Superman and the Authority

[Vordan]

This really is basically the spiritual successor to their New 52 Action run going off that interview.

As someone that's written a love letter to Superman's Silver Age with All-Star Superman and written him in stuff like JLA, was it hard retrofitting Superman and his history into the Authority's world?

No, it was about how do I take that same perspective that I had with All-Star. All-Star was about Superman at the end of his life and this is a slightly different take which connects way more with the Action Comics stuff I had done, with the firebrand, radical Superman. It's always easy to get into his head, he's so beautiful. [laughs] You just have to think of what someone really cared, like a dad who really loves you and will die for you but you don't get it; doing it that way, instead of putting all of our problems on him, because I don't think he's like us.

That's what's great and what's tragic about Superman, I want to go back to that, that's what really interests me about the character. How do you really do the notion of the attrition of the omniscient, with him looking at everything with his X-Ray vision and he's creepy and authoritarian? How do you get away from that? This is bigger than that, this is like your dad coming to pick you up after you've been drunk for a night. What if we're really fucking up and he's the one person who says, "You're fucking up and I'm going to have to step in."

I am fascinated to see this play out. I’m very much in the mood for a pissed off Superman who’s very much let down by the state of things and decides to shake things up.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Getting a pseudo-sequel to Morrison's neo-Golden Age Superman from the New 52 makes this all the sweeter, and the fact that Morrison was able to talk DC out of retreading the same tired "Superman as dictator" trope is wonderful.

Looking forward to this, even if PKJ's stuff has been lukewarm for me and Taylor's Jon series is already stumbling out of the gate.

[manwhohaseverything]

Did you read the interview my friend? Morrison isn’t making Clark go full Injustice, but it does sound like they’re pushing Clark to his limit when it comes to tolerating what us humans are doing to ourselves. Sounds really interesting.

I don't really care if clark goes authoritarian or not...He's just jon's pa kent to me..Regardless of whether he is good or bad.The references to dad nature of clark comes from Chris parallels btw.(He is the pinnacle of American values regardless)..Not veteran status..

I’m going to reserve judgement until I see what Jon actually does. I heard that at one point, he was going to shrink metropolis to protect it from something or other.

Actually,jon did that....

I think this hits on what came up on one of the other boards about how they never seem to get a writer who really knows Superman enough to write him effectively and make consistently great stories. Well, here we have Morrison saying its "easy"... if there's anyone who knows how to write this guy well, its Grant. Although in fairness, they're on they're on level in this regard

Actually, writing superman is easy.. It's different deal,the reception to it is the problem..You have this christ like dad figure as a superhero with punching to boot.How do you balance that?what can you do with a character like that?There are people who revere superman as a figure and his entire value sysytem.batman?spiderman?those guys are just dudes....

[charliehustle415]

I will always love Morrison for never giving up their optimism and at least once a year I re-listen to their interview with Kevin Smith on Fatman on Batman.

I'll miss them and their stellar writing.

[magha_regulus]

Did you read the interview my friend? Morrison isn’t making Clark go full Injustice, but it does sound like they’re pushing Clark to his limit when it comes to tolerating what us humans are doing to ourselves. Sounds really interesting.



I dig the emphasis on how alien Clark is compared to us. The repeated references to Clark as a stern dad figure was interesting as well, so they’re really leaning into his age and veteran status here. I like the connection to the Action Comics stuff, and I definitely got New 52 era vibes from that panel of Clark with glowing eyes as he’s punching the ground.

Yeah, bring it on.

Edit: I’m reminded of a Doctor Who quote where the Doctor yells in a burst of frustration towards humans, “You’re all the same, you screaming kids, you know that?”

Also Clark’s way of dealing and thinking about humans because of his alienness would be a fascinating contrast against Jon who has a half-human perspective.

I am 100% right there with you on this! This is a breath of fresh air and its something I want to see a lot more of in the line. This was a fantastic interview. Grant Morrison is my favorite Superman author and my favorite comics writer. They are an absolute mad genius. I am so very happy that we'll get this one last Superman story from them and its a thematic successor to their Action COmics run. It really gives me hope for the future. If DC can stop themselves from messing this up we are in for a hell of a good time!

[HsssH]

They could ask Steve Orlando if he’d be interested but I can’t think of anyone else who would be interested or able to do more with this incarnation.

Orlando had used some of the Morrison's creations in the past so I think he'd be interested to expand on what Morrison created here. Plus he is doing some not-Superman indy work at the moment (Project Patron) so it all kinda fits. That is, obviously, if he wants to do it.

[Vordan]

It’s kind of depressing that even after the purge, editorial at DC still seems to have a hard on for evil/authoritarian Superman. Kind of explains why they’re pinning so much on Taylor though.

