5th of an 8-part series. Click Here for Part 4.
It's Superman Returns Week at Flixens and don't I look like a haughty naughty bitch as Ursa in our new Superman header? Sorry MILF, I know you wanted to be Ursa too, but I've seen that femstache you sometimes sport and know that you are more like General Zod. But atleast you get the kneeling. So to show our excitement at the first Superman movie in 20 years, we are honoring the Real Heroes of Superman in an eight part story. Today we honor John Byrne:
Ever been to Superdickery.com? Whenever I am dealing with a really irritating client, it’s always worth my time to lean back, prop my boots up on some poor schlump’s neck and browse away through hundreds of pages of terrifically random Superman comic covers from before that huge Crisis on Infinite Earths event in 1985. I am too young to have been privy to all of these wickedly juvenile comics, but it’s easy to see why DC Comics decided that, for all that was good and holy, Superman needed a reboot and he needed it bad.
When Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster first envisioned the Man of Steel, he was amazingly free of the myriad super powers he would one day use to impress only 7 year old boys everywhere. For instance, Superman couldn’t fly as envisioned by Jerry and Joe. He could leap, no doubt, but the flying came later. As did the most certain invincibility, and his various reactions to 12 different kinds of Kryptonite (Red being the most spectacularly cool because that causes Superman to mutate). Superman, for all his incredible powers, had become a little silly.
The reason is simple really. How do you write compelling stories about a man who can’t get hurt or lose. Superman had become not only impossibly unstoppable, but he had no intellectual equal. It was just as easy for him to outsmart Lex Luthor as it was to construct Super Robots to protect the earth in his absence.
It was all so… boring. At least until Clark Kent entered the picture.
But I am getting a little ahead of myself here. Starting in the late 70s and early 80s, DC began trying to revamp their heroes to bring them more in line with the growing cynicism in the world. When DC turned it’s eyes on Superman it tried to revamp his Rogue’s Gallery with a much needed face lift, but it still wasn’t enough. In fact these new faces of Superman’s enemies would barely be explored before a tremendous upheaval in the DC Universe that started in 1985.
For a company that had nearly 50 years of stories and continuity, Crisis on Infinite Earths provided not only a way for editors to streamline comic storytelling, but it also offered the company the unique opportunity to retrofit every major character. Crisis would conclude with a brand new DC Universe free from continuity errors and all the savagely funny and campy stories from days gone by. Wonder Woman would become the greatest warrior on the planet. Batman would become so chillingly dark that he would alienate the people closest to him, and Superman would finally embrace a side of him that had been sadly ignored in his 50 years of creation. Superman would become Clark Kent for the very first time.
John Byrne, an writer/artist who was hot off one of the most successful storylines in comic book history with the Dark Phoenix Saga in the Uncanny X-Men with the adorably wordy Chris Claremont, would be the catalyst for a new way for the world to view the Big Blue Boy Scout. Using notes from DC’s editorial staff and Crisis czar Marv Wolfman, Byrne would do what many comic readers would find nearly unthinkable. He would manage to make the stories of Superman both relevant and interesting.
Byrne was born in England and moved frequently between England and Canada growing up. He eventually settled in the states shortly after he entered into the comic industry. His early work is a real treat if you can find it. Byrne’s artwork has always had and amazing look, but in his early days he cranked out manically detailed drawings in the Fantastic Four and X-Men that nearly defy the eye. While comics were still being drawn to suit children, Byrne managed a style that was mature and beautiful, and I dare say he draws the best smiles in the history of the medium. And it wasn’t only his style that set him apart of the pack. His characterization of characters was incomparable. If you have read the Dark Phoenix Saga you need only imagine the differences between Jean Grey and Kitty Pryde, or Scott Summers and Logan. Byrne brought these characters to life.
It’s also so fortunate for fans of Superman and comics in general that Byrne is also a great writer. His run on the Fantastic Four as both writer and artist is filled with fantastic stories and major shake ups. His run is not only compelling and creative, but funny and inspiring.
In 1985 as the gears of change fell into place at DC, there could only be one person talented enough to recapture the spirit of what made Superman great. But Byrne’s task was a daunting one. Despite Superman’s popularity all over the world as an iconic symbol, people just weren’t interested in his stories anymore. Byrne would have to engineer a near miracle, and amazingly the changes he brought to Superman have now become the way to view the character.
Byrne began dismantling nearly every facet of the Superman story in the six issue limited series Man of Steel. His intent wasn’t to rehabilitate the character with a swath of unneeded changes. His intent was to re-envision. Krypton would become cold and remote (clearly inspired by Richard Donner’s 1978 film), Lois would become a stand-up feminist who was more likely to lift weights than pout over Superman’s lack of affection for her, and Lex Luthor would transition from maniacal super-scientist to egomaniacal billionaire business man. But it was the changes to the main hero that really resounded.
Superman, or Kal-El, or Clark began his life on Earth the same he had in 1938, but now special interest was paid to his upbringing. It was as if, for the very first time, someone asked why Superman would be such a do-gooder? Why would someone with so much power use it to advance humanity rather than decimate it? Byrne created a complete character with rational explanations for how he behaves and what he desires. Instead of Clark’s adopted parents dying off early in his life and career, they were now an important part of his life. 
Having raised the most powerful man on Earth, they were forgiving, full of common sense and most of all, loving beyond measure. These wonderful characterizations not only enriched Clark’s comic book existence, but they also ended up in three highly successful adaptations of the character, Lois and Clark, The Adventures of Superman animated series, and more recently Smallville.
Further changes included limiting Superman’s powers to a more reasonable level, and therefore stories could contain more suspense and allow a certain suspension of disbelief. Most of Superman’s secondary powers remained unchanged, if only slightly downgraded in scope. I was surprised to learn from Wikipedia that Superman actually had the ability to travel in time before Crisis, but that power was miraculously gone after Byrne’s reboot. Also of interest, after Man of Steel the idea that Superman would actually need a secret identity became so ridiculous that stories about Lois trying desperately to discover who he really was were no longer necessary.
Not all the changes were well received though. Superman would once again, just like in his early days of comic-dom, be the only survivor from Krypton. The Super Family would no longer be a staple of the comic, and Supergirl was even killed off during the Crisis maxi-series. No more Krypto. No more Superboy. Of course we know now that fan interest was keen enough to merit the return of many facets of Superman’s pre-crisis existence, but some things will never be undone.
Byrne is a hero to Superman fan’s because of his ability to not only craft and exciting tale of super-heroics, but because his forward thinking, character driven approach to the character would change Superman forever. I love the original Superman movie, and I can’t find any fault with Christopher Reeve’s performance as Superman, but I grew up in a world after Byrne’s creative tinkering, and it’s Reeve’s portrayal of Clark that always vexes me. The Clark I know is smart, resolute, handsome and dedicated. I don’t understand who this nebbish loser is in those old Superman movies, and I am a little worried about Bryan Singer’s decision to return the new Superman Returns to that form.
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But even if Singer doesn’t get it right, thanks to John Byrne there have been countless iterations of the character that get it dead on. From the flummoxed hunk with a secret crush on Lois and Clark, to the angsty and pouty lipped do-gooder on Smallville, to the funny, charming and dependable reporter on the animated series, they all started to Byrne. And this isn’t even including all the major stories, artists, writers and novelists who have taken to Byrne’s interpretation and given Superman the best run of stories he has ever seen.
Congratulations, Mr. Byrne, today you are a real hero of Superman.
Also, another great thing about Byrne is that he is still very much alive and you can actually participate in his own forum at ByrneRobotics.com.
Tune in Monday for Part 6!
