Superman#1 Discussion and Spoilers

[RepHope]

Agree about the skyline. If Gotham is a place that everyone would avoid if it were real, Metropolis should be the place you want to live in. I’m excited to see how Gleason, Paquette, and Sook handle it.

It’s very easy to see the difference between 80’s, 90’s, to present day paper, even through an image. However, I would often see people complain about how the paper feels (especially during the “let’s all complain about Marvel era” of a few years ago) and I would just be like, “dude, it’s paper.” Is it weird that I don’t notice a difference?

Bit off-topic but would you guys say Metropolis should be a “utopia”? I’d say no because it’s still a place that was under Lex Luthor’s thumb not too long ago. Not sure how many of you guys have played Mass Effect but if Omega is Gotham I always felt like Illium would be Metropolis.

[bigstupidjellyfish]

Bit off-topic but would you guys say Metropolis should be a “utopia”? I’d say no because it’s still a place that was under Lex Luthor’s thumb not too long ago. Not sure how many of you guys have played Mass Effect but if Omega is Gotham I always felt like Illium would be Metropolis.

Haha, have I played Mass Effect? Look at my name!

But you’re super right, now that you’ve pointed that out.

[Jon Clark]

Am I the only one wondering what the point of getting Lois and Jon away from Superman was, if we are going to keep getting these flashbacks?

I get that Superman misses them, but is there really anything in that "but I don't wanna go to school" scene that wouldn't have worked if Jon had been doing that in the present? Anything with the Lois flashback that contributed anything? I'd rather we had just been reminded about the loss of his ability to communicate with them and moved on with telling a story.

[The Dying Detective]

To give them a continued presence and to remind fans that Bendis isn't getting rid of them?

[Jon Clark]

To give them a continued presence and to remind fans that Bendis isn't getting rid of them?

Which still leaves the question "How are we suppose to miss them if they never go away?".

If he wants to give them a continuing presence then maybe he should have left them on panel. A six issue mini where every issue had a central flashback to how they left and now two pages devoted to past memories framed by Clark moping … I not only don't need to be reminded, but despite liking the characters I'm actually longing for them to actually be gone for a bit.

[The Dying Detective]

Which still leaves the question "How are we suppose to miss them if they never go away?".

If he wants to give them a continuing presence then maybe he should have left them on panel. A six issue mini where every issue had a central flashback to how they left and now two pages devoted to past memories framed by Clark moping … I not only don't need to be reminded, but despite liking the characters I'm actually longing for them to actually be gone for a bit.

I think the plan is for the reader to sympathies with Clark who does miss them. And also to remind fans that the marriage here to stay?

[Superlad93]

To give them a continued presence and to remind fans that Bendis isn't getting rid of them?

After reading the issue, I feel pretty comfortable saying that the idea behind the issue seems to be "a day in the life"/"a day in the life NOW." Both as a continuation of Man Of Steel, and an easy jumping on point for new readers. So, with that in mind, I imagine you visit all the normal touchstones of a Superman day (home with Lois, home with Jon, Fortress, Daily Planet, and general heroics) but you actively show how each of those aspects has a bit of a kink in it or has been drastically changed now.

- When Clark wakes up in the morning now he can't say hi to his wife, or talk with his son

- He has to build a new Fortress because the old one is gone.

- He hasn't solved the arson case as Clark or Superman.

- Him fighting crime, monsters, and disasters is broken up by conversations questioning if he could/should be doing more

I took it an the issue as an illustration of his current set-up, so that includes pointing at the contrast between Clark with his family and Clark without.

[The Dying Detective]

After reading the issue, I feel pretty comfortable saying that the idea behind the issue seems to be "a day in the life"/"a day in the life NOW." Both as a continuation of Man Of Steel, and an easy jumping on point for new readers. So, with that in mind, I imagine you visit all the normal touchstones of a Superman day (home with Lois, home with Jon, Fortress, Daily Planet, and general heroics) but you actively show how each of those aspects has a bit of a kink in it or has been drastically changed now.

- When Clark wakes up in the morning now he can't say hi to his wife, or talk with his son

- He has to build a new Fortress because the old one is gone.

- He hasn't solved the arson case as Clark or Superman.

- Him fighting crime, monsters, and disasters is broken up by conversations questioning if he could/should be doing more

I took it an the issue as an illustration of his current set-up, so that includes pointing at the contrast between Clark with his family and Clark without.

Hmm interesting take on the idea still at least things are goign to get intersting in this issue as Bendis sets up more ideas probably involving the Legion of Superheroes before getting on with his Phantom Zon e arc.

[Superlad93]

Hmm interesting take on the idea still at least things are goign to get intersting in this issue as Bendis sets up more ideas probably involving the Legion of Superheroes before getting on with his Phantom Zon e arc.

I'm looking forward to it.

Was looking back at Man Of Steel issue #6, and I noticed that as Zaar fell back into the Zone in that big splash page, the very last image of his shows him actually grabbing a rock before he falls in. Might be a clue as to why the Earth is in the Zone now. Clark did call the Zone nothing more than a band-aid. Maybe it leaked?

[The Dying Detective]

I'm looking forward to it.

Was looking back at Man Of Steel issue #6, and I noticed that as Zaar fell back into the Zone in that big splash page, the very last image of his shows him actually grabbing a rock before he falls in. Might be a clue as to why the Earth is in the Zone now. Clark did call the Zone nothing more than a band-aid. Maybe it leaked?

