The Official Superman Thread

[TheCorpulent1]

Pretty well, it turns out. I love seeing Vandal Savage's plans play out over centuries.

 

[Mystirious]

Pretty well, it turns out. I love seeing Vandal Savage's plans play out over centuries.

Yep this issue was Savage was written much better here than in his last appearances in Final Crisis and Detective Comics

Lex gets better and better every issue. I wish he could stay this comic books main character

And the Jimmy Olsen back up made me

The Yarn Barn!

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Man, the Jimmy Olsen backup has been a surprising treat. I was not expecting anything at all worthwhile out of it, but it's turned out to be as entertaining as the Lex stories.

 

[Mystirious]

Yep its been hilarious

Action Comics is one of my favourite comic books right now with the Lex story and the Jimmy back up both sauce

 

[Kurosawa]

Their best choice at this point would actually be to stick with Lex as distasteful as that is to me. Not that I dislike Lex, but a character murdering 100,000+ people and getting away with it just bothers me. But Superman himself is FUBAR and is nearing Captain Marvel status, so one book is all they need with him, and that's just a formality.

 

[NightBeetle]

ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #13 Preview

While present-day Lex Luthor is busy fighting an array of the DCU’s most vile foes over in ACTION COMICS, this year’s ACTION COMICS ANNUAL takes a look back at two formative encounters Luthor had before he became the bald mad genius we know and love today.


Paul Cornell gives us two great stories in this double-sized volume. In the first, Marco Rudy illustrates a story of young Lex and Darkseid, while in the second we’ve got Ed Benes tackling a tale starring Luthor and Batman villain Ra’s al Ghul.
ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #13 hits stores on December 2nd.

 

[Mystirious]

Lex had hair

 

[HighFivingMF]

Lex had hair

And that's hairrible.

 

[Mystirious]

 

[Keyser Soze]

I rather enjoyed the Annual. Not quite up to the standard of the regular monthly ongoing, but I like how Cornell tried playing around with some different stuff that might not have quite fit in that story - and I suppose an Annual is as good a place as any to do that. After the soul-sickeningly evil depiction of Darkseid Morrison has given us in recent years, I quite enjoyed seeing this wickedly jolly, campy, "evil Santa Claus" ("Ho ho ho!") version of Darkseid that showed up here.

 

[Mystirious]

Haha I dug Darkseid's evil laugh Cornell wrote him as a wonderful ham and it was

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Revealing heretofore-unknown connections between established characters in flashbacks is usually a bit too precious for me, but Lex and Darkseid worked well together. Perry I could've done without, though. I also really liked seeing the over-the-top Darkseid, too--"evil Santa Claus" is a perfect description.

 

[Mystirious]

Ho Ho Ho is the bestest evil laugh ever

 

[Tron Bonne]

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/chris-roberson-superman-new-writer-101210.html

Roberson on taking over Superman. Basically says the same thing as Hester does in regard to Wonder Woman. DC and JMS is pointing to a point and saying, 'Get here', but it's pretty open for him as far as the actual getting there part. Some highlights:

Nrama: Had you been reading Straczynski's Superman? What did you think of it?


Roberson: I’d been following “Grounded” since the beginning, and right away I realized that it shared the same central idea as one of my favorite Superman stories of all time: Elliot S. Maggin’s “Must There Be A Superman.” The question of what Superman’s role in society should be has always been a crucial one, and is itself a reflection of a problem that religions have always struggled with: “If there is a merciful god, why is there suffering?” And it makes perfect sense that it is a question that Superman would be asking himself, in the wake of his father’s death and the destruction of New Krypton.

Nrama: Have you viewed notes from JMS yet? How do you plan to utilize that guidance? How restrictive is it?


Roberson: When I signed onto the book, Matt and Wil sent me JMS’ outline for the remainder of “Grounded." It maps out the places that Superman will visit on his cross-country journey, and in terms of story, spells out a very definite end-point that he needs to reach. But along the way, there’s lots of room for side-trips and improvisation.


Nrama: How do you hope to approach Superman's character?


Roberson: I hope to do the best job I can! Seriously, Superman is the archetype. He is the superhero. And I honestly view the job of writing the flagship Superman title as a sacred trust.

Nrama: What's Superman's status as you start your run? Where is he as a character and how has he grown — and what are his next steps as a character?


