PKJ Action Comics Discussion and Spoilers

[Quinlan58]

Well, I had my hype moments silently at work, so time to go more calmly over the press release:

First things first, "Kal-El Returns" does not sound like a name PKJ would pick for this, I think. He didn't even use the opportunity to have Clark introduce himself as such to the Phaelosians, and has stated multiple times he's firmly in the "Clark Kent is the real dude" camp. I guess "Superman Returns" was out of the table for several reasons (including that it would imply Jon isn't a "real" Superman), and maybe they thought "Clark Kent Returns" didn't have the same epic ring to it? Or maybe it's just to tie in with title of Son of Kal-El. Weird to have the Kryptonian name be so prominent in titles in this era.

Anyway, as for the synopsis of the upcoming crossover... "Superman and Steel remake Metropolis into the City of Tomorrow" is something I've daydreamed about, and those daydreams often included Metallo in other capacities, and power fluctuations from Clark, so this is literally like the Superman team read my mind and made a story specifically suited towards what I wanted. It's surreal.

Clark being "stronger than ever" is certainly a strange thing, considering we just confirmed that his de-powering was editorially-mandated. Did PKJ convince them otherwise? He did, after all, mention he'd prefer Clark as powerful as possible. It's strange considering how so much of Jon's push has involved the idea of Jon being stronger than Clark (right now, or in the future, or whatever). This is the radical opposite of that. Is this a sign of editorial's focus having shifted back to Clark? Is it just a set-up for Clark's fall or Jon's further rise by the end of this arc? Who knows?

I wonder who the "ancient enemy" mentioned will be. It's either Aethyr or a new one, I assume. The idea of "the whole Super-Family will face it", I don't think that means Jon's book will suddenly change focus to tie-in with Clark's. Are they going to be featuring more and more in Action Comics now? Are we going to get new minis (hoping for an ongoing is too much considering not even Kara can hold that now)? Is it just empty hype and they won't be featured after is done?

And, tying in to that, will Clark stay in Metropolis after the crossover? I would bet yes. PKJ has said he wants to do for Metropolis what he's done for Warworld, and for Metallo what he's done for Mongul, and he most certainly can't do that in just 3 issues of a crossover. Don't think that means Daily Planet stuff, though. Maybe a few scenes at best, but most likely Clark's time will be spent with John Henry and the others on this "City of Tomorrow" project. If we're still having back-ups, hopefully we can see the Daily Planet crew in that. As for Jon, I don't know how well Clark staying in Metropolis would fit with Son of Kal-El, since I dropped it a while ago, but from what I last read, Clark being back would interfere with the current storyline and themes with Jon.

Now, the big one. Metallo, getting a big storyline where's he's (one of) the main villains, with the explicit purpose of fleshing him out and building him into a top-tier threat. I refused to believe this would happen, before. But now PKJ is doing exactly that, calling him his "favorite Superman villain" (I suspect that's just for hype, both because he's previously given similar high praise for Mongul, and because the idea of current Metallo being anyone's favorite Superman villain is unbelievable), saying he wants to show a "scary, complex, interesting version of him", talking about rebuilding everything about him as far as I can tell, and you know what else? Modern era Metallo is a soldier. PKJ is a soldier, too. I wonder what sort of perspective he can bring to the character, just based on that. Anyway, here's hoping he gets to make one of the biggest wastes of potential in the Rogues Gallery into a genuinely great villain. Already I am a bit bugged that Luthor is involved, and has plans for Metallo, since that means even in this upcoming storyline, Metallo will be subordinate to Luthor, but I guess it would be even worse if Clark and John Henry were remaking Metropolis and Luthor was nowhere to be seen.

Oh, and the covers are okay. None of the AC1047 covers are really my thing, but they're okay. The Warworld Apocalypse ones are fire, though. Pity we get yet another art team change for the big finale of the Warworld Sage, though.

[HsssH]

I probably would have preffered fill-in artist on regular issue and main art team on the finale. Oh well.

Crossovrr mskes sense, but Taylor's Superman did nothing for me so I'm not very excited for it.

[Vordan]

https://twitter.com/phillipkjohnson/...V2lSwDtipGehdQ

I can confirm that the Sword of Superman is NOT coming back as it appeared in that issue. The whole Warzoon name for Superman of “The Unblooded Sword” was kind of a nod to it though, and I love the similarity between that annual cover and Steve Beach’s new painted cover

No Sword of Superman just yet unfortunately, but the cover I posted being a homage to that issue is cool.

