• Man of Steel #1

    Here you’ll find some information about Superman, and the second comic book we are going to read.  In the mid-1980s almost fifty years had passed by since the first appearance of Superman in the late-1930s. So a very complex story line with an immense set of characters had developed. To try to cope with this in the 1960s DC Comics established the multiverse, a concept of multiple parallel universes, which permitted explaining inconsistencies in events and characters, which had been changing since the launching of superhero comics.

    With all these accumulated conflicts in continuity, overlapping worlds in different universes, and changes in characterization, in 1985 DC Comics decided to simplify everything and create a more logical universe by publishing a miniseries called Crisis on Infinite Earths. From the outcome of the series, several major characters, such as Supergirl, disappeared with the interesting result that in the new reality that followed, they never existed, and thus, they were neither mourned nor remembered. Also, the concept of the multiverse was removed, collapsing all DC universes into one. Crisis was so successful that there were several crisis series afterwards, and finally in 2011, DC Comics decided to relaunch a new continuity again wiping out all that happened between 1986 and 2011.

    But In this 1985 continuity we are going to focus on, Superman was revamped by comics creator John Byrne in his mini-series The Man of Steel. Byrne rewrote Superman’s origin and history, and a notable alteration was the Clark Kent became the real person and Superman the disguise, leaving behind the idea of the mild-mannered journalist as Superman’s secret identity. Lois Lane, in turn, was also revamped, and she was portrayed as a very strong reporter who rarely needed rescuing.