PKJ Action Comics Discussion and Spoilers

[The Frog Bros]

Listening to the Word Balloon with PKJ:
-His Action run is aiming to be more serious and darker than what Williamson is planning, which will be more in line with STAS
-Talked with another podcaster about how anime/manga handles fights, wants to incorporate some of that for Superman, reiterates that Superman will be very powerful going forward
-Teases that something is coming up featuring Steel and Lana, given it’s Steel and Conner’s 30th Anniversaries next year, maybe they’re holding Conner’s book back to launch around that time? And Steel might get his own mini? Sounds like he and Lana are still a couple
-Osul and Otho will be filling the “kids” role for Clark and Lois and letting them have a second chance after what happened with Jon
-Lex will be in Action but different from how Williamson uses him (is not a fan of Lex growing up in Smallville with Clark)
-Talks a little bit about the Superfamily, Kara as the Kryptonian one, Conner as the one who wants to be Superman’s son but isn’t, and how that affects his relationship with Jon/the twins, how does Jon feel about his new adopted siblings - there might be some jealousy there
-The Irons are going to be Metropolis “First Family”, Steelworks is going to be taking a leadership position with regards to energy, Genesis plays a role in making that possible
-Talks about how much he loved Sampere’s depiction of Kandor’s library, that it was a place that was almost “sacred” to reflect how Kryptonians values knowledge, how Krypton only got that way after going through all the turmoils we’re going through now, I think that might be the model for how they’re going to revamp Metropolis
-Clark and Lois’ writing will be featured moving forward, talked about how much he enjoyed writing that article in his second Worlds of War FS issue, wants to do more with the aspect of both. Mentions that his FS issues kind of encapsulate the whole of what his run is trying to be, if he were to die those issues would basically show what his plans were/are
-He loves Zod and he does want to use Zod in the future, doesn’t want to overuse him, but it sounds like Zod will be involved in the Phaelosian business
-Wanted to tie the “Old Testament” of the DCU which for him is the Kirbyverse much more strongly to the current day, says that in giving Olgrun’s Fire to Osul-Ra to save him, Osul is now a New God. He teases that this is all building to something that he wants to do if DC keeps him around long enough
-Kryl-Ux and Mongul loyalists are still out there, not everyone on Warworld bowed to Superman’s rule, and the Mongulites left to go be pirates, the United Planets is in a lot of peoples crosshairs, and the 6 other Aspects have been awakened by Olgrun’s Fire being used
-No comment on if there will be other Multiverse Supermen show up
-Says Brainiac is a Mongul level threat and he would want to do another long story featuring him, says it’s not something in the short term future (I’m guessing Williamson has dibs on him for now), does love him
-Says that Kenny Porter’s Superboy mini is kind of it’s own thing but he’s talking to Kenny to make sure they don’t step on each other’s toes
-Has a bunch of lore on the different Warzoon tribes he wants to share
-Toyman won’t show up in Action, might show up in other books (his feud with Toyman is really funny to me), his version of Toyman would be so creepy he doesn’t know if he can do that in Superman
-Bizarro and Mxy are two villains that PKJ really loves, there’s a magic story that he really wants to do. Guessing that means Mxy might be up next after Metallo
-Daxamites are part of the United Planets, Phaelosians powers are different because of how long they spent separated
-Kandor is still uninhabited at the moment

I love the idea of multiple books with different writers, each having a different tone and feel. They can maintain consistency in the big picture, yet still be unique in their own way.

Clark and Lois writing, journalism, etc... yes! Really liked the journal entries in Warworld arc, so I'm happy for the prospect of more writing. Esp some co-authored stuff with Lois, as well as her doing writing/investigative journalism of her own.

More Mxy please!

[Vordan]

From Action 1050:

Can someone explain what Orion's deal is now? Why is he working with Desaad and Kalibak? The last Fourth World stuff I read was Mister Miracle and that book sort of side-stepped the mess that the New 52 had made of the characters.

Also, could someone explain the appeal of Bobo to me? I don't dislike the character, but I don't really understand the affection people seem to have for him. He always feels like a blue collar stereotype to me.

Bibbo adds some flavor to Clark’s cast, I like that not everyone Superman hangs out with is a squeaky clean moral exemplar of virtue. Bibbo is an ex-tough guy who has been around the block, it makes sense for Clark as a journalist to have a relationship with someone who has ties to the criminal underground, and I’ve never seen him as a stereotype. He’s not an original character, the ex-con with the heart of gold, but that doesn’t hurt his appeal at all for me.

[manwhohaseverything]

Also, could someone explain the appeal of Bobo to me? I don't dislike the character, but I don't really understand the affection people seem to have for him. He always feels like a blue collar stereotype to me.

Because the blue collar perspective is largely under represented in fiction and pop culture in general.Even a stereotype would be welcome.Superman himself should be more blue collar.. That's just me.

[Last Son of Krypton]

From Action 1050:

More Batman...

[Vordan]

More Batman...

Well we did go almost 15 consecutive issues without Batman, I guess PKJ can have him as a treat lol. Let’s see if Williamson breaks the streak of the last major Superman writers all using Batman in their first issues.

