The Shocking History of ELECTRIC BLUE SUPERMAN

Very good video! I'll have to ask Karl Kesel about all this when I see him at Rose City ComicCon in Sept.

I remember purchasing the issue when he adopted the blue costume. I thought the design was pretty cool but somehow I knew it wouldn't last long.

The nineties - especially the late nineties - were a sad time for most comics. Aside from the gawdawful stylistic choices (every hero seemed to look and act like an over-the-top edge-lord ) that was the start of the never-ending-cycle of 'event' comics. Repeated big crossover / reboot / rebirth / one fine day / civil war / crisis 'events'.

The dark Times. The Empire.

Sorry, mixing metaphors, but yes, this was a dark time.

Someone just finishes his art, going through death, rebirth, regaining his powers, being overpowered, being massively under powered, and then this.

Superman is the perfect example of "It ain't broke, don't fix it." A lot of modern Superman writers try to alter what Superman is and it always backfires because they "can't relate to him". That's the problem: We are not meant to relate to Superman; a God among Mortals. We're meant to look up to him as a symbol of hope and inspiration, a beacon of light in a world that's ever growing darker and morbid. We definitely could benefit from some high quality Superman stories now.

Great video

Not going to lie I loved Superman blue and still do. Wasn't reading superman much at the time and at 11 that costume really interested me.

Weird, i loved the look of Superman Blue/Red ... and the story was thrilling for all the time it lasted, the stakes felt high.

The REAL truth about the 90's version of Superman Red and Superman Blue was the fact that the families of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were suing DC once again. This is ALSO the reason why DC created the New52.

I absolutely hated the red and blue Superman run!

I've never heard of Superman Blue/Red before seeing this video just now. This status quo change is fascinating to me

It's fascinating, but definitively messes with the Superman brand hard. Having Electric Blue/Power Surge be stitched into it's own superhero would be interesting tho. Or maybe something for a expanded Reign of the Supermen adaptation/approach?

Does electic blue Superman have a butt stuffed down the front of his shirt?

The concept is way too weird for Superman but as they're own thing i love the suits, plus it's one of the more creative ways to nerf Superman

It was a good story and it didn’t drag on too long.

Gimmicky?
Yea, 100%. It was the 90's we were kinda getting used to it.
The design was cool tho.
I was reading the new JLA book at the time and remembered being like OK, I kno its not gonna stick, so let's just have fun with it and see where this is going.

I liked the stories and the Costume. We all knew it wouldn’t be permeant but it was cool for a little while. I also loved Jean Paul Valley as Batman, Az-Bats was my favorite 90’s redesign

So, by writing it bad people would miss it being good?

The 90s were so fucking stupid, I turned 19 in december of 99 so I know .

Jurgens AND Kessel teamed up? No wonder it was awful 😂😂😂

I kind of liked blue and red Superman.

For my superhero stories involving red and blie electricity, I'll stick to Infamous.

Lore of The Shocking History of ELECTRIC BLUE SUPERMAN momentum 100

It was the 90s

What a nice video. Loved it!

Oh give them a little time, they'll get him tucking in a dress sooner or later.

Superman Electric Bluegaloo, now in acid strawberry flavor.

Honestly... I kind of want DC to go back to some of their 90s stuff like this and try to make it work. Like actually try, not just do it for a month and then "Oh people hate it! Well, it never happened! It was all just a dream!"

I always thought that superman blue is a transition between a Kryptonian and the phenomenon that made Dr. Manhattan, and I was hoping Doomsday Clock was going to confirm.

As a Superman fan since I was a lad, I loved Superman Blue. The costume change and different powers were exciting because the core of the character remained the same. I bought every issue of Superman Blue I came across. But when Superman Red came out, I was so mad that I tuned out completely.

they goni to give his son that power

I'm going to continue to hope Lana & Livewire hookup.
Both.... to date and fight crime.

Seem like the artists just wanted a simple hero uniform to draw. Because the cape requires ways to make it stand out.

Thank you for making this video. I always have seen this around, but never could make sense of it. Just that this is the coolest looking Superman I have ever seen. Now I see the correlation to SSJ4 Goku and Superman Blue. Aesthetically cool concepts with loads of potential from the 90s that writers give to everyone for sale boosts, poor story execution that makes their stay underwhelming.

Personally, I see a lot of fun potential with the light spectrum powers and abilities, especially since Clark has been showing more bio-electricity recently. Clark struggling as he learns to control. Even the rivalry between Red and Blue. There should be a universe where this is permanent change.

