Johns, Romita & Janson Seek to Inject Optimism Into "Superman"

[CBR News]

The "Superman" creative team of Geoff Johns, John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson discuss their plans to bring a more "human" Man of Steel to DC Comics.


Full article here.

[Prime]

Eh, I'm pretty sure Morrison's Superman was optimistic and so is Pak's.

[weaquaman]

i'm enjoying the storyline but finding that romita's art keeps pulling me out, either bodies out of proportion, times when superman has no neck, and when the characters faces should be showing some emotions, he is just not displaying that artistically. I enjoyed his work years ago on spiderman but very underwhelmed the past two issues of superman

[Prime]

"Superman has been done to death?" So has Spider Man and Batman, Romita...

[Mar-Vell]

Forget Superman, looks like Johns, Romita, and Jansen need to inject more optimism into the people in this thread.

Jeez.

[DochaDocha]

At least the headline isn't "Less of the 'Super,' and more of the 'Man.'"

[The World]

John's was going on and on about how Clark had no friends at one point in that interview. Not inspiring confidence in me.

[misslane]

I'm not sure I'm on the same page as Johns and Romita when it comes to their take on Superman. Specifically, these statements leave me conflicted.

And looking where he is in his life right now. He works at his apartment. He doesn't work for The Daily Planet anymore. There's no one that knows his secret identity, except another superhero.

Clark may not work at The Daily Planet anymore, but his blog has a headquarters and other staff. His job isn't isolating, not really. It's also not true that no one knows his secret identity. Several people do, including a civilian like Lana or a scientist ally like Dr. Shay Veritas. He's got superhero friends in the know as well as a human friend. When so much of his so called isolation is self-imposed, it's hard to feel sympathetic. He could work at The Daily Planet if he wanted to, and he could tell Lois his secret. I've yet to hear a rational justification for her remaining in the dark, especially with someone like Lana existing as a glaring example of how it can work.

When we started talking about the book, and I started thinking about all these scenes, where Clark Kent would be able to talk about everything he's experienced, I had to have Batman or Wonder Woman or Green Lantern there.

I can sort of get this if we're talking about commiserating with other superheroes about superhero stuff, but back in the day he could have nice conversations with Lois or be Jimmy Olsen's pal as Superman and not just Clark. But, I'm also not sure why there has to be "all these scenes" where Clark unloads on someone "about everything he's experienced." I can get every once in awhile having a good heart to heart to provide insight and growth for the character, but it doesn't have to happen routinely. Plus, if the problem is more metatextual (i.e. a problem imposed due to the structure of comics as focusing on one aspect of a character, etc.), then it doesn't have an effective in-story emotional context. So saying that the problem is that he'd have to include Batman, Wonder Woman, or another superhero in the story doesn't communicate that Clark doesn't have friends or people to talk to in his life. It communicates that to maintain a different tone or focus for this specific title, Johns needed to find alternatives. However, is Ulysses (Neil) really the ideal person to commiserate with? From what I understand, Ulysses had no parents while Clark was adopted. Clark's parents are dead while Ulysses was just reunited with his. Ulysses doesn't have a dual identity and hasn't operated as a superhero to my knowledge.

If Ulysses isn't sticking around, then he's not solving the problem either. Therefore, one must assume that Johns' intent is to have Clark make a step forward with the other people in his life who aren't Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. However, to progress beyond the current status quo Johns has to move Clark closer to his human friends in a way that feels like a definitive shift with a sense of permanency. It sounds like Johns understood this to an extent and pursued plans to make The Daily Planet crew more of an active part of Clark's life.

I realized, "Wow, he doesn't really have that many people he talks to anymore." So right away it was, "We've got to bring that Daily Planet cast back in," because they're important to Clark Kent.

Rejoining The Daily Planet is a good start, although sharing his secret with Lois would be another alternative that would actually make a difference. That said, given Perry White's observation that Clark was distant even when he was previously working for the Planet just getting his job back won't be enough. Johns will have to do more than just tell stories with The Daily Planet cast. Clark's dynamic with them will have to evolve into something richer than it's ever been in the New 52.

They're his friends, and he doesn't have friends he grew up with -- he doesn't have cousins or family, or friends from high school. Pete Ross? He's been out of the picture forever.

I can't understand Johns here. Clark does have a cousin. Her name is Kara, and while I guess she makes it difficult to get close to sometimes, I'd like to think Clark could cultivate a better relationship with her. As for friends from high school, Pete being out of the picture isn't an in-story problem or obstacle for Clark; it's a narrative one. We know Pete exists. We don't know why he's not around, so he can be a part of Clark's life if Clark wants him to be. Unless Johns or someone else establishes a reason for Pete's absence as a friend, then Clark's lack of connection to him or his lack of a role in the story is a contrived one, which is not sympathetic. Complicating matters is the fact that Pak has been doing a tremendous job showcasing Lana Lang as a childhood friend who knows Clark's secret and has been quite involved in his life recently. Knowing this, it's hard for me to grasp Johns' take.

