All-Star

All-Star

Monday, August 13, 2018

Might as well post some Superman material: SYFY's oral history of the Death of Superman

Syfy's oral history. It's pretty long.

I read shortened versions of this in a variety of books about Superman as I did my research. I was also reading comics at this time (1992-1993). I wasn't reading Superman books, though, and I sort of missed the whole thing. I was aware of it, because it was hard not to be. But it didn't have much impact.

Here's editor Mike Carlin, at the end of the oral history:

We personally felt bad that characters like LOBO and The Punisher were being hailed as role models of some sort — and maybe it was our fault that Superman felt old-fashioned still. We were in a position to do something about it, or at least to TRY to do something about it, so we took that awkward opportunity of a postponed wedding and really made our point: Don't take Superman for granted — or he might not be there when you need him.

The Death of Superman was a product of its time.