PKJ Action Comics Discussion and Spoilers

[Vordan]

I thought the same thing. Reading that queen character was like reading a beta test for Maxima, and I loved it. And it looks like I'm not the only one who forgot all their names either?

Hah yeah the more over the top fantasy naming doesn’t tend to stick with me, I can’t remember the names of any characters or places but their characterization does stick out in my mind. I remember plot details fairly well though and I loved all the backstory/worldbuilding we got. One thing that really stuck with me was the songs, I loved those, wish we got more of those for the Warzoons & Phaelosians. Maybe we will as the Revolution gets underway.

Solid reasoning. I wouldn't be surprised if you're right. I hope you are, I'd love to see this guy tackle Almerac and the Zone. And if he can do something with Metallo that finally elevates that guy? We might have to start considering PKJ for "top creator" status. Hopefully all the chaos up the chain with Discovery doesn't screw with what PKJ is doing, this guy's run could become definitive if DC stays out of his way and lets him do his thing. I know the sales aren't any better than usual but with Clark, a lot of the time the best runs aren't recognized until after the fact. Triangle era didn't set the charts on fire either, but is still influencing the line twenty+ years later.

I don’t think Discovery is going to mess with the comics too much simply because the comics division is small time. It’s the movies/shows/video games that are in the crosshairs. Obviously we need to wait until we see how he wraps up the Warworld Saga, he was a protege of Scott Snyder after all who is great at set up and terrible at resolution, but if he can end this Saga as satisfactory as he did The Last God this will be my favorite Superman story since Superman Smashes The Klan.

I look at what he’s done to Warworld and I see the potential for adaption. Especially as a video game the Warworld Saga could provide a great story and game play foundation, Clark gets his ass kicked and depowered and has to reempower himself with a mysterious substance that could also function as XP points for upgrades, with the story being Clark uniting the oppressed people of Warworld against Mongul. Could easily see this as a Superman action-RPG. If he can do that for more of the Super-Mythos, revamping the villains and the different setting like the Phantom Zone or Almerac, then I think this run might be the best since Morrison for me, and prime material for adaption outside of comics.

If he can write a great Metallo story then that alone will secure his legacy since nobody else has written one imo, despite multiple high profile creators taking a shot. There have been good stories but nothing great enough to really stand out.

PKJ making me actually find Maxima interesting would be a true accomplishment. I simply do not see anything at all interesting about that character in any of the incarnations I've encountered over the years.

Historically she’s been pretty shallow I agree. “I’m strong, you’re strong, let’s ****” doesn’t provide much in the way of exploring Clark’s personal issues the way Lois does, or present an ideological conflict the way Batman and Talia’s love affair does. Why they keep pairing Supes and Wondy together when Maxima was there and the way they wrote Diana made her into Maxima Lite I’ll never know. Maxima is like Metallo or Parasite or Livewire, she’s a Rogue I look at and I can see pieces that if properly utilized could be interesting: she’s empress of an entire civilization after all, that offers storytelling potential for her as either a LI or a Rogue for Superman.

Making her into Superman’s Talia is the way to go and I think the best way to do that would be to position Almerac as a darker counterpart to the United Planets. Make the Empire of Almerac a group composed of various races and planets joined together by force, and in service to an imperialist totalitarian government with Maxima at the head, opposing Superman’s United Planets also composed of various races and planets joined together in a Democratic government where Supes may be the founder but he’s not the (sole) leader and you’ve got two political entities with the same goal of unifying the galaxy but with opposing ideas of how that unification should work and what the result should be.

PKJ has already set up some interesting conflicts within the United Planets with Thaaros, I’d like to see more interstellar politics and Maxima is someone I look at who could be a great character to use for that.

[Ascended]

I don’t think Discovery is going to mess with the comics too much simply because the comics division is small time. It’s the movies/shows/video games that are in the crosshairs. Obviously we need to wait until we see how he wraps up the Warworld Saga, he was a protege of Scott Snyder after all who is great at set up and terrible at resolution, but if he can end this Saga as satisfactory as he did The Last God this will be my favorite Superman story since Superman Smashes The Klan.

What I worry about with the Discovery merger, and it's a small worry, is that they'll say "Any book not performing above its average gets a new creative team and revamp." You're right that they don't care about comic sales, even the profitable ones aren't worth the attention of the corporate heads. But they *do* look at comics as prime material for adaptations, and if they start handing out edicts without doing their homework they might think that a comic that isn't performing above standard in the direct market means an adaptation won't do well either. It's easy to prove that assumption wrong....but who's gonna tell the new boss that they don't know what they're talking about and are making a mistake? And we can be sure that the new bosses know damn little of the direct market and have even less interest in learning.

