Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman Page #10

After a rocky start in the ratings,

the series took off when newcomer...

... Gerard Christopher replaced John

Hayes Newton as the Boy of Steel.

Who did this?

This was Superboy,

so I could do it a little bit differently. . .

. . .but it had to be on the same track

as what Christopher Reeve had done.

George Reeves did it.

He was somebody I could relate

to as much because he was older.

Christopher Reeve, what he did just

seemed to be more the way to go with it.

One of the first things I did is, they

put me in this tremendous sound stage. . .

. . .about 300 feet long. They made

me fly from one end to other.

And I remember being on a crane

with nothing under me.

And I have to tell you, I was never afraid

because it was just a cool thing to do.

I mean, you're Superman.

I must speak with Superboy.

There is a terrible, a terrible evil in your

midst, an evil that you must fight.

I did three episodes of the Superboy

television series with Gerard Christopher. . .

. . .as Superboy and that was cool.

I played this evil genius, kind of

a Luthor type, named Tommy Puck.

Nobody calls me a symp.

I was bad. I was really bad.

I was a nasty, mean guy.

I would very much like to conduct some

experiments on Superboy's cadaver.

It was good.

You had to be there.

While Superboy flew through

the airwaves of syndication...

... the editors at DC were once again

struggling to make Superman relevant...

...both to male

and female comic book readers.

In 1990, they reached

a momentous decision.

After half a century

of romantic banter...

...between Lois Lane

and her caped colleague...

...DC decided it was time for the pair to

take their relationship to the next step.

Clark Kent would propose to Lois

and reveal his true identity.

That came from the writing team

and myself being a little tired...

...of Lois not figuring it out.

I mean, it was starting

to make her look a little stupid.

And you can't be a top reporter

and be stupid.

I got to ink the engagement.

And so this is Lois showing Jimmy

for the first time her rock. . .

. . .and announcing her engagement.

You can kinda see how I took

some major liberties on this page.

This is my wife. This is me, you know,

a little, a couple of pounds lighter. . .

. . .and this is Elvis and Priscilla.

So that was very cool.

Hardcore fans were stunned.

But the superhero's popularity soared...

... with young female readers.

He is prince charming in a cape, the

dark-haired, blue-eyed, handsome. . .

. . .ripped-abs man

who you feel safe with. . .

. . .and he can fly you

to Hong Kong for dinner.

But before Lois and Superman

walked down the aisle,,,

... the wedding ceremony would

be delayed by a funeral.

The world was taking Superman

for granted.

We literally said, ''Let's show the world

what it would be like without Superman. ''

In Superman issue number 75,

the unthinkable finally happened.

The Man of Steel was beaten to death

by the monster called Doomsday.

In less than two weeks, fans and

collectors bought nearly 3 million copies.

No one at DC honestly thought. . .

. . .we were going to kill Superman forever.

As luck would have it. . .

. . .the day that ''The Death of Superman''

comic hit the newsstands. . .

... nothing else happened in the world.

It hit the wire services. . .

. . .and it was a huge, huge, gigantic

cultural touchstone moment.

And the guys at DC

are now freaking out, like:

''Oh, God, what do we do now?''

For us it was just going to be the next

story and the world really reacted.

The real world acted the way

the characters acted in the story.

They were shocked. . .

. . .and sad and worried, ''What would

the world be like without Superman?''

They played it off quite well. They kept

him out of the comics for a few months. . .

. . .and dealt with what the world

would really be like. . .

. . .if Superman suddenly didn't exist

and built up that need for him again. . .

. . .so his triumphant return marked

a whole new era for Superman.

I have four different creative teams

on the character at the time.

And they all had a different idea

about how to bring Superman back.

Eventually, we just said,

''Let's do them all. ''

We always knew that the real Superman

was not one of those four.

And that he was going to come back.

But the Man of Steel

wasn't just resurrected in the comics.

to television...

... this time in a romantic comedy.

Lois & Clark:

The New Adventures of Superman. . .

...starred Dean Cain

and Teri Hatcher.

In this incarnation, the emphasis

was placed not on the Man of Steel...

...but on his alter ego Clark Kent.

This is Clark Kent,

in the newsroom.

In Lois & Clark,

it was Clark Kent playing Superman.

I think I need some kind of outfit.

You know, like a disguise I could wear

when things like that explosion happen.

The idea we had while

we were shooting the show was. . .

. . .that clark Kent is the main guy. . .

. . .and then he becomes Superman

as an invented character.

And that's where we differed from a lot

of the films and such in the past.

What do you think?

One thing's for sure,

nobody's going to look at your face.

Mom.

well, they don't call them tights

for nothing.

Never before had the situations

between Lois, Clark and Superman,,,

,,,been so deliberately sexy.

All you have to do is look up.

Lois & Clark's focus on romance

was mirrored in the Superman comics.

And in October 1996,

after a courtship of nearly 60 years...

,,,Lois Lane became Mrs. Clark Kent.

We did ''The Wedding Album. ''

And so this was the book

that they had past, present. . .

...you know, everybody that ever worked

on Superman that was still around...

. . .and able to hold a pencil

or pen, work on.

The wedding issue sparked

a bump in sales...

...but many Superman fans

just couldn't accept the idea...

...of their hero being domesticated

by marriage.

We still have a good debate

on that in the office.

There's a lot of people on the

creative staff who'd like to find a way. . .

. . .to have him wake up one morning

and that just be a dream.

TV's Lois & Clark also married off

its title characters.

But shortly after the ceremony,

ratings began to fall,,,

...and the series was cancelled

after four seasons.

I wanted us to push it to the next level

and let them have children. . .

. . .and get crazy and explore new territory

and see what those children would be.

It opens up this whole new realm

of Superman lore. . .

. . .and we didn't really get to do that.

But by the time Lois & Clark

was canceled...

...Superman fans had been dealt

a far greater blow.

On May 27, 1995, the actor who had

embodied their hero for a generation...

...became the victim

of a horrible accident.

Christopher Reeve had been

critically injured...

... while riding a horse in an exhibition.

His spine was injured and his body

was paralyzed from the neck down.

Almost immediately there were rumors

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