Was the Death of Superman a big deal?

[Tonguez]

On a side note: The movie Tony Stark is not the Tony Stark from the comics I read in the 80s and 90s. Anyone else feel this way?
Bullgrit

What do think is missing? They touched on the recovering alkie, the driven man, technobabble and billionaire, playboy philanthropist

its a different medium so its not going to have as much depth or exploration but I think its a good portrayal

 

[megamania]

The Death of Superman brought renewed interest to comics as a medium. It created four new titles that sold well to begin with. Redefined / clarified the source of Superman's powers (solar energy).

So yes it was important but its now kinda trivial

 

[Bullgrit]

What do think is missing?

It's not so much what's missing, as how he is portrayed. In the 80s and 90s when I was collecting and reading IM, he was more serious, less silly. He was smart but not witty -- the movie IM seems more like the comics Spider-Man in that regard. He would never wear band tshirts, would never poke fun at teammates, etc. In the comics he could be a good team player, and was less narcissistic, too. I liked the comics Tony Stark as a personality and hero, but I find myself actually disliking the movies Tony Stark as a personality, and he doesn't seem like a selfless hero.

For instance, the entire plot of Age of Ultron -- all the deaths, all the destruction, all the near-total-annihilation of all life on Earth -- was due to Tony Stark being an ass and making a super-powered murderbot behind everyone's back. And after all that, he walks away from it apparently without any guilt in his mind. (And I really, really, really liked the Age of Ultron movie -- I saw it 3 times.)

But then, the Thor of the movies is quite different than the Thor of the comics (of my time), too. But I don't find myself disliking Thor in the movies -- as a personality and hero.

Bullgrit

I'm about to go on a 3 day vacation, so I probably won't be posting for the next few days. FWIW.

 

[Ryujin]

Considering the Wikipedia article cites a making of feature on the Superman: Doomsday DVD.....

The Death of Superman comic - 1992

Superman/Doomsday movie - 2007

Yup, anything coming from the "making of" features in that DVD would potentially be revisionist. That's plenty of time for people to think, "Crap, we screwed up. How to we talk our way out of this one?"

 

[billd91]

It's not so much what's missing, as how he is portrayed. In the 80s and 90s when I was collecting and reading IM, he was more serious, less silly. He was smart but not witty -- the movie IM seems more like the comics Spider-Man in that regard. He would never wear band tshirts, would never poke fun at teammates, etc. In the comics he could be a good team player, and was less narcissistic, too. I liked the comics Tony Stark as a personality and hero, but I find myself actually disliking the movies Tony Stark as a personality, and he doesn't seem like a selfless hero.

Apparently you missed The Ultimates. The movie Tony Stark, I think, draws some inspiration from the Ultimates version of Tony Stark - more wit and bluster, much less of a stiff than regular continuity Tony Stark. That said, going overboard on a project with totalitarian potential? That's classic Tony Stark.

 

[trappedslider]

The Death of Superman comic - 1992

Superman/Doomsday movie - 2007

Yup, anything coming from the "making of" features in that DVD would potentially be revisionist. That's plenty of time for people to think, "Crap, we screwed up. How to we talk our way out of this one?"

Only if your cynical, back in the 90s superman came out as Kent and asked Lois to marry him, a wedding would have gotten them sells, and some news coverage. But due to other interest such the tv show they had to go with a different story line,which was the Death one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Superman#Origins

And as for wikipedia when it comes to comic books,unless you're a fly on the wall or have someone who recorded the minutes of the meetings.....all we got are what's said on DvD commentaries and such. Also some contend that the story line lead to a decline in comic books sells.

 

[Tonguez]

Apparently you missed The Ultimates. The movie Tony Stark, I think, draws some inspiration from the Ultimates version of Tony Stark - more wit and bluster, much less of a stiff than regular continuity Tony Stark. That said, going overboard on a project with totalitarian potential? That's classic Tony Stark.

yeah I think its pretty well established that the Movieverse is derived from the Ultimates rather than any of the more classic histories - the whole Fury is Samuel Jackson thing is a dead give away

 

[Ryujin]

Only if your cynical, back in the 90s superman came out as Kent and asked Lois to marry him, a wedding would have gotten them sells, and some news coverage. But due to other interest such the tv show they had to go with a different story line,which was the Death one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Superman#Origins

And as for wikipedia when it comes to comic books,unless you're a fly on the wall or have someone who recorded the minutes of the meetings.....all we got are what's said on DvD commentaries and such. Also some contend that the story line lead to a decline in comic books sells.

Yup, when it comes to such obvious gimmicks I become pretty cynical. Some people argue that it led to a drop in comic sales, or at least accelerated the virtual death of the comics industry. People who are in the industry, as well as fans.

http://www.milehighcomics.com/tales/cbg127.html

https://comicbookgrrl.wordpress.com...dustry-and-marvel-is-about-to-reload-the-gun/

 

[billd91]

yeah I think its pretty well established that the Movieverse is derived from the Ultimates rather than any of the more classic histories - the whole Fury is Samuel Jackson thing is a dead give away

Oh, I think stories are based on classic Marvel no less than Ultimates, though some characterization are Ultimates-informed (particularly Fury). Though keep your eye on the new Fantastic Four movie - they definitely noticed the Ultimate FF.

 

[Deset Gled]

Only if your cynical, back in the 90s superman came out as Kent and asked Lois to marry him, a wedding would have gotten them sells, and some news coverage. But due to other interest such the tv show they had to go with a different story line,which was the Death one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Superman#Origins

And as for wikipedia when it comes to comic books,unless you're a fly on the wall or have someone who recorded the minutes of the meetings.....all we got are what's said on DvD commentaries and such. Also some contend that the story line lead to a decline in comic books sells.

While your Wikipedia links are interesting, they're also entirely irrelevant to the question I was asking. I don't care about what the artists or suits thought or meant. I'm asking about what the audience and general public felt, then and now.

So, what do *you* actually think?