I probably would have preffered fill-in artist on regular issue and main art team on the finale. Oh well.

Crossovrr mskes sense, but Taylor's Superman did nothing for me so I'm not very excited for it.

I wish we could get Federeci on this as well, but he’s probably too slow to do it. Oh well, Conrad is good, Peterson however… his art is solid but the coloring he uses just makes it look very plastic-y and fake. Similar to Janin he’s an artist who really needs a good colorist to shine. I would’ve preferred to have had Janin or Mendonca come back to wrap this up, but long as Conrad is the one mainly drawing the actual final fight between Supes and Mongul, I think I’ll walk away satisfied.

[The Frog Bros]

I guess this is Foccillo's first Superman cover. Nice first impression!
20220615_121952.jpg

[Ascended]

https://twitter.com/phillipkjohnson/...V2lSwDtipGehdQ

No Sword of Superman just yet unfortunately

He said "as it appeared in that issue." Doesn't rule out an appearance of *some* kind.

But yeah, sounds like it's not happening. Not anytime soon anyway. Didn't expect it but it would've been cool. I do love that the Unblooded Sword is a nod to the Sword.

[SJNeal]

Sorry in advance for the dumb questions, but I'm a little behind in this weeks news. That said -

*Is this really the way PKJ intended to wrap this whole arc? Seems it would have made more sense to end it in #1050, or the very least #1049 with #1050 being an anniversary issue/kickoff to the next arc. The smorgasbord of artists also suggests last minute changes.

*This crossover seems to have come out of nowhere, unless I missed an earlier tease from PKJ or Taylor...? Sounds like an attempt to get a quick sales boost for both titles.

*Feels a little reminiscent of what happened with King's Batman, as far as shunting off the end of a story into another book so they can take the main title in a different direction sooner than anticipated.

[manwhohaseverything]

I guess this is Foccillo's first Superman cover. Nice first impression!
20220615_121952.jpg

Now,This feels like a gladiator..There is so much grit and dirt..

[Vordan]

Sorry in advance for the dumb questions, but I'm a little behind in this weeks news. That said -

*Is this really the way PKJ intended to wrap this whole arc? Seems it would have made more sense to end it in #1050, or the very least #1049 with #1050 being an anniversary issue/kickoff to the next arc. The smorgasbord of artists also suggests last minute changes.

*This crossover seems to have come out of nowhere, unless I missed an earlier tease from PKJ or Taylor...? Sounds like an attempt to get a quick sales boost for both titles.

*Feels a little reminiscent of what happened with King's Batman, as far as shunting off the end of a story into another book so they can take the main title in a different direction sooner than anticipated.

Pretty sure while he would have preferred to have had Federeci draw the entire Warworld Saga, that simply wasn’t an option because Federeci isn’t fast enough. He’s said that he tries to write the story to accommodate multiple artists coming on board, so it’s something he’s used to. The Warworld Saga already stretches 16 (1030-1046) issues of Action plus the Authority miniseries, the Superman & the Authority/Batman team up one shot, an Annual, and this double paged Apocalypse one shot, he definitely was given enough time to do what he wanted and he seems pretty happy.

Nah from the start one of the things he mentioned in early interviews was that he and Taylor were talking about doing a crossover at some point. Also mentions that the complaints about Lois not being a part of the Warworld Saga made him adjust his post Warworld Saga plans, so I believe he was planning this out relatively early. He and Kaminski have been dropping hints about big plans for the Superfamily (specifically Irons and Kara) for months. As for it coming out of nowhere… not sure what you mean? Clark returning home after so long away pretty much demands he interacts with the rest of the Superfamily to explain what took so long, a crossover with Jon’s book makes sense.

He’d be off the book if that were the case, just like King was. Besides King always talked about his 100 issue plan, PKJ never said how many issues he wanted the Warworld Saga to be, but there’s no indication his story was cut short. If anything it seems like 1050 will be the launching point for his next phase of stories, so he’s sticking around for a while.

[SJNeal]

All good points, thanks Vordan.

Work and other real life BS has gotten the best of me these past several months. I haven't been keeping up with the boards or various creators socials like I usually do, so when something seems out of left field I kinda default to paranoia/worst case scenarios I guess.

