"NEW" DC : general discussion

[Jor-L5150]

May 23, 2011: Bombsheck Superman Announcement Coming From DC

The LA Times reports that Geoff Johns and Jim Lee are set to make "bombsheck" announcements about Superman and the DC Universe at the Hero Complex convention in early June.

Superstar comics creators Geoff Johns and Jim Lee say they are bringing bombsheck announcements about the future of Superman and the entire DC Universe to the Hero Complex Film Festival on June 11.
The DC leadership duo will be interviewed on stage by Hero Complex lead writer Geoff Boucher as part of the still-expanding Saturday program. Single-day tickets for Saturday are $45 and include a double feature of "Superman" and "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut," as well as an on-stage interview with Donner, the director who brought the Man of Steel to the screen in historic fashion in the 1970s. Surprise guests, prize giveaways and more programming will make the day a must-not-miss moment for DC fans and Hero Complex readers

[Jor-L5150]

my personal theory:

any or all of the following-
1) in the comics, lois and clark will divorce/seperate
2) the comics will be made to look like nolan-verse superman movie
including a costume modification
3) some sort of settlement with the siegal schuster estate
4) a teaser poster of cavill in the suit, (i hope it looks like the drawing from ACTION # 1 {and later redrawn by george perez and later jim lee } of superman mid-air. )

[Valentine Smith]

Or, my biggest fear...

Since Flashpoint is drastically altering DC Continuity, DC is going to cease publication of Superman, and he will be removed from continuity.

In which case, my brain short-circuits, and I quit comics.

[EnriqueH]

In other words , a ploy to get you to buy comics.

[Jor-L5150]

May 24, 2011 9:43:35 GMT -5 Valentine Smith said:

Or, my biggest fear...

Since Flashpoint is drastically altering DC Continuity, DC is going to cease publication of Superman, and he will be removed from continuity.

In which case, my brain short-circuits, and I quit comics.

ok, please explain this "flashpoint" thing- it's been mentioned on other superman sites-
but for f*cks sake- ANOTHER DC-wide revamp? already?
didnt they JUST do this with all the "crisis'" and 52 and so forth?

the ink is still wet on "secret origin" !! the ink is still wet on " earth one" !!

it's beyond ridiculous! theres no "story" anymore- just revamping origins and arbitrary killing-off/resurrecting characters!

[Valentine Smith]

Flashpoint, as it stands right now, is just an Elseworlds type story. The Flash comic has been building to this for the last year, where basically, something happens to change the past (it centers around Barry Allen) and so the DCU is DRASTICALLY different.

Frankly, I find the whole thing to be pedestrian and lame, despite being written by Geoff Johns. But, DC has been saying there will be ramifications from this.

My guess is that it will be a convenient way to erase the Clark/Lois marriage from continuity (a fine idea), or an awkward way to resolve the "we can't legally publish Superman" issue...in which case I probably quit comics, even though I don't buy Superman titles anymore.

[Jor-L5150]

i find it....odd and implausible they could make a superman film, and not publish the comic... that'd be a wierd shake-out.

maybe- maybe superman has to be removed from the DCU, and DC has to re-establish superman OUTside the DCU with a different arrangement with the hiers-

so DC keeps it' pantheon, without superman, and superman is in it's own universe under special license from the hiers ?

the siegal shcuster superman:
- superman. Jor-L (not El ) and presumably kal -L. Krypton, but no phantom zone or Zod. no fortress of solitude.
- daily star (not daily planet) george taylor (not perry white) no jimmy olsen.
- classic suit, "S".
- lois lane, different foster parents, no lana lang.
- no kryptonite
- lex is not bald, has red hair-
- was not superboy, appeared as adult
- no supergirl


siegal shcuster superboy:
- revisionist origin, superboy already world-famous before superman appears in metropolis

superman without action #1 :

- the suit- GONE
- the "S" - GONE
- basics of origin - GONE
- daily planet, lois - GONE
- krypton - GONE


frankly i don't see how you can have superman without the ACTION #1 siegal schuster elements. it's not possible.

you COULD (and i think i could live with ) a superman that restarted with ONLY siegal schuster elements and evolved from there. you can have superman without post-siegal/schuster elements. a LOT would be lost, jimmy, kryptonite etc- but i think you could have a superman that exists without the things added later.

somehow i doubt it though.
(the new movie obviously is using post-siegal/schuster elements)

[Deleted]

The Death of Superman ... wait ... nevermind.

[Jor-L5150]

also- i remember reading last fall, or early spring that geoff johns and some other DC honcho said that the DC comics would be brought into a similarity witht the nolan flick.

[Deleted]

So, instead of waiting 18 months for reaction to a film that's not shot a single frame, I guess DC is going to spend the next 18 months convincing us that the new movie is the way to go in all things Superman? I guess they really do want to bury the Donnerverse.

Edit to add ...

It'll take a pretty big shakeup to get me to buy comics again on a weekly basis. I stopped in 2004 or so after For Tomorrow, and the only thing I really miss is Superman/Batman. But at this point, I'd rather buy collected books once I get recommendations that the story is worth a shit.

