PKJ Action Comics Discussion and Spoilers

[Ascended]

I think they're trying to invest in the line so that this changes. Creative team changes don't say "we are taking Superman seriously" as much as this. I hope it pays off eventually, but it won't at first.

Oh this isn't gonna impact Action's sales in any grand way, definitely. And in the short term it won't help Kara or Conner or Jon carry a book any better than they already are either. I agree, this looks like an attempt at long-term effort and investment in the "S" brand, as well as a simple shake up (not of the shock value variety though) on Action's behalf to keep people engaged.

DC's pretty awful at long term effort, and the chaos happening above their heads only makes that worse, so my expectations are limited. But it's nice to see them at least trying to fix the mess they've made of the franchise.

[Mantis-Ray]

I think you mean the Spider-Family.

Hilarious that Peter is actually more of a loner than famous self-professed "loner" Batman

[Vordan]

So Sandoval is leaving Blak Adam?

This week’s Black Adam issue had a bunch of fill in art, so he probably stepped off the project after issue 5.

[Hypo]

Action Comics #1048 Preview
Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Artist: Mike Perkins
Backup Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Backup Artist: David Lapham

[Frontier]

These kids are reminding me of Ben Grimm and Alicia's kids from Dan Slott's FF. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I wonder if it's a deliberate attempt to fill the kid!Jon hole in the Superfamily but I'm not sure it'll have the same effect. It feels kind of...sitcom-ish where you add new kids to the mix.

[DragonPiece]

These kids are reminding me of Ben Grimm and Alicia's kids from Dan Slott's FF. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I wonder if it's a deliberate attempt to fill the kid!Jon hole in the Superfamily but I'm not sure it'll have the same effect. It feels kind of...sitcom-ish where you add new kids to the mix.

I can see where you are coming from, but it seems like a positive addition to me. I don't know if it was a editorial decision or something PKJ always planned, but it feels very natural to go from their role in the warworld saga to being apart of Clark's earth family.

[Vordan]

ACTION COMICS #1051
Written by PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON, DAN JURGENS, and LEAH WILLIAMS
Art by RAFA SANDOVAL, LEE WEEKS, and MARGUERITE SAUVAGE
Cover by DAN MORA
Variant covers by STEVE BEACH, JORGE FORNÉS, SERGIO DAVILA, RAFA SANDOVAL, DAVID NAKAYAMA, and LEE WEEKS
1:25 variant cover by JACK HERBERT
1:50 foil variant cover by DAN MORA
1:100 embossed variant cover by STEVE BEACH
$4.99 US | 48 pages | Variant $5.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 1/24/23
ACTION COMICS REBORN!
Action Comics #1051 begins a new format for DC's most action-packed title, offering not one, not two, but three epic adventures of Superman and the entire Super-Family! Following the bombshell events of Action Comics #1050, the world's relationship with Superman is forever changed, the upper limits of his supercharged powers have yet to be reached, and the House of El's transformation of Metropolis, led by Steel, has begun. But Lex Luthor has found the perfect instrument with which to undo everything Superman is working to achieve: Metallo, whose hatred of Superman is matched only by his hatred for Luthor himself. Then, in "Lois and Clark 2: Doom Rising," Dan Jurgens and Lee Weeks return to tell the tale of young Jon Kent on the farm with his parents, learning about his abilities, coming of age…and battling the Doombreaker?! And finally, Power Girl returns in part one of a three-part story spinning out of Lazarus Planet! This issue marks the first appearance of new characters, new costumes, and a new era of Action Comics! It all starts here!

These kids are reminding me of Ben Grimm and Alicia's kids from Dan Slott's FF. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I wonder if it's a deliberate attempt to fill the kid!Jon hole in the Superfamily but I'm not sure it'll have the same effect. It feels kind of...sitcom-ish where you add new kids to the mix.

I thought the Grimm kids were the one positive thing Slott did that everyone loved? I like the idea of Clark and Lois raising adopted kids myself, wish they had stuck with the original intent of the kids being brown but the Twitter cries about PKJ being a war apologist probably scared DC off that idea alas.

But this is likely a PKJ idea. What he’s doing here is building the foundation to the Future State House of El with the massive El family we saw there.

Yang, Andy Diggle, and Greg Pak all back at DC thanks to Lazarus Planet? Too much to hope they’ll end up back in Superman’s corner of the DCU somehow?

