World of Krypton by Robert Venditti and Michael Avon Oeming

[Vordan]

Oh, he's definitely enamoured with Zod in the same way that Johns was in the tank for Sinestro.

Hah well someone needs to do something with Zod, it’s crazy how important he is on the film side while being so unimportant in the comics. He needs some good stories.

[ironman2978]

Hah well someone needs to do something with Zod, it’s crazy how important he is on the film side while being so unimportant in the comics. He needs some good stories.

Not just film. His tv side (Krypton, Smallville, debatably even the CWverse/Arrowverse) has developed Zod as such a nuanced and dangerous threat with a developed backstory (including his family, his devotion to Krypton, fleshing out "his might makes right"/Fanatic beliefs, etc). While on the comics side, he feels like a 2 dimensional villain who feels like he depends solely on his strength. I am interested in his take in the House of El graphic novels, and World of Krypton and Superman:Earth One's take of Zod, but it seems outside of that, he's sorely lacking the stories that can bring out the best of the Kryptonian general.

[HsssH]

His last appearance was in Williamson's Batman/Superman, no? That did leave him in an interesting place and it hasn't been explored at all.

[Hypo]

World of Krypton #6 Preview
Writer: Robert Venditti
Artist: Michael Avon Oeming

[Frontier]

World of Krypton #6 Preview
Writer: Robert Venditti
Artist: Michael Avon Oeming

The House of El versus the House of Zod as Krypton crumbles...

Also, Zor-El with that beard .

[The Frog Bros]

Thought the final issue was kinda mediocre. And this is from someone who quite enjoyed the rest of the series. I don’t think it’s because the plot points are inevitable, either. I just thought compared to the other issues it was just so-so with average dialogue. Overall, was also a bit bummed that other characters like Kara really only made a few token appearances in panels here and there without contributing all that much to the story.

[Vordan]

Finished it. Overall while I really enjoyed Oeming’s triply sci-fi art, this series didn’t really bring that much to the table and is probably the weakest Superman related mini that Vendetti has written. However I do think he’s probably the best Zod writer, and given Zod’s return to the big screen next year, were I calling the shots at DC, I would give Vendetti a Zod mini to write. He would do very well on that I believe.

I hope this is the last time we focus on Krypton’s final days for a while, don’t think there’s much left to say about that anymore.

[Frontier]

Finished it. Overall while I really enjoyed Oeming’s triply sci-fi art, this series didn’t really bring that much to the table and is probably the weakest Superman related mini that Vendetti has written. However I do think he’s probably the best Zod writer, and given Zod’s return to the big screen next year, were I calling the shots at DC, I would give Vendetti a Zod mini to write. He would do very well on that I believe.

I hope this is the last time we focus on Krypton’s final days for a while, don’t think there’s much left to say about that anymore.

New Krypton mini here we come .

[Vordan]

New Krypton mini here we come .

Certainly wish someone would pick Zod up from where Bendis left him. He’s primed for a “villain book”, I’d personally love a take where the United Planets gives him his New Krypton but it’s smack dab on the outskirts of UP territory, and the unspoken agreement between Zod and the UP is that they want him to “pacify” the area of threats so that other planets can be colonized. In return they’ll turn a blind eye to his methods and let his planet into the UP when he’s done their dirty work for them. I think that could be a premise that easily sustains 12 issues if not more.

[Frontier]

Certainly wish someone would pick Zod up from where Bendis left him. He’s primed for a “villain book”, I’d personally love a take where the United Planets gives him his New Krypton but it’s smack dab on the outskirts of UP territory, and the unspoken agreement between Zod and the UP is that they want him to “pacify” the area of threats so that other planets can be colonized. In return they’ll turn a blind eye to his methods and let his planet into the UP when he’s done their dirty work for them. I think that could be a premise that easily sustains 12 issues if not more.

I like the present-day UP being shadier and murkier, especially if they have to make up for limiting what the (more successful) GLC are taken away from.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

This was such a colossal waste of time. The art and designs were great and all the ingredients were there for a really great Final Days of Krypton retelling, but Venditti really fumbled the ball by focusing on the elements that we've already seen rehashed endlessly while completely failing to do anything of note with Lara, Kara, Alura, or the Science Council's political machinations.

