#maybe do some cosmic restorative justice circles

[softpink-candlelight]

I think i want it to be like this. There is no heaven or hell and judgement and all that there is only: did you have a good time? Did you enjoy it? Do you feel good about it overall? Okay cool, go rest. I'm glad it was fun. Or you didn't? You worked your life away by choice and turned your back on love and joy and brought shame and misery on others? That's okay, we all make mistakes. How about you go try again?

[davidmann95]

The Current Superman History

So Superman: that guy’s had a wonky time of things in the last few years. He was rebooted, he was rebooted within the reboot by a five-dimensional bureaucrat with a grudge, he died, he was replaced by his own past continuity self, they merged...dude lives a hectic life. And now he’s got a whole new one, as outlined in Action Comics #977 and the new #978.

I’m putting this under a spoiler cut, since some will want to just read the books; I know my dad for instance doesn’t want to know anything until he can get his hands on the comics themselves. But Twitter-pal Kyle Pinion mentioned he was hoping someone would put together a timeline/overview, and I figure that could be useful, especially since there’ve been some important details only shared so far in interviews and minor online statements, or in other Superman Family titles rather than Action or Superman. If you’re perhaps not reading the Superman books right now, but you’re curious what the background of this new-ish version of the character is for whenever you hop back in, here’s the newest edition of Superman 101.

(Ultimately pretty minor) SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

(Note: I’ll be keeping this up-to-date with relevant information post-Reborn via flashback stories and such.)

The New History

* Krypton is still where he comes from - no bold new revelations on that front. Aesthetically it’s a blend of the Silver Age, New 52 and Byrne takes, with maybe a touch of Birthright thrown in; several Silver Age elements like the Vrang occupation of the planet, green comets as bad omens, and the Day of Truth have been restored, and Zod and Xa-Du are known to have been prisoners of the Phantom Zone (the former may or may not have been Jor-El's friend this time around, given in the flashback Jor-El didn’t seem to react to the news of his imprisonment). Bar-El and Lilo went off-planet ala All-Star Superman, but spaceflight was generally forbidden; Jor-El attempted to convince the Science Council to build arks to escape Krypton's destruction, but as "they'd rather count their riches" they ignored his warnings both out of disbelief and the thought that even if it was true they had years to spare. Kal-El and Kara Zor-El were launched into space right before Krypton blew up, as it’s wont to do; Argo City lived on in space for awhile before succumbing to Red Kryptonite poisoning. In all this, Rogol Zaar, who claims to have been responsible for Krypton’s destruction, seems to have been involved to some extent along with the group of powerful galactic figures known as The Circle, and it seems Jor-El survived to become ‘Mr. Oz”.

* Additionally, as far as Superman’s pre-birth background goes, the existence of Superman in the current continuum is also owed to Ahl, the God of Superheroes. Descending from Final Heaven, he touched down on Earth in prehistoric times (in the spot that would eventually become Mount Justice) and imprinted the Earth with the concept of justice, and the platonic concepts that would become Batman, Wonder Woman, and most directly descended from himself, Superman, who would then go on to give rise to all other superheroes. On an additional metaphysical note, Doomsday Clock specifies that the current Superman is indeed the Kal-El of the Golden Age, old-school Earth One, and post-Crisis, who has simply shifted over the years in response to cosmic upheaval rather than being a full-fledged new individual.

* The Kents found Clark in the field, and like in Byrne’s Man of Steel, they decided to pass him off as their own biological child to avoid legal complications. He pretty much lived the childhood we saw in Secret Origin; there are panels from that homaged showing him hanging out with Pete Ross and Lana Lang (Pete’s arm broken from the one time Clark tried playing football), and a red-haired Lex Luthor living there back then with a jar full of Kryptonite he was studying. Also as in Secret Origin he first realized he could fly when saving Lana Lang from a tornado. His life takes a turn though when his parents die the night of his senior prom, same as they did in Grant Morrison’s Action Comics.