[Vordan]

Interview with PKJ by Popverse, he talks about the Warworld Saga and what his intents were with it

Pertinent info for the future:

-Clark is getting a massive power boost because of the white sun he was exposed to on Warworld, PKJ said he’ll be able to time travel under his own power again. He’s going to get more anime esque with Clark’s powers so it’s not just punching all the time (God I wish we had Jimenez drawing this, he’d be perfect, but I trust Sandoval to do a good job)
-Reiterates that he’ll be focusing on Kara as the most Kryptonian of the Family, really wants to explore how the Family differs from Clark, what they take away from him, what they have to teach him, seems like he’ll very much keep being the central character of the book
-Clark wants the Family and Metropolis to stand as this beacon of possibility for the wider world because politically the situation has deteriorated and he’s asking himself if he’s not doing enough
-There is a specific story he wants to do with the Authority and other creators he wants to bring on board to handle them, says there are plans to make the Authority almost like the X-books over at Marvel (I wonder if he means that DC wants to have the Authority and the Wildcats be like the mutants, in the shared universe but almost at a parallel to the mainline superheroes?)

[Frontier]

I thought the Grimm kids were the one positive thing Slott did that everyone loved? I like the idea of Clark and Lois raising adopted kids myself, wish they had stuck with the original intent of the kids being brown but the Twitter cries about PKJ being a war apologist probably scared DC off that idea alas.

I don't think people feel that strongly about them but it made the book feel a bit more like a Saturday Morning Cartoon (then again, that's kind of what Slott does...)

Interview with PKJ by Popverse, he talks about the Warworld Saga and what his intents were with it

Pertinent info for the future:

-Clark is getting a massive power boost because of the white sun he was exposed to on Warworld, PKJ said he’ll be able to time travel under his own power again. He’s going to get more anime esque with Clark’s powers so it’s not just punching all the time (God I wish we had Jimenez drawing this, he’d be perfect, but I trust Sandoval to do a good job)

It's funny when we were all thinking Clark was getting weakened to prop up Jon but now it's the other way around. Feels like something Snyder would do.

-Reiterates that he’ll be focusing on Kara as the most Kryptonian of the Family, really wants to explore how the Family differs from Clark, what they take away from him, what they have to teach him, seems like he’ll very much keep being the central character of the book

It'll be interesting to see how PKJ writes Kara since he'll probably have control of her until her inevitable Josie Campbell solo series.

[Vordan]

I don't think people feel that strongly about them but it made the book feel a bit more like a Saturday Morning Cartoon (then again, that's kind of what Slott does...)

It's funny when we were all thinking Clark was getting weakened to prop up Jon but now it's the other way around. Feels like something Snyder would do.

It'll be interesting to see how PKJ writes Kara since he'll probably have control of her until her inevitable Josie Campbell solo series.

Never read Slott’s run myself so I wouldn’t know, I just heard people generally say they like them.

My hope is that he has Kara trying to teach the Phaelosian kids some Kryptonian customs. I would love it if we got some scenes where maybe she tries to teach the rest some Kryptonian language, or traditions. I hope he has talked to Yang about writing Kenan, he talked to Thorne about writing Stewart so he’s willing to reach out when he thinks he needs another writer who is more familiar with the character’s advice, and Yang has been talking to Waid about Nezha so he’s willing to chat about this kind of stuff. Kon and Kenan are pretty similar at first glance but I’ve thought of a few key ways to differentiate them. With luck, PKJ has done the same since he’s brought the whole Family together.

Between Clark getting the power boost and the whole Family working together, I’m excited to see what upgrades Metallo gets that let him still pose a threat.

[Mantis-Ray]

The power boost can't help but remind me of Dragon Ball cause Goku also keeps getting progressive increases of increments of powers and it always amuses me how contrast the 2 characters are despite both being middle-aged married men.

Goku is a dimwitted lothario who cares for little except getting his fight cravings and has a habit of ignoring his family while Superman is a commited family man with high aspirations of helping the community.

Even funnier is that Goku is also a farmer now to make ends meet but he's only a farmer cause his wife badgered him into getting a job while Clark genuinely enjoys being a farmer.

[SuperX]

Time travel on his own wth folks that's big,are they turning him into superman one million now in the present ,just not in look?