But that small fear aside I agree, the publishing isn't likely to see too much change from what we have now. AT&T already tweaked the line to account for larger media concerns, I think it's unlikely that Discovery makes more than minor alterations to that layout.

I look at what he’s done to Warworld and I see the potential for adaption. Especially as a video game

Have you dropped this in the game thread? It's a quality idea.

Historically she’s been pretty shallow I agree. Maxima is like Metallo or Parasite or Livewire, she’s a Rogue I look at and I can see pieces that if properly utilized could be interesting: she’s empress of an entire civilization after all, that offers storytelling potential for her as either a LI or a Rogue for Superman.

It's true that she hasn't always been written to her full potential. But the parallels and contrasts are there, and especially with the UP in play now, there is *so* much you can do with Maxima. She was better, I think, in Justice League. We got a better look at her there, and her motivations beyond providing the strongest possible heir.

Just the fact that she traveled halfway across the galaxy to secure Clark as her consort tells us a lot about Almeraci culture and Maxima.

PKJ has already set up some interesting conflicts within the United Planets with Thaaros, I’d like to see more interstellar politics and Maxima is someone I look at who could be a great character to use for that.

Maxima and Zod are the most obvious and best positioned characters for United Planets drama and stories, I think. And political frenemy Zod is the best version of Zod ever, he's actually interesting now!

And as I write this, it dawns on me that maybe Jon Kent's best possible love interest is actually Lor-Zod....

[Vordan]

What I worry about with the Discovery merger, and it's a small worry, is that they'll say "Any book not performing above its average gets a new creative team and revamp." You're right that they don't care about comic sales, even the profitable ones aren't worth the attention of the corporate heads. But they *do* look at comics as prime material for adaptations, and if they start handing out edicts without doing their homework they might think that a comic that isn't performing above standard in the direct market means an adaptation won't do well either. It's easy to prove that assumption wrong....but who's gonna tell the new boss that they don't know what they're talking about and are making a mistake? And we can be sure that the new bosses know damn little of the direct market and have even less interest in learning.

Apparently they’re about to kill everything outside the shared universe on the film/TV side so I believe those will take the brunt of the cuts since those are more expensive. But you’re right of course, long as Kaminski is safe then I think PKJ will be too.

Have you dropped this in the game thread? It's a quality idea.

I shared my idea for a game set in the Phantom Zone, but I might do Warworld. Sometimes writing these ideas up just pisses me off because if I can do it why can’t the clowns at the game studios or the suits in the suites? Thinking of how awesome a game could be and knowing it’s not likely ever going to happen just makes me unhappy.

Maxima and Zod are the most obvious and best positioned characters for United Planets drama and stories, I think. And political frenemy Zod is the best version of Zod ever, he's actually interesting now!

And as I write this, it dawns on me that maybe Jon Kent's best possible love interest is actually Lor-Zod....

Yep those two are the two I see as being best served by being involved in the United Planets stories. Maxima as a rival/ideological enemy ala the Cold War and Zod as the devil in the United Planets who urges the group to curb freedoms in the name of security and dominance. Clark has to fight against both of them to guide the United Planets into being what he envisions it being. I’ve also thought Lor and Jon as Star crossed lovers could work out well too, with Lor being someone who ultimately puts his duty to repopulate the Kryptonian race over his personal desires. Could be a fun romance though.





Shout to Federeci for his awesome designs! Hope these end up in a collected edition someday (man do we need more Superman omnibuses).

[Ra-El]

I believe the key to make Maxima work is actually giving her qualities and traits Clark admires. Make her someone we can see Superman with, someone with who he could potentially have a good relationship. Also make the case for Almerac, show how a strong and powerful royal bloodline is a keep the Empire peace, and all the chaos and violence they keep at bay.

[The Frog Bros]

Apparently they’re about to kill everything outside the shared universe on the film/TV side so I believe those will take the brunt of the cuts since those are more expensive. But you’re right of course, long as Kaminski is safe then I think PKJ will be too.

I shared my idea for a game set in the Phantom Zone, but I might do Warworld. Sometimes writing these ideas up just pisses me off because if I can do it why can’t the clowns at the game studios or the suits in the suites? Thinking of how awesome a game could be and knowing it’s not likely ever going to happen just makes me unhappy.

Yep those two are the two I see as being best served by being involved in the United Planets stories. Maxima as a rival/ideological enemy ala the Cold War and Zod as the devil in the United Planets who urges the group to curb freedoms in the name of security and dominance. Clark has to fight against both of them to guide the United Planets into being what he envisions it being. I’ve also thought Lor and Jon as Star crossed lovers could work out well too, with Lor being someone who ultimately puts his duty to repopulate the Kryptonian race over his personal desires. Could be a fun romance though.





