Sean Lewis *POSSIBLY* the next Superman writer

[Superlad93]

Since PKJ has one, right?

There's always been the strong possibility that Lewis would take over the other Superman book (Superman) once PKJ finished his set up and event in 6 to 8 months or so. It's been a trend that Future Sate writers take on the present day books at some point in a "slow rollout" (as Jim Lee put it) way.

Lewis very recently was interviewed regarding his independent book Bliss, and Superman Future State. Not only did he get very, very open and personal about the emotions and ideas that go into his work, but he also got *surprisingly* open about what went into him getting the job writing Jon, and what could come after it.

Here's the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDes...2%80%99nComics

Skip to 53:00 for the Jon/Superman stuff. And let me just say, this is pretty far and away one of the most personally engaging interviews for a mainstream comic I've listened to. He genuinely touch on some stuff that hit so far home that I felt like he may have been spying on me personally and taking notes. And what's best is that it's all so very present in his work. You can flat out go back to the Future State Superman thread where I talk about the issue and see, almost word for word, what he says in this interview.

Points of Interest:

- In 2019, Jamie Rich (at the time the Batman editor) read Lewis' book Thumbs (noting that Lewis had an interesting voice) and really liked it, so he asked Lewis if he wanted to pitch anything to DC-- asking him what heroes he'd be interested in doing. Lewis throws out a list, and on the list he has Superman because he was really fascinated with what it would be like to do a Superman book (and in part because his 5 year old son). Rich then tells Lewis that he's going to be the new editor for Superman, and this was during the plans for 5G. So Rich comes back and tells Lewis that he's allowed to submit 3 writers for the upcoming 5G Superman book: a super famous writer, industry vet that everyone knows, and one unknown, and he wanted to put Lewis down as said unknown.

- From that interaction Lewis then had to put together a "multi year run" of a Superman book by him. And the conversations were going really, really well even though there were concerns about giving such a big book to an unknown. Then 5G as we knew it was scrapped, and Lewis heard nothing. Then around end of May or early June Lewis got an email about Future State, and they tapped him to write Guardian (who he knew nothing about).

- They then had a summit for the Superman family of books (with Lewis invited), but they had no one for the Superman of Metropolis book. Then a day or two later, they reached out to Lewis and tapped him for Superman of Metropolis.

- One of the big take aways is that Jon already had quite a few things planned for him that *had to* be included in Lewis' work. On top of that Superman of Metropolis was also mandated to be a set-up book for all the other books, so Lewis had to work with that.

Things that had to be included/set-up: Metropolis had to shrink under Jon (and apparently Jon had to do it), Supergirl and Jon had to have a falling out so that she leaves for the moon later, Trojan has to be set up for Midnighter (since he seems to be gaining a bigger seat in the Superman line), Jon had to have the no-cape suit (Lewis thinks that it's to denote a sleeker more youthful vibe, and shares a similar quality with Invincible)

- Worth noting that Lewis sort of slips up a bit and says "run" when he's talking about what had to be included for his Jon-- implying that it's beyond this mini, but we'd already guessed as much.

The Parts That Really Hit Home:

- When asked "who is Jon Kent to you", Lewis said that he knew that a lot of set-up for other books and things that characters *had to* do had to be done by him, so ultimately all that he left himself with as a means to really inject himself into the work was Jon's character. He said that for him it became a father/son story even with Clark being absent (the idea of absent fathers is something very personal to him, and can be seen throughout his work-- especially Bliss.) He then said "what are the mistakes that our parents made that we hope not to make, but still end up making anyway", "what are some cycles that his dad would've hoped he wouldn't run into, but he does", and "how do you step out of the largest shadow possible". He continued by saying "if your dad's the most perfect being the universe has known, how do you live up to that".

- Thematically Lewis is most interested in "how Jon becomes Superman to himself." This moment hit really hard for me because Lewis said "you're kind of not really and adult till you take the responsibility of being an adult. I know guys who are 44 years old-- they're not adults. They've never taken the responsibility of it. There's this thing that I think we don't talk enough about-- I think men don't talk enough about it in terms of masculinity even-- what's the point where you decide when you're taking on the responsibility of being a grown up-- of being your best version of what you think a man should be? And so that became what was most interesting to explore this with Jonathan. Everyone's telling him he's Superman, but does he believe it yet? Has he earned it yet? What does he have to do to become it?"

