Superman Poster #22 FRAMED vs The Demon Action Comics #587 (1987) John Byrne

Description

You are purchasing the item pictured, framed. Priority mail, tracking and $50 insurance is included with purchase. Item will be bagged to protect from dust, packed in packing peanuts and boxed. Just open box and hang it on the wall…makes a perfect gift!

In 1986, in the aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths and inspired by the runaway success of The Dark Knight Returns, Superman underwent a stem-to-stern overhaul at the hands of Canadian artist John Byrne, the longtime Marvel staffer who had recently gone freelance. As part of his “back-to-basics” approach (which he called “Siegel and Shuster’s Superman meets the Fleischer Superman in 1986”), Byrne made a series of dramatic changes to the Superman mythos. He mothballed Superboy and Krypto, brought Ma and Pa Kent back to life as the Man of Steel’s resident consiglieres, and emphasized the human, rather than the alien, aspect of Superman’s character. Clark Kent was no longer a milquetoast and Lois Lane could kick a little ass herself from time to time. The changes Byrne began in his landmark six-issue Man of Steel miniseries soon spilled over to the Superman flagship title as well. “Action Comics is going to be…action,” Byrne declared. “I’m just going to break everything.” Action Comics was produced as a team-up book, with Superman joining forces with different partners each month- including this issue’s special guest, Etrigan the Demon. Following the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, writer/artist John Byrne relaunched the Superman franchise in The Man of Steel limited series in 1986. Action Comics became a team-up title with issue #584 (January 1987) featuring Superman and the New Teen Titans. Other costars during this period included the Phantom Stranger, the New Gods, the Demon, Hawkman, the Green Lantern Corps, the Metal Men, Superboy, Big Barda, Mister Miracle, Booster Gold, the Martian Manhunter, the Spectre, Lois Lane and Lana Lang, Checkmate, Wonder Woman, and Man-Bat. The Demon is a superhero and antihero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jack Kirby, the titular character, named Etrigan, is a demon from Hell who, despite his violent tendencies, usually finds himself allied to the forces of good, mainly because of the alliance between the heroic characters of the DC Universe and Jason Blood, a human to whom Etrigan is bound.1 Etrigan resembles a squat, muscular humanoid creature with orange (or yellow) skin, horns, red eyes, and ears resembling bat wings. Blood is a tall, thin, suave man with dark red hair and a lined face. The character was originally based in Gotham City, leading to numerous team-ups with Batman. Etrigan was inspired by a comic strip of Prince Valiant in which the titular character dressed as a demon. Kirby gave his creation the same appearance as Valiant’s mask. John Lindley Byrne (/b?rn/; born July 6, 1950) is a British-born comic-book writer and artist of comic books. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on many major American superheroes. Byrne’s better-known work has been on Marvel Comics’ X-Men and Fantastic Four and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics’ Superman franchise. Coming into the comics profession exclusively as a penciler, Byrne began co-plotting the X-Men comics during his tenure on them, and launched his writing career in earnest with Fantastic Four (where he started inking his own pencils). During the 1990s he produced a number of creator-owned works, including Next Men and Danger Unlimited. He scripted the first issues of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy series and produced a number of Star Trek comics for IDW Publishing. Near the end of his time at Marvel, Byrne was hired by DC Comics to revamp its flagship character Superman. This was part of a company-wide restructuring of the history of the DC Universe and all of its characters following the limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths. Byrne’s reworking of Superman in particular gained widespread media coverage outside the comic book industry, including articles in Time and The New York Times. At the time, Byrne said, “I’m taking Superman back to the basics … It’s basically Siegel and Shuster’s Superman meets the Fleischer Superman in 1986.” Byrne significantly reduced Superman’s powers (though he was still one of the most powerful beings on Earth), eliminated the Fortress of Solitude and super-dog Krypto, and had his foster parents the Kents still alive while Superman was an adult to enjoy their adopted son’s triumphs as well as to provide him with support, grounding, and advice whenever he needed it. Byrne did away with the childhood/teenage career as Superboy; in his revamped history, Clark Kent does not put on a costume and become a super-hero until adulthood. This approach to Kent’s path to becoming Superman was later used in the action-adventure series Smallville on the WB Television Network and in the 2005 novel It’s Superman by Tom De Haven. Byrne’s version of Superman debuted in the six-issue miniseries The Man of Steel (July–Sept. 1986), which described his origin and early career. Byrne penciled the six-issue DC Universe crossover miniseries Legends (Nov. 1986 – May 1987) during this time. He wrote and drew two monthly Superman titles with the hero’s present-day adventures: a new Superman title beginning with issue #1 (January 1987) and Action Comics, in which, beginning with issue #584, Superman teamed up with other DC characters. Byrne spent about two years on the Superman titles before leaving. His dissatisfaction stemmed from his perception that there was a the lack of “conscious support” for him at DC. Furthering the rift between the company and the artist, was the fact that, the version of Superman which DC licensed for merchandising was contrary to Byrne’s representation in the comic books! Though, today, Byrne’s vision for and of the Man Of Steel has been borne true, in that many of Byrne’s concepts for the character have since become “the norm,” as witnessed throughout subsequent television and film adaptations. Byrne’s influence can be seen in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, the DC Animated Universe and Smallville,citation neededand in Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns,” where Lois is trapped in a crashing plane, during its inaugural flight, only to be saved by Superman, thus reintroducing the Man Of Steel to the world. This scene is very reminiscent of Byrne’s version in the comic book, where all the essential elements are the same, save for the single difference, Byrne has it happen to the Space Shuttle or “an experimental space-plane” rather than an average airplane. One can also glimpse Byrne’s “Man Of Steel” in the popular “come-back film” of 2013, “Man Of Steel,” produced by Christopher Nolan and David Goyer. During interviews promoting the film, Goyer acknowledged Byrne’s “Man Of Steel” series as an influence, especially in regards to Byrne’s “Huxley-ian” approach to Kryptonian reproduction.