Every once in a while I talk about my love of Superman on this blog. As a dedicated Superman fan, I really enjoy reading Superman comics. And while I have old favorites that I read over and over, I also like to read stories I haven't read before. After all, who knows when I'm going to discover a new favorite? So a couple years back I subscribed to DC Universe, which gives me digital access to thousands of comics, meaning I have no shortage of new-to-me comics to explore.
Last year I decided to jump in with the January 1987 issues of Superman, Adventures of Superman, and Action Comics. That's not an arbitrary starting point. In late 1986 Superman comics were essentially restarted. None of the previous years of stories were going to be referred to anymore. Everything was new again, and three Superman-specific titles were being published each month. So that first day I read three stories dated January 1987. The next day that I read, I read the stories from February 1987, and so on and so forth. For a few months I only had two titles to read at a time, but the third quickly came back. Then in the middle of 1991 a fourth title, Superman: The Man of Steel, was added, so that a new Superman story was being published just about every week. (Now if you're quick with numbers you may realize that only gives 48 issues per year, while a year actually has just over 52 weeks. Never fear! In 1995, a quarterly title, Superman: The Man of Tomorrow, was added to cover those remaining weeks.) Some days I don't read comics at all, and some days I read other stories, so I don't do this every day. But slowly but surely I've marched through the months, and today I read the stories dated December 1997, which means I've read 11 years' worth of Superman comics.
Now one of the interesting things about this era of Superman comics is that everything was treated as one continuing story. Even though there were four different books with four different writer/artist teams, they all worked together under a single editor. Sometimes a tale would begin in one title and continue the next week in the next title. At other times the four different books would be a little more independent, but there would still be little references to what was going on in other books and subplots would run through all four. As a reader, it's really cool to see how different threads from different writers are pulled together to create these big, sweeping adventures. It's rewarding to see new storylines that pick up on ideas planted weeks and even months earlier. Running a huge story for years and years gives lots of space for characters to develop and for new ideas to be explored.
But it's also easy to see how hard it is to keep telling one massive story for years and years. After a few years one writer might leave and another come in with a fresh perspective. Or a new artist might breathe new life into familiar characters. But it's hard to constantly come up with new challenges for our hero. Twists can start to feel more like gimmicks. Old villains can feel stale while new villains can feel less original and exciting than what's come before. Sometimes there seems to be unnecessary drama just to fill issues. Don't get me wrong: I'm still really enjoying my reading, but I'd say I'm less engaged going into 1998 than I was for the stories from 1991 or 1993 or even 1995. It seems I'm not alone in thinking this. I've been told that all four Superman books turn over their writers and artists in late 1999/early 2000, and the connections between the books begin to weaken. Eventually it's time to try a different approach.
As much as I'm excited about the next era of Superman, I know I'll miss this one that I've been reading. There's something sort of real, something true-to-life about a story that goes on and on and on. Superman and his friends build memories like we do. It's fun to have a ongoing, developing relationship with the characters. Sure, some adventures are more exciting than others, but our lives aren't always fantastic or interesting either. There's always hope for the future. And unlike in life, with comics I can always go back and revisit the old days, too. So the never-ending battle continues.
Grace and peace,
BMH
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