I just hope things will cool off with Bendis after a while because this panic and fear is getting to me. It's as bad if not worse than the Damian Wayne complaints. I can't imagine how Rogol Zaar uses a rock to get Earth into the Phantom Zone.

[Superlad93]

I just hope things will cool off with Bendis after a while because this panic and fear is getting to me. It's as bad if not worse than the Damian Wayne complaints. I can't imagine how Rogol Zaar uses a rock to get Earth into the Phantom Zone.

Well not the rock necessarily (though that's funny lol), but the clear indication that he may have been making some headway in his struggles before falling deeper into the Zone, ya know?

[The Dying Detective]

Well not the rock necessarily (though that's funny lol), but the clear indication that he may have been making some headway in his struggles before falling deeper into the Zone, ya know?

Yup it would be weird if a rock was the reason the Earth is in the Phantom Zone. I think he might have forced the Phantom Zone open some how.

[Myskin]

Very much agreed. In Johns' Superman & The Legion (back in continuity, I'm sure) he makes it very clear that Superman takes a VERY direct and hands on role to forming the United Planets. He actively brokers peace treaties and such. I heard no backlash on this idea, but what I feel like people are overlooking is the actual logistics of HOW you get there. That expressly requires a Superman who is actively setting up, sitting in on, and giving input on meetings between Earth and other planets.

It's so counter to what Superman has gone by till now, but it goes on to create a galactic shared community. This is the sort of conversation that had to have happened in some form to get Superman there, I feel.

Well, the interesting part is that it would resolve a lot of problems regarding the character.
As far as I am concerned, a good Superman writer would be the one who is able to build a new, stable status quo in which Superman finally deals with some of the elements which are usually criticized about his stories (Superman is not relevant, Superman is a defender of the status quo, etc: they are al fair critiques and if they keep representing themselves they must have a basis of truth). A lot of writers tried to deal with this in the latest decades and they all failed (even Morrison, because his t-shirt Superman had the energy and the will to face the world's problems, but he didn't have any guidance nor direction).

Bendis is just the latest writer in a very long list, but - if the United Planets theory is right, of course, and we are just at the beginning of it - his premise is interesting, because he is just rearranging in a clever way something which is ALREADY there. DC earthlings already know that in their universe there are aliens, menaces, invasions and good samaritans from other planets. Bendis is probably just resetting this whole situation into a Star Trek's Federation of Planet/Corey's The Expanse context, with Superman at the center of it. It's interesting because it really makes Superman the defender of earth, rather than just the US or Metropolis, and the same time he changes him into a symbol of hope and inspiration in a discernible way. I mean, we - the readers - are living in a world which is scourged by blind nationalism and authoritatianism. To me, it's interesting that, while the Trump era is in full charge and Brexit is happening, Bendis is basically proposing an allegory of a world without walls where people can learn from each other and no one is superior to anyone else. It's very political, just not in an "in-your-face" way.

[RepHope]

Well, the interesting part is that it would resolve a lot of problems regarding the character.
As far as I am concerned, a good Superman writer would be the one who is able to build a new, stable status quo in which Superman finally deals with some of the elements which are usually criticized about his stories (Superman is not relevant, Superman is a defender of the status quo, etc: they are al fair critiques and if they keep representing themselves they must have a basis of truth). A lot of writers tried to deal with this in the latest decades and they all failed (even Morrison, because his t-shirt Superman had the energy and the will to face the world's problems, but he didn't have any guidance nor direction).

Bendis is just the latest writer in a very long list, but - if the United Planets theory is right, of course, and we are just at the beginning of it - his premise is interesting, because he is just rearranging in a clever way something which is ALREADY there. DC earthlings already know that in their universe there are aliens, menaces, invasions and good samaritans from other planets. Bendis is probably just resetting this whole situation into a Star Trek's Federation of Planet/Corey's The Expanse context, with Superman at the center of it. It's interesting because it really makes Superman the defender of earth, rather than just the US or Metropolis, and the same time he changes him into a symbol of hope and inspiration in a discernible way. I mean, we - the readers - are living in a world which is scourged by blind nationalism and authoritatianism. To me, it's interesting that, while the Trump era is in full charge and Brexit is happening, Bendis is basically proposing an allegory of a world without walls where people can learn from each other and no one is superior to anyone else. It's very political, just not in an "in-your-face" way.

Interesting read of the situation. I agree that a good Superman writer (or writer in general) addresses common critiques head on.

Haha, have I played Mass Effect? Look at my name!

But you’re super right, now that you’ve pointed that out.

I can’t believe your name didn’t click for me until now lol. At least you know what I’m talking about.

[gnarlybole]

So even though Superman has no idea where Jor-El has taken Lois and Jon, he sets off to find them. Is Kal really that dumb? Wouldn't he ask someone like the GLC to help him track them rather than aimlessly flying through space in the hope of bumping into them? To quote Douglas Adams: "Space is big. Really big". Which brings up another point: How long can Superman hold his breath? He used to have to wear breathing apparatus for long journeys into space. Is Bendis now saying that Supes can survive without oxygen for extended periods of time? Also, Superman just KILLED a large number of Dominators on the assumption that they were heading to Earth on a mission of conquest. Since when did Kal become a cold-blooded killer? Another out-of-character moment from Bendis.