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Originally posted by THE Franta:
Spider-man went to shit, a trend it was headed toward even before the Clone Bullshit. Marvel gets some of the best names to relaunch Spidey and it gets backl on track. Getting rid of Peter's wife was the best idea yet! Part of his draw was a loser who couldnt keep the girl...suddenly he's married to a hot model/actress?!?!?!
I guess you'll be disappointed to know that they brought MJ back...although I don't know for how long. (Knowing Marvel, they'll find a way to screw up Peter's relationship again.)

Personally, I hated it when they "got rid" of MJ. I'm really sick of seeing comic book marriages go to pot, and just ONCE I want to see one go the distance. It did my heart good to see Peter and MJ reunited, but given that Marvel wanted to keep them separated because of their relationship going bust in the movie (Kevin Smith complained about it when Marvel tried to get him to write one of the books), I'm highly skeptical that this reunion will last. I've been checking out Amazing Spider-Man on and off lately, and if Peter and MJ stay together this time, I'll definitely stay on. If they get separated again, I'll be off the book again. I'm rather tired of being jerked around. Just once, I'd like to see one comic book marriage work out.

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DC needs to do the same with Supes. Get a decent team. Allow some changes that muck up what Byrne fucked up. Someone here once mentioned having Mxy or someone erase the fact that Supes was ever married! Yeah its a stretch but it'd be worth it to get rid of that sappy shit with Lois.
I don't think you can make changes like that short of a reboot, personally ( http://www.otherearths.com/rants/OzRant.htm ). The arbitrary "only one Kryptonian rule" has already botched up the Kryptonian characters who could and should have been revived in the Byrne-instigated continuity. Krypton's already been cheapened to the point where Superman has no real value for his heritage and is simply a Kansas farm boy in tights. Far too much of the mishandling of the characters has become entrenched as the official characterizations. And the whole editorial/corporate stance of DC is "keep everything exactly the same because we're too afraid to contradict a single thing Byrne did." It's why Birthright, a book which, in your own words, will "allow some changes that muck up what Byrne fucked up," is being treated as little more than a gussied-up Elseworlds. It's not the reboot Superman needs, and DC refuses to let it be labeled as "Ultimate Superman" for fear that it'll detract from the middling offerings of the monthlies. DC, out of editorial/corporate complacency and a paralyzing fear of pissing off the ever-shrinking, increasing vocal minority who's hijacked the books and wants things to stay stagnant and predictable, doesn't have the guts to instate changes in the Byrne-created continuity. And let's be honest, Byrne wrote the series into kind of a dead end when he cut off any chance of properly revisiting any of the better aspects of the Silver Age, made Luthor a businessman who can NEVER be defeated or humiliated, and made Krypton a dismal mess best left forgotten. The rules he set up wound up being far more limiting than helpful.

As for Woodstock's question about which creators I'd like to see on Superman...I have a huge list of writers and artists I'd love to see tackle the character. I mean HUGE, two pages worth. But the way the books stand now, is throwing names at them in the hopes that they can magically repair a sinking ship really the answer? They tried it with Jeph Loeb, Ed McGuinness, and Joe Kelly, and it failed. They made a big deal out of Steven Seagle taking over for Loeb, and he fell flat after his first couple issues. I think there's something fundamentally wrong with this incarnation of Superman, something that just throwing big names at it won't fix. I think you'd need to wipe the slate clean and start over before you could let the big boys come in. Either that or do an Ultimate Superman book where there would be an automatic clean slate. Oh, wait, that's what Birthright was supposed to be before DC decided that an "Ultimate"-esque Superman book would hurt the regular titles.

I'm not trying to be a kill-joy, Woodstock. Believe me when I say that. I'll be sure to post up my writer/artist picks in my next post, promise. But I don't think playing the "name game" on this incarnation of Superman is going to fix the more fundamental problems with it.