Roberson: At this point in the “Grounded” storyline, Superman has pretty much completely lost faith in the things he’s always stood for: Truth, Justice, and the American Way. Physically, he’s just as powerful as he’s always been, but after the death of his adoptive father and the destruction of New Krypton, he’s an emotional wreck.
The way I see it, what he’s really doing in this walk across America is revisiting the kinds of places where he had his earliest formative experiences, and trying to answer one crucial question: “Must there be a Superman?”

Okay, so yeah...

 

[TheCorpulent1]

That's... not what JMS was doing...

 

[Mystirious]

Even with a new writer I think I am still going to wait for Grounded to be over before I pick up Superman again

 

[Frankenmation]

^ Likewise, nothing against Roberson but I'm truly done with this whole Grounded storyline, regardless of who's writing it.

 

[CConn]

That's... not what JMS was doing...

Shh! It may actually be a better idea.

 

[Mystirious]

^ Likewise, nothing against Roberson but I'm truly done with this whole Grounded storyline, regardless of who's writing it.

Roberson is kind of neat I hope he sticks around when the Grounded story is done

 

[Tron Bonne]

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=29871

More Roberson on Superman; highlights:

Are you a long-time fan of the Man of Steel? If so, what do you love about Superman?



Superman has always been my favorite superhero, for as long as I can remember. I had a Superman costume I wore for Halloween one year when I was six or so, and I wore it for months – all of the Thanksgiving and Christmas photos from that year show me still wearing it. I must have owned a dozen sets of Superman Underoos over the years, and used to wear them under my clothes when I went to school, just in case.
I think I love two things most about Superman: the mythos surrounding him, and the character himself. When [Jerry] Siegel and [Joe] Shuster created the character back in the 1930s, they managed right out of the gate to create the perfect superhero. He's the archetype, the mold from which all others were cast. But what's even better about the character is that there is so much room in the concept for interpretation, so much semantic space in him to contain an endless variety of meanings. He's the ultimate immigrant, but he's also a demigod in the classical Greek sense, and the definition of the self-made man, and on, and on. Plus, he can fly.
But as much as I love the character, I've always been obsessed with the mythos surrounding him. Siegel and Shuster laid the groundwork, and over the years an endless parade of talented writers, artists, filmmakers and more have elaborated on it. I have a particular fondness for the Mort Weisenger run, which introduced the Bottle City of Kandor, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Krypto, Supergirl, the Phantom Zone and on and on. But if pressed, my absolute favorite era was probably the Bronze Age under Julius Schwartz's direction. In particular, the stories of Elliot S! Maggin.

Your prose writing has been predominantly science fiction over the years, but you're picking up from a story that JMS started that is literally "grounded" on Earth as Superman walks across America. Will you get a chance to go intergalactic with the character during your run?



Just because Superman is walking across America doesn't mean he can't take a side-trip or two along the way. I don't know that he'll end up in another galaxy, but rest assured, I've been able to put my background as a science fiction writer to good use.

Doomsday is coming back to the DCU in the spring. Will the Kryptonian superkiller be playing a role in "Superman?"



No, I'm afraid Doomsday doesn't raise his bony head in this story, which isn't to say that there aren't a few surprise guests lined up.

What else can you share with us about what's to come for Superman during this current arc? 



Wonder Woman in Nebraska. The Flash in Colorado. Bruce Wayne in Utah. Jimmy Olsen in Las Vegas and he's on the run from the Gorilla Mob. And did I mention the Superman Squad?


Once the "Grounded" storyline is complete, is it the plan for you to stay on as the writer of "Superman?" 



That's up to The Powers That Be at DC. At the moment, I'm just happy to be writing this storyline.

 

[Watchman]

Well I'm torn. I'm a fan of Roberson but not of Grounded or JMS after school specials. Reading his interviews it does pique my interest but I'm still unsure. I really do hope that Roberson does continue beyond Grounded though.

 

[Mystirious]

If Roberson does a really fab job and it is more entertaining than the JMS issues I might buy the trade

 

[Watchman]

If Roberson does a really fab job and it is more entertaining than the JMS issues I might buy the trade

The only thing that could save the JMS run for me is if before he leaves he has a G.I. Joe run out and go, "Woah, be careful there Superman. Running with scissors may look fun but it's not and never safe. You might poke out an eye."

Superman: And now I know.

G.I. Joe: And knowing is half the battle.

Also, Nick Spencer off Supergirl.

 

[Mystirious]

Then the GI Joe slaps Superman for not curing his husbands cancer

 

[Watchman]

*Closes book*

Can someone please give Nick Spencer a Jimmy Olson series?