* After travelling the world for awhile he settled down in Metropolis, where after revealing himself to the world in the classic costume, Lois named him Superman. His debut essentially went like this:

There’s a couple differences bringing it closer to how it happened in Secret Origin, but overall this is closer to the movie than that, at least in tone. And while he did not appear in this comic, presumably that dude was still yelling that that was a bad out-fit just off-panel.

* He met Batman at some point, and together they met with Wonder Woman shortly after her public debut (oddly in his Reborn suit, but that can be checked up to some timeline discrepancies given the current history shifts for both him and Diana, or more likely a simple continuity error). All prior to the formation of the Justice League, meaning that however that went, it was probably pretty different from Johns and Lee’s Justice League: Origins given he already knew at least a couple people there.

* He had a whole dang bunch of adventures. It’s clear vast swaths of Silver and Bronze Age continuity are back in play (though many must have happened in radically different forms, such as those involving Supergirl or his own now-nonexistent time as Superboy): the Supermobile - yes, that Supermobile, the flying Superman car with fists he used to fight Amazo that one time - made a cameo in Supergirl #8, a Superman Robot that looked exactly like him drove him, Nightwing, and Batman to the latter’s bachelor party, numerous Kryptonians native to Earth-One with very specific adventures attached to them were citizens of Kandor, and assorted Silver/Bronze Age Superman-associated folks are members of the space team Superwatch. It’s made clear he went through pretty much all the major 80s/90s stories, culminating in him getting engaged to Lois, telling her who he is (though he figures she already knew), his death by Doomsday and return (which is where Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, and apparently Steel showed up), and him getting married to Lois.  We also got a look at the Justice League trophy room in the second chapter of The Button, which include artifacts such as the Worlogog and Prometheus’ suit indicating a lot of Grant Morrison’s years on JLA are canon (as emphasized by the appearance of White Martians in the current Justice League), as well as the armor he wore as Darkseid’s brainwashed servant in the finale of Superman: The Animated Series, and elements from DC One Million have been repeatedly referenced. All three major Crisis events have been referenced as occurring in some form. Additionally, it has been confirmed that at some point Luthor served as President of the United States.

* At some point, he switched over to the New 52 armor costume, presumably going through many of those adventures with the caveat of being married to Lois rather than single or dating Wonder Woman (though he changed costumes prior to those adventures, as he was wearing that suit by the time of Batman: Hush). Lois learned she was pregnant and managed to surprise him with the news; nine months into the pregnancy their apartment was bombed by arms smugglers Lois had pissed off, and it was decided it would be safest to conduct the delivery at the Fortress with Batman and Wonder Woman on-hand to insure there would be no intrusions. While Batman waited grumpily standing guard outside, Diana ended up helping with the delivery since she was close with both Lois and Clark by this point (though she and Clark were never a couple).

*  Afterwards Lois and Clark took a sabbatical to California, living under the Lois and Clark comics’ status quo for a little while to keep Jon safe, with Superman ducking out of the public eye and League membership, working quietly in the black costume with the beard from that series; he also established a secondary Fortress in the Himalayas, while Lois wrote several famous books exposing corruption as "Author X". Once things calmed down after something like a few months to a year-ish, Lois and Clark returned to work (though they apparently didn’t move back to Metropolis, raising Jon somewhere else before recently moving to Hamilton, commuting by bullet train) and Superman to active duty, where he went through more New 52 adventures; Perry White was named Jon’s godfather. At some point after this, the current post-Reborn suit was permanently adopted until recently returning to his classic look (he also apparently wore the original Rebirth suit, since a version of Bizarro is still wearing it).

* No more than a year or two ago, Kara arrived on Earth. The events of her New 52 series are still to be read as canon, including for instance her time as a Red Lantern, with the exception of her involvement in the events of Final Days since there’s only been one Superman.