[Valentine Smith]

For Tomorrow was shit. It had a brilliant and evocative first issue, and then went right up its own ass. Boring and pretentious, and worst of all, felt nothing like a Superman story.

[Keith]

I really wish something could have been worked out between the heirs and WB/DC. I don't know how all this is going to go down, but if Superman is changed too drastically like what Jor was saying, that's going to really piss off a lot of Superman fans.

I hope they don't get rid of the other elements that make Superman what he is today (kryptonite, jimmy, daily planet and so on)

[Jor-L5150]

May 24, 2011 11:19:12 GMT -5 Keith said:

I really wish something could have been worked out between the heirs and WB/DC. I don't know how all this is going to go down, but if Superman is changed too drastically like what Jor was saying, that's going to really piss off a lot of Superman fans.

I hope they don't get rid of the other elements that make Superman what he is today (kryptonite, jimmy, daily planet and so on)

IF the estate was able to get ownership back from WB/DC (highly improbable)- then they wouldn't "change" superman so much as relaunch the original premise, and they'd hardly be in a position to "buy" the post-siegal/schuster trappings, so they'd have the basic premise- but a LOT of familiar supporting elements came after siegal/schuster.
it'd be a stunning development, bigger than the "death of" story. probably the biggest event in comics history.

imagine marvel buying superman?

whats much more likely (IMO) is that WB/DC have reached an agreement where the estate gets more royalties in exchange for letting it drop.(for now.... ) and the DC comics will try to reflect the "look" of snyder/nolan superman.

val's suggestion that a (still, yet another) ret-con might be a way of getting superman "single" again. (maybe they draw superman to resemble cavill the way gary frank drew reeve and adam kubert drew him to look like routh.)

[crazy_asian_man]

IF the estate was able to get ownership back from WB/DC (highly improbable)- then they wouldn't "change" superman so much as relaunch the original premise, and they'd hardly be in a position to "buy" the post-siegal/schuster trappings, so they'd have the basic premise- but a LOT of familiar supporting elements came after siegal/schuster.

it'd be a stunning development, bigger than the "death of" story. probably the biggest event in comics history.

imagine marvel buying superman?

whats much more likely (IMO) is that WB/DC have reached an agreement where the estate gets more royalties in exchange for letting it drop.(for now.... ) and the DC comics will try to reflect the "look" of snyder/nolan superman.

val's suggestion that a (still, yet another) ret-con might be a way of getting superman "single" again. (maybe they draw superman to resemble cavill the way gary frank drew reeve and adam kubert drew him to look like routh.)

Getting Superman 'single' again- I dunno if that really helps improve the story possibilities at all, in a significant way.

The basic problem (imo) is that what makes Superman great at times is also what shackles him. That certain things ALWAYS have to stay the same by the end.

If we keep the same mythology that's developed:
(in the main comics, not talking about 'event' comics like "Kingdom Come" or "Elseworlds")
* Lois is always the ONE for Superman. No substitutions.
* Green Kryptonite
* Fortress of Solitude
* Superman never ages beyond 25-35
* Luthor as the #1 earth villain, is never killed/etc.
* None of the significant supporting cast members die/age/etc. either

No matter what changes happen in the comics, nothing STICKS... really. The biggest things that actually happen (death of Superman, death of Supergirl) get retconned one way or another.

SR offered a way to evolve Superman's story while keeping everything (for the most part) still Superman. (*though, yes, of course, I know there's disagreement on this).

Where it would have gone? I don't know, but at least it tried to move things forward and still keep things more/less the "Superman" we knew.

JMS's "Superman: Earth One" (imo) wasn't all that it stacked up to be and was a bit of a disappointment - it didn't change much of anything, and the parts that were changed, weren't much of an improvement.

If the "Bombsheck" turns out that there's going to be a 5 year story arc that details everything that can/will happen to Supes, with a 'real' ending, then I'd be excited, with one creative team.

Anything else that's been done by committee has been underwhelming.

With Mark Millar's proposed movie outline that ends with Superman being the last being alive on earth thousands of years later after everyone else on earth has died to see the sun get snuffed out--- at least that's an ending of sorts, something that tries to do something significant. (And something I wouldn't mind seeing in a miniseries format).

Everything else so far that's been a 'radical change' for Superman has felt like changing the color of the house paint.

If it's a change, hopefully it's big--- and an improvement.
If not--- it's another "Death of Superman"- again. For the moment.

[botz1]

Thu, May 12th, 2011 at 9:10am PDT|Updated: May 12th, 2011 at 9:20am


Written and illustrated by longtime Marvel creators Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema, "Superman Beyond" is set to debut in August under a cover by Dustin Nguyen. The series is notable not only for spinning off a new title from DC's well-received "Batman Beyond," but also for being the first work at the publisher by both DeFalco and Buscema in decades.



DC's official description of the one-shot follows:


Spinning out of the fan favorite BATMAN BEYOND series come the adventures of The Man of Tomorrow in the DC Universe of the future! An aging Kal-El is called back into action to stop a villain more powerful than he’s ever faced - all while his own super powers are starting to fade.


this new comic storyline seems intriguing... who could the villian be? someone new i guess

[Deleted]

Is that the bombsheck? Couldn't be. I've known of that for a while now.

