Behind The Scenes
The project was given to Mark Waid with the original request to give readers an origin to redefine Superman for the 21st century, a series that anyone on Earth can pick up and get in on the Superman story. To Waid, this was something he had wanted to do since seeing Superman: The Movie, considering this series as the Mark Waid Superman story because he wanted to have everything he ever loved of the character in it.
By comparison to other origin retellings, Waid wanted some differences. His Superman is not infallible, as Waid argues that it is not Superman but Clark Kent that readers should relate to. Doing this made Waid avoid a "Clark-is-dull" trap as showing a Clark who gets chewed by the boss, whose dry cleaning gets lost, who longs to connect and be accepted, help make the character a touchstone. Another difference was having Africa in the origin which, as Waid has it, helps establish Kal-El/Clark as a citizen of the world, laying important ground and making him a journalist and not a typist.
Read more about this topic: Superman: Birthright
Famous quotes containing the word scenes:
“Never before has a generation of parents faced such awesome competition with the mass media for their children’s attention. While parents tout the virtues of premarital virginity, drug-free living, nonviolent resolution of social conflict, or character over physical appearance, their values are daily challenged by television soaps, rock music lyrics, tabloid headlines, and movie scenes extolling the importance of physical appearance and conformity.”
—Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)