Official : Bendis gets both books

[Superlad93]

Got damn! That was maybe the most forthcoming Bendis has been about upcoming story in an interview during this whole run. Jon and Lois being away were really just the first act. He held almost nothing back this interview. Few of the points of interest.

Full interview here: https://www.denofgeek.com/us/books/d...on-of-superboy

* "This is a Superman family crisis." is a strong choice of words, and given the fact that we're working with other worlds and other Supermen, maybe a deliberate choice in words. It's similar to Tom King shifting meaning of the evocative term Crisis with Heroes In Crisis. Like, a "family crisis" means something in a specific and intimate way similar to a the "crisis" in a crisis center/hotline.

* "This is the kind of stuff that would only happen to Superman, but I think does reflect what a lot of parents and a lot of families go through which is, “Stuff happens that we don't expect and you deal with it.” There's a Superman version of that, and this is it." I love that, but I specifically love the "stuff happens that we don't expect and you deal with it" quote. It seems to confirm my theory that Bendis is dipping into a similar well that Kirkman did with his "no take backs" approach to his superhero comic, Invincible. Very down with that.

* "It is about vivid emotions of parenting and being a kid." Sign me up for this 100%.

* "I know that a lot of these characters come with a little bit of that baggage of, “Could it be a reboot or evil from another dimension?” It's not, it's him. It's real. It's really happening."

* "He was raised by two of the best people ever and then he had the old trial by fire as far as puberty went. He really had to do it on his own. He really became his own person, so we're going to meet that person." Seems to confirm my guess that the separation from Jor-El was possibly early on (a year or months into it), and the lion's share of the time was very much young Simba trying to make his way home. I wonder if he met any friends out there?

* "So many people are worrying he's turning into like an evil, homicidal maniac who’s going to go Injustice on everybody. That is not the case. This is the story about two parents who work hard to instill values in their son and then when push came to shove, those values not only held, but inspired him to do better and get home." Nuff freakin' said! I legitimately smiled hard while reading this. That's my guy!

* "When we hear his story about what Jon has been through, and how impossible it is, and how many opportunities he had to betray his core values, and never did, I think people are going to see that it is the most honoring of the Superman legacy of any story I'll tell." More! More! I freakin love it!

* "Gets to show Lois and Clark what kind of parents they were and are." I like this a lot. I'm not a parent, and this is a fantastical situation to begin with, but even with how strange this whole thing is, Lois and Clark have to be looking at their kid like he's 10 feet tall. I can imagine all parents have the feeling of not wanting to let go (at any age really) because they don't want the world to swallow their kids up and expose any perceived cracks or missteps in their parenting. This is a nice feather in the cap admits tragedy.

* "Well, we're doing both [revealing what Jon went through, or moving straight into, "Jor-El]. I couldn't even imagine how unfair it would be not to show the audience. I couldn't imagine any fan not wanting to have a dramatic recounting of where they've been and what they've done. So, in every issue, for the next four issues, Brandon Peterson will be illustrating the flashbacks and dealing with the highlights of where they've been." So flashbacks seem to be issues 7-10, so quite a good deal of space to get stuff in, and the pacing is quite fast, so it's likely gonna be a lot.

* "Can you imagine just losing years, and then having to regain that connection, and regain everything, and re-understand each other? It allows the family dynamic to really deal with each other in a new way, but hopefully in a spectacularly healthy way." Very interested in this.

* "Just that feeling of responsibility; it’s enormous, and he's now looking right in the face of either his biggest failure or his biggest triumph. He has to decide which of those." This is quite an evocative statement carries a LOT of weight with it especially given what was said before this in the interview. Can Clark and Lois get past the bad in the situation to see that they've actually raised a fantastic young man who never stopped looking towards their example for internal guidance?

* I wonder if Clark's gonna have a similar "creative, and intelligent, and philosophical" relationship with his older son that Bendis has with his older daughter?

* "He's immensely proud of himself for getting home. He (Jon) kind of shows you what kind of Superman he is, and then he's going to describe that in the flashbacks." *wipes away sweat* Thems some hefty words ya got there, Bendis. Mix that in with Jon's interaction with Lobo this issue, and I'd dare say that young Jon will be going by a Superman of some kind from here on.

* Jon and Clark/Kal are going to head back out into the cosmos to deal with Grandpa. YES YES YES YESYESYES!!

-Note: that does beg the question of why it's okay for Clark to leave Earth now, but not before? Given Jon's words and need for his dad's help, I'd say what ever Jor-El has done is too big (and will likely affect Earth eventually) to ignore or for Superman to pass the buck. Seems like it needs his undivided attention.

* "And just because he's been through a lot, he's still a teenager and he's still going through things, so he's not fully baked as a human being yet. He's still in process." That's something a lot of people were worried about if I recall. The idea that Jon was totally grow up now. Glad to see that's not the case. That's prime time parenting coming up.And we're likely getting it in a father/son road trip format!

-Note: Two story lines I've desperately wanted to see for years since Jon was introduced were "Jon lost in space" and "father/son space road trip" so it's kind of hilarious that I'm getting them back to back.

*"This is a family crisis." There's that C word again lol

* "Yeah, we got Jor-El, we got Rogol Zaar, we have the conspiracy around Krypton." Answers forthcoming.