There are so many cool elements from Krypton to explore and Venditti decides to tell another story about how Zod and Jor-El were frenemies while adding absolutely nothing new to it.

Why not explore Jor-El's relationship with Non, his mentor? Why not explore Allura's role as Krypton's prosecutor. which the Supergirl TV show introduced then dropped? Why not delve into who Lara actually was outside of "the wife"? What about Ursa and Faora? What's their connection to each other? Why is Ursa so fiercely loyal to Zod? Let's see the wickedness of Jax-Ur and Xa-Du!

This entire miniseries strikes me as a complete failure of imagination. Once again, Venditti took the easiest, safest, and blandest route possible when there were so many other possibilities available to him and he had an art team that was clearly ready to play.

Such a disappointment.

[Vordan]

I’ve enjoyed some of Vendetti’s work but he’s never struck me as a visionary. He’s not a guy who is good at coming up with new ideas. Superman ‘78 is his best work with Superman because it’s him playing in an already established sandbox where he can focus on recreating the voices of the films while also refining ideas - like the characterization and motivation of Brainiac as a more sympathetic bad guy which is something Morrison established over in their take on him in Action and Superman & the Authority - in a way that lets them shine more clearly.

He’s a nuts and bolts guy, best paired with a more ambitious writer on the “main” book while he takes the “side” book. But I do think there are some characters he writes well, much like Johns I think villains appeal to him more than heroes do. He’s more ambitious with the villains he likes, his Sinestro and Zod are pretty enjoyable bad guys, which is why I think he’s better suited to a villain book.

[HsssH]

Venditti really fumbled the ball

Sounds like every other Venditti's book then.

I’ve enjoyed some of Vendetti’s work but he’s never struck me as a visionary.

So how he'd do that theoretical Zod book? His new status quo that Bendis set up requires some new thinking to properly flesh out.

[Vordan]

Sounds like every other Venditti's book then.



So how he'd do that theoretical Zod book? His new status quo that Bendis set up requires some new thinking to properly flesh out.

Well ideally an editor (in this hypothetical case meaning *me*) would be giving him a premise and he would be executing it. If Venditti is told “Zod is in a region of space that’s on the outskirts of UP territory, the UP wants him to more or less ethnically cleanse all the threats in that sector so other settlers can colonize other worlds, they’d prefer Kal not learn about this so they’d like him to keep a low profile until after its already done, and in return once the job is finished they’ll admit Zod’s New Krypton into the UP and give him the resources to get New Krypton up to the technology level he wants”, then I think he can handle that. Again that’s just me and I say this because I have enjoyed his Zod. I’m sure others could do a better job of handling this (and some like Taylor would probably do worse), but unless PKJ wants it there’s nobody else available at DC that immediately comes to mind.

[Ra-El]

I’ve enjoyed some of Vendetti’s work but he’s never struck me as a visionary. He’s not a guy who is good at coming up with new ideas. Superman ‘78 is his best work with Superman because it’s him playing in an already established sandbox where he can focus on recreating the voices of the films while also refining ideas - like the characterization and motivation of Brainiac as a more sympathetic bad guy which is something Morrison established over in their take on him in Action and Superman & the Authority - in a way that lets them shine more clearly.

He’s a nuts and bolts guy, best paired with a more ambitious writer on the “main” book while he takes the “side” book. But I do think there are some characters he writes well, much like Johns I think villains appeal to him more than heroes do. He’s more ambitious with the villains he likes, his Sinestro and Zod are pretty enjoyable bad guys, which is why I think he’s better suited to a villain book.

I didn't read Worlds of Krypton yet, but Venditti's Hawkman will always buy him some good will with me, for two years his Hawkman was one of the best runs on DC alongside John Constantine Hellblazer and The Green Lantern. His work on Superman: Man of Tomorrow was consistent too.

I think Venditti is the kind o writer you want to make sense of things, not in a macro cosmic way, like Morrison does, but he is the guy who managed to make sense of Hawkman better than anyone else. So I will give this series a shot, eventually.