Should Bendis take on a Gotham title?

[Gurz]

The guy literally had Superman's 10 year old son go with Jor-El to "learn his heritage", when the last time we saw Jor-El, the guy had orchestrated the deaths of thousands of people world wide. Lois WAS with him. Until now. Leaving Jon alone with the guy. And that's not even getting into the relationship stuff between Lois and Clark now.

So yeah. Hard pass.

Jor-El is alive ? wow... that's ridiculous... i don't follow Superman so this is new to me. And Jor-El made a genoside ?!?!? who writes this crap... Bendis probably don't know that Jor-El made a genoside as well... lol

[Sacred Knight]

He'd also been possessed at the time and that possession was broken. Clark knows that, he was the one who broke it, figuratively and literally. I'm not saying that suddenly should have made Clark incredibly trusting, as indeed he was not trusting at all, but you're willfully ignoring key details. What Jor-El was and what he was doing since his debut up until the Oz Effect as Mr. Oz isn't what he is now. Jurgens resolved that.

[K. Jones]

Yeah.

They should give him Dick Grayson, abandon all this Ric Grayson nonsense and let Bendis annex Grayson into the Leviathan/Checkmate/Spyral/Kobra/Super Spy War thing that's coming.

[Godlike13]

Yeah.

They should give him Dick Grayson, abandon all this Ric Grayson nonsense and let Bendis annex Grayson into the Leviathan/Checkmate/Spyral/Kobra/Super Spy War thing that's coming.

That’s an idea.

[Sacred Knight]

It can't happen anytime soon though, realistically. I'm concerned he has too much on his plate as it is.

[MajorHoy]

Jor-El is alive ? wow... that's ridiculous... i don't follow Superman so this is new to me. And Jor-El made a genoside ?!?!? who writes this crap... Bendis probably don't know that Jor-El made a genoside as well... lol

To be fair, the whole Jor-El thing happened before Bendis came on board to the Superman books.
(Unless, of course, it was arranged to happen because Bendis would be taking over the Superman titles?)
spoilers:

Zor-El turned out to be the hooded guy called Mr. Oz and had somehow been saved from the destruction of Krypton . . . possibly another of those Dr. Manhattan retcons that may-or-may-not be undone again after Doomsday Cluck.

end of spoilers

[Jackalope89]

He'd also been possessed at the time and that possession was broken. Clark knows that, he was the one who broke it, figuratively and literally. I'm not saying that suddenly should have made Clark incredibly trusting, as indeed he was not trusting at all, but you're willfully ignoring key details. What Jor-El was and what he was doing since his debut up until the Oz Effect as Mr. Oz isn't what he is now. Jurgens resolved that.

Yeah, and Jor-El dissolved into blue dust before Bendis magically brought out of nowhere. No explanation, apologies, or anything. Just popped in, said, "Your son is coming with me!", and some hamfisted scenes to extend the drama a little, and Lois and Jon are shipped off. Only for Lois to come back, not tell Clark, leave Jon alone with Jor-El, and proclaim she's going to keep her distance to write. Even though she had been writing since Jon was born.

[Sacred Knight]

That's on the editors then. If it was that big a deal (and really its not, he was teleported by Dr. Manhattan off Krypton to Earth, then he teleported him again. That hard to imagine he teleported him back to civilization for a third time?), then they shouldn't have granted Bendis' request to use Jor-El because they know the Watchmen stuff is Johns' court. That's why there's no explanation there.

Only the events of this most recent issue has been any sort of problem.

[babybats]

I think, like some people have said, he'd be best on something like a solo title for Montoya Question. There are a lot of Gotham characters that have potential under a good writer/artist team, and Bendis can revitalize them and give them a fresh start. Or a Streets of Gotham like series, but preferably one that doesn't touch the Batfamily too much. Esp after his dismantling of the Superfam, I'd rather he stick to Gotham characters who are more isolated, like Montoya or Batwing or somebody else nobody has plans for. Or a Spoiler/Orphan title. Maybe Cass can break the Bendis-speak curse by not speaking.

[Jackalope89]

I think, like some people have said, he'd be best on something like a solo title for Montoya Question. There are a lot of Gotham characters that have potential under a good writer/artist team, and Bendis can revitalize them and give them a fresh start. Or a Streets of Gotham like series, but preferably one that doesn't touch the Batfamily too much. Esp after his dismantling of the Superfam, I'd rather he stick to Gotham characters who are more isolated, like Montoya or Batwing or somebody else nobody has plans for. Or a Spoiler/Orphan title. Maybe Cass can break the Bendis-speak curse by not speaking.

I like Cass. And the way Bendis is going on with Lois, he'd find a way to turn Cass into something she's not. Probably into an accidental serial killer or something. The guy loves turning established characters into something from his own head cannon.

[Godlike13]

Cass is kind of an accidental serial killer. She has gotten manipulated and/or brainwashed into killing a couple people.

[oasis1313]

Yeah.

They should give him Dick Grayson, abandon all this Ric Grayson nonsense and let Bendis annex Grayson into the Leviathan/Checkmate/Spyral/Kobra/Super Spy War thing that's coming.

This might actually be a decent idea. Won't happen because Bendis has no interest in Dick; I think DC will pretty much give him carte blanche to do whatever he wants because he's Bendis.

[Jackalope89]

Cass is kind of an accidental serial killer. She gotten manipulated and/or brainwashed into killing people.

