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.
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.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 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.
Historically she’s been pretty shallow I agree. “I’m strong, you’re strong, let’s fuck” 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.