Superman and the Authority

[Superlad93]

My guess is that the timeline will go "PKJ's big Super Event that's supposed to be as big as Death of Superman" which will lead to Clark being lost in time (which is when the JKF scene takes place). Clark returns to the present in Morrison's S&tA. When the Super Event ends, Action will pick up after the events of S&tA.

Basically, we're reading Authority six months early, and the regular titles will catch up at the end of the Event.

But Clark is going with the Authority to Warworld after he's formed them, and he doesn't form them till Superman & The Authority. Batman/Superman & The Authority special is also set right after Clark is kicked out of the JL and all of the stuff with the Warworld fragment in the current arc has happen, and he's also *just* formed the team.

My guess is that the gray hair is the cell decay from the radiation from the breach Batman and The Atom told Clark about at the start of the arc. I mean, that's what gray hair is after all-- it's just cell decay in the hair. I think Superman & The Authority takes place while Clark over the span of issues 1-3 of Son of Kal-El. In those issues Clark is still on world, but has taken a step back, and then in issue #4 it says he leaves. Over the span of that time my guess is the radiation really sets in and his powers start to go along with the color in his hair.

Dispenser of Truth had the great theory that Clark is wearing his classic suit and has the color back in his hair on Warworld because Manchester Black is projecting that image with his powers, and the rest of the team is making up for Clark's flaws in secret. PKJ said that the Authority would be using covert ops and gorilla warfare while on Warworld. Dispenser of Truth thinks this is how they'll basically fake Clark's powers for him. And the reason for this is because during that same issue when Batman and Atom were telling Clark he was weakening, Clark said that he wanted to keep this a secret because he didn't want guys like Lex or Darkseid to find out, so one would have to assume that includes Mongul.

It's a really sound theory.

[Yoda]

Midnighter has also been caught in a time loop of sorts in the backups and Future State issues. In the Future State timeline this mission went sideways on them and Clark’s been imprisoned on War World for a significant amount of time. The Midnighter that will join up in Action has already been through the loop before. I think if anything the SatA team is one of the variant times through the loop and won’t end up in continuity.

[Ascended]

But Clark is going with the Authority to Warworld after he's formed them, and he doesn't form them till Superman & The Authority. Batman/Superman & The Authority special is also set right after Clark is kicked out of the JL and all of the stuff with the Warworld fragment in the current arc has happen, and he's also *just* formed the team. .

Ah, right. I haven't been paying close enough attention I guess. Hell, I haven't even read the most recent issues.

[witchboy]

Gosh that we have to speculate so wildly to make sense of the story placement is an unnecessary distraction.

[Yoda]

Gosh that we have to speculate so wildly to make sense of the story placement is an unnecessary distraction.

That’s what happens when you shoehorn in a abandoned story into a new direction. I’m curious to see if the fill in artists in this next issue are because they had to redo sections of the book to fit. It doesn’t make sense otherwise because this was supposedly complete and sitting in a drawer before.

[Last Son of Krypton]

Is Covid a factor to why the sales on the first issue were so middling?

I would've thought that a first issue of a Grant Morrison Superman comic would break the 90-100k range, but has Covid comic stores sales this much?

Almost certainly, though the real question is how much of a factor it played.

DC isn't doing crazy good right now anyway, and Super books struggle to break through their usual sales bracket. And this is a mini, not a regular ongoing, and that might not help.

Unlike the movies that are almost all flopping due the pandemic, it seems that, to everyone's surprise, the comic industry (including DC) is getting somehow healthier post-2020 as reported by comic creators and Comichron:



Source: https://www.comichron.com/monthlycom...1/2021-06.html

[Sacred Knight]

Gosh that we have to speculate so wildly to make sense of the story placement is an unnecessary distraction.

I'm wondering now if they either should have asked Morrison to rewrite more, or if he didn't want to have someone else redo the story from the ground up. If they were dead set on this being a tie in to actual in-continuity directions. As much a Morrison and Superman fanboy I am, there's only so much you can do to make a finished work something intended for another continuity fit into a different one.

[witchboy]

I'm wondering now if they either should have asked Morrison to rewrite more, or if he didn't want to have someone else redo the story from the ground up. If they were dead set on this being a tie in to actual in-continuity directions. As much a Morrison and Superman fanboy I am, there's only so much you can do to make a finished work something intended for another continuity fit into a different one.

Or just slap an Elseworlds label on it. Or make it clear it’s Future State alternate future stuff not definitively in continuity with the main range.
I can deal easily with our of continuity stories a lot easier than bad continuity.

[HsssH]

I don't know, maybe we should wait a couple of months to see how it actually ends?

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I'm just treating it as an Elseworlds till the comic gives me reason not to. Or till it's spells out why it's not an Elseworld.

[Vordan]

Or literally just wait until the final issue to see how it connects rather than freaking out over continuity? Why you guys even still care about the minutiae of continuity at this point is beyond me. It’s like obsessing over how Batman can possibly be in all these books at the same time.

[Sacred Knight]

I don't care, but I know DC cares, because their verse is still heavily revolving around the concept. As long as they care and try to foster it, then its still important as much as I may wish otherwise. Its on those grounds I feel its still worth discussing. If it can be made to make sense by the end, cool.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Or literally just wait until the final issue to see how it connects rather than freaking out over continuity? Why you guys even still care about the minutiae of continuity at this point is beyond me. It’s like obsessing over how Batman can possibly be in all these books at the same time.

Yeah, I'm not sure why this is a sticking point for so many people. Why not just enjoy the story for what it is, then worry about how it fits into the continuity puzzle afterwards?

Modern comics fans obsession of what "matters" is kind of perplexing to me. I mean, All Star Superman and Superman Smashes The Klan don't "matter", yet they're both great Superman comics that will have a much bigger impact than anything the monthly comics churn out.

Just enjoy the story Morrison is telling and worry about how it fits later, guys.

[witchboy]

Yeah, I'm not sure why this is a sticking point for so many people. Why not just enjoy the story for what it is, then worry about how it fits into the continuity puzzle afterwards?

Modern comics fans obsession of what "matters" is kind of perplexing to me. I mean, All Star Superman and Superman Smashes The Klan don't "matter", yet they're both great Superman comics that will have a much bigger impact than anything the monthly comics churn out.

Just enjoy the story Morrison is telling and worry about how it fits later, guys.

I love All Star Superman and Superman Smashes the Klan.
I don't need a story to be in continuity to enjoy it.
But I do like an understanding of the continuity. Knowing how the story could impact future stories can raise the stakes, and inform me of the history of the character.
Knowing the continuity gives me a greater context to the characters. Trying to make sense of the JFK scenes are difficult if this is the regular current Superman. At the least the vibe there is weird. If that was a Superman native to that time, as it was intended, makes more sense. I am vaguely treating this as out of continuity until proven otherwise as it really has to be forced into it the way it stands now.
Understanding the continuity and enjoying the story on it's own merits can co-exist, but I do admit that sloppy continuity, even in a good story can be a distraction.
I will re-evaluate it at the end, but for now, yeah, the placement is taking up more thought than it should, but that's how my brain works.

[Vathlonian]

Honestly...they should have went full dark Knight returns and made this an out of continuity story where Superman prime(our Superman) is looking at another earth where he existed for decades and taking notes on what that Superman did using a dimensional device in the fortress

It allows for the story to be digestible and have an impact on the Superman line without distractions

Think of it like prime Batman looking into the dark Knight returns universe for tips using the totality station


It synergizes so well with infinite frontier and gives prime Superman that silver age feel where he often used machines to look at alternate timelines and dimensions for advice