More Stuff:

- His goal for the book was to make a "fun an exciting Silver Age style story"-- "fun sci-fi stories that still had the thematic of what this guy's going through".

- He said that people likely get frustrated because they're like "I wanna see Jon be a hero, but he's f#%king up a lot, so it's hard to root for him!". But he says that's a tough one for him because, to him, dramatic structure is all about being able to beat the hero down till the hero truly emerges. He says that's what he's personally interested in when it comes to his athletes, stars, and so on-- "those humble, humble beginnings"

- To the people frustrated by the choice he makes, Lewis says that "it's been so easy for his dad-- like his dad doesn't slip up." He says that growing up under someone who doesn't make mistakes makes it all the more shocking when you can't make those choices as quickly. And that "if you're worried about him being a hero, he's going to be a hero. There's no question about that. The end of the arc will confirm his heroic nature"

- On Kara, Lewis says that she's the most powerful person in the universe right now, but she was passed over for her younger nephew who may or may not be ready for this job. Seems to be that going forward till, I suppose, Jon's greater potential is shown, Kara is the most powerful being around since Clark will be brought down in power.

- His approach to writing Jon as flawed and allowed to make mistakes is in part driven by his 5 year old son. He wants to show his son that there is good in the world, that it's important to make good, right, and just choices, but also that he doesn't want his son to feel alone in those moments where he wants the world to see him as good when he's still just trying. That last part he says is a big fascination of his. He says that it's hard to be good, and that he doesn't think we, as a collective, talk about that enough-- or ever. And he doesn't mean in the sense that he says it'd be better or simpler to be bad, but rather that it's easier to simply not care and only do for yourself. And he says that you're gonna mess up a lot while trying to be good. He doesn't want his son to feel like "Superman's so perfect, Batman's so smart, and I'm neither of these things. How can I be good?"

- When asked if he has any upcoming projects that he can tell them about, Lewis says that he has one that's getting announced soon, but he can't talk about it yet. He says that it'll likely get announced in a like a month. And he also says that he has a pretty big project coming out that he's working on with a personal hero of his. Either one of these (or both) are likely DC related because he seems to section off his independent/Kick Starter work from it. What's most telling is that he said that this would all be stuff he's writing/getting announced in the spring. That's around the same time as PKJ's Superman event just before he hands off one book to the new writer.

[Robanker]

Why can none of these people who love Jon so much remember his mother or think of any way to have her contribute to his development? Can we retcon Jon into a virgin birth that came from Clark himself?

He has a lot of good ideas but why oh why is the kid's mother a non-entity in his development? I'll watch the interview in a bit, but you always give such comprehensive rundowns I've learned to just trust you. lol

[Frontier]

If you take Clark out of the equation, Kara would probably be left as the strongest compared to the two Superboys, but she unfortunately can't be Superman...

Why can none of these people who love Jon so much remember his mother or think of any way to have her contribute to his development? Can we retcon Jon into a virgin birth that came from Clark himself?

He has a lot of good ideas but why oh why is the kid's mother a non-entity in his development? I'll watch the interview in a bit, but you always give such comprehensive rundowns I've learned to just trust you. lol

Pretty distinct lack of mention of Lois these days. For all my issues with Bendis, at least he didn't treat her as irrelevant.

[Robanker]

If you take Clark out of the equation, Kara would probably be left as the strongest compared to the two Superboys, but she unfortunately can't be Superman...

Pretty distinct lack of mention of Lois these days. For all my issues with Bendis, at least he didn't treat her as irrelevant.

I'm starting to wonder if this goes deeper than just "I don't know what to do with her." Is it a mom thing?

[Frontier]

I'm starting to wonder if this goes deeper than just "I don't know what to do with her." Is it a mom thing?

There might be several factors...male writers relating to the father/son bond and the men in general, Lois not having any powers so she doesn't fit in as much with characters who are 100% Superheroes, focus more on the sci-fi Superhero side with amazing feats and wonder and less emotional romance, the writers enjoying Superman and just not caring so much about Lois, etc.

[Robanker]

There might be several factors...male writers relating to the father/son bond and the men in general, Lois not having any powers so she doesn't fit in as much with characters who are 100% Superheroes, focus more on the sci-fi Superhero side with amazing feats and wonder and less emotional romance, the writers enjoying Superman and just not caring so much about Lois, etc.

Yeah but male writers also don't have a significant positive bond with the mother of their kids? It's goddamn weird.

