Superman issue #18 preview/discussion (spoiler) thread

[Vordan]

Bendis has definitely hit on what I was DYING to pitch circa Truth.

I think a Superman without a secret would want to be a writer. The Planet would be in chaos or conflicted over hiring him at first.

So as a nod back to the 90s Krypton Man storyline, my idea was that Superman would be a journalist if outed and might have to go to work somewhere with lower standards like Newstime.

And in my pitch, which I didn’t submit back during Truth, you have a scene where Superman walks into Newstime’s offices and the staff gets used to seeing him at a desk.

It changes how people view Superman. People have to clarify if what they tell him is on-record.

And one of my thoughts longer term was that he needed a “casual” wardrobe as Superman. Not just the T-shirt thing but I had this idea of sort of a Kenneth Cole wardrobe that doesn’t hide his identity. Neckties with S-emblems on them. He needs the casual outfits to put people at ease but they also need to broadcast who he is to give people fair warning that when he goes for a hotdog, Atomic Skull might attack.

A frustrating part of it becomes that he has to move out of the city into a house with a security system. His apartment wants to keep him but can’t afford the insurance. His car insurance goes through the roof. Lois and Clark have to decide whether he should make diamonds to pay his skyrocketing bills. I think it fundamentally goes against his nature. There are economic consequences to him exploiting or creating natural resources with his powers. And there are consequences to being beholden to anyone.

So I more or less envisioned him pulling a LEGAL heist of sorts and securing patents because Superman can’t have financial conflicts.

Lmao I love your idea and wish it had happened. It’s killing me that I have to wait until the end of the day to read this issue.

[K. Jones]

Jaggy continuity errors in the cameos aside, this issue actually made me cry. Maybe it's because of wherever I'm at or whatever. I've always read a lot of myself in Superman and something about the writing of this reveal played havoc on me. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that it was Clark being active instead of passive and taking control of himself and his situation. Doing something proactive to deal with something that has become routine or habit for so long that he didn't even understand or recognize that it was making him unhappy. It's a pretty clean narrative solution, just smashing the ironic aspect of Superman where he's all about truth and justice but is living with a secret that's constantly messing with his social life, family life, work life, even super-work life, all the time.

I also liked the bit where Jimmy punked him and where Lois reminded him that Jimmy was Lois Lane's Pal Jimmy Olsen first.

Also I guess the dialogue snippets from unknown people just straight thirsting after Jimmy.

[Superbat]

This was good. So good that it almost sold me on Superman going public with his identity.

I'll accept it if Bendis can keep delivering issues of this quality.

[Yoda]

Reis suffers a bit from being kind of "typecast" as *just* the wide screen guy. For sure, he's very, very good at that the vast majority of the time, but I've been detecting hints of a more subtle style that he's coming into with Bendis. I think as an artist it'll be good for him to work with a writer who is so very much in favor of character acting, talk heavy issues, and climaxes that come down to a broken heart rather than a battered body. I'd like to see Reis play around with more panels and greater character acting like the Perry and Jimmy scenes because he can most certainly do it, and do it well.

That is definitely how I see him. I think he's done a good job with Superman/Clark (and an excellent job in this issue) but I don't really consider him in the tier of artists that handle the talking stuff or facial expressions that well. Like Jamal Campbell is probably the best going right now with that. Naomi was a masterclass in that and Far Sector has been incredible so far.

As I understand it , yeah, Fraction will be digging at least a bit more into Jimmy's stuff in the special.

Seriously, I love the idea of these specials so much. Just the idea that they know that there are little interactions they can think of that would and could end up just eating time in a main book, so they gather them up and make a story out of them in these specials is just great.

I know we're also going to get something regarding Smallville and, apparently, Ma and Pa. Though in the case of Ma and Pa it could be how people remember them rather than them being alive. Hard to say. And don't forget that in either the Heroes or Villains issue we're getting a plot thread from a character that will greatly inform the run going forward.

I knew the general outline of the Heroes and Villains books, but I hadn't heard any of the specifics beyond Fraction spilling a little bit on Ma & Pa Kent. I guess we'll see next week if that's going to be a flashback or present day story. A Smallville reaction sequence should be interesting.

