Build Your Own Superfamily

[Robanker]

It's good to know people enjoyed my idea of robbing the Metal Men to give Natasha her own codename. lol

[manwhohaseverything]

Superman/jon kent
subjekt17
Baka
zatanna
vigilante
steel,guardian and Krypto with a twist

I have no interest in seeing a bunch of people with same flyparagon like outlook.add in maybe alpha centurion,mister miracle, tex thompson and fatman later on.More diverse the better both in leaning,backgrounds,attitude,tempraments,powers and opinions.

[Exciter]

Steel: John Henry Irons. The same as he's always been. Though I will have him (and especially Natasha) working closely with the family more often. Enough so that they're on friendly enough terms to at least be considered part of the family.

See, I personally would like to see Steel divorced more from the Superman family. He is a strong enough character to stand completely on his own. DC should be pushing him to the moon. Solo title with solid creative team, etc.

[Factor]

Sentinel would be my choice for Natasha's codename. Keeps the S theme, sounds kind of close to Steel and could position her as the Superfamily's Oracle: someone who uses tech to gather information and help her colleagues. The difference is that she'd always be in the field of battle as well, she wouldn't be merely the support as Oracle is sadly often portrayed as.

[Tzigone]

See, I personally would like to see Steel divorced more from the Superman family. He is a strong enough character to stand completely on his own. DC should be pushing him to the moon. Solo title with solid creative team, etc.

I tend to agree. I think the "family" dynamic can be detrimental to making a character stand on their own. It keeps them as a satellite to the main character, in their shadow, never the center of the big stories. It's why I advocate grown Bats leaving Gotham and crossing over with Batman less often and one one of the reasons I much preferred Kon having Superman as a "cousin" who occasionally showed up rather than as a father figure or being involved with him often. For younger characters, though, I find it okay, (as long as they started that way, which is why I don't like it for Kon or Steph), because they grow from sidekick to hero. But they need to not still be led by, taking orders from, or consistently playing second fiddle to the older heroes once they are grown, and other adult heros really shouldn't have ever been in that position - of furthering some other hero's journey more often than starring in their own. Which is also why Natasha would separate from Steel as she got older - I like heroes coming into their own. They can be members of teams-of-equals, but not just always-sidekicks.

The places where family can be useful is building/promoting a new character (new standalones are a hard sell), and for characters that aren't likely to get used much otherwise. Which, unfortunately, there are a lot of. Strong inter-family dynamics can be good, but can also pin in character and keep them from ever leaving or doing anything else. I find that okay or even good when the entire "family" is created at once and are typically viewed as equally important (think Ninja Turtles), but problematic when it keeps some characters in permanent second-rank/dependent status.

[Mutant God]

Superman
Lois Lane
Superboy
Supergirl
Krypto
Steel
Starlight

[MadFacedKid]

Superman
Lois
Jimmy
Supergirl (Kara)
Superboy (Kon)

Wasn’t big on Steel but someone pointing out he’s the man inspired to be a hero by Superman makes it hard to discount him. Though I much prefer Val-Zod myself the man who could probably actual stand physically toe to toe with the Man of Steel. Maybe as Superbman

Regardless that’s my essential six. With Krypto probably taking the seventh spot.

[Restingvoice]

I'm borrowing some of you guys' names
Superman - Kal-El/Clark Kent
Super-Man - Kenan Kong
Superboy - Kon-El/Conner Kent
Superson - Jonathan Samuel Kent
Superwoman - Lana Lang
Supergirl - Kara Danvers/Kara Zor-El
Seraph - Linda Lee-Danvers
Sentinel - Cir-El
Steel - John Henry Irons
Alloy - Natasha Irons
Iron - Jonathan Lane Kent
Power Woman - Karen Starr/Kara Zor-L
Power Girl - Tanya Spears
Power Boy - Lor-Zod/Chris Kent

[greatmetropolitan]

Clark Kent, Superman - the greatest, the inspiration, the best guy you know. He's everything you want him to be.
Lois Lane - Green lantern of sector 2814. Tell me one person on earth more fearless than Lois Lane. Hal is a distant second.
Jon Kent - Superboy. Ideally he's 10-12, but if it has to be teen Jon, so be it.
Connor Kent - Also Superboy. I'd have a book called Superboys, actually, and it's either the two teens with a brash/responsible dynamic or brash teen connor learning responsibility by looking after his little brother.
Kara Zor-el, Superwoman - Home base of Tokyo, she keep an eye on the southern hemisphere for the super-family. She and Clark are as close as brother and sister. She's a *force*.
John Henry Irons, Steel - The man makes Tony Stark look like he's building suits out of cardboard. Took up Clark's symbol and does his best, every day. He's inspired by Clark, but Clark's just as inspired by him.
Natasha Irons, also Steel - John is getting on, quite honestly, and he's more interested in turning his intellect to solving big problems and not hitting them with hammers. Natasha is brilliant, a polymath scientist and athlete, and more the willing to step up to the Steel mantle. She and Connor have a thing.
Lex Luthor - the smartest man in the universe. Formerly Clark's greatest villain, he's been rehabilitated by the man of steel. He's still arrogant, snarky and proud, he has the best put downs on the planet, but he's trying to be better. The weird uncle of the Superman family.

