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Opinions on Superman comics from the '80s and '90s.
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27 posts in this topic

What's the deal with  Superman comics from the '80s and '90s (read in a Seinfeld voice for greater effect). I have been working my way through the Adventures of Superman and have been curious what the opinions are on the quality of the art and stories in the Superman books from the 1980's and '90s. There seems to be a steep dropoff in value and reputation (seemingly) and I am wanting to know what the real deal is, or what your opinion on said real deal is?

 

Gracias amigos,

Jerosity aka the comicbookprofessor aka theNewb

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On 10/22/2021 at 9:13 PM, KCOComics said:

Comics in the 80s and 90s became mass produced

Um... no.

On 10/22/2021 at 9:13 PM, KCOComics said:

Key characters like Superman had print runs in the millions.

For only a handful of issues.

On 10/22/2021 at 9:13 PM, KCOComics said:

SA books generally were always treated as comic books. Children's play things. So higher grade issues were relativity uncommon.

They were generally treated as disposable entertainment, though that was changing.

On 10/22/2021 at 9:13 PM, KCOComics said:

The bronze age saw higher production runs

No.

On 10/22/2021 at 9:13 PM, KCOComics said:

and more people taking the hobby seriously.

Yes.

On 10/22/2021 at 9:13 PM, KCOComics said:

The 80s and 90s are that terrible combination of high print runs and lower demand

Not really. Just lower attrition/better preservation.

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Re: reputation (not speaking to value) I think lots of factors are involved here.

Patriotism after the 1970s became splintered in some ways, and cynicism in the American ideal equated to cynicism about Superman and his ideals. So Batman rose while Superman did not. Other superheros are not tied to the idea of America like Superman or Captain America are and it seems the USA is not as united as it was in Superman's glory days during the world wars, so his appeal splinters as well.

Frank Miller made Superman The Big Blue Boyscout and just not cool.

The Superman movies became campy and bad, lessening expectations and benefits of Chris Reeves for the comic.

A mullet was involved.

Now we have a zillion Batman titles and many less Superman titles. Maybe Jon changes some of that? 

 

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On 10/23/2021 at 10:38 AM, shadroch said:

Anyone could end up bitten by a radioactive spider, or be a mutant, or a volunteer in a secret government supersoldier project.  People can identify with those things. However, none of us were born on a foreign planet with god like powers. That ship has already sailed.

Genre inspiring but less relatable as years pass.   Superman will never overtake Batman for the masses, but why does it need to be a competition???

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On 10/23/2021 at 10:42 AM, MAR1979 said:

Genre inspiring but less relatable as years pass.   Superman will never overtake Batman for the masses, but why does it need to be a competition???

I don't know about competition but they are good comparisons. Both debut roughly around the same time in the same genre and still endure. Wonder Woman just isn't a good comparison, maybe Captain America would be as well (but that generates even more intense competitive vibes!).

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People forget, or maybe they never knew, that Batman, pre-DK, was a very slow selling book. The powers that be wanted to cancel Detective Comics, evidently not knowing the company was named after the title.  Batman, Detective, Action, Superman, Worlds Finest and Brave and the Bold were among the worst selling super hero titles being published.  Miller, and to a less extent Jim Starlin was able to breath new life into Batman while Byrnes attempt to revive Superman fell pretty flat.

I didn't care for Byrnes' Superman, or any of the new Supermen that emerged after his death. I found the whole Superboy Prime storyline ludicrous, but then I also found Knightfall to be never-ending garbage, as well.

Alan Moore showed he could handle Superman with his three issue run, and his year long tribute in Images Supreme might be my favorite "Superman" arc of all time. 

Edited by shadroch
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On 10/23/2021 at 11:15 AM, shadroch said:

Alan Moore showed he could handle Superman with his three issue run, and his year long tribute in Images Supreme might be my favorite "Sperman" arc of all time. 

I am a big fan of Moore's Supreme as well, and it is straight up Superman stories yes. The Krypto-analog was handled awesomely. 

The boards have taught me that my memory is inaccurate, but in my mind it was FM's TDK, Byrne's Superman and Perez' Wonder Woman all at the same time!

 

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On 10/25/2021 at 5:19 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

I love 1990's Superman. 1980's are hit or miss for me.

1990's stories were pretty good, but art was pretty bad in the mid-90's for Superman (and honestly many other comics at that time.)

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On 10/26/2021 at 7:04 AM, revat said:

1990's stories were pretty good, but art was pretty bad in the mid-90's for Superman (and honestly many other comics at that time.)

My impression artwise with the 90s is that Todd McFarlane's style took off in such a big way that many of the new guys tried to ape it (and did so very poorly).  I'd stopped collecting in the early 90s, so don't really know what happened with Superman, but I do remember the mullet.

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On 10/22/2021 at 8:20 PM, jerosity said:

What's the deal with  Superman comics from the '80s and '90s (read in a Seinfeld voice for greater effect). I have been working my way through the Adventures of Superman and have been curious what the opinions are on the quality of the art and stories in the Superman books from the 1980's and '90s. There seems to be a steep dropoff in value and reputation (seemingly) and I am wanting to know what the real deal is, or what your opinion on said real deal is?

 

Gracias amigos,

Jerosity aka the comicbookprofessor aka theNewb

Remember: More Supply = Less Demand which leads to low prices... 

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On 11/12/2021 at 11:59 AM, JasonTodd69 said:

Remember: More Supply = Less Demand which leads to low prices... 

Said every owner of a Hulk 181 or ASM 300... 

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Superman is hard to make "interesting".  It can be done though.  As others have mentioned, Alan Moore did it (although I prefer his Miracleman stuff to his Superman or Supreme).  The last really good Superman story that I read was Morrison's All Star Superman, which was fantastic.  I enjoyed some of the arcs in Batman/Superman from a "few" (10-15 years ago now).  

Didn't read 80s 90s Superman other than the Moore stuff.   

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