[SuperX]

Never read Slott’s run myself so I wouldn’t know, I just heard people generally say they like them.

My hope is that he has Kara trying to teach the Phaelosian kids some Kryptonian customs. I would love it if we got some scenes where maybe she tries to teach the rest some Kryptonian language, or traditions. I hope he has talked to Yang about writing Kenan, he talked to Thorne about writing Stewart so he’s willing to reach out when he thinks he needs another writer who is more familiar with the character’s advice, and Yang has been talking to Waid about Nezha so he’s willing to chat about this kind of stuff. Kon and Kenan are pretty similar at first glance but I’ve thought of a few key ways to differentiate them. With luck, PKJ has done the same since he’s brought the whole Family together.

Between Clark getting the power boost and the whole Family working together, I’m excited to see what upgrades Metallo gets that let him still pose a threat.

What are your ideas for differences between kon and Kenan?

I want kon aged up some,he looked like a 12 year old in the last issue,that's not gonna work sorry DC.he should be at lowest 18 and oldest at 21,and at a nice size ,not a scrawny Lil kid.i mean his OG book ,the YJ and Titans shows have no problem leaning into his differences he has ,so I don't see why they can't in the comics now

[Quinlan58]

Despite PKJ hyping up his desire of differentiating every character, judging by his work in the Warworld Saga, I'll assume he won't be able to focus on everyone equally. I suppose Kara may occupy a similar position to Midnighter in terms of relevance, going by how he spoke of her.

His mention of being able to time travel freely now is so specific that I wonder if something along those lines is planned. Always glad to see the bonkers Silver Age powers come back, we need a sense of awe whenever we see Superman doing a truly awesome feat, not just "oh, he punched/laser-beamed someone again". Still, I can't help but find it funny how he spoke of the seatbelt scene. No, Philip, trust me, that was not the most memorable scene in your comic by any measure, and if those are the "lessons" you intend Superman to give... well, I don't know what to say.

But, on that same topic but far more exciting, Superman and co. using Metropolis as a sort of proof-of-concept to the rest of the world of the sort of tomorrow they envision is a top tier concept and I can't wait to see how he handles it.

Regarding the preview, I'm liking it so far. It's great to see Lois interacting with Otho and Osul, given she's apparently going to be adopting them, and I liked Otho's cynicism. Brought me back to those initial appearances with her where she was doing her hardest to embrace Mongul's ways, which was really the peak of my interest in the character so far. Osul is just "cute kid" so far, so in that sense I don't have anything to say about him, other than insisting that making them twins would be a huge mistake.

Bibbo's appearance is great. Loved how easily he bonded with Otho and Osul. Really, I liked that interaction more than I have any of their interactions with Clark, or now Lois, even if I recognize playing "cool uncle" is far different from actually trying to be a parent. That body language he had, almost like he was drunk, is hilariously unfitting and that's why it works so well.

And then we close with a Clark monologue, which is a neat character introspection but nothing we haven't read before. I wonder what exactly are him and Apollo doing there.

[Vordan]

What are your ideas for differences between kon and Kenan?

I want kon aged up some,he looked like a 12 year old in the last issue,that's not gonna work sorry DC.he should be at lowest 18 and oldest at 21,and at a nice size ,not a scrawny Lil kid.i mean his OG book ,the YJ and Titans shows have no problem leaning into his differences he has ,so I don't see why they can't in the comics now

They’re both pretty headstrong and cocky guys. The difference is that Conner to me is someone who is always trying to prove something: that he’s worthy of being Superman’s heir, that he won’t go bad like Lex, there’s an insecurity at his core underneath that cocky exterior. In contrast Kenan is incredibly arrogant and sure of himself, Conner has doubts but Kenan doesn’t, and that certainty bites Kenan in the ass a lot because he will do very stupid things without thinking them through. At heart he’s a compassionate person however and that makes up for the arrogance he has.

If I were writing them, Conner’s arc would be learning that he doesn’t have to keep “proving” himself by hurtling head on into every challenge he meets, whereas Kenan needs to learn some humility and accept that he’s not going to be able to handle everything without help. Granted both of them have sort of learned these lessons before, but since this is the first time the Superfamily has teamed up together in one book I think it’s ok to reset them back to basics.

Definitely think those two would get along great after initially competing with each other.