The New 52 Superman

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[@DanielsBibliophagy]

I tried to use the new 52 as my starting point for getting into DC comics and it made me into a big Marvel fan.

[@bekzodjonisamiddinov7623]

I am so sorry😂 It's not that bad, it's just that it felt like what if Marvel replaced 616main universe with Ultimate Universe

[@michaelwilson2340]

To me DC hasalways been the runner up. Other than the Justice Society Of America, I'm a Marvel guy. Always have been. Especially the Jim Shooter years. Too many reboots of the DC Universe and their sales are atrocious right now.

[@kingtiger5040]

I unironically view the New 52 Superman as a far more engaging and entertaining version of the character than his Post-Crisis counterpart.He felt more closer to the original Golden Age variant and was less capable of being visualized as a government stooge.Post-Crisis Superman with the exception of the Kelly/Loeb and Johns/Busiek eras was way too embroidered with soap opera storylines,had a confusing continuity with multiple versions of Zod,Kandor,the Fortress of Solitude and Supergirl all the while having a vast majority of his most memorable of his stories such as Action #775 and Kingdom Come being essentially the comic book equivalent of video essays strawmanning the popular anti-heroes of that era such as the Elite being a parody of Mark Millar's The Authority.Most people forget that the last Superman story before the reboot was the terrible news known as Grounded where Superman essentially takes a walk around the U.S for more than 10 issues in which he gives his infamous "Over There" speech. That being said the New 52 did many idiotic things with the character such as giving him to Lobdell for one.

[@BooklessPete]

When the New 52 started I thought it would be a good time to get back into reading superhero comics, which I'd been out of for years. I think I lasted about two weeks 😂😂😂

[@LiterateTexan]

I had a similar experience, but I Hung in there for 2 months.

[@DanielsBibliophagy]

Haha, same.

[@laverdadescatolica5]

@@LiterateTexannew 52 Superman is Superman from the 1930s. The REAL SUPERMAN, who would kill off evil businessmen and fight for “social Justice.” Anything after that is “American propaganda Superman” of the 1940s, which is … “American propaganda” 😀

[@jonathanauffarth5646]

New 52 had some great stuff apart from Superman. Animal Man, Batman, and the best run of all Jeff Lemire's Green Arrow are all awesome.

[@woolybooger7770]

The Super Sons series was really enjoyable during the Rebirth era.

[@ers5072]

Love the tie. Am I the only one who noticed it?

[@jenniferr.9528]

I noticed it after I saw your comment 🤣

[@joshuaaustin7038]

nope

[@davebrzeski]

Grant Morrison on Superman was like... there's this really good hot sauce. I know, let's pour it in our coffee!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Yes!

[@stevezeidman7224]

The tie, Michael! The tie!

[@StevenEverett7]

I'm very happy that I've never read any of the comics from this time period. I'll stick with the older ones.

[@bizarrebraincomics7819]

I had stopped buying Supes and others long before this period just because comics had gotten so outrageously expensive.

[@GrammaticusBooks]

“And then he died and we were all happy”, Lol. Good video Michael.

[@QTRemnant]

Personally, I love new 52 Superman and that's thanks to Superman unchained. Too bad that DC couldn't sort the issues with this Superman's storylines and history (along with other characters) because he could've been a great character that would've been different from post crisis (or convergence) Superman in the same way that ultimate spider man and 616 SM are different.

[@inanimatecarbongod]

Grant Morrison has spent his whole career trying to be Alan Moore without the latter's hair and beard and with more drugs and more seriousness about magic. (Cf. the "wankathon" he asked his readers to perform when The Invisibles was facing cancellation, and cf. Moore's happy acceptance of Glycon's probable fictitiousness.)

[@luciferfernandez7094]

Yeah, but sometimes he gets a genuine great comic: Superman All Star is top 5 best Superman stories ever.

[@TheScholarGentleman]

And it seems the wankathon worked.

[@needsmorecoffee6098]

So far, the only Superman comic I’ve read was a hardcover version of Superman for All Seasons. It was one of the best comics I’ve read and the book itself is beautiful. I was thinking of what to read next and 52 was near the top of the list. If it’s that bad, I’m glad I didn’t start the series. Thanks as always for the great comic book reviews.

[@Tim_with_Tomes_and_Tales]

There was some interesting things going on in the new 52. Unfortunately, it failed to deliver on most of it. Outside the Superman/WW relationship, I don't remember much of it.

[@jacyo3076]

Just found your channel through booktube. Happy to see comics included. I'm nearly 50 and a lifelong reader of comics, sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. The New 52 was a disaster, and 70 years of continuity swept under the rug. I lasted one year into the New 52, then quit DC. I briefly returned for the first three months of Rebirth, but quit again and have bought maybe a couple dozen single issues and a handful of trades from DC since.

