"Up In The Sky"-A 12-Part Walmart Exclusive Story By Tom King and Andy Kubert!

[millernumber1]

Surely this is a victory for good.

I liked it quite a bit!

[Vordan]

My Walmart doesn’t have it, will it be released on ComiXology?

[millernumber1]

My Walmart doesn’t have it, will it be released on ComiXology?

Not, at least, until the trade. Palmiotti says they will have trades. King says he doesn't know. I think there will, but not for another year, naturally.

[titansupes]

Not, at least, until the trade. Palmiotti says they will have trades. King says he doesn't know. I think there will, but not for another year, naturally.

Ah, good.

Are these stories a full 22 page per issue thing, or less?

[millernumber1]

Ah, good.

Are these stories a full 22 page per issue thing, or less?

No, they are 12 pages per installment.

[titansupes]

^^^ Cheers.

[superduperman]

I can't imagine they won't have trades. They'd be throwing money away not to. I'm curious how long this "experiment" will last. In some ways I can see this version competing with the mainstream books. You have a Lois and Clark that are married with no Jon in sight and the Kents are still alive. In some ways, it's the pre-Flashpoint universe all over again. All they need is Conner making an appearance somewhere and I can see a lot of fans getting behind this more so than the mainstream books.

[millernumber1]

I can't imagine they won't have trades. They'd be throwing money away not to. I'm curious how long this "experiment" will last. In some ways I can see this version competing with the mainstream books. You have a Lois and Clark that are married with no Jon in sight and the Kents are still alive. In some ways, it's the pre-Flashpoint universe all over again. All they need is Conner making an appearance somewhere and I can see a lot of fans getting behind this more so than the mainstream books.

They've committed for 14 months (first two issues plus the 12 issue storylines). Hopefully we'll get an ongoing healthy stream of books through this channel.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

Finally got my hands on it (though it was from an out-of-town Walmart; the local one's only gotten Titans and JL #2 past the first round of issues, which I hope doesn't remain the case), and I have to say, this very much strikes me as reminiscent of what Frank Miller might've done with Superman back in the day. Obviously Kubert gives it that aesthetic given he worked on the last Dark Knight and he's very much keeping to that style here, but Superman's a mythic, mostly silent figure in here who's often a presence hovering around other characters, and there's some pastoral imagery and a few very dark moments that back that feeling up. We know that's not King's singular take on Superman, he wrote and framed him very differently in the Batman two-parter and Action #1000, so it's very interesting to me that it's what he went with here and I'm curious if that'll continue to be the case or if this is intended as an introduction to him before we get into the more pointed character work.

[SiegePerilous02]

Finally got around to getting this. $4.99 may be kind of a deal breaker for me going forward as it's only for the new 11 page story instead of the re-prints in the rest of it, but that's another matter. For the story itself, I came away with overall very positive feelings. I loved the banter between Clark and Lois, loved the art, Bruce and Hal's guest appearances were nice (and we have a Wonder Woman one to look forward to, hopefully King will do a bit better with her this time), and I thought King handled the rather heavy subject matter of dead kids very tastefully with the right amount of tragedy and hope for Alice. It makes me think that King will handle the deaths in Heroes in Crisis more tastefully than people are giving him credit for.

The only slight drawback was Jonathan's appearance, and that's not even a negative I just prefer the Kents to have passed at this point in Clark's life. Maybe it was a conversation that took place entirely in Clark's head?

[Superlad93]

Got to read it myself, and it did not disappoint. It's both what I expected and wanted from King on Superman. One of my favorite lines being when Batman says "you do what I do, but out there." That works for me for like 4 or 5 reason straight up.

Don't know where I read it, but someone said that the Pa Kent scene could actually be Clark talking to a hologram based on Pa similar to what he used to do with Jor-El. I mean, putting recent events regarding Jor-El into perspective, it's not crazy to imagine that he'd rather use Pa as his hologram pep talker. That farm they're on could even be similar to Clark's holo farm from Kingdom Come. But in reality continuity is light in these book (though Bendis does plan on really linking his stuff in his Batman book), so I don't worry about it too much.

[millernumber1]

(though Bendis does plan on really linking his stuff in his Batman book)

I finally got my copies of Batman, Superman, and JLA #3 (I walked into Walmart just as they were restocking, and they nicely called me back after I got Superman and JLA so I could look in another box to get Batman - A+ employees of the vendor!), and I really liked all of them. The art on the original stories is really top notch!

I don't know why people don't like Pa being alive. I personally really like the idea of Superman being a fairly young man (30ish), and his parents are still around. I'm 31, and my parents are quite healthy and alive. (And they didn't have me super young, either). It makes him actually a bit MORE relateable, I think.

I'm curious what you mean by Bendis's approach to continuity, though.

[Vordan]

Personal reason for why I prefer the Kents being dead is I’m not a fan of Clark running back to Ma and Pa every time he has a problem. It’s not a deal-breaker though.

I managed to read the first part. I liked it. King is better with Superman than he is with Batman I feel, which isn’t something I’m used to seeing with writers.

[millernumber1]

Personal reason for why I prefer the Kents being dead is I’m not a fan of Clark running back to Ma and Pa every time he has a problem. It’s not a deal-breaker though.

I managed to read the first part. I liked it. King is better with Superman than he is with Batman I feel, which isn’t something I’m used to seeing with writers.

Interesting. I don't think Clark having a conversation with his parents is the same as "running back" - and since he can be there in seconds, it makes sense for him to go there instead of calling.

I don't know if I have enough information yet to say I think King is Better at Superman than Batman - we just have this first issue and then the Action 1000 story, right? - but I think if you look at Dick Grayson in Grayson and the recent Batman issues, King really loves the idea of someone who tries to hold onto light in the face of incredible darkness, while someone who embraces a certain measure of darkness in the face of even darker darkness is a bit more difficult to find contrast in.

[Superlad93]

I'm curious what you mean by Bendis's approach to continuity, though.

Don't remember where he said it, but he said that a lot of the concepts he's introducing in Batman Universe will be showing up and being fleshed out in his other works like Superman and the new imprint using DC characters.

Also he recently said that he'll be announcing some stuff at NY Comic Con, and before that he said that the project he's doing with Gleason will be announced very soon, so putting two and two together it's possible it'll be at NY CC.

I don't know if I have enough information yet to say I think King is Better at Superman than Batman - we just have this first issue and then the Action 1000 story, right? - but I think if you look at Dick Grayson in Grayson and the recent Batman issues, King really loves the idea of someone who tries to hold onto light in the face of incredible darkness, while someone who embraces a certain measure of darkness in the face of even darker darkness is a bit more difficult to find contrast in.

King calls Superman his "White Whale" in the sense that it's the project he most aspires to do and do right. It's no wonder that he sprinkles in so much Superman-like stuff into his work. And the idea that Sanctuary is both built by Kryptonian tech, its robots are modeled after Ma, Pa, and Lana, and the masks are direct homages to the oldest Superman shield are all pretty clear signs of his love for the character.