On top of my head.
The Blue and Red rivalry could be rebooted and expanded by tieing it with Clark's half brother Tal-Rho aka Morgan Edge, who was recently introduced in the CW's Superman and Lois. This could be used to highlight them as foils, but also for Tal-Rho's redemption arc becoming a Superman, maybe ending with a Heroic sacrifice that ultimately returns the status quo. They could have a brother rivalry as they teach themselves how to use the abillities and inadvertenly helping each other with aspects they are struggling with or just hadn't ocured to them as chances for familial bonding and reconciliation.

Superman Blue taking notes from My Adventures with Superman, where we can really focus on Superman's struggle as he learns these new abilities inside and out through lots of trials and errors. Also, as an extenstion of the Bio-Electricity. Livewire could be the villain to fit with the theme who is drowning herself in the power like a drug. Maybe when Superman Blue starts going down a negative story arc he becomes Superman Red before eventually evening out. A story not simply about responsibility, but everything Superman. Truth of the matter, justice are the consequences of mistakes made both willingly and unwillingly, and hope for a better tomorrow as everyone adapts to these changes. Maybe plant some seeds for a Live Wire redemption or a chance to return back to normalcy.
Maybe he even seeks the aid of Static Shock as Static had to figure out his powers on his own without a mentor, so acting like a mentor to Big Blue has character potential for Static as well.

I also just like the concept of Superman Blue and Red marrying Lois Lane and the other marrying Lana Lang. In a way it could turn into a Ben Reily scenario where the doppelgangers develop individuality and having that explored with both main love interests would be really interesting. No matter if the Blue and Red Supermen emerge from a split

Alternatively, both Blue and Red could be forms that are restricted to different aspects of Superman's powersets. Doesn't matter if the writer goes with restricting the Light Spectrum to the 2 forms or it can shift from Light powers to classic powers. But I like the idea that this is a form that Superman places on himself, either to better control his power or place limiters on himself.

DC is the WCW of comics. “We have a sure-fire guaranteed money-making draw on our hands… how can we fix that?”

I first read about "Electric Blue Superman" in an "Off-topic" section of an old Mega Man fan site a long time ago, with the writer basically saying "What were they thinking!" and they even cited the Silver Age story it was derived from. Personally, I have no idea why they even made the change, considering Superman's powers and costume were already iconic at that point.

Not gonna lie, this is probably one of my favorite Superman runs for the fact that it at least tried something new and lighthearted. I'd rather have fun and wholesome Silver Age fun instead of continuous edgy, dark material that only seems to get traction by current fads or political controversies.

That story line blue.

I have enjoyed your Death of Superman and Red and Blue videos. One small recommendation. Your conclusion sections of your videos kind of drag. Less is often times more.

Still waiting for Superman Leaf Green honestly

Love this storyline. So glad DC did it and would love to see a screen version of it (though I realise that's not going to happen.)

Red and Blue Superman remain one of my favorite incarnations of the character. After Death and Return, this was an interesting side story. What’s killing the character is Hollywood believing they “understand” him, when they obviously don’t.

Huge fan of the blue suit always was

The thing is it's comics anyone that has been following them for any amount of time will know that everything always goes back to the status quo, or very close to it.
Examples: Captain America being turned evil, Spiderman and the whole clone saga, Batman losing all his money, or when he broke his back, or when he arbitrarily just turns against the bat-family, etc... Or any of the countless times any hero has died.

Every hero that has headlined a successful comic series and went through probably a dozen major changes that when the story is over or there is a change of writers it all gets reverted with hardly a thought into how fast the reset happens with no significant mental or reputation damage.

Any more I don't sweat any changes that happens because if you give it 2 or 3 years max the hero will be reset back to normal. Just ride along and enjoy the story, but don't get attached to any changes.

Started collecting Superman in 1989. After the Death and then Reign of Supermen, Superman Blue was a gimmick too far. Art from DC was wildly inconsistent, often terrible. Having to purchase 5 mediocre issues a month. Superman became interesting again with Y2K, and Ed McGuinness art was amazing.

what the fuck this has to be made up what teachers would tell a student about these kind of stories

LowTierKryptonian

I've always been fascinated by the design change. I think it looks amazing. It doesn't work as a permanent change, but looking at it like an episodic event in the character's history is amazing to me.

Almost as bad as Bendis Superman, Love Bendis Writing thougn!