[Last Son of Krypton]

Well we did go almost 15 consecutive issues without Batman, I guess PKJ can have him as a treat lol. Let’s see if Williamson breaks the streak of the last major Superman writers all using Batman in their first issues.

Because PKJ had Midnighter to fill for BM for 15 consecutive issues.

[Frontier]

Also, could someone explain the appeal of Bobo to me? I don't dislike the character, but I don't really understand the affection people seem to have for him. He always feels like a blue collar stereotype to me.

He's a bro who loves Superman .

[Vordan]

Because PKJ had Midnighter to fill for BM for 15 consecutive issues.

Call me a hypocrite but I would have no problem with Middy being the one constantly showing up in Clark’s book lol. At least he isn’t overexposed.

[Vordan]

Oh one last thing from the PKJ interview, he was asked if Osul and Otho will become the new Nightwing/Flamebird, and PKJ said they won’t have those names specifically, but instead talked about how he came up with the concept that all the Great Houses of Krypton (Els, Zods, etc) had a house tale in addition to a house shield. The Phaelosians gave theirs up when they left, but Kara and Kal try to find out what the House of Ra’s tale/shield are, and ultimately do. So one day the Ra twins might wear their own shields and they might use the names of the heroes of their house myth.

[Last Son of Krypton]

Call me a hypocrite but I would have no problem with Middy being the one constantly showing up in Clark’s book lol. At least he isn’t overexposed.

Where is the Authority? It feels they have no more purpose in AC with the focus being shifted on the Superfam.

Oh one last thing from the PKJ interview, he was asked if Osul and Otho will become the new Nightwing/Flamebird, and PKJ said they won’t have those names specifically, but instead talked about how he came up with the concept that all the Great Houses of Krypton (Els, Zods, etc) had a house tale in addition to a house shield. The Phaelosians gave theirs up when they left, but Kara and Kal try to find out what the House of Ra’s tale/shield are, and ultimately do. So one day the Ra twins might wear their own shields and they might use the names of the heroes of their house myth.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[Mantis-Ray]

Call me a hypocrite but I would have no problem with Middy being the one constantly showing up in Clark’s book lol. At least he isn’t overexposed.

I like how there is a more clear conflict of ideals and methods between Supes and Middy. Like in Warworld where he was willing to cause the deaths of many gladiators just to take down Mongul which is perfectly in character for him.

In the original Authority run he crashed the continent sized Carrier through a residential block just to kill one dictator, and during the parallel Earth arc the team flooded Italy and put it completely under the map because it was the capital of the evil empire.

Middy is very much a "break a few eggs to make an omelet" kind of guy. Amusingly Apollo is quite honestly the nicest of the original Authority members, as while he has no problems with killing he's not predisposed to psychopathic mass murder as the rest of his teammates or his husband.

Plus the Millar run had Middy admit he may be kinda racist.

Oh one last thing from the PKJ interview, he was asked if Osul and Otho will become the new Nightwing/Flamebird, and PKJ said they won’t have those names specifically, but instead talked about how he came up with the concept that all the Great Houses of Krypton (Els, Zods, etc) had a house tale in addition to a house shield. The Phaelosians gave theirs up when they left, but Kara and Kal try to find out what the House of Ra’s tale/shield are, and ultimately do. So one day the Ra twins might wear their own shields and they might use the names of the heroes of their house myth.

Oooooh thats pretty interesting worldbuilding.

[The Frog Bros]

Where is the Authority? It feels they have no more purpose in AC with the focus being shifted on the Superfam.

He has mentioned that he's got specific plans/stories but I suppose would have to be in a separate book, diff writer, etc.


After being asked if he had other plans for the Authority:

I deeply want to, and I have plans for what we would do with them. To me I think the Authority as shaped by Grant [Morrison] has the potential to be this super diverse team that could really matter to readers in a big way. And there is a very specific story that I think that I would love to do with them, that I would also like to see other creators tackle, as people who sure care deeply about the voices of specific characters. There are other creators I'd like to bring on board to what the Authority does next.

[SJNeal]

Oh one last thing from the PKJ interview, he was asked if Osul and Otho will become the new Nightwing/Flamebird, and PKJ said they won’t have those names specifically, but instead talked about how he came up with the concept that all the Great Houses of Krypton (Els, Zods, etc) had a house tale in addition to a house shield. The Phaelosians gave theirs up when they left, but Kara and Kal try to find out what the House of Ra’s tale/shield are, and ultimately do. So one day the Ra twins might wear their own shields and they might use the names of the heroes of their house myth.

My knee-jerk reaction to this is "ugh, enough goddamn children already!", but I'm holding out hope PKJ makes me like them sooner than later...

[Vordan]

Apart from Middy and maybe Apollo I’m not holding my breath on seeing the Authority again in Action. They’ve been pretty clear that the Superfamily is the focus now. My hope is that DC will put out a new Superman & the Authority series and use them over there. Taylor said more Superman news was coming and it’s his 85th next year, throw me a bone DC and make it happen.

[Last Son of Krypton]

He has mentioned that he's got specific plans/stories but I suppose would have to be in a separate book, diff writer, etc.


After being asked if he had other plans for the Authority:

Basically they were a leftover of 5G's plans and have no more place in AC. Got it.