DC's Immortal Hulk/House of X

[Superlad93]

I swore I heard some news regarding Zdarksy, but nothing now that I'm looking...

Justice League Last Ride?

Yeah, he's confirmed to be at DC for at least that. No word on anything else though

[Vordan]

It’s weird because on one hand they do clearly want a shake up. Yet on the other hand, what have the last two decades of mainline Superman been but constant shakeups with brief oases of stability. He’s been outed twice within the last decade alone! Even the Tomasi/Jurgens runs which were very deliberately aiming for “classic” Superman still had to deal with insanely convoluted stuff like merging him and Superbro together, Clark lived in Hamilton not Metropolis and didn’t work as a journalist, etc. They really haven’t let him have the “normal” status quo outside of brief periods inbetween massive shake ups.

House of X really worked because 1. You had Hickman on it and the guy’s name meant something. 2. People were bored of the regular X-Men status quo and wanted something new. 3. What Hickman delivered was radically new and innovative in an exciting way, while still building on what came before. All the old X-Villains are still there, the mutants are just allied together while still allowing for tension and there are new big baddies like Orchis.

Immortal Hulk is pretty similar to Superman’s situation actually (it’s freaking bizarre how closely my two favorite characters at DC & Marvel have found themselves mirroring each other but that’s another story). Hulk hadn’t had a “normal” status quo in ages, and the stories that came before sucked frankly. Loeb was terrible, Aaron was terrible, Waid was terrible, Dugan was just “ok”. All of them radically upended the status quo for Hulk. He got a Hulk family, he worked for Shield, Banner was evil and Hulk was good, Hulk was smarter than Banner, etc. Then they killed him off and kept him shelved for a while until Ewing had a killer pitch, but the pitch was all about going back to Hulk’s roots . It was very back to basics, Banner was roaming and couldn’t build super tech, Hulk was a monster that may or may not be evil, lots of classic Hulk villains have shown up with new twists.

What we’re getting with PKJ seems to be a mix of both but also different. Classic Superman Rogues like Mongul (and maybe Brainiac and Lex going off that spread) are slated to show up, we’ll see if they’ll come with new twists. New villains are also coming courtesy of PKJ. But the difference is that while HoX and IH starred the classic versions in new situations, this is doing that while also try to position Jon as equal to Clark, and given the news I’m not sure what the game plan is here. Why do they want Jon to be co-Superman? The TV show stars Clark. The movie will feature a Black Superman that will be either a racebent Clark or Calvin/Val. Given the focus on synergy, why are they pushing Jon so hard? CW Jon is the one who doesn’t have powers yet!

Hulk was a major player in some of the biggest movies ever so he gets some credit on account of that (even if I think MCU Hulk kinda blows). MCU X-Men will assuredly star Cyclops, Jean, and Wolverine so it makes sense to rebuild the brand with them at the center. What big media project is coming that would justify Jon getting pushed like he has? I expect DC to start pushing Calvin or Val given the film side, but I don’t know if DC will keep sticking with Jon if this initiative flops. That’s why I’m wary of getting invested in this.

PKJ’s first issue debuted to “meh” reception. I liked it but I’ll still admit it wasn’t a strong debut. Both Hickman and Ewing built up a lot of credit before Marvel went all in on them, while PKJ (despite my enjoying his FS Superman stuff!) seems to have been granted a ton of trust despite not being at DC long. I just don’t know how long DC will commit to this with the films going in a very different direction from Clark Kent Superman handing off the mantle to his son.

[hairys]

Hickman is on record for being more of a DC-guy than a Marvel-guy as a young comics' reader favoring Legion of Superheroes as well as the Fourth World. He gravitates to team books.

Yeah, it seems inevitable that Hickman will do DC work in the future, maybe as soon as his X-men stuff is done.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Yeah, it seems inevitable that Hickman will do DC work in the future, maybe as soon as his X-men stuff is done.

The X-Men stuff is too big to end anytime soon. probably another 2-3 years at minimum. And even then Hickman has said that while he was more a DC-Guy than a Marvel-guy, he always did say that X-Men was his favorite Marvel title and favorite comic of all time.

And even then at DC, he'll proably want Justice League, Legion, Fourth World and not the stuff that DC Management will want him to do (i.e. more Batman stories).

And then there's the question if DC can afford his price-tag after the layoffs and bloodletting by AT and T. They paid a lot for Bendis and he, arguably, hasn't delivered as much. And that was Pre-Merger. Would they want to shell out for another superstar writer again?

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I actually wouldn't mind Ewing taking a crack at Superman. Come on DC, get cracking .

