PKJ Action Comics Discussion and Spoilers

[Quinlan58]

Thanks for the summary, Vordan.

-Says that he plans to give the same focus to another Superman Rogue after Mongul, refers to this Rogue as “him” and “one of my favorite Rogues”

Well, we know it's not Metallo or Toyman, because in the AMA he said he couldn't mention the villain he had plans for, but he was also interested in Metallo and Toyman (implying they weren't it). Let us hope it's not just Luthor, lol.

-Likes both depowered and overpowered Superman. If he had his way he thinks he’d enjoy writing a Superman who can push planets, a god-like entity who loves us and cares about us
-Says the editors are the ones who pitched him on the idea of “Superman on Warworld” and he’s the one who came up with the execution by pitching what they could do with the basic idea of Superman being away

Is that the most direct statement we have of depowered Clark being an editorial mandate?

-Says that one big way current Mongul differs from his predecessors is that all they valued was brute strength, and the new Mongul has grander ambitions. Instead of ruling Warworld via brute strength, new Mongul cultivated the current cult of worshipping their chains and attempting to brainwash everyone into being happy with their role. Crucially to the Warzoons, Mongul is their Superman, he’s their champion and hero

This makes no sense, though. The current Mongul had been so for, what, a few weeks before this run started? Months, at best? The reason his entire plot started was because he still needed to get the genuine respect of the Warzoons, instead of them just paying respects because he was yet another Mongul. He has not had enough time in the throne to be able to cultivate the kind of mindset we've seen in the Warworld residents. This entire cult of worshipping their chains has been directly shown to have already existed back when he was a child.

I guess PKJ must be talking about out-of-universe and how the portrayal is different, because in-universe, it doesn't make any sense.

-Describes that as feeding into one of the big themes of the Warworld Saga: the dangers of hero worship and propaganda
-Talks a bit about the Morrison’s “Superman Red/Blue” idea says he didn’t think he could do the concept justice and already had a clear idea of what the Warworld Saga would be about in terms of themes: hero worship, human trafficking, and propaganda’s effect on people

Show it with Clark himself or it's not successful, then. The start of the saga did play with the "dangers of hero worship" theme for Clark, but after that his "inspiring hero that has legends and songs told about him" portrayal has been entirely straight-forward.

-From his perspective Superman primarily thinks of himself as “Clark” and wouldn’t call himself “Superman” if he didn’t have to hide his ID because Superman is a moniker describing someone as “better than” others. Does acknowledge that Kara and others will call him Kal and thinks that’s fine, but to PKJ it makes sense that Clark thinks of himself firstly as “Clark”. Appreciated Bendis outing him because now he can write Superman introducing himself as Clark to others

PKJ once again confirming that he's come at exactly the right time to write Superman, because his views on the identity theme are... not mine, and he's writing precisely when that entire thing has ceased to matter.

-Read a bunch of Pulitzer winning articles as prep for writing Clark’s journal entries on Warworld

Interesting. I've been enjoying the snippets of Clark's writing so far.

-He’s had ambitions for GL stuff for a long time, not sure if DC will actually let him do them, but since this is an Elseworld take in Dark Crisis he got more freedom

Please, DC, give this man a GL book when he's done with Superman. I would love to read it.

-Most inspirational Superman moment for him is when Supes goes in to talk to the anti-heroes in the bar in Kingdom Come

People seeing Kingdom Come as inspirational will never cease to be funny. IIRC, the worst thing the "anti-heroes" were doing in that scene was... being in a bar?

-Hints that he may be writing a JSA member in the future

I'll believe any kind of JSA talk when I actually see it published. Not on PKJ so much as on DC in general.

-Actually talks about the Aspects of Olgrun and their similarity to the Infinity Gems! Ok he claims that they’re not *literally* gems, that was artistic license on Conrad’s part not something he put in the script. The Aspects are much “bigger” than some small items, he specifically says they aren’t really physically things you can hold or mess with. You won’t see a moment where someone holds up 7 Gems and cackling.
-The aspects are a different thing from the Emotional Spectrum

Well, there went the two most popular interpretations of it. Glad they're not literally objects.

-Won’t spoil whether Thao takes on a superhero ID

Very good to see there's plans for Thao-La.

-Later parts of the Action run will incorporate more of the wider DCU, he thinks there’s a lot of opportunities to tie the DC Cosmic stuff together. Mentions again there will be a connection between the Warworld Saga and the Kirbyverse

I'll admit I was hoping he'd stay within the Super-corner of the DCU for this run and built it up, but I guess I can make an exception for the Kirby-verse.

Overall sound like we have interesting things ahead of us.

[Ascended]

I'll admit I was hoping he'd stay within the Super-corner of the DCU for this run and built it up, but I guess I can make an exception for the Kirby-verse.

