DC Comics makes the most of Superman's 75th year

Brian Truitt, USA TODAY | USATODAY

Sleepless nights crafting the adventures of Batman have been commonplace for writer Scott Snyder.

He can expect more insomnia penning that other favorite character of his: Superman.

This year, which marks the 75th anniversary of the Man of Steel, will celebrate the granddaddy of all superheroes in a number of ways. A new movie, Man of Steel, stars Henry Cavill as the cape-clad hero and arrives in theaters June 14. And DC Comics is putting some fresh eyes on the big, spit-curled guy standing for truth, justice and the American way.

Snyder teams with artist (and DC co-publisher) Jim Lee for an all-new Superman Unchained series beginning June 12, and that same month sees the debut of Batman/Superman by writer Greg Pak and artist Jae Lee that will show the earliest meeting between the company's two iconic heroes.

"We're all fans and we've all known this character for a long time," Jim Lee says. "You have to fight your natural tendency to do what you know or what you've always thought the character to be.

"We've been pushing the creators to not be beholden to the past conceits and understandings" of Superman, he adds. "So we will speak to a new generation of readers."

The newbies will get their first glimpse at Unchained in a special Superman-centric offering on Free Comic Book Day, May 4, with an adrenaline-filled, epic sequence featuring Superman busting loose and saving the day.

Lee says they'll pull back "the camera" sometimes, "showing really how this small little figure, this human-shaped character, can literally move mountains," and Snyder aims to focus on this superhero who has the power to shape the world however he wants it yet looks at humanity to be inspired himself.

"If I think for a second, 'I'm working on Superman,' you get chills and it becomes very, very intimidating when you think of all the amazing stories that have come before," says Snyder, who also is doing backup stories in Unchained with artist Dustin Nguyen.

"The way to approach a character as iconic as him is you just come at it from a standpoint of what you love the most about the character, and then write a story that explores that, tear it down and build it back up."

Like Snyder has done with his popular Batman book, Unchained also will explore the Man of Steel's supporting characters and how they occupy his thoughts as he goes about the business of being Superman.

"I know conceptually why he admires Lois Lane, but then when you're writing them and you feel the chemistry between them and it comes to life on the page, it's always these little bursts of surprises that have been a joy to discover with him," Snyder says.

"The energy we're bringing to the story and that 'Hey, we can add new stuff to the canon' kind of attitude will serve us well," Lee says.

Batman/Superman goes back to the beginning of their long relationship, with a young crime-fighting Dark Knight new on the Gotham City scene and the Man of Steel fresh off the Smallville farm and making a name for himself as a budding journalist — Clark Kent, of course — and fledgling working-class hero of the people.

Pak feels that Superman's appeal as a cultural mainstay since 1938 is the same as what's behind the popularity of Spider-Man, Harry Potter and the X-Men.

"They're all about outsiders," the writer says. "As you grow up, you try to find your place in the world and you don't belong and you struggle, and that's the story of our lives, at least our adolescence.

"When you combine that with somebody who chooses to help, that becomes very powerful."

That he always sticks up for the underdog is another attractive quality to Pak.

"We want to be that strong and do the right thing and rise to the occasion. Superman gives us that kind of hope," he says. "And then also he can smash whatever he wants to smash and he can set things on fire with his eyes. That's pretty cool."

Jae Lee takes issue with anybody who deems Superman "the ultimate boy scout" or, even worse, boring.

"When you're young and you have a character like that you can aspire to," he says, "if you're ever in a position where you end up having any kind of power but you live up to those ideals, what a wonderful world this place would be."