[Vordan]

The X-Men stuff is too big to end anytime soon. probably another 2-3 years at minimum. And even then Hickman has said that while he was more a DC-Guy than a Marvel-guy, he always did say that X-Men was his favorite Marvel title and favorite comic of all time.

And even then at DC, he'll proably want Justice League, Legion, Fourth World and not the stuff that DC Management will want him to do (i.e. more Batman stories).

And then there's the question if DC can afford his price-tag after the layoffs and bloodletting by AT and T. They paid a lot for Bendis and he, arguably, hasn't delivered as much. And that was Pre-Merger. Would they want to shell out for another superstar writer again?

Hickman right now is still a “hot” creator as opposed to Bendis. But it’s true that I’m not sure what DC would or even could offer. Guys like Slott and Aaron though will probably have a much harder time than Hickman though. If Hickman nails his X-Men ending (and he did a good job with F4 and Avengers in Secret Wars) then I think DC would allow him a lot of leeway. He’s said he wants to do Titans though which won’t happen lol, they’d want him on Justice League, Superman, or one of the “big” books.

[Yoda]

The era of big name exclusive comic contracts at DC is definitely over. I don't see them really breaking that for Hickman or anyone else. They want young talent that they can get adaptable content out of.

But I have to keep laughing at the "failure" of Bendis. Naomi is still heading to the CW with Ava DuVernay and his Cover series is getting adapted by HBO Max. So this idea that they "didn't get much from Bendis" is kind of hilarious missing the point. Like there are execs at WB's saying we only got two new adaptations that will make us millions, but he aged up Jon Kent (synching it with our new hit TV series) making twitter mad and Superman didn't sell as well as Batman so obviously we messed up.

For all Ewing's buzz, and I've really enjoyed Immortal Hulk even though it's kind of meandered and Bennett is doing his best to derail it it seems, has that translated into his other books being hits? I don't follow Marvel outside of Hulk, so I admittedly don't know. I've picked up his creator own Image book, We only Find Them..., but I've been underwhelmed.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Hickman right now is still a “hot” creator as opposed to Bendis. But it’s true that I’m not sure what DC would or even could offer. Guys like Slott and Aaron though will probably have a much harder time than Hickman though.

Slott you can get on the cheap, and he'd be happy to be on Batman books. Slott's never had success on his own. He was big when he wrote Spider-Man but before and after, he's not moved the needle a great deal.

Jason Aaron is more of a prize considering what he did on The Mighty Thor and the Wolverine books before.

Hickman though had success writing Fantastic Four, and the Avengers, and also with X-Men, being one of few writers to score a major run on all 3 of Marvel's big teams. So yeah he's the biggest prize there is. Donny Cates is standing in his wings.

If Hickman nails his X-Men ending (and he did a good job with F4 and Avengers in Secret Wars) then I think DC would allow him a lot of leeway. He’s said he wants to do Titans though which won’t happen lol, they’d want him on Justice League, Superman, or one of the “big” books.

Hickman would probably accept Justice League as a compromise, now that Cyborg is in it, it wouldn't take much to turn it into something closer to a Titans book or a Legion of Superheroes book.

Fundamentally he's a team-books guy, and Marvel has always done team books better than DC has.

But I have to keep laughing at the "failure" of Bendis. Naomi is still heading to the CW with Ava DuVernay and his Cover series is getting adapted by HBO Max. So this idea that they "didn't get much from Bendis" is kind of hilarious missing the point.

Well I wasn't following all the news coming out of Bendis, so thanks for correcting me. Let me say that I do like Bendis, flaws and all, and I was rooting for him to make Superman into a big success, and on the outside it doesn't seem he moved the needle that much.

I don't follow Marvel outside of Hulk, so I admittedly don't know. I've picked up his creator own Image book, We only Find Them..., but I've been underwhelmed.

Immortal Hulk is Ewing's biggest individual showing. Most of his output is doing satelite titles or team books here and there. He had this crossover called Empyre last year.

[Frontier]

The era of big name exclusive comic contracts at DC is definitely over. I don't see them really breaking that for Hickman or anyone else. They want young talent that they can get adaptable content out of.

But I have to keep laughing at the "failure" of Bendis. Naomi is still heading to the CW with Ava DuVernay and his Cover series is getting adapted by HBO Max. So this idea that they "didn't get much from Bendis" is kind of hilarious missing the point. Like there are execs at WB's saying we only got two new adaptations that will make us millions, but he aged up Jon Kent (synching it with our new hit TV series) making twitter mad and Superman didn't sell as well as Batman so obviously we messed up.

For all Ewing's buzz, and I've really enjoyed Immortal Hulk even though it's kind of meandered and Bennett is doing his best to derail it it seems, has that translated into his other books being hits? I don't follow Marvel outside of Hulk, so I admittedly don't know. I've picked up his creator own Image book, We only Find Them..., but I've been underwhelmed.