He grew up on a farm, he doesn't have a lot of friends, feels isolated, he can't tell everybody what his secrets are.

All I can say to something like this is that the "doesn't have a lot of friends" doesn't fly with me. Most people don't have dozens of friends who they're all super intimate with. If one is lucky, one can have one or two really close friends, and for some that is the perfect amount to be totally content. Clark has the Justice League, Lana, a girlfriend in Wonder Woman, a friendly mentor in Perry, Dr. Veritas, Steel, and his journalism colleagues like Lois who he calls his "best friend" in his life. Compared to people I know, and people I've worked with as a counselor, he is truly blessed with a diverse and plentiful group of allies and friends. I can understand that it can be isolating to feel some things or experience some things that not everyone else does, but I think we can all feel that way sometimes since we're all unique. Most people aren't complete open books either. So, all in all, I can't help but feel like Johns and lots of Superman writers try and sell the idea of Superman as some angsty, lonely, repressed guy to be pitied, but I just can't feel that way about him. I think he's a fortunate man.

[Lokimaru]

I'm not sure I'm on the same page as Johns and Romita when it comes to their take on Superman. Specifically, these statements leave me conflicted.



Clark may not work at The Daily Planet anymore, but his blog has a headquarters and other staff. His job isn't isolating, not really. It's also not true that no one knows his secret identity. Several people do, including a civilian like Lana or a scientist ally like Dr. Shay Veritas. He's got superhero friends in the know as well as a human friend. When so much of his so called isolation is self-imposed, it's hard to feel sympathetic. He could work at The Daily Planet if he wanted to, and he could tell Lois his secret. I've yet to hear a rational justification for her remaining in the dark, especially with someone like Lana existing as a glaring example of how it can work.



I can sort of get this if we're talking about commiserating with other superheroes about superhero stuff, but back in the day he could have nice conversations with Lois or be Jimmy Olsen's pal as Superman and not just Clark. But, I'm also not sure why there has to be "all these scenes" where Clark unloads on someone "about everything he's experienced." I can get every once in awhile having a good heart to heart to provide insight and growth for the character, but it doesn't have to happen routinely. Plus, if the problem is more metatextual (i.e. a problem imposed due to the structure of comics as focusing on one aspect of a character, etc.), then it doesn't have an effective in-story emotional context. So saying that the problem is that he'd have to include Batman, Wonder Woman, or another superhero in the story doesn't communicate that Clark doesn't have friends or people to talk to in his life. It communicates that to maintain a different tone or focus for this specific title, Johns needed to find alternatives. However, is Ulysses (Neil) really the ideal person to commiserate with? From what I understand, Ulysses had no parents while Clark was adopted. Clark's parents are dead while Ulysses was just reunited with his. Ulysses doesn't have a dual identity and hasn't operated as a superhero to my knowledge.

If Ulysses isn't sticking around, then he's not solving the problem either. Therefore, one must assume that Johns' intent is to have Clark make a step forward with the other people in his life who aren't Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. However, to progress beyond the current status quo Johns has to move Clark closer to his human friends in a way that feels like a definitive shift with a sense of permanency. It sounds like Johns understood this to an extent and pursued plans to make The Daily Planet crew more of an active part of Clark's life.



Rejoining The Daily Planet is a good start, although sharing his secret with Lois would be another alternative that would actually make a difference. That said, given Perry White's observation that Clark was distant even when he was previously working for the Planet just getting his job back won't be enough. Johns will have to do more than just tell stories with The Daily Planet cast. Clark's dynamic with them will have to evolve into something richer than it's ever been in the New 52.



I can't understand Johns here. Clark does have a cousin. Her name is Kara, and while I guess she makes it difficult to get close to sometimes, I'd like to think Clark could cultivate a better relationship with her. As for friends from high school, Pete being out of the picture isn't an in-story problem or obstacle for Clark; it's a narrative one. We know Pete exists. We don't know why he's not around, so he can be a part of Clark's life if Clark wants him to be. Unless Johns or someone else establishes a reason for Pete's absence as a friend, then Clark's lack of connection to him or his lack of a role in the story is a contrived one, which is not sympathetic. Complicating matters is the fact that Pak has been doing a tremendous job showcasing Lana Lang as a childhood friend who knows Clark's secret and has been quite involved in his life recently. Knowing this, it's hard for me to grasp Johns' take.