[Alpha]

I feel like Anvil could be a better name for Natasha Irons. That way we don't erase from the Metal Men (although John Henry Irons as "Steel and the Metal Men" is quite cool to me).

[SuperX]

Is Iron Woman to silly of a name for Natasha?

[Vordan]

Superman - I’d do a traditional status quo. Superman is disguised as Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter, married to Lois Lane, etc. I’d have Ma and Pa go back to being dead since I still am not a fan of them being alive. Note that this isn’t a reaction against Bendis, I loved Bendis’ run, but I do want to play with the traditional status quo a little bit before diving into something different. Especially since so many Superman writers have traditionally completely wasted the potential of Superman’s status quo.


Lois Lane - Similar to Superman I’d go with a more traditional status quo at the start. She works at the Daily Planet, she and Clark are married, she’s the best reporter in town, etc. I would eventually have her take over as editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet from Perry, I thought that was a great idea the New 52 wasted, and I love the idea of her and Cat Grant being rivals with the Daily Planet and Catco competing.


Jon Kent/Superboy - I’d restore kid Jon and toss him back to the Super Sons, not because I think what’s been done with him has been bad, but mostly because I don’t want to write him as Superman, I want to write Clark. Jon seems to be being set up to be co-Superman, and I just don’t have any interest in writing that. To restore kid Jon without destroying Bendis’ run which I enjoyed, I’d explain that teen Jon is actually the “evil” Jon we saw from the Super Sons of Tomorrow future. He went back in time and rescued his kid self from Earth 3, and explained to him that he wanted to prevent that future from coming to pass, but that he needed to take his younger self’s place to do so. Kid Jon agreed, after all he was terrified of becoming evil in both Tomasi’s Super Sons of Tomorrow and Bendis The Man of Steel, and has basically been in hiding watching the events and also studying Hypertime so he can learn how to avoid ending up evil.

Clark and Lois would blow up at the Jons for the lie when Teen Jon judges he’s changed things enough for his kid self to return, but both Jons could point out that both Clark and Lois have kept secrets when they deemed it necessary from each other and Jon. That would be a neat conversation to have, and a way to continue the untraditional family dynamic that Bendis set up. You could keep teen Jon as a time anomaly until Hypertime catches up with him and restores him to his timeline, with him continuing to be Superman as penance, while kid Jon goes and pals around with Damian in Williamson’s Robin or whatever.


Superwoman/Kara Zor-El - I like the idea of Kara “graduating” to the Superwoman name. It’s open right now given Lana’s retirement, and I think it would suit Kara. I would keep Kara in National, it’s her own little corner to play in, but I would keep that development from (I believe it was) Andrea Shea, where Kara gets fired from Catco because she’s a terrible intern due to always running off to be a heroine. She and Kal talk, Kara admits she doesn’t really want to be a journalist, and so she goes and interns at STAR Labs. I hate how DC keeps turning all the members of the Superfamily into Clark clones. It’s goddamn stupid and I want them to please STOP. Why the hell would Kara want to go into journalism anyway? We’ve never even seen a damn journalist on Krypton! It’s a stupid thing they did on the TV show because they wanted to swipe Clark’s stuff. Let Kara be the scientist of the Els, the one who carries on the family tradition. What form that takes is something I’m open too, I liked Venditti making her interested in history in his annual, maybe make Kara an anthropologist? That would be hilarious.

Also give Lena to Supergirl, they can be best friends, enemies, lovers, I don’t care. But Lena is wasting away in a vault under Lexcorp last we saw, and that’s a damn shame considering how popular CW Lena is. I’d also add Natasha Irons (who I’d rename Mastersmith) and Tanya Spears (Powerhouse) to Supergirl’s supporting cast, they could play off each other as three supergenuis women).


Kon-El/Conner Kent/Scion - I’m really excited to see what Thompson is going to do with Kon on the Suicide Squad, but here’s what I would do with him. Kon would finally be able to shake off the Superboy moniker and leave that to Jon. Instead he’d take the name “Scion” as a reflection of his origins, and a tie-in to his new status quo. In the wake of Death Metal, Lex Luthor would abruptly step down as head of Lexcorp, stating that he needs time to redefine himself in the wake of his latest attempt to justify himself as the true hero by serving Perpetua, ending up with him needing Superman to save the day again. While he is away, he’s turned over complete control of Lexcorp to his sole heir: Conner. Conner is now head of one of the evilest megacorps in existence, and is one of the wealthiest men alive. Conner knows this is just another maneuver by Lex in his neverending crusade against Superman, but he’s determined to not just be another pawn. He accepts control, renames Lexcorp Superman, Inc. His mission will be to transform the megacorp into the force for good it pretends to be. Conner will have to take on not only Lex loyalists and traitorous underlings who would love to be CEO themselves within Lexcorp, but new megacorps who have flocked to Metropolis in hope of establishing themselves, now that the former Master of Metropolis has abdicated his throne. Threats within and threats without, but armed with the powers/morals of Superman and the charm/brains of Lex Luthor, Kon is just cocky enough to think he can handle it.


