/married) then they might be implying that Lois and Clark divorced.  Which would suck I think.  But I'll have to wait and see.

I was taken aback by Superman's actions towards Glenmorgan as well, even though it was for the greater good. But, I warmed up to it when I realized that Clark was working with Detective Taylor to bring Glenmorgan down, but they needed a confession from him, so Clark donned his Superman costume to force the confession out and seal the deal. That showed that he was trying to work with the law, at least. (Even though I still am kind of irked by it because the means shouldn't justify the end. For Batman, it works, but not so much with Superman who should be above that. But it's Grant Morrison. So maybe it's important for Superman to be rash in the beginning in order to show his transformation, or some odd twist, at the end?) Still, it was great seeing all of Glenmorgan's goons tossed around like Keystone cops.

Great article. Other than the silver age, the good thing about the 'jerk' superman is that we can relate to him more. People can't be all "goody goody" & perfect. That's unrealistic. The more a character is like an anti-hero, the more we find them realistic. I don't like the new costumeS though. I just like him in his old underwear thing. As far as 'super man can get injured' is concerned, I agree that the stories would be less repetitive but I think it's just a reason DC needs for his new armor suit :(

It's fascinating to see so many people rail against the "boring Boy Scout" Superman that always had the strength to do the right thing.  That's not easy, and you'd better be superpowered if you're going to try it.  More than that, it's the reason that he WAS the icon and symbol he was (and is).  Using intimidation, interrogation, and light torture is Batman's realm.  It's too early to see why Clark's okay with using those methods, but I do give Grant Morrison credit and I'm really curious to see where it goes.  I thought it was a great issue.  But I find it really interesting and more than a little unsettling that so many people are eating up this new Jack Bauer type of guy, willing to go as far as necessary to get what he sees as justice.  Is that really the best possible hero?  Do it to them because they can and will do it to us?  No thanks.  I had no problems with the "old" Superman, but I'm also liking this new take and definitely intend to check out more.

It's fascinating to see so many people rail against the "boring Boy Scout" Superman that always had the strength to do the right thing.  That's not easy, and you'd better be superpowered if you're going to try it.  More than that, it's the reason that he WAS the icon and symbol he was (and is).
 
Using intimidation, interrogation, and light torture is Batman's realm.  It's too early to see why Clark's okay with using those methods, but I do give Grant Morrison credit and I'm really curious to see where it goes.  I thought it was a great issue.  But I find it really interesting and more than a little unsettling that so many people are eating up this new Jack Bauer type of guy, willing to go as far as necessary to get what he sees as justice.  Is that really the best possible hero?  Do it to them because they can and will do it to us?  No thanks.
 
I had no problems with the "old" Superman, but I'm also liking this new take and definitely intend to check out more.

If Superman did not kill, then he probably brutally disfigured or paralyzed a few people in AC#1. If anything there is a clear disregard for human life from him. If something like a Terminator throws someone through a wall head first, the guy is going to be seriously hurt, maybe paralyzed if not dead. Superman doing it, dude is dead. He smashes a tank which causes an explosion with what looks like at least 1 guy still inside. What happened to just twisting the cannon of the tank so it can't fire?  
 
But who knows, maybe Superman just punched the hole in the wall first then simply put the guy in the, letting him rest & he waited for the 2 guys inside to get out of the tank and run a safe distance away from the area of explosion before smashing it. 
 
I'm just wondering where Pa Kent is in all of this? 
 
Anyone also notice how in DC #1, Batman played the boy scout role?

That's just great! Action Comics #1 is the best Superman comic I've ever read!

What I don't get why do people hate the boy scout image so much? Someone THAT powerful wearing his heart on his sleeve should be a given, think about it in real life if a guy could do all these things and was pretty much a jerk about it like this, all normal people would be scared of him and really that sounds more like Batman wanting fear than Superman. I know this is just pretty much the start of his story since from previews of Superman #1 he seems simlar to his old self in battling monsters and aliens etc. I don't understand why people don't like Superman being Superman taking down meta humans and creatures with his super powers and stopping major desasters such as earthquakes and volcanoes erupting.
 
As for people saying he was overpowered well thats bullspit, the thing about superman he has all this power but not even he can be everywhere at once, in fact he fears being seen as a god abled to do anything which he obviously can't, but the stuff he can do like save the planet from distruction from alien menaces thats what he does. Saying he was perfect and he beats everyone is a load of crap because that can be said about every character in DC comics including batman facing down odds no man could over come yet he does simply because he's batman.
 
When people say they hate Superman or think he's boring just because he is to them overpowered I can ask them how and why and prove them wrong it's because they don't understand Superman at all. In fact alot of other characters such as Martian Manhunter and even Captain Atom are more powerful than Superman and have more powers than he does.
 
Now the whole thing said here his only weakness is Kryptonite well THAT WRONG, he's weak against Magic also and to be honest if a force is much stronger than he is he can be beaten to a pulp, so he isn't perfect at all and can't be beaten. And Doomsday wasn't the start of that trend either as Silverage Superman has gotten his a** handed to him by Darkseid also who is much more powerful than Doomsday and even Superman.

As a designer and illustrator, if find this lack of creativity (from DC Comics) disturbing.
That said, I think @Jordanstine is right:  "...they turned young Superman into Batman" .. "Or actually, they turned young Superman into another Hal Jordan."

 

As a designer and illustrator, if find this lack of creativity (from DC Comics) disturbing.
That said, I think @Jordanstine is right:  "...they turned young Superman into Batman" .. "Or actually, they turned young Superman into another Hal Jordan."

