Superman in Comic Books, 1986-2018 (Spring 2018)

Superman: The Wedding Album

I have selected this image for a few different reasons. Superman has always been the mysterious, lone-wolf of an alien hero that never saw eye to eye with other heroes, and made plenty of enemies along the way. Part of being a super hero is inherently accepting the fact that no one, ever will be able to find out your identity because it can cause many of issues in the story line, and the heroes life itself. However, Superman, the American heart-throb, do-gooder hero decides to finally get married to his significant other, Lois Lane. It has been a long time coming, I mean, at this point they have been dating for 50+ years. That's unheard of, but Comics don't move at the same time or speed of actual life. One of the most Iconic things about this image is that, well it's Superman, the man that is made of steel, he is unharmed by anything that touches him, and stronger than anyone or anything else in the world. This would seem to propose some issues of a marriage when we think about the "physical" of things. Would Superman ever be able to love his wife, Lois as he should? or will he always be behind that cowl of Superman, and never be known to be Clark Kent?

-Lane Flake

Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

The item I chose to digitize from Superman comic books is from the comic book story released in 1986 called, "Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?"  This comic was published by DC Comics, written by Alan Moore, and drawn by Curt Swan. I chose a specific panel, which is the very last panel on the last page of the story where it has a man who is supposedly named Jordan Elliot winking at the reader and saying, "What do you think?"  This story was originally conceived as the last Superman story ever at its release. In it, readers are convinced that Superman had perished in a battle against his foes and that Lois Lane went on to marry a man named Jordan Elliot, however Superman's death is never confirmed. On the last page the reader sees Jordan Elliot and Lois Lane's toddler crush a lump of coal into a diamond with his bare hands, hinting that the child has superpowers.  Therefore, one of his parents likely has superpowers, so its reasonable to assume that the husband, Jordan Elliot is in fact Superman.  Just before the last panel Lois asks Jordan if living happily ever after sounds good to him, to which he winks at the reader and responds, "What do you think?"  I chose this artifact because although it is a generally dark story about the supposed death of Superman, the ending kind of reassures the reader that everything is going to be okay since Superman is alive.  Not only does it reassure everything will be okay, but it also does it in a clever, subtle way which I appreciated. 

-Bryce Sharrits

Superman: Birthright

"Superman: Birthright", is a twelve issue limited series that ran from 2003-2004 to “update Superman’s origin story for the 21st Century seeing as the last version of the origins was from 17 years prior in John Byrne’s “Man Of Steel.”” The first three issues of the mini series follow’s Clark before he is Superman. This was an attempt to make the character of Clark Kent that much more appealing to readers. They are trying to make Clark Kent as embedded into the story of Superman as Peter Parker is in Spider-Man. Part of writing a hero is to make sure the audience reading can really picture themselves being this character and this is achieved by having their alter-ago deal with real life situations that normal people encounter on a semi daily basis.

-Alexander Morris

All-Star Superman

All-Star Superman are twelve-issue American comic book series featuring Superman that was written by written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Frank Quitely, and digitally inked by Jamie Grant. The series ran from November 2005 to October 2008. The origins of this lie in a revamp of Superman and Superman Now. The ideas generated by that cooperation were refined and pitched to DC comics in 1998 by Morrison, Mark Millar, Mark Waid and Tom Peyer. DC claimed that this series would "strip down the Man of Steel to his timeless, essential elements". Morrison wanted to write a "collection of ‘timeless’ Superman issues". This honest attempt to synthesize the best of all previous eras; intention to honor each of Superman’s various interpretations and to use internal story logic as our launching pad for a re-imagined, streamlined 21st century Man of Steel. 

-Hasna Eid Alabkary

Superman: Infinite Crisis

Splash page featuring the Superman, Lois Lane, Superboy, and Alexander Luthor of Earth-Two. Superman is the main figure in the composition, flying fist-forward through a shattering glass-like barrier. Superboy charges behind him, and the two are flanked by Alexander Luthor on the left floating in a gold body suit, and Lois Lane standing poised on the right in a purple dress.

-Allison Kuhr

Superman: The Death of Superman

Pictured is the cover for The Death of Superman graphic novel collection that contains various issues pertaining to this specific story arc, including the events leading up to Superman’s demise, as well as the aftermath of the fall of the iconic hero and the impact this had within the DC Universe. The image features a distraught Lois Lane clinging to Superman’s brutally beaten body following his defeat at the hands of Doomsday. In the background, Superman’s tattered cape is shown as well, as a means of emphasizing the carnage and magnitude of his death; it is reminiscent of a flag flying at half-mast following a tragedy. DC Comics published the original issue of this storyline in 1992, however this trade paperback collection that the library possesses was compiled and released by DC Comics in 1993. In terms of considering what kind of reader this artifact would appeal to, it seems that this comic is mainly aimed at two sorts of demographics. For one, it seems targeted specifically at older Superman fans, primarily due to the graphic nature of this storyline. However, it can also be argued that this storyline was meant to pique the interest of comics fans and superhero enthusiasts in general, as this issue saw quite the pivotal moment in the character’s history; Superman is such an iconic character, and for him to be killed off had quite the impact not only in DC Comics canon, but also in pop culture as a whole. 

This particular storyline in the history of Superman is very significant for a variety of reasons. To begin, the story contributes a new understanding of the character. As previously mentioned, Superman dies while fighting to stop Doomsday in the midst of a killing spree on a rampage in Metropolis. Prior to this, Superman was thought to be relatively impervious to injury. But after this event, it became clear that even the Man of Steel was not completely immortal, and as a result of this storyline, the character gained a 

vulnerability that he previously did not possess. Beyond having an impact on the Superman canon, this storyline had a large impact on the comics industry in a broader sense as well. At the time of its release in the early 1990s, there was a boom in comics sales and collecting, and so the publication of this storyline greatly played into this phenomenon, as this became somewhat of a cultural event as a result of the long history and established widespread adoration of the character. Finally, there has been a lasting impact of this comic, as elements of the narrative have played a role in the creation of other media products based on the events in this arc. For example, the storyline was adapted into a direct to DVD animated film called Superman: Doomsday, which was released in 2007. And more recently, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice drew directly from the comics by including Superman’s death while fighting Doomsday in the film. Overall, it is clear that this particular artifact not only was impactful at the time of its initial release, but it continues to remain significant within the Superman story to this day.

-Peter Cilik