Absolute Comics: DC's Ultimate Universe? New52 Superman?

[SuperCrab]

Alright, so, this is how I understand it:

DC Comics will launch an in-continuity thing called Absolute Power. Spinning out of that will be "Absolute" comics titles that aren't fully in DC Universe continuity. There's a lot of hedging on that, even from within the rumor mill, but that's the (rumored) plan.

To be clear, no "Absolute Superman" title has been announced (There's a Batman title, though.).

Further, no New52 Superman thing has been announced.

However, why reinvent the wheel? They've got a great potential "absolute" Superman in New52 Superman already, with a built-in fan base.

I realize that going with the New52 Superman might feel like something that would force the whole potential Absolute line onto Earth52. And, if things did play out that way, it might not be the worst thing in the world- that era had a distinctive Wonder Woman character they could pick up, and some other cool distinctives. In a sense, it'd be like getting handed the entire New52 universe from 2015 or 2016 (Though, if they did that, I think in comic book time you'd say the events of 2011-2016 happened between 2019-2024 or something. Sort of a modified version of the standard sliding "comic book time" that almost all comics use.), but without a lot of the restrictions that come from being the DC Universe's main versions of characters.

However, you don't actually need to set the entire Absolute line on Earth 52 in order to use the New52 Superman. You could make it so that each Absolute monthly is it's own separate earth. You could also make it so that they are all set on the same earth other than earths 1, 2, or 52, but New52 Superman is just sort of dropped in there ala the way Power Girl was parachuted into Post-Crisis comics even though she wasn't natively from that version of the DC Universe. Maybe their Superman died and New52 Superman is taking over in his absence. Maybe their Superman is dramatically different and went rogue almost Injustice style, and the Flash pulls in New52 Superman from Earth 52 to help defeat loosely-injustice-like Superman.

Evil Superman maybe offers New52 Superman an earth to save- the one he is on and battling on- or the one he came from. He refuses to choose and defeats Evil Superman, but Evil Superman basically either destroys Earth 52 from afar, or does something to the walls of the multiverse (or whatever) that seemingly make it impossible for New52 Superman to go home, which could build to New52 Superman as a permanent part of Absolute Earth going forward.

I could see the ending of the first story arc being New52 Clark Kent walking into the Absolute Earth's Daily Planet and applying for a job. Maybe Clark Kent never worked in journalism in that universe, so when New52 Clark applies for a job, he's new to them and those characters, though of course he knows their alternates from his earth.

I mean, there are lots of ways to play it. They could even do something like New52 Superman is lost in the multiverse and every issue is him in a dramatically new universe as he keeps flipping through universes without conscious control, doing good where he can, and hoping he can find someone who can stabilize him so he can eventually stop leaping/sliding/whatevering with no control.

I suspect they will not use New52 Superman. However, he's really the only thing about DC Comics that interests me at this point, and they haven't used him in like eight years. So, that's the extent of my interest. When they say, no, it's not him, it becomes "Maybe I'll check it out for free from my local library after it's collected, if they have it, but probably not.". I used to subscribe to 5-6 books when New52 Superman was there. Now I don't buy anything from DC Comics (Which would obviously change if New52 Superman came back).

I mean, it's a way to go. Even New52 Superman's critics said that he might be good in something like Marvel's Ultimate line, and some of the negative reaction to him was based on him essentially replacing "their" Superman. If Absolute winds up being DC's Ultimate universe, why not use the character who's been sitting on the shelf who everyone said would be great in exactly that type of monthly?

[TaliaJoy]

I doubt they'll literally use the New 52 Superman. They probably want the line to feel fresh and new and not confusing to new readers. However, New 52 Superman could be an influence, potentially even a major influence. All we can really do is guess at this point.

[Frontier]

If we get a new Superman out of this, I hope they treat Lois better than the New 52 did.

[Yoda]

From the sound of it it the individual creators will be given pretty free reign to handle the Absolute version of the character with Snyder not really having direct control over things. Unless they get Morrison to do it, I think the chances of anyone just reusing New 52 Superman for this to be slim to none. I think it's likely they may crib some aspects from it. But I suspect whoever gets Absolute Superman will have every intention of doing their own thing rather than rehashing the last reboot.

