Glen Weldon tracks the hero's look over the past seven decades:
Over the years Superman has been our scrappy big brother, our concerned father, our compassionate uncle and, for an unfortunate stretch of time deep in the bowels of the benighted 90s, our mulleted hillbilly cousin. And the artists who've drawn him have continually iterated the character to suit to the time, and the role he plays in it. … The image that tops this post [on the right], by artist Jim Lee, was the reader's first look at the Man of Steel that, the company believes, is ideally suited to our modern age. He's younger, angrier and more introspective, we are told.
(Images by Joe Shuster; Tom Grummett; and Jim Lee of DC Comics)
The Dish 