[@mr_reborn]

This is how you forge yourself against the oncoming onslaught of the public domain - and original creator estates and their incessant demands of being shown some respect. Siegel and Shuster always got the shaft from DC and Warner, and in contrast Mike Baron was just handed the rights to his Nexus character back by Mike Richardson, soon as he got it in hand. There are decent folks in comics.

[@freelivefree7221]

Morrison when he is on is brilliant. I like Morrison's Batman, Doom Patrol, Seven Soldiers, but he was not on during Action Comics. All writers are uneven, but comic writers are really uneven. DC needs to stop doing reboots for awhile.

[@FellVoice]

I'm confused. Did the original Supes just take over another Superman's family or was it not really the original and more of an amalgam that was married and had the son? Somebody please help me on this. Thanks.

[@TevyaSmolka]

Technically the original Superman and his wife Lois lane and his son Jonathan Samuel Kent superboy as his 10 year old self went into the new 52 universe where that version of Superman died and stayed dead for a very long time as of late in my opinion.

[@Gio-m]

So what Superman would you recommend to a new reader who wants to start? I want to read Superman, but I don’t want a one-off story and I do want something modern. I’m not sure if I want father-son type of stories either. It seems like that doesn’t exist right now? I was hoping the New 52 would’ve been perfect but it doesn’t sound like it is lol

[@tonygriego6382]

I haven't read anything DC since The New 52. And judging by what I've seen from the company recently, that's not going to change anytime soon. Also Jim Lee designed the costume.

[@richardadcock5450]

You always have the coolest hats.

[@TevyaSmolka]

yeah new 52 superman made no sense whatsoever that when this version of superman got killed I was so happy, mostly because we got back the real Superman who was married to his wife Lois Lane and they had there son Jonathan Samuel Kent Superboy as his little 10 year old self being a great family together in dc rebirth was really awesome and badass, and ten times better then any of the new 52 superman stories which were all garbage and bad in my opinion.

[@joshuaaustin7038]

can anyone rate the superman-wonder woman series from the new 52

[@axis2320]

Did you read Justice League Dark from the New 52? For me it was about one of the few highlights of that time.

[@luciferfernandez7094]

Seems it’s gonna be me: that Superman costume was designed by Jim Lee following the Man of Steel movie, which also tells you a lot on why the New 52 was crap.

[@ellesse3862]

Ah 50poo .. I was enjoying DC before Flushpoint ruined my fun, thanks to the silver age Flash who should've stayed dead. Some nice art here an there and the invention of the Court of Owls but otherwise nothing to write home about. Virtually everything I liked was gone or royally screwed over, not an era I miss, I'd be happier if it had never happened.

[@charliedogg7683]

All the DC restarts of their Universe/Multiverse over the years are part of the reason why I now only read two of their monthly titles. Crisis On Infinite Earths is beloved by fans with good reason. The subsequent Crises have become increasingly meaningless to me and I feel that the creators and editors are putting out these comics to impress each other and themselves, not the fans; and the company's myopic vision blinds it to anything but short-term gain.

[@laverdadescatolica5]

People liked that Lois lane and Superman were married 7:34? Perhaps it’s not that THIS interpretation of Superman was BAD, but that the demographic that purchased MARVEL/DC comic books (60% of the American comic book market) was 40-60 year-old men. This demographic had indelible interpretation of what the SUPERMAN character was. Superman was supposed to be Mr. USA … since WWII. Before that, he was basically a “socialist” aka “social Justice warrior of 1930s.” Arguably, the NEW 52 is the most COMIC ACCURATE interpretation of Superman … at least what Jerry Siegel/Joe Shuester wrote Superman to be in 1930s.

[@bekzodjonisamiddinov7623]

Action Comics by Greg Pak was peak of New 52 Superman for me

[@stephennootens916]

Superman on whole feels like an example of some of the more major issues with American comics as a whole. He has been around since like before the second World war and he has so much history that even even if you wanted to get into reading him were would be the proper starting point and he like the rest of the major DC characters often cross over to other comics and have Ben relaunched and soft reboot a couple of times. It seem like way to much of a pain in the ass. Add in you never know if the people assign to work on his comic will be good and it does seem worth the effort.

[@ben39g]

I guess I’m the freak, I love Supe new 52. 😬

[@Dems-fk8sh]

The new 52? This is when the kryptonite really had an effect on the Superman run.

[@Tim_with_Tomes_and_Tales]

New 52 Superman the worst? Superman Blue might have an issue with that.

[@PeculiarNotions]

I second that.