Naomi was definitely a success on both the comics side and seems to be making the big media jump, but I think teen Jon is more a coincidence of circumstance than something that we can directly contribute to Bendis.

Wonder Comics was more of a critical success than a financial success and he kind of tanked Young Justice's big return.

[Vordan]

The era of big name exclusive comic contracts at DC is definitely over. I don't see them really breaking that for Hickman or anyone else. They want young talent that they can get adaptable content out of.

But I have to keep laughing at the "failure" of Bendis. Naomi is still heading to the CW with Ava DuVernay and his Cover series is getting adapted by HBO Max. So this idea that they "didn't get much from Bendis" is kind of hilarious missing the point. Like there are execs at WB's saying we only got two new adaptations that will make us millions, but he aged up Jon Kent (synching it with our new hit TV series) making twitter mad and Superman didn't sell as well as Batman so obviously we messed up.

For all Ewing's buzz, and I've really enjoyed Immortal Hulk even though it's kind of meandered and Bennett is doing his best to derail it it seems, has that translated into his other books being hits? I don't follow Marvel outside of Hulk, so I admittedly don't know. I've picked up his creator own Image book, We only Find Them..., but I've been underwhelmed.

Honestly I don’t think so. It’s gotten him name recognition where people know who he is and have certain expectations, but the only writer who compares to peak Johns’ ability to raise the sales of a book when he jumped on is Hickman. Ewing’s Guardians hasn’t been a big seller I understand, his SWORD is selling about expected for a new X-Book. His indie work did get a lot of attention and sold better after Immortal Hulk though if I understand correctly.

Slott you can get on the cheap, and he'd be happy to be on Batman books. Slott's never had success on his own. He was big when he wrote Spider-Man but before and after, he's not moved the needle a great deal.

Jason Aaron is more of a prize considering what he did on The Mighty Thor and the Wolverine books before.

Hickman though had success writing Fantastic Four, and the Avengers, and also with X-Men, being one of few writers to score a major run on all 3 of Marvel's big teams. So yeah he's the biggest prize there is. Donny Cates is standing in his wings.



Hickman would probably accept Justice League as a compromise, now that Cyborg is in it, it wouldn't take much to turn it into something closer to a Titans book or a Legion of Superheroes book.

Fundamentally he's a team-books guy, and Marvel has always done team books better than DC has.



Well I wasn't following all the news coming out of Bendis, so thanks for correcting me. Let me say that I do like Bendis, flaws and all, and I was rooting for him to make Superman into a big success, and on the outside it doesn't seem he moved the needle that much.



Immortal Hulk is Ewing's biggest individual showing. Most of his output is doing satelite titles or team books here and there. He had this crossover called Empyre last year.

You can get new creators for cheap too, and Slott isn’t a big name. His F4 has been received tepidly, his Iron Man sucked, he’s basically past his prime and is already pretty old. I don’t see DC offering him much, or anything really. I think he’d be disappointed if he tried to join up with DC now.

Aaron might be able to get something, while his Avengers has been a bust, his Thor was popular (not on CBR obviously lol).

Hickman has said he wants to do more solo stuff, it’s just everyone keeps offering him teams.

[Bruce Wayne]

Not to mention Slott has a real problem with meeting deadlines as the Disney+ documentary showed.

Current DC can't even afford their previous a-list of people like Morrison/Snyder/Johns who are all stepping back or taking their business elsewhere. Hickman is definitely not going to happen with DC's current condition. We'll be lucky if AT&T doesn't shut down the entire publishing unit and auction off the rights to publish comics to a 3rd party.

[Sacred Knight]

If we're talking new talent, possibly established talent from Marvel, best case scenario is waiting a couple years anyway, so there's the best chance that these guys can actually write Superman. Indeed I wouldn't be at all surprised if any of these stated writers, if they have an interest in the character, would be more than willing to wait.

[ermac]

What has Geoff Johns been up to?

[Revolutionary_Jack]

What has Geoff Johns been up to?

Talking to lawyers and dodging Ray Fisher's accusations, I expect. That and avoiding being fired by AT and T from his executive position (in which frankly, he's not been good at).

[Ra-El]

Talking to lawyers and dodging Ray Fisher's accusations, I expect. That and avoiding being fired by AT and T from his executive position (in which frankly, he's not been good at).

Stargirl is awesome and that's all him. He is also a executive producer in all DC tv show and some are pretty good, so at least thae story that he causes chaos in every project he is involved isn't true, maybe on the movie side.

And he have a new comic from Image, Geiger, with Gary Frank.