Oh, I mean without the brainwashing.

[oasis1313]

Oh, I mean without the brainwashing.

Is he writing Lois as a serial killer? I hated Lois back in the 50's and 60's when she was jumping off buildings to attract Superman's attention so he'd have to catch her in freefall and she could flirt with him.

[Jackalope89]

Is he writing Lois as a serial killer? I hated Lois back in the 50's and 60's when she was jumping off buildings to attract Superman's attention so he'd have to catch her in freefall and she could flirt with him.

Nope. Allow me to post what other people wrote about the whole thing so far;

Yeah. While I don't think that's Bendis' intent, something didn't sit right with me too so I waited until my wife read the issue (she loves Lois). My wife used to work as a marriage counselor and she thought the same thing I did, "This reads like someone (Lois) who is ready to move on from the relationship without quite being ready to burn their bridges."

When one person in a relationship, makes grand decisions that affects both partners and the general living arrangements- without having an equal conversation to see where both sit with it - it is a red flag (in real life, not necessarily when writer write bad plots/dialogue) that things are starting to go off the rails.

Lois has been gone for X amount of time. She comes back in secret, doesn't talk privately with Clark about ANYTHING (even just wanting to get some writing done) and holes up in a hotel room and makes unilateral decisions on how the marriage is going to work from now on... that's pretty crappy communication and trust with your 'best friend' and life-partner (and father of your child). And that pattern (when seen in real world context, not soap opera comic book space shenanigans) is almost cliche in regards to one partner being used and left by the other.

And the 2nd bout of passionate sex DID come across as a way for Lois to basically use sex to calm Clark's concerns ("See, we had sex and it was amazing, so you don't have to worry about the fact that I'm not coming home, and never even told you that I was back, or included you in the discussion.").

My wife's last thoughts were, "I don't like this. It kinda seems like they are trying to have Lois want an 'open relationship' with someone other than Clark... and that someone might be Superman? It just seems like a really weird and creepy way of reinvoking the 'love triangle' between Lois, Clark, and Superman in a 'modern' context."

Again, unless it does turn out that way, I'm willing to give Bendis the benefit of the doubt that he's going in this direction, but the whole scene just seemed more distressing about the stability of their relationship than 'romantic' or hopeful.

First things first the art was absolutely outstanding in this issue, after that all I can say is :

HAHAHA..Bendis being Bendis at it's finest. Overly complicated dialogue that has a lot of words but never actually says anything. Characters not sounding like themselves and being reduced to bendis speak. Add in some manufactured drama that is both inconsistent with the characters and ignores previous continuity in favor of what Bendis wants, this issue was basically the bendis hat trick. This reminded me of the terrible first arc of bendis most recent Jessica Jones arc, where she basically bailed on her Husband Luke Cage and gave him no explanation at all and then tried to play it off as she was right to do that. That arc and this arc basically say that in Bendis's mind a healthy marriage consists of one party universally deciding on what to do with their children, refusing to communicate about major life decisions and that having a career means that is is good to completely cut out your spouse in order to focus on what you want. If they had made Superman decide any of the following things without consulting Lois, this issue would be soundly trashed. And really the " you don't need me routine", like Lois would seriously not understand how badly Superman needs her in his life.

Whether intentional or not this issue made it seem like lois was having an affair and basically used sex and emotional manipulation to make Clark stop asking questions. I mean if that wasn't the intent of the issue I am not sure how that scene would make it into the book without seeming shady, that seemed more like Lois couldn't think of what to say and decided sex would shut clark up, rather than a romantic reunion between a husband and wife. This issue painted Lois a lot more as a cheating spouse trying to hide something and a lot less like the faithful amazing character that she is. Which would be ridiculous on it's own but when you consider that Lois has been writing while married during the entire jurgens run it becomes absolutely stupid that all the sudden she needs to be away from Clark to do that. But hey that is basically what every bendis run has been for the last 5-6 years regardless of character, shock value and manufactured drama have been his main goal lately not actual good storytelling. Can't believe this is the same guy who used to write alias, daredevil, powers and ultimate spider-man. I don't think dc would ever allow it but this issue intentional or not sure as hell made it seem like lois hooked up with lex got caught and was desperately trying to hide that from Clark and when all else failed decided to sleep with him to distract him from the idea. I mean even the repeated "baby's"(7 to be exact) sounded like something a cheating spouse would say when unable to explain themselves I don't think that actually happened but man this was not written well at all.

I thought maybe Bendis was going to prove me completely wrong based on some of the early issues but right on cue he reverts to form. If I had to guess what will happen next :we will have a year or two of them "separated but together" followed by them reuniting for a issue or two, so that they are together when Clark gets depowered/killed off/turned evil and some new "more socially relevant" bendis created character becomes the "all new all different Superman"

I know so many other people have said it already, but this issue really rubbed me the wrong way. Bendis is trying to say Lois & Clark have some kind of modern/unique relationship, but really, Lois just comes off as selfish and practically anti-feminist. She basically says being a mother and wife were holding her back when it came to her being a writer (as if they roles are mutually exclusive), and she wants to take a break from it all. She's also suddenly ok with leaving her son with her deranged father-in-law and doesn't even think it was inconsiderate of her to not tell Clark she's back. Clark not being angry at her makes him seem like a pushover. Hopefully, Bendis will give Lois some ulterior motive for her actions, because right now, it really just doesn't make sense.

These are only a few of the posts about it.