Future State: Superman books

[Frontier]

I don't think Yara is "angry". In her solo title she seemed to like to mess with people. She just seems to want to change things in the world and is angry that people are so unmotivated. But not angry in general.

I wasn't implying she was an angry person, just that she might be a little more headstrong and spirited than Diana was because she had different Amazon teachings/experiences.

[Ra-El]

Didn’t a bunch of you Jon fans get mad when he bottled Metropolis (i.e. did something Clark would never do)? This is the road laid out for Jon pretty much since he was created. Both Tomasi & Jurgens wrote him as being just like his dad, Bendis wrote him as being upbeat and cheerful even in the face of all he’s gone through, even Taylor who had total freedom in DCeased to do what he wants with Jon, just wrote as being exactly like his dad (and a lot of the people in the Jon appreciation thread love Taylor’s take). Yeah it sucks that Jon has ended up just being his dad, I agree, but I’m surprised the Jon fans are complaining honestly. Did Jon not also grow up in a small town (Hamilton/Smallville)? Was Jon not also best friends with a Wayne, the son of his dad’s BFFL no less? Did Jon not disguise his identity with glasses? And are the Jon fans no longer pining for all that as Jon’s peak? I saw no indication that Tomasi had any plans to really differentiate Jon from his father had his run continued. I’m just grateful they didn’t make him a journalist lol.

When Tomasi was writing Jon he was a 10 years old, that while was a lot like his father was also learning to use his powers and having all the excitement of of a kid while doing it. HE acted like a kid, his banter with Damien was great.
But now, as a 20 something he just is not as interesting. Not to me at least.

[Vordan]

Went more in depth in the Kara thread, but I loved the Superwoman issue. It’s a character piece that also reads as a meta commentary on Kara herself, on the push and pull between the upbeat cheerful optimist she wants to be (aka the Gates Supergirl) and the hurt insecure woman that she’s still struggling to overcome (New 52).

[Quinlan58]

No one has discussed Superwoman yet? Because that's the better book by quite a bit, IMO. EDIT: Ah, mentioned a minute before posting this. Good.

Jon in SM/WW read like a benevolent, overworked God-man. So basically like his father. I enjoyed him here more than in Superman of Metropolis (because I like the "benevolent, overworked God-man" take), but it's basically a dead-end for him. He grows up to be exactly like his father, despite any initial differences (which also echo things his father has done). The issue in general was fun so long as I didn't think too much about it, about how the fight between the two gods was just posing, about how seriously abysmal representation for Brazilian mythology it is, about how Jon is just Clark by another name (and a much worse costume), etc. Despite enjoying it quite a bit, the only thing I don't have any issue with is Yara.

Superwoman is a bit weird in how it's explicitely saying all of the emotional issues both of its protagonists are going through, and of course it's rushed (the "three lunar days later" implies that the whole montage done earlier with the two eating, exercising and training was a single day), but adjusting for that it's pretty good. Kara is dealing with issues that seem like the inevitable conclusion of the teenager who just lost her whole world being shoved into an orphanage by her cousin. I'm still weirded out by how much she credits Krypto for everything, but it's called out in the story itself as unhealthy. The relationship between her and Lynari is,as said before, extremely rushed, but it does resonate with Kara's self-image in this issue. She has built a world for herself with which she wants to be... at peace, but from her inner narration, the reactions of the people around her and Lynari herself, we know that isn't possible if she stays on this path. Her perception is skewed as well, comparing the mixed reactions from the crowd in current events and the angry reactions in her memories. The art is uniformly awesome. Lynari's shapeshifting abilities are extremely well done, proyecting power, whimsy, inner turmoil, comedy, joy, all of them perfectly. The pastoral calmness that Sauvage imbues this with meshes very well with the fragile inner peace Kara wants to enforce for herself. It also helps sell this as not-realistic, which makes the previews problems I mentioned (everyone saying everything they feel, how fast Kara and Lynari trust in each other and tell each other everything) easier to swallow. Generally, it's a "Kara is very sad" story, but it's done very, very well.

Didn't read the Justice League issue.

[Vordan]

When Tomasi was writing Jon he was a 10 years old, that while was a lot like his father was also learning to use his powers and having all the excitement of of a kid while doing it. HE acted like a kid, his banter with Damien was great.
But now, as a 20 something he just is not as interesting. Not to me at least.

Heh maybe I’m just a miser. I enjoyed Kid Jon but I believe even back then I was complaining about how similar to his dad he was.