FUUUUUUUUCK what are they gonna do? Ugh. I'm not into comics nowadays but shit. They better not fuck with the man, goddammit.

[HOSNI]

I dont even know what any of this means. Isn't there a comic books section for you lot?

[Jor-L5150]

May 24, 2011 18:48:51 GMT -5 botz1 said:

Thu, May 12th, 2011 at 9:10am PDT|Updated: May 12th, 2011 at 9:20am


Written and illustrated by longtime Marvel creators Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema, "Superman Beyond" is set to debut in August under a cover by Dustin Nguyen. The series is notable not only for spinning off a new title from DC's well-received "Batman Beyond," but also for being the first work at the publisher by both DeFalco and Buscema in decades.



DC's official description of the one-shot follows:


Spinning out of the fan favorite BATMAN BEYOND series come the adventures of The Man of Tomorrow in the DC Universe of the future! An aging Kal-El is called back into action to stop a villain more powerful than he’s ever faced - all while his own super powers are starting to fade.


this new comic storyline seems intriguing... who could the villian be? someone new i guess

thats not it, but that will probably be cool. "batman beyond" was a really good show, and the superman ep's were excellent.

[Jor-L5150]

i don't think this will happen, but i can't help but fantasize about a possibility here-

you know the story of "never say never again" ? what happened is that early in the BOND series the producers were optioning the films one at a time, novel-to-film. eventually they bought lifetime film rights to the bond character from the estate of ian fleming.
by then 2 other bond flicks had been made before and independant of EON/broccoli's series. a TV movie based on casino royale and a high-camp parody also titled casino royale.

buuuuuuut- one of broccoli's former partners mantained he still co-owned the film rights to "thunderball", and grandfather-claused a production to adapt the novel- again.
i don't know the whole legalese of the particulars but "never say never again" was basically "thunderball", and it was released the same year as "octopussy".

that said, what if the siegal schuster estate WAS actually able to reaquire ACTION # 1?
wouldn't that be amazing? what if DC could grandfather clause the right to publish superman as-is, but the estate could also option ACTION 1 (with all the above posted differeances) to other publishers or film studios?

i think that might actually be awesome! not gonna happne, i just felt like boring you with my specualtion... ;D

[Valentine Smith]

I think in all likelihood, we're gonna get something relatively pedestrian. Probably a Geoff Johns/Jim Lee Superman ongoing/12-issue thing. My guess is they'll take "Secret Origin" as "Volume 1" and pick up from there, and re-tell the history of the DCU through Superman's eyes as he does all these "firsts".

I'd be alright, but Jim Lee is vastly overrated and can't meet a deadline.

[Jor-L5150]

May 25, 2011 11:02:30 GMT -5 Valentine Smith said:

I think in all likelihood, we're gonna get something relatively pedestrian. Probably a Geoff Johns/Jim Lee Superman ongoing/12-issue thing. My guess is they'll take "Secret Origin" as "Volume 1" and pick up from there, and re-tell the history of the DCU through Superman's eyes as he does all these "firsts".

I'd be alright, but Jim Lee is vastly overrated and can't meet a deadline.

agreed, i like lee, but he's past his prime and his work has gotten formulaic.
but, snyder did say he likes the way lee draws superman so that's an "in".

[Valentine Smith]

OR (and this would be brilliant), what if we aren't getting Krypton at ALL in the new movie? What if this movie starts off with Cavill as an already 23-25 year old Clark, and we don't see ANYTHING prior to that.

And what if Geoff Johns and Jim Lee are, from September 2011 to November 2012 going to do all of that movie backstory as a comic book mini-series that will lead directly into the new movie. So, moviegoers who give a shit about what Krypton looks like and stuff, will pick it up. People who don't care for yet another detailed Superman origin and already know the basics, can just start with the film.

[Jor-L5150]

May 25, 2011 11:31:49 GMT -5 Valentine Smith said:

OR (and this would be brilliant), what if we aren't getting Krypton at ALL in the new movie? What if this movie starts off with Cavill as an already 23-25 year old Clark, and we don't see ANYTHING prior to that.

And what if Geoff Johns and Jim Lee are, from September 2011 to November 2012 going to do all of that movie backstory as a comic book mini-series that will lead directly into the new movie. So, moviegoers who give a shit about what Krypton looks like and stuff, will pick it up. People who don't care for yet another detailed Superman origin and already know the basics, can just start with the film.

hmmm....

seems there'd have to be some depiction of krypton so as to introduce Zod. but you could be on to something with the comic book prelude. if it's anything like the star trek prelude we will WISH it's filmed! ;D

maybe krypton is minimised in the film, but fleshed out in the comics.
personally- i want ti the other way around:
MORE krypton
LESS smallville.

[Valentine Smith]

As do I.

[botz1]

May 25, 2011 11:31:49 GMT -5 Valentine Smith said:

OR (and this would be brilliant), what if we aren't getting Krypton at ALL in the new movie? What if this movie starts off with Cavill as an already 23-25 year old Clark, and we don't see ANYTHING prior to that.

Yea i thinks thats how they will do it...