Bill: "Regarding the marriage issue, I think I'm like most people.  I want the status quo that existed when I started reading."

Why should marriage be any different than any other facet of a status quo? :-)

I'd say the status quo we started with (and in the years immediately following) establishes our "baseline."  From that point on, changes that enhance what we started with is "good," and stuff that takes away from it is "bad." All graded on the ever-so-objective scale of personal opinion of course. 

QUOTE: 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.

The issue you mention is exactly one of my examples! If I recall correctly Clark and Lois were getting a bit closer (not necessarily as lovers) after the years she spent despising him for stealing her the first Superman scoop. And then... boom. She learns that he and Superman knew each other since they were kids.
This added new conflict to their unfinished relationship.

On the rivalry... well, as remembered by Clark himself in Superman #1 (the Vol. II book, of course), it would be easy to win Lois' love as Superman... but he wants to to id as Clark.
A challenge to his other self, apparently hopeless, but a positive man like Clark Kent would never stop trying!

QUOTE: 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.

I haven't any problems with Superman with some angst (SOME!). One of the things I like the more in old stories is, he suffered a lot of losses and there are things he cannot have; this can make him sad sometimes, but he is a true example of inner strenght, and he is able to move on. This is one of the things which made him great to me. Another, weaker man would let sadness become bitterness and would not be able to help his fellow man. But not Superman.
Do you remember the original Return to Krypton by Jerry Siegel?

That's the perfect example of what I mean: in the last page he's very sad for having lost a love interest (Lyla) and his parents again. He needs one single panel to move on and remember that he is Superman and the world needs him. Hey, I still can't believe I hated this character when I was a kid! How could I be so stupid?

Anyway, I'd hate to see Clark being more Kryptonian than human just because his main love interest has another man and because his parents are dead. This would betray the feelings Superman had in those stories.
After the "Clark meets Lois' boyfriend" scene we already saw from Superman Vol. III #1, I'd expect to see him thinking something like "I wish I could be him! I care for Lois so much and... wait a minute! Jimmy Olsen's signal watch! No time for self complaining!"

But a scene like this...

"I'm so depressed, I hate the whole world, now I'll destroy some mountain because I'm angry, and who cares if someone lives around there, great Rao! Then I'll spend the rest of the day reading some ancent Kryptonian book."

Um, that would make ME sad!

Funny how the last time George Pérez was involved in a Superman run, the Man of Steel wearing a Kryptonian suit meant he was acting out of his character... and now that could be perfectly IN character according to the new continuity!
Funny... or should I say scary?

QUOTE: 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.

But still a fight! One of the things I liked the more in Lois & Clark.

Thank you, Dave... because we disagree, but it's always good to discuss about comics with someone who would never insult you just because your opinion is different!
Which is exactly what happened when I talked about this same subject in an Italian forum... aaah, the people who lives through comic books... sigh.

No events planned for the next 5 years?  Yeah.  Right.

There are two brand new books that Geoff Johns is working on, two titles he's never worked on before.  Odds are one of them will include some "super-duper event" within them in the next 2 years.  He just cannot help himself in creating an event.

I'm going to treat the new DCU as something that I've never read before. I did this when I picked up Man of Steel #1 all those years ago. My knowledge of the DCU came from cartoons and movies prior to that because I was a Marvel kid. Just like back then, if I read it and like It, I will continue to buy it. 

I like the Kent's being alive but they're not going to be. I'm okay with the marriage but the comic was the only place outside of Lois and Clark that it existed so I can handle losing it. These are changes to the Superman that I've known for 25 years but I hope that the new stuff will be something that I want to read.