SUPERMAN 2021: Why is DC giving the Superman titles to no-names?

[RJT]

Anyway, we're still left with the fact that no one can say WHY Johnson deserves to be the Superman writer. Everyone just wants to talk about everything else.

This does NOT bode well for the character, and I don't see why the average fan is all of a sudden going to be snapping up Superman comics off the racks.

I still don't get the wisdom behind launching a new era of Superman with no-names.

I'll give you a reason: His book The Last God, published by DC Black Label, is one of the best books of the year. And as he stated in the interview, DC was impressed with the amount of world building he did and wanted that kind of world building for the Superman titles. It also has really well defined characters for a brand new property; he writes the women characters very well in particular.
He also wrote an excellent Aquaman annual that was an homage to "For the Man Who Has Everthing"
I haven't read his Captain America: Empyre miniseries but I've heard excellent things about it.
Dan Jurgens had only written Booster Gold before Carlin offered him a writing job on Superman (and he only did that because George Perez quit a couple of months in.) Jerry Ordway had never written a comic before when he took over writing Adventures when Byrne left. Karl Kesel was primarily an inker who had co-written some comics with his writer wife, Barbara Kesel. The era that you love (and I love too!--it's probably my favorite Superman era of all time) was possible because an editor gave creators with little on their CVs an opportunity. I don't know that Phillip Kennedy Johnson will end up being a great Superman writer, but the idea that only top-tier big name creators have had successful Superman runs is not accurate.

[Kuwagaton]

Yeah that's an awfully rude and condescending way to put it.

The virtues of the creators are there whether they have hype or not. All of the big names, more or less, have exhausted their reserves for Superman stories anyway and it's not like the monster team of Bendis and Reis had sales far above average.

[Superfan90]

I'm actually tired of writers trying to humamize Superman. He isn't, he is a sun god who should not be treated as a human with laser eyes. He is compassionate and empathetic but evildoers should fear his wrath like unto a god.

Give me cosmic Superman.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

Yeah that's an awfully rude and condescending way to put it.

The virtues of the creators are there whether they have hype or not. All of the big names, more or less, have exhausted their reserves for Superman stories anyway and it's not like the monster team of Bendis and Reis had sales far above average.

It's not meant to be anything of the sort. It's just a statement of fact. I think to generate the most excitement for the character, you do need high profile creators on the book. I don't think DC would have put these folks on Batman.

I'm actually tired of writers trying to humamize Superman. He isn't, he is a sun god who should not be treated as a human with laser eyes. He is compassionate and empathetic but evildoers should fear his wrath like unto a god.

Give me cosmic Superman.

But that wouldn't be the Superman that Siegel and Shuster created. Even when he had his most godlike power levels in the Weisinger era, he still expressed very human emotions -- often to comical effect like all the Superdickery stuff.

Again, I go back to the Carlin-era of Superman. It took everything that was good about the character, his friends, and his world, and modernized them and made it all work.

And, it did it without beating us over the head about how "important" and "inspirational" the character was to other people -- or by trying to make him "cool" by having him hover over everyone with his eyes glowing.

I don't want the Silver Age goofy type writing brought back, but I don't want some remote, alien sun god either. So, don't give me cosmic Superman.

[Johnny Thunders!]

I like Cosmic Superman fine, but that’s still Clark Kent. I think of super human as “most human”. And those silly silver age stories you can’t do them again. In my case I’ve already read them. I am probably only going to follow Superman in trades now. If his Last God book was really good it makes sense. I expected Mark Waid, Tom King, or Tom Taylor. It was definitely a two named Tom.

[Kuwagaton]

It's not meant to be anything of the sort. It's just a statement of fact. I think to generate the most excitement for the character, you do need high profile creators on the book. I don't think DC would have put these folks on Batman.

But if we look at Batman we have King and Tomasi who both wrote Superman quite recently. There's Tynion, but even if you argue that he's a big name it's not like he's a chess piece to move to a title. Same with Waid, the big name elephant in the room when it comes to writing Superman. We have no idea what he really wants and what works for him right now

[Vordan]

The two people on the main Batman titles are Tynion and Tamaki. Tynion’s star has risen quite rapidly as of late, but just a few years ago he was known as Snyder’s sidekick who just took care of the stuff Snyder couldn’t be bothered with. Tamaki is not a big name in the monthly ongoing market at all. So YMMV on just how “big” the names DC has put on Batman are right now.

