DC has released King/Mann/Bellaire/Workman's Action Comics #1000 story online

[Johnny Thunders!]

I don't necessarily love the idea of Earth as a ruined husk 4 billion years in the future, but I love out there Superman adventures. The idea that Superman considered preventing the Sun from dying is too gorgeous an idea. Plus, there is something about Superman turning carbon to diamond that feels exclusively like "his thing." I personally prefer the idea that Superman let's his human companions live normal lives and ultimately he is alone. Being Superman is a two sided coin and only he could deal with losing two worlds and all the loved ones at his side. It's nice that Lois is drinking grape flavored immortality serum, but I guess I do prefer lonely old man Supes. (I did love the reference to Jon and how proud he is of him, proud and perplexed.)

[SpideyCeo]

It's nice for what it is, but it's doesn't change the fact Batman will somehow get the same treatment as Superman as a immortalized fantasy and still be more popular.

[Johnny Thunders!]

I bet it’s his grape juice, there’s bats on the vials probably.

[Jon Clark]

After Injustice, a content future Superman, whose life is good, still surrounded by those he loves is a welcome relief for this fan.

What I was trying to say in my previous post is that Superman, as a work of fiction is unfortunately bound within the limitations of literature where no growth akin to real life applies. On occasion they've tried but will have no luxury of growing truly old with wrinkles, arthritic bones, bent back etc like us mere humans. It's fine to explore that in a once off but by and large, he will always remain as we know him today, which is almost the same as when he was first introduced. If in 80 years he's not "grown" It's hard to imagine his supporting cast shifting away as well.

I'm not a fan of a multi billion year old Superman but this is almost meta, like DC is saying even if time will pass in the real world Superman and Lois will continue to live on long after we're dead. Like the Simpsons, they will never grow old and they've included that in the narrative with the eternity formula. It may be cheesy and certainly not for everyone but that's my understanding of the character and his story culminating 80 years and counting. It's not to say they will never explore the world beyond Lois and Jon, but they are cementing those two in his life as he continues doing what he's always done being Superman.

My point wasn't so much the actual "illusion of change" applied to present day Superman. It was that even billions of years from now when they could have taken Superman's status quo in any direction they wanted without needing to worry how it would impact the next issue, they chose to have Superman still dressed like 2018 with the same exact family. No new kids (or more appropriately the descendants of Jon) mentioned in passing. No implication that he's made any headway in that never ending battle. No new powers (which he'd by then consider old hat).

The planet Earth is actually dying of old age and Superman is still the same guy he's been for 4,638,216,931 years, going through the same motions he has done a gazillion times before. It's "nothing ever changes" taken to the Nth degree.

[jimmy]

I don't necessarily love the idea of Earth as a ruined husk 4 billion years in the future, but I love out there Superman adventures. The idea that Superman considered preventing the Sun from dying is too gorgeous an idea. Plus, there is something about Superman turning carbon to diamond that feels exclusively like "his thing." I personally prefer the idea that Superman let's his human companions live normal lives and ultimately he is alone. Being Superman is a two sided coin and only he could deal with losing two worlds and all the loved ones at his side. It's nice that Lois is drinking grape flavored immortality serum, but I guess I do prefer lonely old man Supes. (I did love the reference to Jon and how proud he is of him, proud and perplexed.)

With the vast power he controls at being over 4Bill - years old, he could, at anytime, go back in time and keep the sun from becoming a expanding Red Giant and destroying the inner most planets. Letting Superman's human friends / companions live their normal life, is like, and you can call it the prime-directive of non-interference.

[Miles To Go]

The planet Earth is actually dying of old age and Superman is still the same guy he's been for 4,638,216,931 years, going through the same motions he has done a gazillion times before. It's "nothing ever changes" taken to the Nth degree.

And there's nothing wrong with keeping things static for a whole different generation to work off of. Everything snaps back in place eventually in comics, and if you try to say "oh, this is different and that is different" in a far-flung future story, people just dismiss it as "oh it's just a possibility" because the ideas presented aren't necessarily suited to what they want or envision for the character. King opted for the basic package because it leaves more to the imagination...and, if you ask me, it's likely also to assure readers going into Bendis' run that no matter what he does to the status quo, it's not going to affect Superman overall.

[The Learner]

I didn't expect King's story to be this good, it was beautiful.

[Soubhagya]

What i find hopeful about this story are quite a few things.

First, humanity exists and is flourishing 4 billion years later. For all the efforts of the Darkseids or the Lex Luthors, earth and the life on it was not destroyed. Not even humanity which is arguably its own worst enemy could destroy itself. And not only survived, they are now among the stars. (For a big fan of 2001: A Space Odyssey that's humanity rising above its base nature and taking its place among the stars).

Second, helping others who need it is an eternal principle. As long as life exists that principle exists as if eternal. Sun may turn into husk but these principles stay valid. Any day and in any age. Superman has kept trying his best. We don't know what kind of struggles he went through these billions of years. Who knows he may have given up his cape to wear it again. (Like Luke and Logan who died after getting back into the fight, in contrast to Superman who survived). He was fighting for Truth and Justice and the American way even when America itself has been but a barren land. That's something.

Finally, Superman never forgets his parents. He remembers them each day. Billions of years don't matter. Love transcends time itself. He is what he is due to his parents. And he will never forget them.

Nothing lasts forever. Not even Earth or the Sun. Everything's time comes to an end. But not Superman and his love. Feels a bit like a fairy tale. Fairy tales are awesome. I may not enjoy them as i once did. But i tend to gravitate to their ideas. After all one major reason why i am after Superman is because he is unique.

[DragonPiece]

Listening to a new tom king interview on the word balloon podcast and he describes the background of the story for a bit at 1:21:51

Also, it was released early because DC liked the story so much and wanted to hype retailers up.

[mute90]

This is great. I've always liked the idea of a pretty much immortal Superman because it's, in some ways, magical. Superman is constant. He lives forever and he fights forever. That doesn't mean nothing will change, but the basics of who he is, what he believes in, and what he represents will always be there. In this story, the physical places that where the birthplace of this forever guardian are going to be destroyed. He could stop that. He could try to keep Earth as some memento of the past. However, as constant as he is, he knows and accepts that everything keeps moving and he should never get in the way of that.

One of my favorite parts is that Lois Lane is still there - and she's running a news network! That's perfect. I feel like Lois would be up for an immortal life because that's the life her family is living. Clark and Jon are going to live and fight for as long as they can and those are her boys. If there's an option where they can face the universe together, she'll take it.

[jimmy]

This is great. I've always liked the idea of a pretty much immortal Superman because it's, in some ways, magical. Superman is constant. He lives forever and he fights forever. That doesn't mean nothing will change, but the basics of who he is, what he believes in, and what he represents will always be there. In this story, the physical places that where the birthplace of this forever guardian are going to be destroyed. He could stop that. He could try to keep Earth as some memento of the past. However, as constant as he is, he knows and accepts that everything keeps moving and he should never get in the way of that.

One of my favorite parts is that Lois Lane is still there - and she's running a news network! That's perfect. I feel like Lois would be up for an immortal life because that's the life her family is living. Clark and Jon are going to live and fight for as long as they can and those are her boys. If there's an option where they can face the universe together, she'll take it.

That's the way I see too, absorbing all of that Solar and other radiation, Superman evolves into a immortal cosmic being who goes on forever...