Shout to Federeci for his awesome designs! Hope these end up in a collected edition someday (man do we need more Superman omnibuses).

F'n awesome. Federici draws creatures like nobody's business. These look like they'd be right at home in the Jim Henson world of the Dark Crystal, particularly the second and third ones.

[Ascended]

I believe the key to make Maxima work is actually giving her qualities and traits Clark admires. Make her someone we can see Superman with, someone with who he could potentially have a good relationship. Also make the case for Almerac, show how a strong and powerful royal bloodline is a keep the Empire peace, and all the chaos and violence they keep at bay.

Agreed. Despite a number of stories that treat her like nothing but a psycho bitch, she's actually got a lot of interesting and fun, positive traits. Her whole thing chasing Clark was never about hooking up with the hot beefcake Kryptonian, it was about securing a powerful heir who could keep the Empire together. It was all about duty. Sure, it was a duty Maxima was happy to do, because Clark *is* a hot beefcake Kryptonian, but Maxima would've gone after Lobo or Mongul or J'onn or anyone else if she had thought they were a better genetic match that would've produced a stronger heir. She might have hated doing her duty then (no woman in her right minds wants *that* kind of attention from Lobo!), but she'd have done it for the Empire. With Clark, business and pleasure were the same thing, and who can blame her for being excited about that, but at the end of the day she was doing what she thought best for Almerac. And she stayed on earth for a long time, running the risk of a coup back home, which tells us more about her sense of responsibility; she's willing to risk a short term rebellion for the Empire's long-term stability. She's emotional and entitled, but also pragmatic, willing to examine other viewpoints (as shown in her time with the League), and anyone who read Our Worlds at War knows that Maxima doesn't have a cowardly bone in her body and will make the ultimate sacrifice without hesitation.

Maxima is Game of Thrones in space, and that's not only a really compelling concept, Max herself has a lot of traits (both positive and negative) that're entertaining. The problem is that so many writers ignore/forget that, and just write her as a femme fatale that lacks all the class and appeal of actual femme fatales.

PKJ, I'm sure, would do wonders with Maxima.

[Matt Rat]

The Dark Crisis check list is out, and it appears Phillip is writing the Worlds Without-Green Lantern special in August


https://aiptcomics.com/2022/05/02/dc...dark-crisis-1/

[Vordan]

Glad Action won’t have to tie in after all. Looking forward to PKJ writing John Stewart, I’ll check that out. Looks like this will be a Superman & the Authority scenario where PKJ keeps going until Dark Crisis is over and then acknowledge the book after the fact. As someone actually interested in Dark Crisis I have no problem with that.

[Garrac]

I'm kinda surprised that this series is being so underapreciated right now. For me, personally, Action's being one of my favorite comics of the latest years. Even more than Taylor's Superman

[Vordan]

[Zagre]

I'm kinda surprised that this series is being so underapreciated right now. For me, personally, Action's being one of my favorite comics of the latest years. Even more than Taylor's Superman

I think it's selling well enough. I know people like to bring up those Icv2 lists but those lists always handicapp series that come later in the month, and this tends to come during the last week of the month. And the reviews are good as well.

It's my favorite Superman thing going on right now, as well.

EDIT: I'm also glad Dark Crisis doesn't seem to be derailing this too much (though we'll see).

[SJNeal]

I think it's selling well enough. I know people like to bring up those Icv2 lists but those lists always handicapp series that come later in the month, and this tends to come during the last week of the month. And the reviews are good as well.

Now that you mention it, Action Comics has been a week 4 book at *least* since #584 in 1986 (Byrne's first post-COIE issue). That's crazy!

[Vordan]

Annual with Mongul’s origin comes out next week! PKJ posted the preview pages on his Twitter account.



If I remember right PKJ is handling the Mongul portion and Spurrier is handling the Clark portion. Spurrier writing Clark has me… nervous to say the least, haven’t enjoyed his previous attempts with Clark but we’ll see how he does here. He’s a great writer I’ve enjoyed elsewhere just not one that I’m clamoring to see do more with Supes. Eager to get some info on Necropolis which is what I assume the Mongul half will be dealing with.

[The Frog Bros]

Love the Francavilla cover on the Annual.

[Vordan]

And here’s the official Newsrama link!

One thing I like right away: we’re focusing on the moms of Mongul and Superman. We’ve never seen Mongul’s mom and Martha Kent usually gets precious little panel time compared to Pa, so I’m glad this is focusing on them. Good tie in with Mother’s Day coming.