To me it looks like pretty much everyone is in the same boat: DC is trying out a bunch of new people on their big books to see who has talent and who doesn’t.

[Superfan90]

It's not meant to be anything of the sort. It's just a statement of fact. I think to generate the most excitement for the character, you do need high profile creators on the book. I don't think DC would have put these folks on Batman.



But that wouldn't be the Superman that Siegel and Shuster created. Even when he had his most godlike power levels in the Weisinger era, he still expressed very human emotions -- often to comical effect like all the Superdickery stuff.

Again, I go back to the Carlin-era of Superman. It took everything that was good about the character, his friends, and his world, and modernized them and made it all work.

And, it did it without beating us over the head about how "important" and "inspirational" the character was to other people -- or by trying to make him "cool" by having him hover over everyone with his eyes glowing.

I don't want the Silver Age goofy type writing brought back, but I don't want some remote, alien sun god either. So, don't give me cosmic Superman.

Post Crisis Superman is done and dusted, I don't want the return of averageman with his average everyday problems. If I wanted that, I would read Spider-Man.

Post Crisis era made Superman bland and boring. That's the cardinal sin in my view, Superman isn't supposed to be boring.

[RJT]

Again, I go back to the Carlin-era of Superman. It took everything that was good about the character, his friends, and his world, and modernized them and made it all work.

And again, Carlin replaced arguably the biggest name in comics at the time, John Byrne, with two no-name creators, Jurgens and Ordway. It seemed to work out pretty well.

[Kuwagaton]

Eh well Stern came aboard and Perez almost did but yeah

As far as humanizing vs cosmic... it doesn't really sound like it's the same type as talking about the 70s vs 90s. He sounds kinda like the same guy Bendis was writing but just in the space setting... like he was in Exile and just made peace with not getting home vs being some time space bender with a low key bizarre sense of humor.

I mean ultimately speaking any Superman prior is a guy who wins like a billion dollar jackpot but decides to go to the office everyday via the bus in the same wrinkled clothes.

[RJT]

Eh Byrne was replaced by Stern who was well known and popular, and three guys who like Byrne were willing to write for their own art. One of which was already on the title

The point is that Carlin gave the books to people that he had faith in, rather than "big name" creators. The very fact that he gave one of the books to a creator who had never even written a comic before puts lie to the very premise of this thread. Its only in retrospect (and the fact that fans were much less "plugged in" to the backstage nature of comics production in 1988) that having Jerry Ordway become the lead writer of the Superman books seems like a good idea.
And like I said, the "triangle years" of 1989-1999 are my favorite era of Superman comics. I just take issue with the original poster's claim that the problem is that DC is giving the book to a "no name" when what he really means is that DC isn't giving it to somebody he hoped it would go to.

[Will Evans]

The reason why Jon Kent is taking over as Superman on Earth is simple: WB/DC are still under the misconception that Superman isn't an "edgy hip young cool" character.

Having Jon Kent as Superman on Earth as an "edgy hip young cool" means that they can have a Superman who can brood about his powers and responsibility, might bend or even break the rules, fights dirty, gives Batman the finger and tells Batman what part of his body he can kiss, while making out with Wonder Woman in front of a shocked Lois Lane that is what these morons think will make Superman "edgy, hip, young, and cool" and relatable to readers and to fans of the various TV shows and movies.

And when all that fails and/or blows up in their faces. They will bring his dad back to Earth with a de-aging ray make Jon a kid again and put him in the Phantom Zone for a time out with Clark becoming THE Superman again, all the while the next creative team tries to figure out what to do with Superman.

At least this time they have got a way of out if and/or when this plan goes wrong unlike the mess that was The Death and The Return of Superman. Or maybe Jon Kent will become very popular and they will keep him around as Superman for a long time.

Jon’s gonna give Batman the finger and make out with Wonder Woman in front of his mom?!?!?!?!

I like him even more now!