John Henry Irons/Steel - It will be a big year for John Henry Irons. His private company Steelworks is about to go public and make him a billionaire. Lana Lang has accepted his marriage proposal and they’re due to be wed. His niece Natasha has left the nest and is off working at STAR Labs. Irons is posed to finally resurrect the decrepit Suicide Slum and allow it to catch up to the rest of the City of Tomorrow. However there are problems: new megacorps are moving into the city in the wake of Lex Luthor leaving, people are disappearing from Suicide Slum with dark rumors are spreading about the reasons why, and the people of Suicide Slum are accusing Irons of planning to gentrify the borough. Making matters worse, weapons that Irons designed as a young man are appearing on the streets of Metropolis, attracting negative attention from the media and putting Steelworks at risk. Irons is going to have to suit up and take up the fight all over Metropolis, from the darkest levels of the Undercity, to the bright deceptive board rooms at the top of skyscrapers in the city’s heart. Irons will have to reckon with his past to secure his future, and confront the evil Metropolis would rather pretend doesn’t exist.



Kenan Kong/New Super-Man - Look just give Yang a damn Kenan book and let him go wild. Right now is either the best or worst time to give Kenan a book given the situation with Hong Kong, but if anyone is equipped to deal with it, it’s Yang. I’ll just add that I would love to see Kenan on a Global Guardians team, but I’d also love to see Justice League of China as a spinoff book of the main Justice League. Kenan is as close as DC has come to their own Spider-Man/Invincible take on Superman, Jon sadly hasn’t really differentiated himself from his dad while Kenan is VERY different. I would love to see Kenan pushed more and would buy a new book in a heartbeat. Also put out a damn New Super-Man omnibus Jim Lee, for God’s sake can’t you abuse your power to push the character you wanted created and is actually good unlike most of Wildstorm? You’re shoving Grifter back into everything but not Kenan? Christ.

[Alpha]

Jon Kent/Superboy - I’d restore kid Jon and toss him back to the Super Sons, not because I think what’s been done with him has been bad, but mostly because I don’t want to write him as Superman, I want to write Clark. Jon seems to be being set up to be co-Superman, and I just don’t have any interest in writing that. To restore kid Jon without destroying Bendis’ run which I enjoyed, I’d explain that teen Jon is actually the “evil” Jon we saw from the Super Sons of Tomorrow future. He went back in time and rescued his kid self from Earth 3, and explained to him that he wantedClark and Lois would blow up at the Jons for the lie when Teen Jon judges he’s changed things enough for his kid self to return, but both Jons could point out that both Clark and Lois have kept secrets when they deemed it necessary from each other and Jon. That would be a neat conversation to have, and a way to continue the untraditional family dynamic that Bendis set up. You could keep teen Jon as a time anomaly until Hypertime catches up with him and restores him to his timeline, with him continuing to be Superman as penance, while kid Jon goes and pals around with Damian in Williamson’s Robin or whatever.

Wow, I'm shocked. That's a great way to resolve this whole deal and make it thematically relevant. I had my own solution but this might be even better.

I like your other ideas although I have minor disagreements, but over all, solid concepts. Would like to know your actual ideas for Clark.

[marhawkman]

Soo many good suggestions in this thread.

I'd add in Leslie Willis. Why? because she's a character who actually chose to be Superman's sidekick.
Livewire_New_Costume.jpg
We never got a follow-up story to that, and I'd love to see one

Heh, thinking about this gave me the idea of having a story with a Phantom Zoner trying to write her name and spelling it "Lez-Lee Will-Is." heheheheeh

[Robanker]

Soo many good suggestions in this thread.

I'd add in Leslie Willis. Why? because she's a character who actually chose to be Superman's sidekick.
Livewire_New_Costume.jpg
We never got a follow-up story to that, and I'd love to see one

Heh, thinking about this gave me the idea of having a story with a Phantom Zoner trying to write her name and spelling it "Lez-Lee Will-Is." heheheheeh

I'm tired of DC redeeming all their good female villains. Let some of them stay bad, dammit!

Is Iron Woman to silly of a name for Natasha?

It borrows too much from the bigger Marvel character for Natasha to really claim it as her own. It'll come off like General Glory more than a proper graduation and I imagine would be changed not long after.