So am I the only person on the board that likes married superheroes?  :-)  I don't think EVERY hero needs to be married of course (or should be), but in the midst of a sea of "will they or won't theys" or "when will theys" or whatever, getting some "they dids and here's what happened next" into the mix seems like a good thing to add variety to the status quos available.  Even beyond that, marriage is supposed to be a new beginning, not an ending.  Nice to see some fiction that actually recognizes that.

(And please note, I've felt that way since long before I even thought about dating, much less before I got married.  None of that "I want my characters to grow up with me" stuff, here.)

More specific to Superman, after the borderline(?) misogyny of the Weisinger days it's more than a little refreshing to see Clark and Lois interacting with each other on an equal level, rather than playing some twisted game with each other.  I really do think the new interaction added a lot more to the characters than it took away.  (And I'm not sure what it took away was all that great.  Not in execution, anyway.)

Dave's point of view sounds fairly rational and grounded for adult readers who have certain opinions and feelings about marraige. It does nothing for kids who have no experience with that sort of relationship outside that of their parents possibly.

Those "games" Clark and Lois played with one another sold millions upon millions of comics back in the day, and became familiar touchstones throughout the world of pop culture. There was tension, suspicion, comedy, drama... substantial grist for the writer's mill.

Chucking that dynamic to write episodes of "The World According to Jim" instead strikes me as self-defeating and tired. "God, do I HAVE TO come up another month's worth of by-play between those two...? Why can't they just shack up and starting hitting the sheets the way real people do??" Because "real people" sell so many comics, you know...

I, myself, am getting nothing out of the recent dynamic of having Lois insist that she must do her job and go to the Middle East, where Superman has sworn not to go for fear of inadvertantly representing the American Government, despite the dangers to herself while he stays impotently at home, in the dark, sucking his thumb...

Proponents of married super-heroes overlook the fact that married heroes have long been a part of the landscape. Barry got married. Ray got married. Katar and Shayera always were. Reed and Sue got married. Comics were not shying away from the topic, nor were they presenting it in an unrealistic, unpopular light. (Well, there was the Web from Archie Comics, but that's an isolated example... )

However, having Peter Parker and Clark Kent marry (not each other) alters the landscape considerably. These two are the flagship characters of their respective companies. Marital bliss became the default state of all comic book characters at that point. And there are reasons the step is called "settling down."

"Settled down" super-heroes are far less interesting. I might even go so far as to say that married people in general are far less interesting, but that may be too much of a red flag for this discussion. No, no, you're all wonderful people, the way you all begin talking about less and less, get angry with one another in uncommunicative code, and stop inviting your single friends to your parties... You're great, really. I take back what I said about you. I love you all! Hugs!! :-)

Whether or not the leap into marraige occurs in lockstep with such a decision in the reader's personal life, it remains nevertheless THE definitive example of demanding that comics grow with the reader. "Secret identity trouble with the girlfriend, AGAIN?? Geez... It'd be so much more... I dunno, ...REALISTIC if they'd just get over it and get married!"

Or the reader could go pick up a book or some other form of reading material where they will not be so likely to find such "tired" and "played out" conventions, leaving the comics to continue the stories and "game-playing" that have served them so well for so many decades.

* And really, everyone, I was kidding with those cracks about married couples...

Kip Lewis wrote: "You know what will be funny is if this costume for Superman sticks around for a decade or two, when DC does its next reboot and decides to lighten the colors and make some other changes, fans of this Superman will be saying things like, 'the lighter color doesn't make him look heroic' and other such comments."

Yeah, ha ha. Hysterical, really... Ha...

And so very likely to occur as well. After all, public sentiment remains very high on this look from 18 years ago...

And this one from 14 years back...

The general public is overwhelmed with nostalgia for these bold and imaginative redesigns...

I'd just like to take a moment to note that we are now on page 52 of discussing DC's new 52 title rollout...

Matt, yeah, I know. :-)

Brian, if you have any Superman stories that show that "comedy, drama, etc." from the Weisinger period or whenever, please point them out to me.  Not trying to be snarky, but I've read a ton of Superman comics and I can't think of many times this wonderful triangle I keep hearing about that must be preserved at all costs was actually on display in the books.

Beyond that, "by play" is hardly something you can only do pre-marriage.  My point is that I found Clark and Lois more enjoyable to read about after they got married than before.  (Not during the silly drama games writers play because they feel there has to be conflict and drama internal to the relationship at all times.)  Peter and MJ, too, but let's not go there. ;-)

(And proponents of marriage don't forget it's part of the landscape and has been for quite awhile.  It's just that opponents of marriage keep splitting them all up (via divorce, death, demonic decree, whatever) to the point where there aren't hardly any left!) 

Some more costume images that were revealed in San Diego:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=33533

"How wrong was this?"

Not at all?  :-)  But seriously...

"And superheroes, who should be aimed at kids, are a great form of escapism. You can dream to be like Spider-Man or Superman and fight against injustice like they do. Their life is always unpredictable... everything can happen. But, if they're married... their life seems much less appealing to a kid: it follows a pattern, like most of adults' lives."

Most secret id stuff in comics tends to follow a pattern, particularly with the DC books.  It can vary between book to book, but frequently the main point of the secret id stuff is to provide for a dramatic costume change scene, give the hero a reason to be at the scene of the instigating event or to make sure he has friends who can get endangered by the villain du jour.  The unpredictability tends to come when you get to the costume stuff.  What clever plan does the villain have?  Will the hero be able to stop it this time?  Etc., etc.

"One of the things I liked in Superman was his "rivalry" with Clark Kent. Clark wanted Lois, but she loved Superman. So Clark had to show Lois what a nice guy he was..."

Honest question here:  what rivalry?  I'm aware of a brief period early in the JB run where it was kind of there, but it didn't take too long for Lois to get over her initial fascination with Superman (and by Action #597, she had figured out Clark was Superman, anyway.  Fortunately(?), Jonathan Kent was there to save the day).  After that it was just "will they or won't they" with Clark, which a year or two into the Stern run turned into "they will." 

Pre-JB, there was the rare story where Clark lamented the need to play such a wimpy role, but generally Clark and Superman had their roles in the big scheme of things and that was that.  

I prefer it that way, myself.  Leave the angsting to Spider-Man.  Superman tended to be the well -adjusted sort.  Superman did his good deeds, while Clark left him time to be normal once in awhile.  It was more necessary Post-JB, when Clark had loved ones that actually weren't a) tied to Superman more than him and/or b) indestructable, but even Pre-JB there was the notion that being Clark meant there were times when he wasn't getting asked to help out which helped prevent superburnout. 

Now I did/do enjoy his rivalry with Lois, but I think that (when handled properly) was enhanced by the romantic relationship, since both parties knew where the other was coming from (and Lois knew about Clark's advantages in certain capacities).  Seemed like more of a fair fight that way.