Overall sound like we have interesting things ahead of us.

The Fourth World is kind of like the Super-verse's first cousin, so I suppose I can roll with that. But I agree with you; while I don't mind the occasional guest appearance or cameo, it's long past time Superman started taking advantage of it's own mythos, instead of visiting and relying on everyone else's. Eighty years of uninterrupted comics; there's not much fiction in the world as deep or rich as Clark's history and it's a damn shame DC ignores 95% of it all the time.

If the universe has any justice in it at all, PKJ will stay on Superman for years, and rebuild the mythos back up to what it's meant to be. This man has been a godsend so far and I'll be deeply disappointed if his run is cut short. We've spent a year and a half on one story, building up one of the....seven?....Aspects the story has introduced. If PKJ isn't allowed to push this thing to the end it'll be a loss *at least* as big as Morrison leaving Action after only 19 issues.

[Matt Rat]

If the universe has any justice in it at all, PKJ will stay on Superman for years

Oh dear god no.

Sorry, I know I come off as annoying, but I genuinely do not get the hype for PKJ at all. I keep reading and reading, trying to make sense of the praise, and I'm just so thoroughly bored by everything. This isn't a Superman I'm interested in. Waid's Batman/Superman is vastly superior and thankfully he's got a Black Label coming up.

[Vordan]

Thanks for the summary, Vordan.



Well, we know it's not Metallo or Toyman, because in the AMA he said he couldn't mention the villain he had plans for, but he was also interested in Metallo and Toyman (implying they weren't it). Let us hope it's not just Luthor, lol.

I actually think it will be Metallo because of some hints he’s dropped on Twitter. One guy mentioned he’d like to see Metallo get the same kind of focus and he posted a gif of the Fairy Godmother granting a wish.

Is that the most direct statement we have of depowered Clark being an editorial mandate?

It makes sense, two full powered Supermen sorta break the setting. My guess is that as long as they want to push Jon as co-Superman, Clark’s going to be on the weaker side. PKJ has hinted we will get some “full powered” Superman scenes, but I think those will only be when he’s hopped up on Genesis. Clark is apparently still suffering from his exposure to the Breach, and I don’t think his debug will go away. Also a full powered Clark wouldn’t need the Authority (funnily enough he mentions that he probably would’ve made the Authority team smaller had he gotten to pick a roster).

This makes no sense, though. The current Mongul had been so for, what, a few weeks before this run started? Months, at best? The reason his entire plot started was because he still needed to get the genuine respect of the Warzoons, instead of them just paying respects because he was yet another Mongul. He has not had enough time in the throne to be able to cultivate the kind of mindset we've seen in the Warworld residents. This entire cult of worshipping their chains has been directly shown to have already existed back when he was a child.

Yeah it was confusing to me to. I believe what he meant is that current Mongul relies more on the cult to keep people from challenging him because it’s a cult that glorifies him and cements his rule as right and proper, whereas previous Monguls relied on their ability to kill any would be challengers. Current Mongul basically wants to use the religion to make it so the very idea of anyone challenging him is unthinkable.

Show it with Clark himself or it's not successful, then. The start of the saga did play with the "dangers of hero worship" theme for Clark, but after that his "inspiring hero that has legends and songs told about him" portrayal has been entirely straight-forward.

I think Clark’s use of Genesis is going to bite him in the ass, and that’s how hero-worship of him will cause problems. You’re right that it’s something that needs to be examined.

PKJ once again confirming that he's come at exactly the right time to write Superman, because his views on the identity theme are... not mine, and he's writing precisely when that entire thing has ceased to matter.

Heh yeah he’s said he’s grateful to Bendis for pulling the trigger on that and taking the heat for it. He’s not the only one, I remember Donny Cates mentioning if he were to ever write Superman he would out him also.

I'll admit I was hoping he'd stay within the Super-corner of the DCU for this run and built it up, but I guess I can make an exception for the Kirby-verse.

Overall sound like we have interesting things ahead of us.

Some of the planets where the aspects are might be some of the famous DC planets. I could see Thanagar or Oa being one of those planets. I just hope Almerac is one too. The Fourth World is more or less Superman adjacent so I’m not too bothered by the idea of bringing in the New Gods, though I wonder how that’s going to work with Williamson’s Dark Crisis.

The Fourth World is kind of like the Super-verse's first cousin, so I suppose I can roll with that. But I agree with you; while I don't mind the occasional guest appearance or cameo, it's long past time Superman started taking advantage of it's own mythos, instead of visiting and relying on everyone else's. Eighty years of uninterrupted comics; there's not much fiction in the world as deep or rich as Clark's history and it's a damn shame DC ignores 95% of it all the time.