* While it’s not spelled out yet (assuming it ever will be), many of the events of the last year of the New 52 seem to have happened to him in some form, with both Truth and Final Days of Superman being cited editorially in New Super-Man in an issue featuring him post-Reborn; he has the Super-Flare, Supergirl says in her book that he was gone for a time, he mentions having power troubles to New Super-Man and fought a villain from Truth during the encounter, Dick Grayson recalls teaming up with him in his t-shirt and jeans look to fight Blockbuster, solar energy was extracted from him to create New Super-Man, Superwoman existed in some form, and Mxyzptlk pretended to be Clark Kent.

* From the “pre-Flashpoint Superman in the New 52 universe” period: most of the events from Dan Jurgens' Action Comics are canon; Doomsday was still a prisoner of Mr. Oz, and Luthor until recently continued to act as the Superman of Metropolis under a truce with his counterpart. Virtually all of the events of Tomasi/Gleason's Superman are canon, specifically the fight with the Eradicator, the excursion to Dinosaur Island on Earth 21, the run-in with Frankenstein and Bride, and the events of Multiplicity. His guest appearance in Deathstroke, his roles in Justice League and Trinity, and Zod’s role in Suicide Squad remain intact. The events of Reborn still happened, though his memory of it is blurred; as of Supergirl #8, he’s aware he was split into two Supermen for an extended period and was recently reformed.

Fine, Great, So What’s Actually His Deal Now?

In spirit, we’re back to the Pre-Flashpoint Superman, specifically I’d say the one before that but after Infinite Crisis: Secret Origin is clearly dominant (though not exclusive) as the narrative of his childhood and early days as Superman, a lot of Silver/Bronze ideas are back in play, and while most of Byrne and Triangle Years happened, he probably didn’t kill anybody in a pocket universe, and he didn’t come out of a birthing matrix. The change - along with Ma and Pa passing earlier - is that after a certain point (apparently before the period equivalent to his mid-2000s adventures) he changed his costume and eventually had some New 52-inspired adventures, and he and Lois ended up having a son who’s now ten and setting out on his own adventures as Superboy. He and the family have moved from a farm in Hamilton County back into Metropolis. Over the years, he’s fought Luthor, Brainiac, Darkseid, Metallo, Parasite, Bizarro, Mxyzptlk, Zod, Toyman, Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, Manchester Black, Mongul, Conduit, Imperiex, Blanque, Silver Banshee, Ulysses, and Xa-Du, among others, so pretty much all the greatest hits. The Fortress is back to having a lot of fun tchotchkes in it again too; the Supermobile’s there, crystal computers that let him Matrix-jack into hologram archives of his life and Krypton’s, Kelex is there, according to a recent Batman arc he’s using the dwarf star key from All-Star, there’s even a full-size train he and the family sometimes have dinner in. In the present though, Lois is currently in Chicago pursuing a story on her own (though she and Clark continue their relationship as normal given his ability to divide his time) and Jon has aged several years due to a time travel mishap on a space trip with Jor-El, and as the original Fortress was destroyed by Rogol Zaar, Superman moved everything to a new location in the Bermuda Triangle.

In terms of the larger world, Supergirl landed on Earth about a year ago, and for awhile lived a teen version of her TV show status quo, but is now in space with Krypto attempting to ascertain the truth of Rogol Zaar’s claims. Lex Luthor, recently semi-reformed though rapidly backsliding, went through events on a recent adventure with the Justice League that convinced him that his more savage and selfish instincts are in fact in accordance with a higher order and destiny for humanity over the supposed folly of Superman’s altruism, forming the Legion of Doom to realize this philosophical ‘breakthrough’ and destroy the League. The New Super-Man of China, Kenan Kong, remains in operation. And Conner Kent has returned with a new incarnation of Young Justice, though even he is unaware at this time how he fits into the current history of Prime Earth.

Which Stories Count?

