PKJ Action Comics Discussion and Spoilers

[Last Son of Krypton]

We'll see if this back-to-basics approach lasts as long as Rebirth or OYL did.

1,5 year before the next shake up.

That was Didio’s approach. In his words he was told that every couple of years you need to “give DC an enema” which to him meant radically upheaving the status quo before going back to basics. With this however I think it’s just a continuation of the steady erosion/pullback from what 5G was setting up that DC has been doing since Didio got canned. DC knows what it wants with Superman and the other characters, safe storytelling that hedges close to what’s familiar, they’ve just been approaching that process slowly instead of doing it all at once.

It isn't anything new to comics, the Superman line was going back and forth with the status quo with storylines like DoS, Death of Clark Kent, Electro Supes, Dominus saga, King of Earth, etc. DiDio just had the bad habit of rewriting the whole universe to shake up things and go back to basics after.

[Sacred Knight]

Well dude you’ve got no reason not to read PKJ’s Action run since you’ve been saying for a while that you weren’t going to read it as long as they kept his identity public despite liking some of the premises. Get on it .

Nah that would make things even more convoluted and fucked up. Him going back in time means that once again we’d break Superman continuity, because then how does all of the stuff that came out of that, including the current Action run work? At least the method Bleeding Cool leaked doesn’t erase everything the way the New 52’s take on Truth got erased.

I plan on it, I do! The only thing holding me back right now is no longer a boycott rather time. I'll get there though.

And with more thought yeah, you're right about the time travel thing. When I first heard he was getting that ability back, my mind automatically went to using it to erase the SI reveal so my head had just been in that place for some time. But looking at things more clearly it does actually make more of a mess than what they're apparently doing. I do wonder what they even plan to do with that power though. It'd be kinda meaningless to bring it back (hopefully briefly) unless some timey wimey stuff is actually on the table. Would be a pretty cool opportunity to bring back Dominus. Encroaching on his domain and all that jazz.

[Ascended]

I didn't know you were boycotting the line, Sacred. Damn man, you've missed out on a pretty damn fantastic Warworld saga. We're usually pretty lined up on stuff and I think this is some of the best Superman we've gotten in a long time. I think you'd enjoy the hell out of it. I mean, it's not perfect, don't church it up in your head or anything, but it's some damn fine pulp style action.

[Lvenger]

Didn't think my reasons for picking a current Superman series again would align with Sacred's, but I guess there's a first time for everything. I'm still not happy about Jon Kent getting aged up of course. But DC's higher up already had plans to age Jon to a teenager even without Bendis, Jon is now an LGBT comic book character so that has nullified any chance of him being aged back down for fear of the backlash from the LGBT crowd and kid Jon is appearing in anthologies, Super Sons minis and Jurgens' AC backup. So with two of Bendis' awful decisions reversed, I'll pick up PKJ's Action Comics from #1050. You guys better be on the money for how good it is heh.

[Mantis-Ray]

Should prolly make well known that the secret identity is back.

I've seen people say they've sworn off reading the main ongoings until it got put back similar to people who've sworn off reading modern Spider-Man comics. Its a good time to tell them.

[Ascended]

You guys better be on the money for how good it is heh.

I'm on the money, it's pretty damned good.

But I can't speak to your tastes and whether you'll recognize that.

Hopefully you and everyone else returning enjoy it, but not everything is for everyone so who knows?

[Quinlan58]

You know, with Clark's secret identity back, it would mean the public face of the efforts to turn Metropolis into the City of Tomorrow will now be John Henry Irons. That may give more context to the solicits of Clark needing to protect Steelworks, and does put the Irons at the center of the new arc (as PKJ has mentioned a few times).

[Vordan]

Another more recent interview, I’ll try to watch and summarize some time after Thanksgiving.

Skipping anything he talked about before in the previous interview I summarized (which those of you who have just recently returned might be interested in reading here and here, LOT of great info and teases for what’s to come from that interview)