If the universe has any justice in it at all, PKJ will stay on Superman for years, and rebuild the mythos back up to what it's meant to be. This man has been a godsend so far and I'll be deeply disappointed if his run is cut short. We've spent a year and a half on one story, building up one of the....seven?....Aspects the story has introduced. If PKJ isn't allowed to push this thing to the end it'll be a loss *at least* as big as Morrison leaving Action after only 19 issues.

Both he and Taylor seem to currently be in it for the long haul. I love PKJ’s take on Superman and we’re getting “classic” Superman with Waid and all the out of continuity/Black Label minis, so I’m happy to have him for as long as he wants to go.

[Ascended]

Oh dear god no.

Sorry, I know I come off as annoying, but I genuinely do not get the hype for PKJ at all. I keep reading and reading, trying to make sense of the praise, and I'm just so thoroughly bored by everything. This isn't a Superman I'm interested in. Waid's Batman/Superman is vastly superior and thankfully he's got a Black Label coming up.

Eh, not all stories are for everyone. PKJ just isn't for you, perhaps. Or perhaps it's just this arc. I know I wasn't crazy about his earlier issues myself, before we got into the Authority and Warworld stuff.

Fortunately you and I both have Waid's S/B, which is as classic as it can get (more so than the DCU itself, these days!) and is another excellent book. Let's split the difference; I'll keep PKJ on Action for the next several years, and we'll keep Waid on S/B just as long. And we'll toss both art teams into the deal too, since both are utterly fantastic!

[NaVi]

I don't like to see Superman weak, but if losing power means that we have a Superman capable of thinking, of fighting, of defeating his enemies without the help of the JL (in recent years Superman comics seemed like a secondary comic of the JL), for me there is no problem, what worries me is what will come after this story, everything we have seen so far will stay, or they will forget and we will return to the Superman of always but now weaker.

[Vordan]

So there was some more Superman/DC stuff after he talked about Alien:
-Says that he hopes Morrison comes back and tells the story of OMAC because it’s awesome, but if Morrison doesn’t want to he’s willing to tell it himself. Right now he’s focusing on the OMAC/Lightray relationship
-He knows what Morrison’s intent was for the bombshell about Kryptonite and would like to tell that story but first he needs to talk to Morrison about it because it’s going to be a major shift in continuity if it happens
-He’s a huge fan of a lot of the DC Horror characters, he’s very protective of Etrigan because he adores the rhyming speech patterns Etrigan has, wants to write Etrigan
-Loves Kara and considers her the most Kryptonian member of the family, wants to explore that and also thinks more should be done with her old Krypton life
-If the Warworld Saga was about Superman’s heart when stripped of all his powers and allies and what not, what’s coming up will be about the Superfamily
-If he had to choose between Action and any other book he’d choose Action, he loves writing it

[nightrider]

I don't like to see Superman weak, but if losing power means that we have a Superman capable of thinking, of fighting, of defeating his enemies without the help of the JL (in recent years Superman comics seemed like a secondary comic of the JL), for me there is no problem, what worries me is what will come after this story, everything we have seen so far will stay, or they will forget and we will return to the Superman of always but now weaker.

I personally feel that having Superman weak is such a standard route to equalize the playing field. It’s been done since the beginning with Red Sun/Kryptonite and etc. So personally I didn’t think this adds or take away anything to this story. For me it’s this world building of having a potential recurring supporting cast and expansion of mythos that excites me. Personally as a Superman fan I always wanted Superman to have a bigger supporting cast, mythos and rouges, something that would rival Batman.

[manwhohaseverything]

Show it with Clark himself or it's not successful, then. The start of the saga did play with the "dangers of hero worship" theme for Clark, but after that his "inspiring hero that has legends and songs told about him" portrayal has been entirely straight-forward.

Couldn't agree more...exactly what i want more off.

[Last Son of Krypton]

@Vordan Thanks to the recap, I stopped the podcast after the Warworld: Apocalypse announcement 5 mins in and didn't listened to the rest.

Not surprised to read it was DC's idea to send Clark away from Earth.

[Vordan]

@Vordan Thanks to the recap, I stopped the podcast after the Warworld: Apocalypse announcement 5 mins in and didn't listened to the rest.

Not surprised to read it was DC's idea to send Clark away from Earth.

Probably originated with Didio/Morrison’s plans for Clark to lead the Authority

[Matt Rat]

And here's your details on Clark's return to Earth

The moment that Superman fans have been waiting for is almost here. Witness the Warworld Saga’s epic conclusion featuring battles between Superman & Mongul and the Authority & Mongul’s Unmade Champions in the pages of Superman: Warworld Apocalypse #1 one-shot from Phillip Kennedy Johnson with art by Brandon Peterson & Will Conrad. Superman: Warworld Apocalypse #1 will be available digitally and at local comic shops on August 30, 2022.