[HsssH]

I might be mistaken, but I think that in general DC tries to use "anniversary" issues as jumping-in points so for 1050 we'll likely get couple of short stories by creators that haven't done Superman in a while and one or two stories setting-up future storylines or even new series.

[Vordan]

I might be mistaken, but I think that in general DC tries to use "anniversary" issues as jumping-in points so for 1050 we'll likely get couple of short stories by creators that haven't done Superman in a while and one or two stories setting-up future storylines or even new series.

Went and checked what they did for Tec 1050 and it was an oversized issue, but it was part 4 of a storyline from Tamaki with a backup by Rosenberg and Mark Waid writing a prologue for his World’s Finest book. Doubt Action would be different, it will likely be an oversized issue as well, but mainly just a jump on point for the next phase of PKJ’s run, with a backup teasing another Superbook. Depending on if the Superfamily is going to be participating in Action beyond the Kal-El Returns, maybe it will set up a John Henry Irons Steel mini? Otherwise it will likely just focus on PKJ’s story.

Only the big #100 issue benchmarks seem to be the type of “celebration” issues you’re talking about.

[Vordan]

Looks like Will Conrad will be staying on Action per the Sept 2022 solicits, hope he gets to do all the Action issues of the crossover. I would love to have Federeci stay on past the Warworld Saga but I’m not holding my breath, I’m sure DC wants him on a Bat book pronto. I’ll just hope that he’s going to return to Action some time in the future.

Remember when Janin was supposed to draw the Warworld Saga? And instead he hasn’t done anything major at DC since S&tA? Wonder what’s up with that. I’d still like to have him on Action at some point.

[Ra-El]

Looks like Will Conrad will be staying on Action per the Sept 2022 solicits, hope he gets to do all the Action issues of the crossover. I would love to have Federeci stay on past the Warworld Saga but I’m not holding my breath, I’m sure DC wants him on a Bat book pronto. I’ll just hope that he’s going to return to Action some time in the future.

Remember when Janin was supposed to draw the Warworld Saga? And instead he hasn’t done anything major at DC since S&tA? Wonder what’s up with that. I’d still like to have him on Action at some point.

Janín is probably working super hard on a Batman book we don't know about yet, maybe a Harley Quinn book. We know DC's priorities.

Best we can hope is for a good artist, who is really talented, but is not a star artist. Remember Sampere? The guy was making amazing work on Action, DC put him on a event as fast as they could. When Dark Crisis is over, after he takes some time off, I expect they will put him on Batman.

Look at Jorge Jimenez, Superman is his favorite character, he said several times he wants to work on the character, but he is in Batman, where I imagine pays better, so good for him.

[Vordan]

Janín is probably working super hard on a Batman book we don't know about yet, maybe a Harley Quinn book. We know DC's priorities.

Best we can hope is for a good artist, who is really talented, but is not a star artist. Remember Sampere? The guy was making amazing work on Action, DC put him on a event as fast as they could. When Dark Crisis is over, after he takes some time off, I expect they will put him on Batman.

Look at Jorge Jimenez, Superman is his favorite character, he said several times he wants to work on the character, but he is in Batman, where I imagine pays better, so good for him.

Thankfully we’ve been pretty lucky with artists - Sampere left but we got Federeci, who’s arguably an even better fit for the Warworld Saga instead! - only Peterson is probably going to be a miss art wise I suspect. Conrad is solid and his art on Cyborg was actually a good mix of gritty and sci-fi, so I’m content with him taking over for a crossover. Been thinking about who might be the next long term artist, and maybe Sami Basri will join the book? She was on Aquamen but that’s over, she did the Annual last year and I enjoyed her art there, she could be a good fit.

[Ra-El]

Thankfully we’ve been pretty lucky with artists - Sampere left but we got Federeci, who’s arguably an even better fit for the Warworld Saga instead! - only Peterson is probably going to be a miss art wise I suspect. Conrad is solid and his art on Cyborg was actually a good mix of gritty and sci-fi, so I’m content with him taking over for a crossover. Been thinking about who might be the next long term artist, and maybe Sami Basri will join the book? She was on Aquamen but that’s over, she did the Annual last year and I enjoyed her art there, she could be a good fit.

I could have bet Sami Basri was a man, kkkkk.

But yes, Action Comics art have been really good. Also, you're right, Federici is probably the best fit for Warworld Saga we could have.