Mark Waid gets Superman. His Birthright limited series is the most successful attempt at updating the Man Of Steel's origins for the modern age, with Clark Kent learning the importance of human life and the protection therefore by beginning his journalistic and consequently superhero career in war-torn foreign nations. Waid, then, seemed like the perfect person to revitalised Superman in collaboration with other star writers like Grant Morrison, Mark Millar and Tom Peyer. That was the dream team that put together the pitch for "Superman 2000: A plan to revitalize the Superman franchise for the newmillenium." And apparently the reason it was rejected was because Waid was simply too stoked for it. The pitch was actually commissioned by DC, and the group proposal intended to "honour each of Supermans various interpretations and to use internal story logic as our launching pad for a re-imagined, streamlined 21st century Man of Steel. The 'cosmic reset' notion has been replaced by a policy of 'include and transcend' with regard to past continuity." Morrison applied something similar to his Batman stories, and it plays into Waid's concept of Hypertime. Waid was so adamant about the proposal that he apparently caused enough friction within DC editorial to be told the pitch would not only be rejected, but he'd never work on Superman ever again.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