[@MagusMarquillin]

This is why I'm much more drawn to comic runs with clear decisive endings. In spite of that though, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are so iconic I want to appreciate something of their history, and picked up cheep comics where I found them - and nothing has shown up cheep as often as new 52 stuff. Now I understand better why, thanks, I'm just hazy on how much of a collection I really want to go with them. I care about proper introductions for context (not that I haven't watched animated shows and movies) so I need to get myself a Batman year one, and John Byrne's Superman, I've already got Greg Rucka's Wonder Woman year one (separate continuity reboot I know) and maybe go "chronologically" from there, at least look for the well rated stuff. Maybe I should hold off on more New 52, unless it's Batman, or Grant Morison, whom I'm intrigued enough it try, even if he's not as consistently wise as Moore. I've heard DC's solution to new 52 is interesting and involves Dr. Manhattan and the Watchmen universe, but I probably needed subject myself to too much stupidity to get there for the sake of context. And there's shelf space to consider. Still, I kind of want to know for myself just how bad is it really, morbid curiosity perhaps.

[@jordanthomas4379]

I actually don’t mind Supermans new look in 52, I never read the story, because I don’t care enough to read it.

[@DDB168]

This may seem like an out there comment, but I wonder to what degree this was about marketing / selling the comics in China ? 🤔 Looking at the way he's drawn, lame stories, wimpiness, lack of back story. Seems like there's a lot of compromises. I notice Grant 'Incomprehensible' Morrison was also behind The Great Ten (released for the Chinese market).

[@gabriellamarche4818]

Morrison's Action Comics run is one of the better things of the New 52.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

If you say so.

[@TheJohno95]

Geez, I was just going through a box of comics I had bought and hadn't sorted a while back and started reading some of the Superman books. And let me tell you, anytime I get to one of the New 52 ones, it's a chore to get through it. When Crisis happened, I wasn't a huge fan of the one universe. But I liked John Byrne's work enough to ease into it. But New 52 was a big mistake! I think the powers that be at DC thought that crappy Flashpoint storyline would be a good restart button instead of just being a stand-alone story, so they rushed into their reboots. Which is something you would think they would have learned from the previous ones. If you're going to do it, plan it and make it across the board. Don't do some here and some there. The Silver Age Earth 1 transition did that thing where everyone got a reboot but Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman. Which probably didn't phase too many people back then, but it makes modern collecting from that period challenging. Then Crisis did a bit of the same, except for about two years changes kept creeping in. But then New 52 just went sideways and awkwardly rebooted everything, except, like you said, Batman and Green Lantern. I had just started buying comics again after a seven-year drop off, and decided to give the new books a shot. Which was weird, since Green Lantern seemed to be in the middle of a story, Batman just felt weird, and Grant Morrison is on Superman! Never, EVER let Morrison do a mainstream book! I did think that it was funny that after about four or five years, people hated the New 52 Universe so bad they had to just do a story that made no sense whatsoever to bring the favorites from the Post-Crisis world back. Of course, they wouldn't let Superman or Flash rest long. After a couple of good years, they let Brian Michael Bendis ruin Superman and had Tom King turn Wally West into a murderer. And they've been trying to fix things ever since to little avail. Gotta love DC!

[@SleepyBookReader-666]

Jim lee designed the costume. It was horrible, as were all his costume redesigns. Imo.

[@arthurodell3281]

The New 52 was a perfect example of the road to hell being paved with good intentions. The original intent was to provide a new start point for new readers. That in and of itself isn't a bad idea. But the execution across the board, not just with Superman but virtually every title, was awful. Batman was the only character that wasn't ruined, and that's because Batman largely ignored the "changes" made by the New 52.

[@kingcrimson4554]

I lnow is dumb but i like the new 52 suit

[@LiterateTexan]

Which was worse? The Superman armor, or the blue jeans/tshirt combo? New 52 Superman was really bad. They should have just brought John Byrne back.

[@laverdadescatolica5]

Boomer nostalgia? It seems that all MARVEL/DC is 😀

[@user-zd9yn5mz1f]

I appreciate your take on this. I read the Swamp Thing under New 52, and it cruised along nicely, as the character was changed little. I also delved into the Mr. Terrific title. It seemed a slight update from the original design, but was entertaining and fun to read. I did get into the first few issues of Action. The writing was decent, and the Rags Morales art was exceptional. Not sure why l dropped it, but l think DC took on too much for the new 52, and maybe should have only been a new 32 or 22 instead. Too many talents pulling into too many different directions!

[@theragoooverlord5021]

Another thing was the inconsistent art on both books. The only decent supes title early on was a brief title called adventures of Superman and the first issue of that expirenced the first cancel culture in comics event

[@NmDPlm31]

The only place New 52 didn’t really devolve into sludge was with Batman. I thought they did a solid job and brought some great storylines. Green Lantern wasn’t bad either. I can’t speak to Superman’s quality because I’ve just never been much of a Superman guy and so didn’t read it.

