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Post by Mister Spaceman on Jan 31, 2023 17:38:28 GMT -5
Silver Age. Empty calories at their best.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jan 31, 2023 19:05:11 GMT -5
Golden Age for me. (Big surprise, right?) The character in his purest form, before he became a big ol' boring demi-god. If you need to know what all the fuss was about, check out the "Powerstone" two-parter by Jerry Siegel and Jon Sikela (Joe Shuster's bestest ghost) reprinted in my all-time favorite comic book, the 80-page Superman #252. Second place would go to the Superman Adventures version of the '90s, based on the WB animated series. Cei-U! I summon the original! Yeah. The two-part Powerstone story is my favorite Superman story. But in general, my favorite period for Superman is the late 1950s to the mid 1960s.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2023 19:19:32 GMT -5
But in general, my favorite period for Superman is the late 1950s to the mid 1960s. Exact same here!!
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 31, 2023 22:34:27 GMT -5
I can't really choose. I mostly grew up with Bronze Age and some Silver Age reprints. The Silver Age stories, overall, tended to be better than the bulk of the Bronze Age ones; but, there are runs of the Bronze Age where they were very good, like the whole Kryptonite No More sand creature run of issues, in Superman, and some of the Action Comics stories, from a similar timeframe. Elliot Maggin and Cary Bates wrote some classics there, and DC Comics Presents has some great stories, too.
The Golden Age has some terrific, if slightly thinner plotted stories, but makes up for it with the inherent enthusiasm on display.
The post-Crisis stuff is good and gets very good, at times, in the Triangle Era.
So, there are elements I love from each of the big eras. I'm more about particular stories, anyway. For art, it would be the Swanderson issues, where Murphy Anderson inked Curt Swan (like the sand creature stories) and the Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (PBHN) issues and covers. Then, Bryne & Ordway, though more Ordway than Byrne, for my tastes.
All-Star Superman, to me, was pretty much a greatest hits of Silver Age and Elliot Maggin bronze Age, including pieces from the novels.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2023 3:17:57 GMT -5
Modern Age basically encompasses a huge timeframe - about 35 years - so it's got a bit of an advantage there. I would say that actually includes several different Superman. Yeah, there should be more categories. I voted modern for Byrne but loathe the recent reboot versions. True, but I thought it might be hubristic for humble me to create my own eras. It is surprising that the industry hasn’t come up with a designation for post-Modern Age.
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Post by badwolf on Feb 1, 2023 13:26:16 GMT -5
Yeah, there should be more categories. I voted modern for Byrne but loathe the recent reboot versions. True, but I thought it might be hubristic for humble me to create my own eras. It is surprising that the industry hasn’t come up with a designation for post-Modern Age. I think you just did.
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Post by MDG on Feb 1, 2023 15:28:33 GMT -5
I put Silver Age for now, but I just downloaded Golden Age volume 2 and am really enjoying it, so don;t lose this poll too quickly.
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Post by dbutler69 on Feb 1, 2023 19:44:31 GMT -5
Modern Age basically encompasses a huge timeframe - about 35 years - so it's got a bit of an advantage there. I would say that actually includes several different Superman. Yeah, there should be more categories. I voted modern for Byrne but loathe the recent reboot versions. Actually, yeah, the Byrne version is probably my favorite (comic) version.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,051
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Post by Confessor on Feb 1, 2023 19:55:14 GMT -5
I voted Bronze Age. The Superman I enjoy the most (in comics, at least, because I think the first two Christopher Reeve films are better than any Superman comic I've ever read) would be from the mid-70s up to Crisis. Ideally, I'm thinking of Superman as drawn by Curt Swan and written by Cary Bates. That's my Superman. That's the Man of Steel I grew up with and it's the version of the character that I return to most.
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Post by Duragizer on Feb 1, 2023 21:57:55 GMT -5
Golden Age. Though I have to stress that by "Golden Age", I mean the Siegel & Shuster Superman up to c. 1941. The Golden Age stuff after they lost full creative control, Supes' powers started increasing, Wayne Boring became main artist, etc. I don't count.
Triangle Era Superman is a very close second, though.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2023 7:06:44 GMT -5
Thanks for the input, folks (nice to see some Bronze Age votes, too).
As for other ages besides Modern Age, one could always risk being arbitrary by separating eras. I mean, Byrne/Ordway is an era in its own, I feel. Having Modern Age Superman be from 1986 to 2011’s New 52 seems too long an age, but it also seems logical. Hard to know how to come up with a specific era between 1986 and 2011 - and everyone will have a different view.
Since books do often reflect the times, were there any major changes to Superman’s approach/mythos after 9/11? I do remember a TIME article after 9/11 where it was asked what Superman’s relevance would be in a more cynical world.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2023 8:24:39 GMT -5
As for other ages besides Modern Age, one could always risk being arbitrary by separating eras. I mean, Byrne/Ordway is an era in its own, I feel. Having Modern Age Superman be from 1986 to 2011’s New 52 seems too long an age, but it also seems logical. Hard to know how to come up with a specific era between 1986 and 2011 - and everyone will have a different view. Since books do often reflect the times, were there any major changes to Superman’s approach/mythos after 9/11? I do remember a TIME article after 9/11 where it was asked what Superman’s relevance would be in a more cynical world. I've always felt the period between 1986 to about 2000 feels natural, I think a little less because of groundbreaking story events but more the rise of digital coloring and overall look and feel of how comic books were evolving. The rise of a title like Ultimate Spider-Man at that time sort of ushered in a new thing to me as well. Regarding Time magazine asking about Superman's relevance...as usual they miss the whole point. Hope. That's what Superman's relevance is in a more cynical world, and usually needed more than ever.
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Post by allenchampion on Feb 7, 2023 2:18:29 GMT -5
My all-time favorite Superman story is from the Silver Age, the Imaginary Story "The Amazing Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue" presented first in SUPERMAN #162, so I guess Silver Age is the winner!
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Post by zaku on Feb 7, 2023 8:59:45 GMT -5
The Bronze Age in theory lasted about 15 years and the character and the stories, during that time, maintained a fairly uniform tone. The Modern Age has now lasted 37 YEARS and the character has changed many times (see for example New 52).
It doesn't seem to me that it makes sense to compare two so conceptually different periods (regardless of everyone's opinions regarding their quality).
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2023 9:07:04 GMT -5
The Bronze Age in theory lasted about 15 years and the character and the stories, during that time, maintained a fairly uniform tone. The Modern Age has now lasted 37 YEARS and the character has changed many times (see for example New 52). It doesn't seem to me that it makes sense to compare two so conceptually different periods (regardless of everyone's opinions regarding their quality). As I said earlier, I felt it might be hubristic of me to come up with names for modern eras. I feel that is the “pay grade” of the industry itself. I went with Wikipedia. Perhaps one day, the industry will come up with new designations. In the meantime, I believe it’s fine for people to express their own views, but had I come up with more poll options, well how far do you go before subdividing it even further? I do feel a line in the sand should have been drawn at some point during the Modern Age.
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