* Bendis hard confirms that the Unity Saga isn't by any means the end of his run with the character, but rather just his first big story.

*Set a table for Superman and Lois and Jon that's another status quo change that's going to really define what they do going forward. We're right at the beginning of the next big Superman status quo change. I have my ideas...

* "Jon is in every single issue."

* Question: Changing Jon this way will affect the entire continuity. Will we get to see a little bit of those ripple effects, including how things will look between him and his formerly older buddy Damian Wayne?

Bendis' Answer: First of all, not a little bit. Out of all the ripple effects, the only reason to do something like this is to feel the ripple effects so we can have those dramatic moments between the characters that we never thought we'd see. They get to really experience each other in a new, exciting way. So, yes to all of that, and it won't be little. It'll be enormous.

That last one seems to confirm that he hasn't forgotten about what Jon's life on Earth was, and going forward it'll be some new dynamics coming from this shift.

[Superlad93]

I wonder if Lois takes over Action Comics for a bit during the time Clark and Jon are off on their space road trip? Or will Bendis play with time like he did before with the Phantom Zone arc?

Lois and maybe Jimmy (given he's working with her and Clark for the Leviathan arc) taking center stage for a while would be great. I wonder if she lets him in on what she's working on?

[rpmaluki]

I wonder if Lois takes over Action Comics for a bit during the time Clark and Jon are off on their space road trip? Or will Bendis play with time like he did before with the Phantom Zone arc?

Lois and maybe Jimmy (given he's working with her and Clark for the Leviathan arc) taking center stage for a while would be great. I wonder if she lets him in on what she's working on?

Sign me up immediately for this!

[Yoda]

Bendis has said all this is kinda happening at the same time. I wonder if Levithan happens after Unity Saga concludes? Like Leviathan Rises is happening concurrently with like the last few pages of Superman 6, Unity concludes, then we go into Levithan proper? And Levithan brings about the status quo change?

[Flashback]

This is the article superlad is talking about:

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.denof...on-of-superboy

[Celgress]

This is the article superlad is talking about:

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.denof...on-of-superboy

Thanks for the link.

[Truman Burbank]

The tease for Year Two

And that quote is why I'm done. He's more interested in changing the status quo than just telling good Superman stories.

[Vordan]

Here's the latest article on #7

https://www.denofgeek.com/us/books/d...on-of-superboy

Pretty great interview imo. I’m still going to keep reading.

[DragonPiece]

Pretty great interview imo. I’m still going to keep reading.

Same, I love when you can tell a writer is genuinely excited about their plans.

And that quote is why I'm done. He's more interested in changing the status quo than just telling good Superman stories.

See you next week same time!

[Vordan]

And that quote is why I'm done. He's more interested in changing the status quo than just telling good Superman stories.

This might come as a bit of a shock, but the stories people tend to remember as “good” are the ones which shake up the status quo. Like Rebirth did when it killed New 52 Superman so we could get Superman and Lois married together with their son.

[Kon93]

New status quo guess

Superman goes to space with Jon to fix grandpa's ****,and leaves lois on earth.superman inspires and it in turn creates the United planets.the legion closer to half way or end of this shows up confirming what good he did for the future.jon leaves with them for some reason that they need a superman,but our superman cant leave cause he isn't done doing what he is supposed to do now.poor lois and I bet lex starts stalking her,ala new show Metropolis.

And did I mention when superman and superson are off in space val zod will show up and take his place.

Beat those predictions

[Truman Burbank]

This might come as a bit of a shock, but the stories people tend to remember as “good” are the ones which shake up the status quo. Like Rebirth did when it killed New 52 Superman so we could get Superman and Lois married together with their son.

Not always, especially when the stories are "change for change's sake."

[Sacred Knight]

New status quo guess

Superman goes to space with Jon to fix grandpa's ****,and leaves lois on earth.superman inspires and it in turn creates the United planets.the legion closer to half way or end of this shows up confirming what good he did for the future.jon leaves with them for some reason that they need a superman,but our superman cant leave cause he isn't done doing what he is supposed to do now.poor lois and I bet lex starts stalking her,ala new show Metropolis.

And did I mention when superman and superson are off in space val zod will show up and take his place.

Beat those predictions

All of this sounds very possible. Though personally, instead of Val-Zod or anyone else taking Superman's place, I don't get why writers wouldn't just use such scenarios to then focus on Lois, Jimmy, etc. Maybe sometimes when Superman is gone, Metropolis just flat doesn't have its protector and its as simple as that, and they deal till he gets back. But all that said, I still think its all very possible. Just don't try to replace Superman altogether for any length of time. That happens I'm done. Doesn't matter how much I'm enjoying things currently. That's a line for me with any writer, any run.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

Wasn’t there a rumor about Val-Zod coming back? Can’t find it.

[Yoda]

Looks like the Jon's status may become more broadly known in the Levithan arc, Bendis was just asked who was going to tell Sam Lane about Jon's age up and he replied:

.@BRIANMBENDIS hello good sir. just wondering, who gets to tell Sam Lane that the 10-year-old grandson his daughter finally agreed to let him spend some time with is now a 17-year-old, especially given that Sam is unaware Clark is Superman in current continuity?

Outstanding question! answer coming VERY soon in Action comics... LEVIATHAN is coming! #DCLeviathan