Sounds like criticism that would be valid unless you actually read JB's stories.

Funny, I read JB's Superman.  Kansas farm boy with all-American values he got from his adopted parents, right?  Pretty sure that was him.

Superman's publishing history is 75 years old, next year. My contribution was about 2 years worth. Virtually no trace of it remains. And these guys are still harping on it 25 years later?

Get. A. Life.

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I enjoyed THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and BATMAN: YEAR ONE, but neither were without traces of the snarky ennui that would come, in the following years, more and more to typify how superhero comics are handled. Consider Batman's comment, in DKR, that the Batmobile was named by Dick, and it was "the sort of name a kid would come up with." Consider Superman as a government stooge, also in DKR. And, of course, consider the walloping great impact of WATCHMEN, which both Frank and I read in xerox form as the pages came into the office. There is an abrupt turn in Frank's story, about halfway thru, as Batman suddenly migrates into something very much akin to the WATCHMEN "universe".

It was early days, but DKR and YO had the beginnings of the prerequisite SNEER. MAN OF STEEL did not.

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Superman had changed many times over the years, but the changes had always been slow and subtle, so that one had to stand back and survey a decade at a time in order to spot them. (The main exception to this would be his power of flight, I suppose, which originated in the Fleischer cartoons, and was quickly adopted by the comics.)

DC's decision to do a REBOOT, rather than a story arc (which is what I planned originally) drew a distinct line upon which the more anal and whiny "fans" could focus. This was not something that had been done before. And, of course, the greatest crime, as I have noted before, was that it wiped the slate clean, so long-time readers who had memorized every jot and tittle had no claim to higher ground than a brand new reader.

DC had relaunched Superman in the 70s, with the "Kryptonite No More" story, but it had been done "in continuity". Fans who could convince themselves there was a "break" in Superman's history that allowed some of the stories to be on "Earth 1" and some on "Earth 2" (even tho there was absolutely no textual evidence to support this) had no trouble accepting another "in continuity" divergence. MAN OF STEEL didn't allow them that excuse.

Still, as I have said many times, if I could somehow go back and unring that bell, I would do so in an instant. When I signed on to do the project, having submitted to DC a detailed outline of what I planned to do, and having had that outline fully approved by the Powers that Were, I had no idea I would basically be double-crossed at the first whiff of negative fan reaction -- coming MONTHS before even so much as a line of the first issue had been drawn! DC, I realized too late, wanted to have their cake and eat it, too. They wanted to "reboot" Superman -- and keep everything exactly the same. Still not sure how they imagined that could have been accomplished!!