Do we need a new Superman?

 NO.

 Here's what we need...publishers and writers who are willing to create new characters when "changes" need to be made, instead of forcing changes onto established characters and damaging them in the process.

  What has been done to some characters in recent years is a testament to laziness on the part of the writers who seem to want to do all sorts of things, but can't be bothered to create new characters to use these ideas, as well as the laziness of the publishers who refuse to put any effort into getting comics into the hands of new readers, preferring to let these writers run rampant right over the skulls of established characters in the interest of using "names" to sell books instead of quality.

   We don't need a new Superman. We need intelligence and professionalism in the business.    

I always think that people who have read comics who think Superman is out-of-date or what he stands for in comics isn't relevant need to move on to a new hobbie.

The character isn't the problem it's the writers and artists who work on him.

Every 15 - 20 years Superman needs a reboot or re-tooling in some form to keep him relevant to the world he is in, but the essentails and the basics of the character do not need to change.

My two year old nephew loves Superman and gets excited whenever he sees him. So I really do not think the character needs to be changed. He is as appealing as he ever was.

The type of stories and challenges he faces should change with the times, but the character should be set in stone.

I too think that Busiek and Johns have nicely balanced the best of the Weisinger-Schwartz-Bates-Maggin ages with the modern slant John Byrne put on the character.

The change I think Superman needs is that his powers could still be taken down a few more notches. Even after JB's revitalization in the 80s, I thought he was still too powerful, and since then the writers have increased Superman's powers again.

- X-Ray Vision and Heat Vision should be his only two visual powers. And heat vision needs to be nerfed somehow--comic book writers grossly overuse it.

- He's too fast. He should not be able to tie The Flash in a foot race. And his speed should be hooked into his flight somehow, something that gradually builds in acceleration over minutes and seconds.

-He's still a little too strong. The less super-strength he has, the greater the opportunities he has to get in spectacular knockdown-dragout fights with giant robots, space aliens, and so on.

Opinions?

I really liked the way Byrne imagined his super-strength. He could be knocked over by something as slight as a cannon ball if he wasn't expecting it, simply because he only weighed around 250 lbs.

I also definately agree he needs to be de-powered from his current levels too. You always hear about writers bemoaning how difficult it is to write anything for Superman because he is too powerful, yet then they go and make him more and more powerful all over again. It boggles the mind.

Still, can't we agree to get rid of the red trunks too?