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Adam Schulman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 July 2017
Posts: 1717
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| Posted: 31 January 2018 at 4:38pm | IP Logged | 1
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I liked WHO'S WHO. It wasn't detail-obsessed. It said such-and-such character and such-and-such powers without "measuring" them. ("Spider-Man can lift 15 tons under optimal conditions" -- that sort of thing.)
I did want it to label what Earth characters were on. Then CRISIS made that a moot point. And it made for some weirdness. Supergirl's entry was followed by the "John Byrne Superman" entry, except that the "new" Superman had never met Kara. She'd been erased. Just like the "George Perez Wonder Woman" had never met Donna Troy (who at least still existed).
And to answer Vinny -- I knew that the New 52 reboot wasn't serious when DC refused to start Batman and Green Lantern continuity over from scratch. If they really wanted to make everything "new and accessible" then Dick Grayson would've been Robin again. And there wouldn't have still been four Green Lanterns from Earth.
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Jim Petersman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 June 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 638
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| Posted: 31 January 2018 at 5:01pm | IP Logged | 2
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"So a reboot was what they wanted. So a reboot is what I gave them."
******
A reboot is what they should have done to the entire DCU. The anti-monitor dies, the multiverse goes boom, Crisis ends, and next month starts with new first issues. NOTHING carries over. Instead, in their effort to pacify everyone, they created a far worse mess than the multiverse ever was.
And why couldn't Captain Carrot just be a title that they published that had as much to do with the DCU as Star Trek? Or Watchmen? Would anyone really have demanded to know how it fit into continuity? If so, ignore those three or four people.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132620
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| Posted: 31 January 2018 at 5:47pm | IP Logged | 3
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I'm not quite sure how to articulate this, Mr Byrne, but I wonder if WHO'S WHO? and OHOTMU are, even if only a small way, a part of what went wrong with fandom wanting to know everything and cross every t/dot every i. ••• RPG MENTALITY!! Exactly what these characters DON'T need. Especially when some of the geekiest geeks were in charge of those books. (Don't have information? Make it up!)
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Robbie Parry
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 June 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 12186
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| Posted: 31 January 2018 at 7:05pm | IP Logged | 4
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Jim Petersman wrote:
| And why couldn't Captain Carrot just be a title that they published that had as much to do with the DCU as Star Trek? |
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Good point, Jim.
If anyone did try and combine STAR TREK and the mainstream DC stuff, well I'm sure they'd have been given short shrift by an editor. So, yes, why couldn't the same approach have worked for Captain Carrot?
Edited by Robbie Parry on 31 January 2018 at 7:05pm
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Shane Matlock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 August 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 1760
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| Posted: 31 January 2018 at 8:27pm | IP Logged | 5
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Superman hadn't seen sales like it had under you in years. What Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams did for Batman, you did for Superman. You made the character relevant again and created far more Superman comics fans than you drove away. Almost every Superman story since Man of Steel is deeply indebted to it and your tenure on Superman and Action Comics which followed. On the flipside, the poorly thought out Superman reboot for the new 52 was a dismal failure. Even George Perez and Grant Morrison couldn't get me interested in that mess and I tried to read it. So DC killed that Superman and we are back to the Man of Steel version, who's now even older and has a kid. But at least this Superman is interesting and feels like the real deal.
Edited by Shane Matlock on 31 January 2018 at 8:28pm
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Shane Matlock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 August 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 1760
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| Posted: 31 January 2018 at 8:34pm | IP Logged | 6
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Edit: Screwed up while uploading a photo. Please delete.
Edited by Shane Matlock on 31 January 2018 at 8:38pm
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Shane Matlock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 August 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 1760
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| Posted: 31 January 2018 at 8:41pm | IP Logged | 7
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I remember seeing this on the magazine racks and being excited for Superman for the first time as a comics fan.
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Stephen Churay
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 March 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 8369
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| Posted: 31 January 2018 at 10:01pm | IP Logged | 8
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I picked up SUPERMAN FAMILY 190 around the time the first
film came out in '78. Before that film, my knowledge of
Superman came from, THE SUPERFRIENDS, the Filmation
cartoons and the George Reeves show. Imagine my confusion
over a 1978 Superman comic. There was no foundation for
me, so there was no chance I was going to accept some of
the crazy stuff I was reading.
JB, gave me that foundation.
Kal-el was from Krypton and raised in Smallville by the
Kents. He lived in Metropolis, worked at the Daily Planet
with Perry, Lois and Jimmy. This was a Superman I could
connect with.
Btw, the MAN OF STEEL mini series is great to read with
John Williams music playing in the background.
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Eric Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 October 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 2319
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| Posted: 01 February 2018 at 1:56am | IP Logged | 9
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I loved Earth-One and Earth-Two and I loved John Byrne's SUPERMAN reboot.
I was happy with how they closed up shop on the Earth-One versions, with Alan Moore and Curt Swan doing the last Earth-One Superman story and how other creative teams ended the stories for the Flash and Wonder Woman. I was looking forward to CRISIS and enjoyed it while I read it. I bought and enjoyed JB's SUPERMAN, George Perez's take on WONDER WOMAN, and the fresh take on BATMAN. Everything was looking good.
So, I loved all the continuity of the heroes and books I grew up, but I was definitely open to making everything new. Unfortunately, they spent the next 20 or 30 years retroactively screwing with the histories of my old Earth-One and Earth-Two favorites AND the new versions they were giving us!
I have my DC collections in two different bookcases--the pre-CRISIS stuff in one bookcase and the post-CRISIS stuff in the other. I keep buying old back issues and adding to the pre-CRISIS case. I look at the post-CRISIS case and wish I could sell them--cheap, even. (JB's SUPERMAN and ACTION are safe over in my JB section.)
It takes a lot of effort to mess up EVERYTHING, probably more than it would have to just do it right in the first place.
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Brian Hague
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 14 November 2006
Posts: 8515
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| Posted: 01 February 2018 at 2:36am | IP Logged | 10
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I love that bookcase arrangement and the general tone of your post, Eric. It brought on a big smile. Thanks.
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Petter Myhr Ness
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 02 July 2009
Location: Norway
Posts: 3857
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| Posted: 01 February 2018 at 7:02am | IP Logged | 11
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Funny thing about reboots, it doesn't take them long to get back in the same mess that made them feel that the reboot was necessary, does it? Basically everything DC wanted to get rid off with CRISIS has come back into play, and it didn't take long.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132620
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| Posted: 01 February 2018 at 7:08am | IP Logged | 12
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Funny thing about reboots, it doesn't take them long to get back in the same mess that made them feel that the reboot was necessary, does it? Basically everything DC wanted to get rid off with CRISIS has come back into play, and it didn't take long. •• Something else for which I at least partly take the blame. Looking back, I realize it was a huge mistake to bring in the likes of Mxyptlk and Titan, Metallo and the Phantom Zone (even tho the latter was part of the Pocket Universe). Basically, I opened the doors for the creative teams that followed.
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