Has Byrne's "Man of Steel" Been Totally Un-Done?

[The Toyroom]

Just wondering if anything still stands from John Byrne's original "Man of Steel" mini-series and his work on the Superman Post-Crisis Reboot?
I'm having a hard time thinking of anything off the top of my head....

The recent "Superman:Secret Origins" by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank seems to be discarding everything...Don't get me wrong, I like the mini-series... But by the same token, I don't think everything Byrne was bad either.

Superman versus Metallo – for the first time! Witness the origin of one of Superman’s most-feared foes, as an attack by Lex Luthor goes awry and gives birth to the evil of Metallo. Can an inexperienced Man of Steel handle a foe with a heart of Kryptonite?

Metallo was one of the Byrne revisions right off the bat...his origin had nothing to do with Luthor, although Luthor eventually kidnapped Metallo at the end of "Superman" #1 (Vol.2) and ripped the Kryptonite from his chest.

I do like the modern look though that they give Metallo in a nod to his Silver Age appearances. Byrne's Metallo, as original conceived, was too Terminator-like IMO.

[Riffster]

I liked the original reboot til it screwed up the Legion history.. I'm digging the new mini series

[Earth 2 Chris]

I think Byrne's reboot has been mixed in with all the other iterations of the Superman story, and Johns is cherry-picking what he likes, much like Byrne did. Lex being a business man (which was really Elliot S. Maggin's idea, fleshed out more by Marv Wolfman) is still canon it seems, and of course Ma and Pa living into Clark's adulthood still stands.

I read the first two issues and thought it was great. I always had mixed feelings about Superboy, but the way Johns and Frank are handling him, I'm glad to have him back in the mythos.

Chris

[The Toyroom]

I liked the original reboot til it screwed up the Legion history..

That's one of the things I've always felt badly about....I'm a long-time Legion fan and I think Byrne's removal of them from the Superman mythos and vice versa did serious damage to the LSH franchise. They were left floundering and constantly rebooting themselves afterward to explain their sans-Superman/Superboy status in the DCU.

I'm glad Johns (and DC) has seen fit to put them back where they belong, and if it means adding Superboy back to the Superman origin, then so be it. And I guess, if they're doing that, then it only makes sense to once again give Luthor a connection/backstory/ties to Smallville and Clark Kent.

[PNGwynne]

That's the "new" Metallo?

Jeez, that looks cool!

[Earth 2 Chris]

I always liked that Bronze Age Metallo look. I agree, Byrne's take was too much of a Terminator rip-off.

Chris

[palitoy]

The animated show's idea of Metallo splintering off from Lex Corp was too good not to use. I liked Byrne's reboot very much, still do but it did get rid of a lot of things i found that made the character click as well.

I hated the Terminator Metallo and Brainiac got really messed up.

[The Toyroom]

I liked Byrne's reboot very much, still do but it did get rid of a lot of things i found that made the character click as well.I hated the Terminator Metallo and Brainiac got really messed up.

I think the reboot Brainiac was handled more by Marv Wolfman than John Byrne in the pages of "Adventures of Superman"...The Milton Fine hypnotist connection was horrible. I'm surprised in a way that Wolfman didn't go more with the last version of pre-Crisis Brainiac (he was in charge of that revamp I think...) who became more robotic and had the skull motif. Eventually that skull spaceship did appear but too much damage was already done to the Brainiac concept IMO.

Plus, TOO much backstory was given to Brainiac with the connection to Vril Dox of L.E.G.I.O.N. (on a side note, I can't believe DC has brought back this trash concept with R.E.B.E.L.S.)....I'm just glad Geoff Johns has jettisoned all of that garbage and has re-introduced us to the one true Brainiac (or at least the modern version) as an alien who likes to shrink cities.

[ctc]

....um....

Is that Parasite....? Dude's REALLY been letting himself go.

Don C.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Yeah, Brainiac's reboot was horrible. I think some of the guys thought the name was too hokey for an advanced living computer, so they tied it to a lame mentalist instead. Yeah, that's better.

I REALLY liked the pre-reboot Brainiac. That was one of the first times I saw a villain successfully amped up. The Super Powers figure didn't hurt my opinion of him either. Great toy.

Chris

[PNGwynne]

Yeah, E2Chris, I love the '70s Metallo, too.

Even his recent appearance on Smallville was nifty.

To me, he should be kinda bionic, but not like a Terminator

[kryptosmaster]

I'm for (almost) anything that brings back Clark Kent as Superboy!!!

Rich