First Look: A more human, younger superman

Launched in 1938 as a part of the Action Comics series, Superman is considered the original, first superhero.[caption id="attachment_74125" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="The relaunched superman series scheduled to be released on Sep 1 by DC Comic. Handout from the The New York Times"][/caption]Next week, on September 7, DC Comics will relaunch its most coveted hero with the launch of the rehauled Action Comics series written by veteran comics author Grant Morrison.Later in the day today, DC comics will release the latest issue of Justice League whose cover depicts new avatars of Superman and Batman, that will go all the way back to the "tense first meeting" between the superheroes before they became allies," reports the New York Times. The 73-year-old Superman has gone through some major changes: the red Speedos replaced with jeans, the superhero will be younger, in his 20s, and there will be no Clark Kent marrying Lois Lane. That part will be forever erased.It further reports:

Starting on Wednesday, the publisher is resetting all 52 of its continuing series, including venerable titles like Action Comics and Detective Comics that introduced Superman and Batman in the 1930s, at issue No. 1, and using the opportunity to revise or jettison decades of continuity in the heroes’ fictional lives.

Starting 31 August, DC will also launch “New 52,” with established titles such as “Wonder Woman” and “Batman”.The relaunched characters, says the Los Angeles Times, are an attempt by the publishers to capitalise on well-established cultural brands. "Comic-book stores have become increasingly barren, with sales dropping consistently over the last three years and down an additional 7% so far in 2011," the paper reports, as fewer people now opt for Xboxes over paper comics.

The strategy is a calculated risk by the Warner Bros.-owned company to keep superheroes alive in comics as they become more important than ever on the big screen and in other media.