Following the events of Superman: Warworld Apocalypse #1, Superman will return to Earth in a six-part crossover, Kal-El Returns, with Superman: Son of Kal-El from writer Tom Taylor. Kal-El Returns will lead up to the landmark 1050th issue of Action Comics and takes place in the pages of Action Comics #1047-1049 and Superman: Son of Kal-El #16-18.

“Superman: Warworld Apocalypse is everything we’ve been building to with the Warworld Saga, with the final battle between Superman and Mongul, between the Authority and the Unmade, and the long-awaited reveal of the real mastermind in the shadows,” said Johnson. “There are some frankly shocking moments in this issue, and some huge reveals that will have long-lasting repercussions in the DC Universe.”

It has all led to this: the final battle between Superman and Mongul, and between the Authority and Mongul’s Unmade Champions! The identity of the hooded stranger has been revealed, uncovering a shocking betrayal that threatens to crush Superman’s rebellion forever! But as the fate of Warworld relies on Superman, the last chance to return his powers now lies with Natasha and John Henry Irons. From the visionary creative team of Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Brandon Peterson, and Will Conrad, empires fall and rise and the fourth world is reborn in this jaw-dropping final chapter!

Superman: Warworld Apocalypse #1

Written by PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON

Art by BRANDON PETERSON and WILL CONRAD

Cover by STEVE BEACH

Variant cover by MARIO “FOX” FOCCILLO

1:25 foil variant cover by MIKEL JANÍN

Distressed variant cover by STEVE BEACH

$6.99 US | 56 pages | One-shot | Variant $7.99 US (card stock)

ON SALE 8/30/22

“Action Comics #1047: Kal-El Returns is nothing less than the beginning of a NEW ERA for Superman,” added Johnson. “After the events of the Warworld Saga, Superman has returned to Earth with new allies but Lex Luthor has his own plans for Metropolis after he sees a great opportunity in the fall of Warworld. Plans that involve the return of one of Superman’s most classic villains, METALLO.”

In the aftermath of Superman’s epic Warworld Revolution, the Man of Steel is back on Earth and stronger than he’s ever been! As he and Steel join forces to remake Metropolis as a true City of Tomorrow, two of Superman’s most iconic villains take notice…and they have plans of their own. Meanwhile, Superman’s meddling on Warworld has had unforeseen consequences: he’s awakened an enemy so ancient and powerful, even this stronger-than-ever Superman will need the whole Super-Family to face it. Introducing new characters and beginning this new chapter in Superman’s mythology, don’t miss the kickoff to the countdown to Action Comics #1050!

“What we did for Mongul with the Warworld Saga, we’re doing for Metallo in Kal-El Returns,” continued Johnson. “Metallo might be my favorite Superman villain, and I think he’s often overlooked in lieu of the more god-like characters like Mongul or Darkseid. There’s a really scary, complex, interesting version of him I’ve been wanting to show readers for a long time. His origins, his motivations, and his power set are all overdue for a deep-dive refresh, and we’re ready to give readers a Metallo worthy of Superman. Stay tuned for the strongest and scariest Metallo you’ve ever seen.”

ACTION COMICS #1047

Written by PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON

Art by TO BE ANNOUNCED

Backup by DAVID LAPHAM

Cover by STEVE BEACH

Variant cover by NATHAN SZERDY

1:25 variant cover by LUCIO PARRILLO

Harley Quinn 30th Anniversary variant cover by LEIRIX

https://aiptcomics.com/2022/06/14/su...comics-kal-el/

[sifighter]

Well looks like we are getting his return in September which apparently starts a crossover with Action Comics and Son of Kal-el. Also apparently Johnson is setting Metallo to be his next big villain.

https://www.cbr.com/superman-gladiat...son-kal-el-dc/

Edit: Mattrat beat me to it

Anyway I like the idea of using Metallo and that Johnson is utilizing his run to buildup some characters who are big threats but don’t necessarily get the spotlight.

[Matt Rat]

Plus Lois is now wearing brainy specs

[Vordan]

Goddamn I love those covers!

Well looks like we are getting his return in September which apparently starts a crossover with Action Comics and Son of Kal-el. Also apparently Johnson is setting Metallo to be his next big villain.

https://www.cbr.com/superman-gladiat...son-kal-el-dc/

Edit: Mattrat beat me to it

Anyway I like the idea of using Metallo and that Johnson is utilizing his run to buildup some characters who are big threats but don’t necessarily get the spotlight.

Really excited for this, I’d have preferred for this to be another solo arc on PKJ’s part, but getting a Superfamily crossover focused on Metallo could be the event Metallo needs to really shine.