[SuperX]

Don't despair SUPER fans, we still have kon-el /conner kent, and he is exactly what you all want and have been missing, so support your favorite cloned SUPER hybrid

[Vordan]

Don't despair SUPER fans, we still have kon-el /conner kent, and he is exactly what you all want and have been missing, so support your favorite cloned SUPER hybrid

So far I’ve been pretty happy with the state of the Superfamily in Future State, hoping that continues with Kon in FS Suicide Squad and PKJ writing Clark in Worlds of War.

[SuperX]

So far I’ve been pretty happy with the state of the Superfamily in Future State, hoping that continues with Kon in FS Suicide Squad and PKJ writing Clark in Worlds of War.

I'm nkt really worried about the short term state, as much as in the long run where everyone will be.

I hope in less than a year atleast a couple non Clark and Jon SUPER characters get ongoings, and the rest of the SUPER family get a larger family type book, either teaming together or having ongoing stories separate in the 1 book

[manwhohaseverything]

Jon in SM/WW read like a benevolent, overworked God-man.

there is so much to do with the character and they picked this.Yuck!Exactly what i hate.Hopefully,PKJ's version sticks.That's not far from tomasi's jon.People think it's bad cause bendis.Otherwise,that would be the kinda stories i want with jon.A kickass man of action.This one fades into obscurity.Why people want jon to behave like a dad in comics is beyond me.No wonder superman turns evil.It's inverse archetype the dark father like cronos,It's very easy.Hopefully,kara takes the role of the authority figure who gives speeches on what to do and what not to.

[Quinlan58]

there is so much to do with the character and they picked this.Yuck!Exactly what i hate.Hopefully,PKJ's version sticks.That's not far from tomasi's jon.People think it's bad cause bendis.Otherwise,that would be the kinda stories i want with jon.A kickass man of action.This one fades into obscurity.Why people want jon to behave like a dad in comics is beyond me.No wonder superman turns evil.It's inverse archetype the dark father like cronos,It's very easy.Hopefully,kara takes the role of the authority figure who gives speeches on what to do and what not to.

I don't think this will be the characterization they will use for Jon once normal continuity resumes. If nothing else, because everything about Jon Kent in this one screams "established superhero", whereas both common sense and what we've heard from PKJ suggests he'll be used as "young hero finding himself" (so closer to the Superman of Metropolis characterization). It does bug me to see Yara's actions, so clearly reminiscent of not just GA/New52 Superman, but of Jon himself in Superman of Metropolis, being framed as the sort of thing Superman himself doesn't do, but it is what it is.

[Robanker]

Not done with all my FS issues. Perhaps because of that and trying to catch up I didn't give these books the fair shot I should have, but so far I'm not loving Future State.

One thing I did enjoy, actually, is that Jon/Yara are being built up almost as their generation's World's Finest. Hell, SM/WW's issue was called "Planet's Finest." SM/WW in particular, with her and Jon arguing while still clearly caring about one another, reminds of Clark and Diana taking opposite approaches in New Frontier with Yara arguing that working with the UP ties her hands more than she likes and that's why she won't join whereas Superman is trying to fix the system from the inside. Same basic argument, different characters. It works because they clearly do care about each other as colleagues and even friends despite that they shouldn't be given the established estrangement between Justice Leaguers.

I really didn't care for how much of SM/WW was spent being about its villain (who we all know and love, granted) and a new God figure eating up so much precious page real estate.

Something else from Jon as an adult in Justice League: being that he was raised during the heydey of the age of heroes, I love that Jon is the one guy who still wants to bring back the community and teamwork of his father's age. He really does feel like the bridge from DC to FS, almost arguing that idealism need not be lost for efficiency. Once we get to SM/WW, he's a lot less brash than his own book and firmly embraced his idealism from JL. Over the three books, we do see an arc and sadly it's that he became his dad. Kind of. He's almost exactly his dad in this book but something about his telling Solaris that he won't lie because he's Superman felt like some ol' BS to me. If this is where we see he's willing to, well, play the game his father wouldn't, I'd be for it. But this is a tightrope for him to walk.