-Original origin of Warworld from the old issue where it was introduced never really made sense to him and he wanted to expand on it into something that could stand as an interesting setting in its own right. He loves that it’s a twisted mirror to Superman’s Intergalactic Zoo where it’s this “preserve” of extinct/endangered species that have been enslaved or genocide by the Warzoons
-DC wanted to bring Superman back to Earth ASAP, he fought against that and ultimately won, the only compromise he had to make was that instead of Action 1047 and 1048 being part of the Warworld Saga they would do an oversized one shot (Warworld Apocalypse) that would take the place of those two issues
-A while back he mentioned that one character he planned on killing during the Warworld Saga ended up surviving and here he reveals that character was Otho (the girl twin). During that one issue where Mongul enters the arena while Superman was a slave and the twins come up to Mongul and tell him how much they respect him, Mongul was going to kill Otho to punish Superman for preaching rebellion against the Warzoon beliefs. Ultimately he decided against it because he felt like the Warworld Saga was dark enough and this felt a step too far. Was glad he didn’t kill her because now he has an opportunity to flesh her out more
-The world knows that Clark and Lois adopted two kids from Warworld, some of the Warworlders are confirmed to have stayed behind on Earth and didn’t leave with the rest that did in 1049. How people respond to and treat refugees, inspired by the reaction to the Ukrainians and Afghanis will be part of the post 1050 story.
-Kryl and Mongul will be back at some point in the future
-Does share some new information about the Authority: he wants to use Middy and Apollo in Action and is already working on a way to bring them in, he has a writer in mind to take over the Authority, and a pitch for how to use them. Would like to co-write with that other writer for a bit to get the Authority book going. Speculation time: is Steve Orlando Marvel exclusive currently? Because he and PKJ already wrote a boxing book together Kill A Man, and Orlando is obviously a huge Morrison fanboy. I could definitely see him being eager to do that book.
-Superman is currently the strongest member of the Superfamily thanks to the white sun on Warworld. Jon was stronger initially, which you can chalk up to his youth, his hybrid nature, or Clark just plateauing for a while. Jon has better control over his vision powers however.
-He says this is just him speculating - but given he speculated that eventually the secret identity would be restored and it was I wouldn’t be surprised if this is him sharing conversations with editorial he’s heard - but eventually Jon might get a totally different power set from his dad. Perhaps Jon’s Electric Blue powers will continue to evolve and differentiate him from Clark?
-Conner might have nicknames for other members of the Superfamily
-Kara will be the highlighted Superfamily member of the first arc post 1050
-All of the Rogues will get buffs in order to deal with Clark’s new power levels, he wants to get to them all, make them darker and bigger threats
-Metropolis will be undergoing a “Kryptonification” as part of its evolution into the City of Tomorrow. As I speculated a while again I would not be surprised if Sampere’s depiction of Kandor is the model PKJ uses to revamp Metropolis
-Lex won’t show up every arc
-He and Williamson talk every day and you will see connective tissue between the two books, the Super Twins might show up in Superman is an example he uses

Nothing about the secret identity since this came out before that announcement.

You know, with Clark's secret identity back, it would mean the public face of the efforts to turn Metropolis into the City of Tomorrow will now be John Henry Irons. That may give more context to the solicits of Clark needing to protect Steelworks, and does put the Irons at the center of the new arc (as PKJ has mentioned a few times).

That is a good point! I wonder how “Super-Corp” and Steelworks will interact. Maybe while Lex leaves Lexcorp to Superman, it’s JHI who is actually acts as the “CEO”?

[Quinlan58]

Clark and Lois adopting known alien refugees in their civilian identities? Metropolis undergoing "Kryptonification"? A possible Authority book? Well, I'm definitely intrigued now. Wonder how the Metropolis one will work with Williamson clearly writing a "traditional" Superman book, though.

[Factor]

I’m definitely interested in PJK’s plans for Metropolis, the new ensemble cast and the possibility of a new Authority book.

[Venceremos]

Jon is now an LGBT comic book character so that has nullified any chance of him being aged back down for fear of the backlash from the LGBT crowd

"Let's blame the gays for no kid Jon anymore"

[Thor-Ul]

You know, with Clark's secret identity back, it would mean the public face of the efforts to turn Metropolis into the City of Tomorrow will now be John Henry Irons. That may give more context to the solicits of Clark needing to protect Steelworks, and does put the Irons at the center of the new arc (as PKJ has mentioned a few times).

More John Henry is a plus for me. And I hope he is one of those who still remembers Clarks ID.

[Mantis-Ray]

I’m definitely interested in PJK’s plans for Metropolis, the new ensemble cast and the possibility of a new Authority book.

Looking to be a pretty badass era

Real hell of a franchise project here

[HsssH]

I do wonder what they even plan to do with that power though. It'd be kinda meaningless to bring it back (hopefully briefly) unless some timey wimey stuff is actually on the table. Would be a pretty cool opportunity to bring back Dominus. Encroaching on his domain and all that jazz.

House of El from Future State and 2021 Annual.

[skyvolt2000]

A heads up about orders for Action Comics 1050.

Some store are limiting how many they order and in some cases are making folks pre-order and pay for the covers that they want.

FOC for that issue is this weekend-so if you want a certain cover-be best to let your store not only know but pre-pay if you can.

My store is doing this because they do not want to be stuck with tons of unsold copies like they have with Batman, Aquaman and Green Lantern anniversary books.