Stories that definitely happened, whether near-identically to the original telling, or in very different forms to fit the new continuity framework

Secret Origin, And Then There Were Three... in Wonder Woman, The Case of the Second Superman, The Power-Boy from Earth, Superman’s Big Brother!, some of the old Silver Age Superman Robot stories given their presence, The Kents’ Second Super-Son!, The War Between Jimmy Olsen and Superman!, The Super-Family of Steel!, The Lois Lane Doll!, The Superman from Outer Space!, The Second Supergirl!/The Supergirl of Two Worlds!, The Conquest of Superman!, Supergirl’s Secret Enemy!, The Mystery of the Alien Super-Boy, Superman’s Super-Courtship!, The Super-Suitor of Soomar!, Duel of the Super-Duo!, Superboy’s Lost Identity!, Have I Ever Told You the Story About When I Saved Superman? in Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye, Mystery Mission To Metropolis!, It’s A Bird...It’s A Plane...It’s A Supermobile!, For The Man Who Has Everything, Crisis on Infinite Earths, To Laugh and Die in Metropolis, Exile, The Day of the Krypton Man, Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite, The Death of Superman, Reign of the Supermen, The Death of Clark Kent, The Wedding Album, Strange Visitor (from Cursed Comics Cavalcade), Superman Red/Superman Blue, Grant Morrison’s JLA, DC One Million, Legacy (of Superman: The Animated Series), Driver’s Seat and Suprema Est Lex from Action Comics Special, Luthor’s time as President, Our Worlds At War, Batman: Hush, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, The Return of Bruce Wayne, The Curse of Superman, The Ghost in the Fortress of Solitude, Lois and Clark, the New 52 Supergirl series, Men of Tomorrow, Justice League of America: Power and Glory, Truth, Darkseid War, Final Days of Superman, DC Comics: Rebirth, most if not all Rebirth-era appearances and Superman-family titles, Superman Reborn and forward.

Stories that while maybe not directly referenced are implied or are exceedingly likely to be canon

The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk!, The Name Game, and the covers of Superman Unchained (images from these are used to illustrate stories Clark told Jon, and given Jon still refers to Mxyzptlk as ‘Ruppletat’ in accordance with that, these would seem to still be canon by implication), Dominus Effect (Sharon Vance, aka Strange Visitor, is back in canon, her origin beginning here), Of Thee I Sing and JLA/Hitman (Hacken exists and is missing a hand in accordance with Zombie Night at the Gotham Aquarium), What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way? (while Manchester Black had other stories and a New 52 revamp, this is of course his most significant story), Superman at the End of Days (the death of Ma and Pa Kent is identical to how Vyndktvx organized it in this arc, and as lead-in stories The Curse of Superman and The Ghost In The Fortress of Solitude are both some degree of canon, as is the native Earth 45 of major villain Superdoomsday, it’s likely this happened), H’El on Earth and Krypton Returns (Shay Veritas’s presence, the confirmed existence of the Oracle, and the assured canonicity of Supergirl’s New 52 run imply H’El was likely around).

Stories that definitely didn’t happen any way we would recognize them

Last Son (the current version of Lor-Zod bears no resemblance to Christopher Kent and was never adopted by Lois and Clark), all Conner Kent Superboy stories for now (his debut in Reign of the Supermen has been omitted), Superman and the Men of Steel/The Boy Who Stole Superman’s Cape (of all modern origins, this take is most explicitly no longer any form of canon), Byrne’s Man of Steel (numerous details contradicting the major elements of this between Krypton, Luthor, Superman’s debut, etc.), New Krypton (Zor-El was still recently alive and a version of Cyborg Superman, with the fate of Argo City being significantly different), all Legion of Superheroes stories, Return To Krypton and any stories of a similar concept (Superman’s holographic ‘trip’ to Krypton in The New World is clearly framed as the first time he has seen his homeworld or biological parents), Identity Crisis (this has been repeatedly clarified as having not happened), Superman/Wonder Woman.