[Vordan]

I figured it was either Lewis or Watters who would get the book. I really enjoyed his first FS issue so I’d be happy to see him tackle Jon, especially since of the two, Lewis is the one who seems to want to lean more heavily into Jon as separate from his father. For those of you who aren’t fans, keep in mind that a lot of what you saw was editorially mandated, we knew way back during the first 5G rumors that Jon was going to bottle Metropolis, so that “had” to happen.

I’d be very curious to see what Lewis would do with more freedom to write Jon as he pleases. His indie work is very well regarded, I need to add it to my “to-read” list.

I'm starting to wonder if this goes deeper than just "I don't know what to do with her." Is it a mom thing?

The father-son relationship is very much a widespread focus pretty much everywhere. Morrison’s Batman run for example was entirely about that topic, exploring Bruce as both son to Thomas Wayne and father to Damian Wayne. Dick succeeded where Bruce failed because he was Damian’s big brother instead of his dad. Hickman’s East of West ended being entirely about parenthood. And even for Clark, what have Lara and Martha traditionally contributed to Clark’s upbringing? Pretty pathetically little. It’s all about dads, Jor-El the dad who saves him and encourages him to soar, Jonathan Kent the one who grounds him and teaches him to remember his roots.

[Robanker]

I figured it was either Lewis or Watters who would get the book. I really enjoyed his first FS issue so I’d be happy to see him tackle Jon, especially since of the two, Lewis is the one who seems to want to lean more heavily into Jon as separate from his father. For those of you who aren’t fans, keep in mind that a lot of what you saw was editorially mandated, we knew way back during the first 5G rumors that Jon was going to bottle Metropolis, so that “had” to happen.

I’d be very curious to see what Lewis would do with more freedom to write Jon as he pleases. His indie work is very well regarded, I need to add it to my “to-read” list.

The father-son relationship is very much a widespread focus pretty much everywhere. Morrison’s Batman run for example was entirely about that topic, exploring Bruce as both son to Thomas Wayne and father to Damian Wayne. Dick succeeded where Bruce failed because he was Damian’s big brother instead of his dad. Hickman’s East of West ended being entirely about parenthood. And even for Clark, what have Lara and Martha traditionally contributed to Clark’s upbringing? Pretty pathetically little. It’s all about dads, Jor-El the dad who saves him and encourages him to soar, Jonathan Kent the one who grounds him and teaches him to remember his roots.

That should change. It's not cool.

[Yoda]

The father-son relationship is very much a widespread focus pretty much everywhere. Morrison’s Batman run for example was entirely about that topic, exploring Bruce as both son to Thomas Wayne and father to Damian Wayne. Dick succeeded where Bruce failed because he was Damian’s big brother instead of his dad. Hickman’s East of West ended being entirely about parenthood. And even for Clark, what have Lara and Martha traditionally contributed to Clark’s upbringing? Pretty pathetically little. It’s all about dads, Jor-El the dad who saves him and encourages him to soar, Jonathan Kent the one who grounds him and teaches him to remember his roots.

I mean, Zach Snyder and Goyer were able to work it out pretty well in Man of Steel. Martha had a pretty significant part in Clark's upbringing, even if they did default to Johnathan having the more substantial role. Even there, Martha is the positive influence generally with the closet scene vs Jonathan's most memorable lines being the bus stuff. Books like Birthright also gave Martha a more active and supportive role. Hell, even the New 52 gave Lara a more substantial role. The only recent version that doesn't is Year One, but no one is cribbing from that shitshow for anything. So there's really no excuse for these new guys not to be able to figure it out.

And of course the biggest issue is that Lois has had a prominent role in the mythos well beyond anything ever attributed to Ma Kent or Lara, so that's not really an excuse in and of itself either. Even in the Rebirth timeline, Lois was the one who stayed home with Jon. So it is almost an active disregard here.

Regardless, the fact that crap writing preceded this isn't an excuse to perpetuate it. It's really not that difficult to figure out how to balance this stuff.

Yeah but male writers also don't have a significant positive bond with the mother of their kids? It's goddamn weird.

Basically, we are at the mercy of a bunch of middle age guys working through their daddy issues. All the more reason to bring in some women writers.

[DragonPiece]

That's a great interview and does soften my opinion of him a bit, thanks for sharing it! I will try his future state issue again before the 2nd issue comes out, with a new perspective. I didn't realize he was forced to set up so much of that stuff. I wonder who actually came up with that bottled city plotline since neither he or PKJ were apparently involved with 5G Superman directly.