No, I think you missed my point.  DC - however convoluted - actually had a pretty nifty continuity.  Things happened in multiple universes, those universe merged and disappeared, and blah blah blah.  Once things merged, it let DC tell some more serious stories.  For all intents and purposes, Lois still tried to brainwash superman, and Comet was still in love with Supergirl... but those worlds were destroyed because of some baddie, and we got a new world.  It also happened to be a world where crazy &*(% didn't happen quite as often, and characters acted like they were written as serious fiction more than as jokey one-shot stories.  It's a change of audience, and - fortunately for continuity - an actual change of the world. 
 
I could point out how DC did a less-than-stellar job in their worldbuilding, but over the years again and again they would try to repair it, taking quality from DC inspired tv shows/etc., and leaving junk behind.  The DCAU was a great example of continuity, and DC should be horrified that they have since failed to live up to the standard of a weekday afternoon cartoon show. 
 
You want a world where Superman can't fly, kryptonite doesn't exist, and Barry Allen is the Flash?  Give us "Earth One"-style stories - see, that's a reference to DC actually knowing how to tell a reboot story halfway well, even if they did completely mishandle the project. 
 
What's even more astounding is that DC had all the tools to do this - they actually gave themselves 52 worlds, with ^&*$&$ happening on each.  They could have said "DCAU is world 12, we'll do some kids comics featuring it.  Young Justice takes place on world 24.  Superfriends world 45, DC "main universe" on world 1, and on world 'X" we'll do a reboot - we'll do "ultimate" characters for Superman, Batman, and our main cast.  We'll go slow... letting us keep telling our successful Superman, Batman, and GL stories in world 1, and let us tell exciting new, steamlined, "fresh" stories that we wouldn't be able to tell in world X.  And heck, we'll even put a little continuity note in the form of a "World #" somewhere on the cover/credits page of each comic, so you can know that this week's ACTION COMICS takes place in World X... because, you know, we're DC - we like telling elseworld stories in main books for no reason all the darned time - Batman and Superman, Trinity... all noncontinuity bull%$&^ 
 

@Jekylhyde14 said:

@ltbrd said:

****HEAVY SPOILER ALERTS*****HEAVY SPOILER ALERTS******  Had to reread this again today and have to say I'm surprised at all the subtle hints I missed paying homage to the 1938 Action Comics #1 as well as Superman's early history before some of the major changes made in the radio series. Everything from the way Superman acts, to the reference of the wife beater (which was shown in Action Comics #1), to farther into his contuinity with Lex being a straight scientists than a billionare (at least that's what I'm assuming from the way Lex's consulting job is being described), to even later with the crumbled train looking like Doomsday's arm......these small details made the second read even better than the first.  But here's my question for all playing the home version......do you think Kara Zor-El is going to be older than Kal-El in this revamp? This is just a complete wild guess on my part, but I'm wondering if the two men and blonde woman the landlady spoke about and the "object around Neptune getting bigger" that Lex spoke about are tied to the arrival of Kara Zor-El and possibly other Kryptonians or something these three have arrived in advance of. That would be an interesting twist on their relationship if it turned out Kara (who has always been portrayed as being born before Kal-El and technically older though placed in suspended animation) was the one to introduce Kal to his kryptonian heritage and give him the armor he'll eventually wear.  Like I said complete guess on my part but given how close all the other books are coming out and since I can't really see Action Comics going on for years with Superman wearing boots, jeans, t-shirt and a short cape I expect Morrison to move through this arc in about 5 or 6 issues before possibly jumping to have the same timeline as the Superman series.

Huh... I never thought of that.  It would be REALLY interesting if the blonde woman was Kara. That would drastically change Supergirl's origin and arrival. I guess we'll find out soon enough...  We should keep our eyes on that object around Neptune. 

the two guys and blonde woman are cosmic boy,lightning lad and Saturn girl......Grant morrison sed in one of his interviews that the legion would be makin an appearance in issue one(who knew it was only goin to be a description appearance)

I was reading it thinking 'Any page now, there's gonna be a 'Hold the car over the head' nod to Action Comics #1.. it never came.  I felt a bit bummed about that.

This Supes kinda reminds me how Bruce Wayne would act if he was the one with the Kryptonian powers. Being above the law, doing as he pleases for the greater good, etc.

Action Comics #1.....Awesome, But few problems,now supes has gotta be just outta college or something  cuz i kno hes depowered n stuff which is fine to attend to all those "hes too powerful"(i mean come on he SUPER man) people anyway......but he seems Too depowered,even if their trying to match the golden age stories, hes still built from alot of the superman weve had for the last 20 yrs,he cant be twenty or above n wat suddenly 5 yrs later hes flying,(Much)faster than bullets(quite pissed to see supes dint out run the bullets when they were fired at him) and stuff.id like to see him have the power levels their showing currently when hes around fifteen or sumthing,this doesnt make sense n i loved the writing but really want to see how Grant gets him up to full "speed"( - which is second in the DC universe to flash) and strength(strongest!!) and was wondering it cant be becuz hes not aged enuf or anything unless he really is fifteen,cuz if and when kara comes to earth shes still a teenager (in the new universe,isnt she?) and she has powers almost rivaling Supermans as its been shown in the solicits for Supergirl #2........So i really want an explanation behind that and also if they introduce zod,unless hes in hiding for a couple of yrs or has some advanced solar tech i think it'd be pretty stupid gettin him to full power to take on Supes.So im a really die hard Superman fan n stay loyal no matter wat but i really wanna see how they address this cause it should be something big, its not like a growth spurt where he suddenly grows so much more powerfull in five yrs (maybe its the armor like SB prime OMG!! lol) cuz one would think he'd have absorbed alot more solar power in the Twenty yrs he been on this planet!! Bring on Issue 2!!!!