[@russworks2882]

These sorts of reboots have no chance of working, unless you have an iron hand controlling it all, some megalomaniac who has charts all over the walls and has to review everything before production starts. Even then, with such a mass of characters and history, it seems almost ridiculous to attempt. The way DC did it in the Silver Age is that most of the superheroes were cancelled for several years and they did boring genre comics until the mid-50's. There's usually some value to be found in most comics characters; what you do is find a new creative team that is smart enough to take what is there and make surprising new stories out of it. This happened during the 70's quite a bit ( I remember Steve Englehart being particularly adept in expanding on the histories of the Avengers and the Justice League, sifting through the baggage and extracting stories that worked so well because of, not in spite of the history. And Alan Moore was certainly able to do masterful innovative work without blowing up the continuity and confusing the record. You don't throw out the comic to make it better, you throw out the writers who can't write it.

[@tonette6592]

HOW in the Hades could you write a character without knowing anything about them? Oh, nonononono Supperman in a Tee and camo pants? NO. Transforming Kryptonian suit...I have no words. NO, that is not Clark Kent. Is all this from an alternative universe? Gay Superman would become Supergirl now. How can you tell when Ridger is asleep?

[@kingtiger5040]

I don't what you're talking about but if you're implying that the writers know nothing about Superman,you're wrong.Morrison wrote All Star which is regarded by many as the best Superman story of the past 20 years and Perez has worked on the character alongside others in the 80s

[@Charlie_Duz]

Morrison is very weird. One of the pronoun people. Need I say more?

[@kingcrimson4554]

Dude the moment the pronoun stuff sticks it's head, all gets ruined

[@DavidWiley7]

And here I thought the New 52 would be a good launching point to really try out DC once I finish Man of Steel! I take it that's not the case...

[@ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΑ-ε1ω]

IF YOU LIKE MOS BVS ETC THEN YOU WILL LIKE N52

[@SleepyBookReader-666]

Loved the rebirth Superman- and then it was ruined by Superstar writer Bendis.

[@secretfirebooks7894]

Poor Supes. Modern writers still can't write the Man of Steel properly. How you mess up a story about a selfless hero defending the world from aliens and evil scientists is beyond me...

[@ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΑ-ε1ω]

PEOPLE NO LONGER BELIEVE IN SELFLESS HEROES THEY ARE CYNICAL

[@johnkeenan1829]

Wasn't 52 fun? Imagine having Action Comics reaching towards issue #1000 ONLY TO DROP ALL OF THAT AND GO BACK TO #1! Pissed me off to no end. I stopped buying everything from DC at that point.

[@Toracube]

Yep, dumping Louis lane was dumb….even for DC…

[@ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΑ-ε1ω]

YOU MEAN LOIS ALSO NOT EVERY DC FAN LIKES LOIS

[@kingcrimson4554]

​@@ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΑ-ε1ω I like Lois Lane 😅

[@laverdadescatolica5]

@@ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΑ-ε1ωyes! Superman and Wonder Woman should be a thing .. let Batman marry Lois 😀

[@OrangeGeemer]

I didn´t like this superman, mainly because of his personality, he was more of a Guy Gardner that a Superman (meaning reckless, hothead and unwise). Superman should be a mature figure to look up to, not just by us human, but also by other superheroes.

[@wbbartlett]

Sounds very much like the approach they take with all those dreadful movies they keep making :D

[@planet6288]

The best thing about the New 52 was the futuristic cover of Superboy #1, and the art Jorge Jimenez did for the series. Besides that, I want a full refund for the books I bought.

[@futoijosei]

I can't lie, I'm not really a Supes fan. I really didn't dislike some of the Batman comics for New 52, though. I also don't dislike the movies they made based on it. But it was a terrible universe.

[@crawdad19141]

Gay Superman (Jonathan Kent) is by far worse.

[@thakatspajamaz]

what's wrong with a Superman being gay? I do hate the age up of Jon though...

[@thakatspajamaz]

@@Yesica1993 oh you're like a whole ass dumbass bigot LOL

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

The age up was terrible. I’m bothered that they made him gay as a gimmick to make waves in the media and sell comics. I don’t care that he is a gay character, I just don’t like the way it was done. Also, I liked that character as Superboy.

[@thakatspajamaz]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Yea that's totally fair. I don't think a gay male character has been done well since Midnighter

[@mrmicro22]

Ultimately a product needs appeal and to sell. Apparently, this idea has limited appeal and did not sell well.

[@marcelo-ramos]

​@@mrmicro22 it sold really well, actually.