[Sacred Knight]

Lois doesn't get much growth as a character from being a mom because growth of either parent was never really the point of the character being greenlit. Some for Clark managed to be got in there early on but it was never really the point. I'm not saying its what Jurgens or Tomasi wanted, the latter is the reason for any parental growth at all, but it seems more and more likely every day that their ideals regarding the concept of a child were not that of either incarnation of upper management. Be it the Didio regime or the current incarnation.

[Vordan]

I mean, Zach Snyder and Goyer were able to work it out pretty well in Man of Steel. Martha had a pretty significant part in Clark's upbringing, even if they did default to Johnathan having the more substantial role. Even there, Martha is the positive influence generally with the closet scene vs Jonathan's most memorable lines being the bus stuff. Books like Birthright also gave Martha a more active and supportive role.

The closet scene was nice, but then Snyder gave Martha her own “maybe you should let kids die” moment in BvS when she tells him he doesn’t owe the world a thing. Ultimately neither of the DCEU Kents are really great, Clark seems to be a hero in spite of them rather than because of them.

Hell, even the New 52 gave Lara a more substantial role. The only recent version that doesn't is Year One, but no one is cribbing from that shitshow for anything. So there's really no excuse for these new guys not to be able to figure it out.

I do miss the New 52 Lara:


But that was an anomaly. Most of the time she’s a side character in Jor-El’s story, in fact that’s her current role. She doesn’t really do anything in the Jurgens origin retelling that’s still canon last I checked. She didn’t do much in the Johns origin either. She got a bit more agency in Birthright and she did have her own role as the “traditionalist” in Byrne’s origin (can’t believe I said something positive about that).

Martha usually fares even worse. It’s only in Birthright that she has any real agency. In everything else she’s second fiddle to Pa. Martha bakes pies and Lara cries and dies, that’s usually the extent of their roles. It shouldn’t be, I’ve outlined before what I’d like Clark to inherit from each and the roles I’d like to see them take, but historically and currently? They’re second stringers to the fathers. I’d like to see more emphasis on the maternal influence with Superman.

And of course the biggest issue is that Lois has had a prominent role in the mythos well beyond anything ever attributed to Ma Kent or Lara, so that's not really an excuse in and of itself either. Even in the Rebirth timeline, Lois was the one who stayed home with Jon. So it is almost an active disregard here.

Regardless, the fact that crap writing preceded this isn't an excuse to perpetuate it. It's really not that difficult to figure out how to balance this stuff.

Basically, we are at the mercy of a bunch of middle age guys working through their daddy issues. All the more reason to bring in some women writers.

Sure I wouldn’t mind seeing more women write Superman, but I feel like it’s far too dismissive to say it’s all just daddy issues. They’re writing what they know and bringing their own perspective on the character.

And yeah Lois raised Jon but neither Jurgens nor Tomasi really did anything with that. All the life lessons and answers about heroics were given by Clark to Jon. It was a missed opportunity, I would have liked to see Lois talk with Jon about her perspective on super heroics.

[Vordan]

That's a great interview and does soften my opinion of him a bit, thanks for sharing it! I will try his future state issue again before the 2nd issue comes out, with a new perspective. I didn't realize he was forced to set up so much of that stuff. I wonder who actually came up with that bottled city plotline since neither he or PKJ were apparently involved with 5G Superman directly.

Didio did, I’d bet money on that. He was very hands on with 5G, and ultimately that’s why he got the boot.

I wonder who that well known industry writer was that was one of the options for 5G Superman? Hickman? That would’ve been around the time DC was talking to him.

[Superlad93]

Why can none of these people who love Jon so much remember his mother or think of any way to have her contribute to his development? Can we retcon Jon into a virgin birth that came from Clark himself?

He has a lot of good ideas but why oh why is the kid's mother a non-entity in his development? I'll watch the interview in a bit, but you always give such comprehensive rundowns I've learned to just trust you. lol

Dude, if I had to guess, it's probably further up than just the writers or even the editors honestly. It's all branding and what sells quickest within and sentence and as a poster. Based on Lewis' independent work, I'd imagine he'd make use of her if fully left to his own devices.

[Superlad93]

If you take Clark out of the equation, Kara would probably be left as the strongest compared to the two Superboys, but she unfortunately can't be Superman...

Well, Clark's not just physically out of the equation, but also he's getting reduced in power soon, so till Jon makes good on the potential he has she's top dog.