All I can say to something like this is that the "doesn't have a lot of friends" doesn't fly with me. Most people don't have dozens of friends who they're all super intimate with. If one is lucky, one can have one or two really close friends, and for some that is the perfect amount to be totally content. Clark has the Justice League, Lana, a girlfriend in Wonder Woman, a friendly mentor in Perry, Dr. Veritas, Steel, and his journalism colleagues like Lois who he calls his "best friend" in his life. Compared to people I know, and people I've worked with as a counselor, he is truly blessed with a diverse and plentiful group of allies and friends. I can understand that it can be isolating to feel some things or experience some things that not everyone else does, but I think we can all feel that way sometimes since we're all unique. Most people aren't complete open books either. So, all in all, I can't help but feel like Johns and lots of Superman writers try and sell the idea of Superman as some angsty, lonely, repressed guy to be pitied, but I just can't feel that way about him. I think he's a fortunate man.

Clark going back to the Planet is like someone working for EA or Ubisoft, quitting to start an Indie game studio then quitting that to go back to EA or Ubisoft. He left for reasons that afaik are still present so what's the point of going back other then "I know people there"?

[The World]

-snip-

Agree. Feels like Johns is trying to fit something where it doesn't really fit. It's hard to sell this 'lack of friends' thing when he has a multitude of them on hand. Its like the Batman is a loner rhetoric.

[misslane]

Clark going back to the Planet is like someone working for EA or Ubisoft, quitting to start an Indie game studio then quitting that to go back to EA or Ubisoft. He left for reasons that afaik are still present so what's the point of going back other then "I know people there"?

I'm just going off of what Johns seems to be implying about the Planet being a source for the kind of connection he's lacked recently. If he doesn't actually go back to work there, then what, really, is Johns aiming to do to shift things in a positive, or at least different, direction? Will Clark simply make a personal vow to make more of an effort to socialize and perhaps occasionally collaborate with his friends there?

As for his reasons for leaving the Daily Planet remaining unchanged, I'm not sure I agree. When he first left, Clark seemed to do it impulsively without a lot of thought about what he'd do next. Cat Grant took the lead by creating and maintaining the blog, and Clark barely contributed. With Cat now seemingly back at the Planet, I don't even know how the blog functions anymore in its original state. For Cat to agree to leave the lucrative blog where she was her own boss, she had to have been offered something significant (with the person offering wanting something more than her employment in exchange); thus I'm inclined to believe Cat sold the blog out in some way. If that's true, then the blog is even further from upholding the autonomy and ideals Clark left the Planet for originally.

At least if Clark rejoins The Daily Planet, he might be able to collaborate with people like Jimmy, Lois, and Perry to make sure it puts up a good fight against corporate corruption, perhaps ultimately removing Edge altogether. I'd love a story like that, especially after the Doomed event where the symbolism of believing and fighting from the inside to rid oneself of corruption (be it Doomsday for Superman or Brainiac for Lois) was a major focus, because in a fantasy story about doing the impossible, hope, and aspiration, showing that large and powerful corporations don't have to be corrupt if the good guys fight the good fight -- as the Davids or Hobbits to Edge's Goliath or Sauron -- would be both moving and thrilling to me.

[Sacred Knight]

I'm not really seeing anything alarming to me here. Buzz word, par for course interview, really.

I do wish though someone would ask him how they plan to tell this tale while at the same time not marginalize his love for Diana and his friendship with Bruce. To ignore those strong ties within the canon outright is cheap. I'm not saying they need to be IN this story, Superman gets plenty interaction with them as it is, just that you can't just pretend Superman has absolutely no one when that's patently untrue.

[kidstandout]

I'm not really seeing anything alarming to me here. Buzz word, par for course interview, really.

I do wish though someone would ask him how they plan to tell this tale while at the same time not marginalize his love for Diana and his friendship with Bruce. To ignore those strong ties within the canon outright is cheap. I'm not saying they need to be IN this story, Superman gets plenty interaction with them as it is, just that you can't just pretend Superman has absolutely no one when that's patently untrue.

agreed
10 chars

[Auguste Dupin]

"... he doesn't have cousins or family, or friends from high school. Pete Ross? He's been out of the picture forever. There's no one that really has been a constant in Clark Kent's life since he was a kid, because his parents aren't around anymore, either."

"cough"LanaLang"cough".

Sorry, had something in my throat.

Seriously, though, this interview has a "I'm ignoring what could contradict my point" feel to it.

[Kid A]

"... he doesn't have cousins or family, or friends from high school. Pete Ross? He's been out of the picture forever. There's no one that really has been a constant in Clark Kent's life since he was a kid, because his parents aren't around anymore, either."

"cough"LanaLang"cough".

Sorry, had something in my throat.

Seriously, though, this interview has a "I'm ignoring what could contradict my point" feel to it.

Yeah there's no way he mentioned Pete Ross and didn't think of Lana.

Talk about jamming a square peg in a round hole.