I guess it's too late to ask him any questions. I have one: What was the original idea behind Birthright? Was it meant to be canon or was it meant to be an sort of DC Ultimates version of Superman.
I guess it's too late to ask him any questions. I have one: What was the original idea behind Birthright? Was it meant to be canon or was it meant to be an sort of DC Ultimates version of Superman.
Assassinate Putin!
A sequel to Birthright with art by Doc Shaner. Needs to happen, like yesterday.
"They can be a great people Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you. My only son." - Jor-El
I wouldn't be sad about Waid getting Superman, but I can't say he is someone I'm dying to take on the books anymore either. Twenty years ago? Oh hell yeah. Now? I dunno. I want someone who will say and do something new with Clark, without disrespecting the past or ignoring the character's actual personality, and I'm not sure Waid is the guy to do that. Of course, I wouldn't have ever thought Bendis would be good for Superman either so who knows?
Of course, if Waid could bring Samee with him.....that's a creative combo that hasn't let me down yet.
But honestly I'd rather Waid write Nightwing. I've read Waid's Superman, but not his Dick Grayson and Dick needs all the love and support DC can muster.
"We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."
~ Black Panther.
So how do we access the results, was it only live and no longer active?
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Let me know if that works
Some corrections:
- The original version of Birthright included Brainiac AND a Jor El AI, which were one and the same. Basically, Brainiac had been created by Jor El and appeared throughout the story as a digital Jor El head (a variation on the theme of Superman TAS, where Brainiac is Kryptonian). A major plot point was an alliance between Brainiac and Luthor and a potentially apocalyptic event triggered by the AI, which Superman would prevent at the end of the story. Basically, the AI would go mad and try to recreate Krypton's fate on earth. At the end the AI would kind of "redeem" itself and use a wormhole to allow Superman to say goodbye to his parents (this concept survived in the finale of the version of Birthright we got and in Luthor trying to communicate with Krypton's past through wormholes).
- The story of Birthright's situation concerning continuity is vague and it was never entirely clarified. Apparently it was supposed to be some kind of "Ultimate Superman" thing or a standalone story for a potential movie (nothing concrete: but standalone stories often provide the basis for movies, and they are often created with this specific purpose in mind). I guess that neither Waid nor Didio had a finalized idea in mind. At one point they decided to force it into continuity (Loeb and Kelly were trying to do something similar at that moment, by revamping Silver Age Krypton), but it was never clarified HOW. There are at least two possible explanations, and none of them really works, nor was really considered an official explanation for what happened. The explanations are: 1- Superman falls into Birthright Continuity in Superman #200; 2- Superboy Prime punches the continuity wall and creates Birthright. Both are stupid. However, Birthright WAS in continuity for some years, even if the references to it were always rather vague.
- Even if in latest years Birthright has become some kind of forgotten gem, when it was published many fans were outraged - I mean 'pitchforks and torches crowd' levels. One of them - MOTA or Man of the Atom - was basically Waid's stalker and tried to destroy Birthright in every possible message board. Sales weren't great, either (not a flop though). It was mostly considered a missed opportunity. A popular fansite, Superman the Ages, simply stopped reviewing it halfway.
- A concrete proof that they weren't 100% sure of what they were doing is Waid's short story Young Luthor in Smallville, from Superman/Batman Secret Files, which retcons a major detail of Birthright (Lionel Luthor) by trying to reconcile it with postCrisis continuity (which was the official one in those days). The story was published before the end of Birthright - basically a retcon in real time.
- On a personal level, I think that there are things in Birthright which work (Africa, Clark's characterization), others don't (Luthor, Luthor's plan), others are simply cringy (S stands for hope, Superman re-sewing the S onto his chest with laser eyes). I wouldn't have anything against a possible run by Waid, who was offered Action Comics at one point (during New Krypton, when the main characters were Nightwing and Flamebird) but refused.
Last edited by Myskin; 05-31-2020 at 02:47 AM.
Educational town, Rolemodel city and Moralofthestory land are the places where good comics go to die.
DC writers and editors looked up and shouted "Save us!"
And Alan Moore looked down and whispered "No."
I'm kinda surprised Snyder didn't want Superman to watch Lois and Bruce conceive their love child. All the while singing the "Na na na na na na Batman!" theme song - Robotman, 03/06/2021
Interesting that you’re not a fan of Birthright Lex, I thought he was fantastic. Any reason why?
The idea is good - making him an astrobiologist, so smart that his genius makes him an outsider and desperately tries to connect with Clark Kent (and - later in his life - old Krypton) because he is in desperate need of friends, even if he doesn't realize it. It's the execution which doesn't entirely work. Too many Joker Luthor moments (grins, bizarreness). He seems, and maybe is, a model for Jesse Eisenberg Luthor.
Also: there are a couple of major plot points which simply don't work. He breaks his friendship with Clark basically because he misinterprets his facial expression (?) and the plan with the fake Kryptonians. The plan is a disaster. A huge anticlimax which fatally undermines the final fight. Waid's works are rarely without weird flaws which could have been avoided in hindsight.
He had potential though. A partially successful merging of Smallville Lex, Silver Age Young Lex, Mad Doctor Lex and businessman Lex. He surely makes more sense than the composite Krypton we have seen from Johns and - later - Jurgens, Tomasi and Bendis.
Educational town, Rolemodel city and Moralofthestory land are the places where good comics go to die.
DC writers and editors looked up and shouted "Save us!"
And Alan Moore looked down and whispered "No."
I'm kinda surprised Snyder didn't want Superman to watch Lois and Bruce conceive their love child. All the while singing the "Na na na na na na Batman!" theme song - Robotman, 03/06/2021
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