[Superlad93]

That is definitely how I see him. I think he's done a good job with Superman/Clark (and an excellent job in this issue) but I don't really consider him in the tier of artists that handle the talking stuff or facial expressions that well. Like Jamal Campbell is probably the best going right now with that. Naomi was a masterclass in that and Far Sector has been incredible so far.

Yeah, but I'm seeing improvements just out of the necessity that Bendis' dialog heavy scripts bring. I'm hoping he's coming point where he's upping his game and range in this specific regard. This issue really got there for me in a lot of places. And Campbell is a legend in the making. Period. But Mitch Gerads is most certainly up there in that regard for me. I'd really love to see either get a moment or two with a Superman book sometime soon.

I guess we'll see next week if that's going to be a flashback or present day story.

Ah, you mean because of Doomsday Clock, right? Very true. That'll be a really fun way to end off the semester lol

[Frontier]

That is definitely how I see him. I think he's done a good job with Superman/Clark (and an excellent job in this issue) but I don't really consider him in the tier of artists that handle the talking stuff or facial expressions that well. Like Jamal Campbell is probably the best going right now with that. Naomi was a masterclass in that and Far Sector has been incredible so far.

I always thought he did a great job on that front, especially his work with Geoff Johns.

I remember a lot of memorable expressions and subtle stuff from his work particularly on Green Lantern, Blackest Night and Aquaman. He always really delivered on the emotional moments (at least in my opinion).

[LordUltimus]

So, um... why were heroes clapping and cheering? Was it just generic "support the Boy Scout" stuff?

[Superlad93]

So, um... why were heroes clapping and cheering? Was it just generic "support the Boy Scout" stuff?

I have to imagine it was because what he did was incredibly brave and earnest, and he did it on his terms. The obvious comparison being friends, family, and admires being overjoyed for a person who comes out.

[Vordan]

I liked it. I’m impressed Bendis had enough restraint to let Reis do the heavy lifting with the reveal to Perry, that was a great moment. Now we’ll see where he goes with it. Also lmao at the ending is Lex going to go into denial mode again or will he accept it?

[manwhohaseverything]

Did bendis reference there existing new52 superman and rebirth superman?

[Superlad93]

Did bendis reference there existing new52 superman and rebirth superman?

No. I'm pretty sure he didn't. He's going at this like there's only ever been one Superman. That's the established take since Reborn.

Why?

[manwhohaseverything]

No. I'm pretty sure he didn't. Why?

There was a dialogue. Something like, at first there was an alien orphan and then a married guy with a child. New52 superman was the orphan, not the postcrisis guy. Ofcourse reborn combined the two. Even, then i don't see this guy as an orphan like new52 superman was. I don't know, if he had the getting over period and accept the "you might think you are alone, but you aren't" period where he is a little rough around the edges. I wish we still, had new52 action comics in some way. Secret origins is just too plain and it doesn't acknowledge kents death at all.i would have preferred it if they said, superman skipped a few years in new52 and became reborn superman Like what they did with jon.

[Superlad93]

There was a dialogue. Something like, at first there was an alien orphan and then a married guy with a child.

Every incarnation of Superman/Kal-El is orphaned as soon as the story starts. And every incarnation ultimately can't go back to their original home.

Ultimately he's still orphaned from his birth world, and for a time he was very afraid of who he was and who he wasn't, and he was alone in terms of companionship thus "scared, single, alien, orphan." But he moved past those things and became the "married, father, superhero".

It's no more complex than that. He's just talking about the Superman we see in front of us.

[Frontier]

So, um... why were heroes clapping and cheering? Was it just generic "support the Boy Scout" stuff?

Bendis wants it to feel triumphant.

[manwhohaseverything]

Every incarnation of Superman/Kal-El is an orphan till the Kents find him. Even though he's only a baby, he's still an orphan, and still has to be adopted.

Ultimately he's still orphaned from his birth world, and for a time he was very afraid of who he was and who he wasn't, and he was alone in terms of companionship thus "scared, single, alien, orphan." But he moved past those things and became the "married, father, superhero".

It's no more complex than that.

Kents find him at birth. As long as kents are alive, i don't particularly consider clark an orphan. It is same logic i use for myself . Postcrisis guy is definitely not one. Being an orphan myself at one point in my life and now again after my aunt's departure last year .it is something i could connect with in New52 superman. I just don't get that vibe from this guy. Ofcourse, kents death are still in continuity. But, we don't know if action comics is still canon in anyway.