10 Subtle Changes That SAVED Iconic Comic Book Characters

There were many reasons given for rebooting the entire DC universe the first time in Crisis on Infinite Earths, from more general goals like streamlining the DC universe as a whole (by doing away with the DC multiverse altogether), to much more character specific decisions, such as the many alterations made to Superman's comics.

Superman being akin to Santa Claus for a lot of kids - a mythic figure who can just do ANYTHING that you want him to - the Man of Steel had spent years with that mindset being applied to his power-set, with him often just making up new powers on the spot because he's Superman - no sh*t he can do that.

Overtime, this approach (as well as the seemingly unending array of 'Super' characters at the publisher's beck and call), undermined Superman's importance and relatability, and was in part why Crisis came about in the first place.

With the reboot, DC just cut everything but his base power set - heat vision, super strength, indestructible, ice breath, and flight - and reset his mythology to zero to start again. Although certain elements have returned, there's no denying it was an essential change to make to a hero then rapidly losing appeal.