PKJ Action Comics Discussion and Spoilers

[Frontier]

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.

I think how he'll write Kenan is the biggest question mark.

I wonder if Williamson will be playing with Supes' new upgraded powers too. Might mean upgrades for the entire Rogues Gallery.

[SuperX]

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.

But I like that Conner runs headfirst into this lol, he is the scrapiest member of the super family imo

[Vordan]

But I like that Conner runs headfirst into this lol, he is the scrapiest member of the super family imo

He’ll always be reset back to that once a new writer comes on board. Characters in ongoings go in circles forever.

[SuperX]

He’ll always be reset back to that once a new writer comes on board. Characters in ongoings go in circles forever.

A scrappy and headfirst 20 year old Conner with epigenetic memory is what I'm wanting.

[The Frog Bros]

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

I loved Perkins's art in the recent Swamp Thing book. Curious to see how it plays in AC.

[HsssH]

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.

Yeah, this is my main concern with the new format. Him talking about time travel most likely means that we'll see House of El cast. And well, thats a lot of characters for 20 pages.

[SuperX]

Yeah, this is my main concern with the new format. Him talking about time travel most likely means that we'll see House of El cast. And well, thats a lot of characters for 20 pages.

That's not cool

[Vordan]

I have to admit I’m confused. What team books are you guys reading where every member of the team gets equal focus consistently throughout the whole book? Because that’s typically not how team books work. Everyone usually gets something to do, but there are only a few who get focused on at a time. To run through some examples:

Hickman’s F4 run is focused on Reed and Franklin. It is primarily a Reed Richards story, he’s the one who grows and changes the most over the course of the run, learning that he can’t solve everything and family is the most important aspect in what differentiates him from other Reeds. Franklin is also heavily focused on, as a young kid with god powers struggling to control them. Those two are at the center, next comes Johnny and Valeria. Johnny becomes more mature as a result of events that happen, and Valeria plays a big part in solving the crises, but she doesn’t really change that much. Last comes Ben and Sue. They get some great moments but they are the ones who drew the short straw in terms of development.

Or how about Tynion’s Tec run since that’s likely the model for this. Tim was the heart of that run, the one whose choices affected everyone else. He’s the one who built the Gotham Knights team, and he’s the one who by way of his future self, showed how it could all go wrong. He was also Tynion’s favorite and that was a factor in why he was so crucial. Next came Batwoman, Spoiler, Cass Cain, and Clayface. Those four had to struggle with fitting in to the system built because they didn’t always conform perfectly to how Batman and Tim ran things. Spoiler empathizes with the Victim Syndicate, Cass wants to be more than a weapon, Batwoman has her own ideas on how to fight crime and is willing to kill if pushed, and Clayface is searching for redemption. All four ultimately depart for various reasons, breaking up the team. Last comes Batman himself, Batwing, and Azrael. Those three are mostly just along for the ride, they get stuff to do, but they’re not driving the narrative forward the way the others are.

Unlike Batman for Tynion I do think Superman will be more central for PKJ, it will just be by way of his interacting with the Family. For the first arc I bet John Henry Irons and Natasha Irons will be the ones focused on, since they’re the ones helping Clark reshape Metropolis, and I expect there will be some back and forth between Clark and the Irons on what’s the best way to develop Metropolis into a City of Tomorrow. Kara and Kon are likely next, it’s clear PKJ has plans for Kara and she doesn’t have her own solo book to interfere with that. Kon has his own mini and once that’s wrapped up I expect he’ll get focused on in Action since PKJ has mentioned he views Kon as the “Jason” of the Superfamily in terms of being the one who will do things his way, which might be the opposite of how Clark would prefer to handle events. Jon and Kenan I’m not expecting much, Jon might be stuck under Taylor’s control depending on if Adventures of Superman marks the end of Taylor’s time with Jon, and Kenan is a character I haven’t heard PKJ talk about at all yet (frankly I’m just happy he’s there and I’ll take what I can get, I’m content to hope that we’ll see Yang return to the character or Pak use him).

But the characters will rotate in terms of focus, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re right that the FS House of El appearing is related to Clark’s ability to time travel, but I also wager that storyline will be tied to PKJ’s plans for Kara. She’s the only present day House of El member who is both involved in that time period in a big way, she leads the House, and seeing the legacy of the Family might be what galvanizes her to want to lean into her Kryptonian identity. If the HoE members do show then they won’t be focused on, they’ll just be recruiting the present day El Family to deal with some threat, and the story will focus on Kal, Kara, Kon, and Jon dealing with the idea that some day the Superfamily is going to grow into this massive force for good. Like how Tim dealt with the system he built turning bad in the future.

[Frontier]

It's hard to write team books these days.

[Zagre]

It also depends on the lenght of the story/run. A longer one can afford to give everybody their share due, a shroter one has to be pragmatic and choose a fouces viewpoint or the plot gets lost. I hope DC are willing to commit to a book that can actually build these characters, even if some of the middle parts of the story are less eciting/have less sales and they don't simply panic and pull the plug the moment thigns slow down.

[Mantis-Ray]

I recall PKJ did mention if he had a say in picking the Authority team (since the team was formed by Grant Morrison) he would have picked different characters and went with a smaller team

So this team might be handled more evenly since presumably its more what PKJ wanted

[HsssH]

But the characters will rotate in terms of focus, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re right that the FS House of El appearing is related to Clark’s ability to time travel, but I also wager that storyline will be tied to PKJ’s plans for Kara. She’s the only present day House of El member who is both involved in that time period in a big way, she leads the House, and seeing the legacy of the Family might be what galvanizes her to want to lean into her Kryptonian identity. If the HoE members do show then they won’t be focused on, they’ll just be recruiting the present day El Family to deal with some threat, and the story will focus on Kal, Kara, Kon, and Jon dealing with the idea that some day the Superfamily is going to grow into this massive force for good. Like how Tim dealt with the system he built turning bad in the future.

Yeah, very likely that she'll end up being the key character in this run, well asides of Clark obviously.

As for the rest, you are right I guess, but when characters that you prefer end up getting less attention... well it still sucks regardless if it is solo or a team book

[Vordan]

PKJ will be on Word Balloon tonight, here’s the link if one of you guys wants to go there and ask questions. I’m hoping someone asks him about his take on Metallo.

[Last Son of Krypton]

PKJ will be on Word Balloon tonight, here’s the link if one of you guys wants to go there and ask questions. I’m hoping someone asks him about his take on Metallo.

He'll mainly get asked when Jon will be de-aged? 10100101

[garazza]

He'll mainly get asked when Jon will be de-aged? 10100101