And then there's Jon in his own book, where he hit "shuffle" on the "shitting the Super bed" playlist. He's a young Superman and he's making mistakes, but the whole thing felt like trying to get three pitches together and presented in comic book form-- a proof of concept over a story. Lots of flash and action without a ton else. While that's not the worst thing, it doesn't really tell me Jon has legs as Superman. He's basically his dad with a New 52 edge but not as good at his job. Strip everything away and this is a teenager needing to become a breadwinner in a family when the former occupant of that role vanishes-- he's scrambling at a world he's not ready for and making mistakes. Does that work? Sure! But none of the ideas presented are given time to develop. We're dropped in medias res to a status quo that has several balls in the air and just continues juggling them and then we leave back where we started. We only have two issues, so I suppose I was hoping we wouldn't spend both of them having Jon barely keep it together and making a pretty good argument for "yeah, maybe Jon shouldn't be Superman." If we were getting more, I'd love to see him grow into the guy we see over in JL and even SM/WW (even if I don't want him to be his dad) but as it is, we're getting snapshots and the best parts are the ones we haven't seen. While you could argue "but that's why they want us to keep reading" I would rebut with these books needed to be a better proof of concept for Jon as Superman than essentially a trailer for an Ultimate Superman book we may never actually get. As it is, this feels like a pitch.

If all you want is a Superman who shoots from the hip and rolls with it for good or ill, I think Superman of Metropolis is solid for that... But at first blush I was let down by the story. Art was great, but I've spoken lots of praise for John Timms beforehand and he didn't disappoint.

[manwhohaseverything]

I don't think this will be the characterization they will use for Jon once normal continuity resumes. If nothing else, because everything about Jon Kent in this one screams "established superhero", whereas both common sense and what we've heard from PKJ suggests he'll be used as "young hero finding himself" (so closer to the Superman of Metropolis characterization). It does bug me to see Yara's actions, so clearly reminiscent of not just GA/New52 Superman, but of Jon himself in Superman of Metropolis, being framed as the sort of thing Superman himself doesn't do, but it is what it is.

yeah! yara felt like superman than superman.Superman was basically up in the sky, in his own world with sky messages and nonsense.Superman doing just fluff in the entire issue while people are having problems with traffic.EEsh!The only thing he did was blowout a forest fire.Even then he has no clue or connection with the people.He is basically a savior and he lives in mount olympus with other gods and justice league.His concerns are about the justice league not being a family was funny as heck.As if it ever was.It was a bunch of out of touch gods giving orders to lovely common folks.Why is it that superman can't be a champion anymore is beyond me.Bring back bibbo or justice society.

[Alpha]

Calm down there dude, the Superman Man of Metropolis is even worse in terms of being a greek god. He puts an entire city in a bottle without asking any of the people livong there (which is somrthing the greek gods would do). I definitely want a Clark that builds a fortress of solitude at the entrance of Metropolis and creates a different version of Braniac as a system for feedback. I want Clark to change the world, but he would remember that some people vote democrat, some vote republican, some are libertarians, and then there are drmocratic socialists, and Clark has his own opinions and ge will push for his own things, but he has to respect other points of view too. Putting a city in a bottle without consent is a pretty good example of something he shouldn't do.

[Alpha]

And I would allow Jon to take some notes off of Damian and kind of be less responsible, but I would think he would have the sense to do this out there in space, not start a war by himself

[Korath]

Calm down there dude, the Superman Man of Metropolis is even worse in terms of being a greek god. He puts an entire city in a bottle without asking any of the people livong there (which is somrthing the greek gods would do). I definitely want a Clark that builds a fortress of solitude at the entrance of Metropolis and creates a different version of Braniac as a system for feedback. I want Clark to change the world, but he would remember that some people vote democrat, some vote republican, some are libertarians, and then there are drmocratic socialists, and Clark has his own opinions and ge will push for his own things, but he has to respect other points of view too. Putting a city in a bottle without consent is a pretty good example of something he shouldn't do.

Not really. It's an example of what someone who doesn't has the best interests of everyone at heart wouldn't do. Jon saw Gotham turn into even more of a hellhole under the Magistrate, he was what Trojan and Brain Cells did to peoples and now the military of the US, which he certainly knows has a very spotted record to say the least, wants to take the Cells into their care, obviously to make weapons out of him, and they don't want to discuss. They sent freaking tanks in a US city, that's how badly they want the thing. What is supposed to do ? Spout some dumb words about Hope and Truth and Justice and the American Way ? Or actually do something to stop the conflict the time he dealt with Brain Cells.

Remember that if Metropolis has been bottled from months it's because Brain Cells stole it, not because of Jon left them. It was clearly a last resort solution to save as many lives as he could and while he got played by Brain Cells, and because he hadn't realized how badly Kara would take it, even without the effects of Brain's core on her, he never intended to last longer than the required time to deal with Brain Cells.

What should he have done ? let soldiers take Brain Cells ? Let it run rampant ? Fight in the middle of Metropolis with all the destruction it'd cause ? Honestly, he hadn't much of a choice !