Orlando had used some of the Morrison's creations in the past so I think he'd be interested to expand on what Morrison created here. Plus he is doing some not-Superman indy work at the moment (Project Patron) so it all kinda fits. That is, obviously, if he wants to do it.

He’s written Midnighter and Apollo and is a huge Morrison fanboy, I assume he also loves Superman, so this would definitely appeal to him. He’s hit or miss for me though, when he’s good, I love his work, but when he misses I really don’t enjoy his stuff. His JLA sucked but his Gotham City Monsters was great, so I don’t know how he would do on team books. Regardless I think he won’t get an offer to be frank, he seems to have been dropped by DC for now since he didn’t take off like Williamson and Tynion did.

[Yoda]

The authoritarian Superman was a Didio era request obviously, since this was a book that was supposed to be part of the original 5G push. Morrison pushed back against that back then and then reworked it for PKJ’s run. It’s going to be interesting to see what this actually shakes out as.

[manwhohaseverything]

Well the times have changed.. people don't look to the sky in reverance... That's why i say the leaping champion is much more relatable..morrison himself gives the reason why?

It's something I've come to terms with and pared down to it coming down to the patriarchal structures that have been oppressing us and Superman can easily be made to be representative of that. This dad-like figure looking out for us can be made authoritarian but I think that's a mistake.

The character can be paternalistic..when many get to write him.It's just Morrison can write a good dad figure.Alas,superman even at his best won't be the best dad in comics and mangas for me though..Clark is just too uptight..

[HsssH]

Regardless I think he won’t get an offer to be frank, he seems to have been dropped by DC for now since he didn’t take off like Williamson and Tynion did.

You are likely to be right there, but hey, Seeley also looked to be dropped and now he is back with 3 books. That being said, maybe Seeley wouldn't be a bad pick here either?

[Vordan]

You are likely to be right there, but hey, Seeley also looked to be dropped and now he is back with 3 books. That being said, maybe Seeley wouldn't be a bad pick here either?

Damn actually I could get behind that. Don’t know how Seeley feels about the Authority but he is also a Morrison fanboy and he likes Superman so he might actually be a good fit!

[HsssH]

Well people started caring about Midnighter in Grayson, thou I'm not sure if Seeley or King was responsible for him.

[Nelliebly]

The authoritarian Superman was a Didio era request obviously, since this was a book that was supposed to be part of the original 5G push. Morrison pushed back against that back then and then reworked it for PKJ’s run. It’s going to be interesting to see what this actually shakes out as.

Obviously it’s good Morrison pushed back on that but I still find their explanations subpar tbh.

The fact that so many people have so many opinions about Lois dying but her POV and why it’s extremely unfair to HER never even once enters the convo for these people is extremely revealing. But Morrison isn’t exactly known for their great treatment of women so I’m not sure why I expect better.

[Nelliebly]

Another day, another discussion of Lois Lane being murdered by someone who doesn’t give a **** about her POV and why it’s unfair to her to keep doing that to her and why it disrespects HER legacy and treats her poorly to repeatedly kill her off with a sole focus on Clark.

Their overall approach is correct—-of course Clark wouldn’t become a dictator. But the words they choose “my parents died and I’m fine.” (?????? Ummm ok Grant. And???) A letdown.

Just once—ONCE—-I wish someone would have the maturity and the inclusive understanding that these kinds of stories impact Lois too and are, above all, insulting to her and stop making it all about Superman with such a dismissive comment. But Morrison has a fairly terrible record with women across the board. They are far from being progressive with women and often stuck in a Stone Age version of “feminism” so I’m not sure why I’m shocked tbh.

I’m over Morrison tbh. I don’t think they have any greater understanding about Superman than anyone else and I think their myopic focus on silver age nostalgia and view that Superman lives so far above us is limiting to the franchise and, at times, outright damaging. Their treatment of women is abysmal with that Wonder Woman series being so ragingly sexist it was unreadable. Morrison is so so bad at writing women but they get away with it repeatedly bc people cut them a break. I’m just tired of it tbh.

[rpmaluki]

Obviously it’s good Morrison pushed back on that but I still find their explanations subpar tbh.

The fact that so many people have so many opinions about Lois dying but her POV and why it’s extremely unfair to HER never even once enters the convo for these people is extremely revealing. But Morrison isn’t exactly known for their great treatment of women so I’m not sure why I expect better.

Yes. It's great to push back against the misrepresentation of Superman and grief but they're still ignoring the horrible treatment of Lois as nothing but a plot point used to glorify "man pain" and nothing else.