[Vordan]

As part of that, Absolute Comics will be a line of radically reworked versions of well-known DC Comics characters, from major comics creators, in the fashion of Marvel's Ultimate line, separate in continuity from the rest of DC, but sharing its own internal continuity between the books, unlike Elseworlds, All-Star, or Black Label books. However, unlike the Ultimate line, there is intended from the get-go to be some "bleed through" so that the Absolute Comics line will be in the same multiverse as the standard DC continuity, suggesting awareness of each other, maybe competition or even crossover between them in years to come. It's all part of the plan.

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/scot...morning-after/

If Scott Snyder is writing Absolute Superman then perhaps we might get a second attempt at a New 52 esque Superman. Snyder used a lot of Morrison concepts for his New 52 Batman run and I expect his approach to Superman would do the same.

[DochaDocha]

I liked New 52 Superman, but it's come and gone. Move on.

Of course, that was my sentiment about the Fox Kids X-Men cartoon, but here I am watching X-Men 97 every Wednesday...

[superduperman]

This sounds like Earth One by a different name. Except everybody lives in the same universe, I guess.

[The Frog Bros]

This sounds like the wildest part to me:

However, unlike the Ultimate line, there is intended from the get-go to be some "bleed through" so that the Absolute Comics line will be in the same multiverse as the standard DC continuity, suggesting awareness of each other, maybe competition or even crossover between them in years to come. It's all part of the plan.

More multiverse shenanigans.

What else is interesting is that Snyder, while heading it, won't seem to have too much influence with the individual books and writers basically allowed to do as they will (thought I read that somewhere).

[HsssH]

It would be very DC to use the Superman that we saw in Sideways Annual.

[D.Z]

I bet its either new take or something like retro Superman without baggage.

[SuperX]

It would be very DC to use the Superman that we saw in Sideways Annual.

That's a good one....but it's very DC to not do what fans want

[Robotman]

As long as he doesn’t have a kid I’ll be happy.

[HsssH]

I think there is 0% chance that Jon will exist there.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I'm burned over the new 52, Earth One, DC You, and future state eras.

So im pretty skeptical of DC's ability to pull it off.

But 5th time could be the charm.

A reimaging like Gods and Monsters and Just Imagine would be a day one purchase.

A return to the New 52 Earth 2 setting with the Future State additions could also be interesting.

[All Star Superman]

I shared this in the DC News thread but figure it's relevant here as well:

I admit up front that what I'm about to share might be completely false, so take it with a grain of salt. It's some fun stuff my comic book retailer shared with me, stuff he heard from people he knows who know other people at DC. You know how that goes...

From his "sources:"

- Rich Johnston's comments that Absolute DC has a lot to do with the looming copyright expiration is true. This is DC's preparation for a long-term solution to the problem of no longer solely owning all versions of their characters.

- The "Absolute Earth" line (possibly referred to as "Earth-A" to avoid conflict with the countless numbered universes) will not line up with the plans that James Gunn has for DC on film, whereas "DC All In" will. Apparently, "All In" refers to synergy among various media.

- Absolute DC books will be limited to solo characters for a time and will radically reimagine some of them. That's not my choice of words, it's the word my comic guy said was used. Johnston used similarly strong wording in his story.

- Because the intent is to develop a new universe that would more easily exist in light of expired copyrights, expect changes in characters' ethnicity, sexual identity, and powers.

- Green Lantern and Flash will be among those most changed from the versions we know today. Think the SA approach to those same characters but perhaps as radically different as Tangent.

- First books released include Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, and the debut of new characters or old characters repurposed for the new universe.

- As Johnston said, Waid is involved but so too are John Ridley, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Gail Simone, Tom King, Tom Taylor, and Grant Morrison.

- Superman will likely receive a new ethnic background, with Coates adapting his Superman film ideas for the Earth-A version of the character.

- Wonder Woman's origin will be heavily tweaked, rooted in Native American mythology instead of Greek.

- Bruce Wayne will likely be of mixed heritage and will possibly also be gay or bisexual.

- The buildup to the Justice League will take a while, perhaps months or even a year's worth of stories.

- Grant Morrison is involved in some way with the Wonder Woman revamp, possibly writing and approaching the character the way he did Superman in the New 52.

My thoughts:

Personally, none of this interests me in the slightest. If true, though, it's not surprising. They will retain trademarks but not copyrights, meaning they'll have to get very creative to distinguish their versions of the DC heroes from those that will likely start appearing in less than a decade. I have no interest in what will less "Ultimate DC" and more of a radical reimagining, but I understand why DC would go that route.