Superman by Josh Williamson and Jamal Campbell Discussion & Spoilers

[Myskin]

Here:
Senza titolo-1.jpg
The "new" Brainiac seems to include elements from both Brainiac TAS and Gary Frank's version, but with more details from the TAS version and more robotic feel. Except for the "collar", most of the details from Frank's version concern the texture of the suit.
No more short sleeves (thankfully), no more musclebound thug Brainiac.
Sorry for the low definition, I can't find a way to upload it in high-def.

[Vordan]

I like my Brainiacs more on the organic side, never been a huge fan of the robot Brainiacs. Cyborg Brainiacs work just fine for me as a compromise, and make sense for the character.

Let's talk about that ending. Over in Action Comics, we saw Lex start to build up his own Superman Revenge Squad, and now, we see Brainiac building his team.

Well, that's not what's happening. There are two endings that are separate. This'll be revealed later, but in the time Lex was in Metropolis, he had his own villains. There were villains in Metropolis before Lex got there. Metropolis, like any city, has crime, so when Lex got to Metropolis, there was crime and villains already there. Lex acted like a "hero," and there's a bit of mystery about what it means for Lex Luthor to be a hero and what really happened. He took down all these villains when he took over Metropolis. There were villains that he took it from.

That's part of his frustration when Superman arrived. He was like, "No, I own this. I saved this, and it's mine now!" That's part of what the story is about. The rest is a post-credits teaser about things that are going to be happening in the book down the line. On the Lex side of things, I've been calling them the Lex Luthor Revenge Squad, and that's a whole different thing. On the other side of that, they don't tease Superman stories. They tease stories happening in Dawn of DC. The ending to the issue is the Lex Luthor Revenge Squad ending. The rest of it teases what's coming for Superman [and] Dawn of DC this year. It's not about Brainiac here. Brainiac is a much bigger player in the DCU and Dawn of DC.

Hmm ok so the final page with the scientist taking apart Bizarro is a tease for what’s coming in Superman, but the other Brainiac related pages are teasing stuff that are happening throughout the DCU in general? Do I understand that right? Guess Brainiac will just be the big bad for whatever event Dawn of DC is building up to, and those other teases might not specifically be for stuff Williamson is doing. Maybe they also tease stories that PKJ is planning?

[Myskin]

Hmm ok so the final page with the scientist taking apart Bizarro is a tease for what’s coming in Superman, but the other Brainiac related pages are teasing stuff that are happening throughout the DCU in general? Do I understand that right? Guess Brainiac will just be the big bad for whatever event Dawn of DC is building up to, and those other teases might not specifically be for stuff Williamson is doing. Maybe they also tease stories that PKJ is planning?

The tease with the Brainiac tendrils concerned the whole DCU, so yes, he will be the big bad for whatever is coming.
I would have preferred it to be a Superman storyline but that's what we get.

[Prime]

Yeah it’s her. Making Old Maxima her mom is what I would do, but I really don’t even know what the point of NuMaxima is anymore. She’s a lesbian hero not a villain, far as I know she and Superman have never even interacted at all, she has nothing in common with the original Maxima and I don’t see the point in keeping her around to be frank. But we’re stuck with her so let’s see what Williamson does.

Hmm I wonder when Williamson plans on using her? PKJ have some indications that he would like to use Maxima over in Action, hope Williamson seemingly having plans doesn’t take her entirely off the board.

Ageeed. I would just make classic Maxima her mom and she is the one that has a history with Clark. New 52 Maxima does not really fit anywhere here. I sorta hoped her and Clark had a kid cause Clark was young once too.

[Vordan]

Ageeed. I would just make classic Maxima her mom and she is the one that has a history with Clark. New 52 Maxima does not really fit anywhere here. I sorta hoped he and Clark had a kid cause Clark was young once too.

That’s what I would have done, except their daughter would be the anti-Damian, ultimately rejecting her hero father to side with her villain mother.

[Mantis-Ray]

The solicit for the May issue of Icon vs Hardwire also has Braniac on the cover hyping up his apparent involvement over there as well.

Also what is all this about Maxima? What happened to her in the New 52?

[Prime]

That’s what I would have done, except their daughter would be the anti-Damian, ultimately rejecting her hero father to side with her villain mother.

I'm very curious to hear about your new 52 Maxima as the daughter of classic Maxima and Superman.

[Frontier]

I like my Brainiacs more on the organic side, never been a huge fan of the robot Brainiacs. Cyborg Brainiacs work just fine for me as a compromise, and make sense for the character.


Hmm ok so the final page with the scientist taking apart Bizarro is a tease for what’s coming in Superman, but the other Brainiac related pages are teasing stuff that are happening throughout the DCU in general? Do I understand that right? Guess Brainiac will just be the big bad for whatever event Dawn of DC is building up to, and those other teases might not specifically be for stuff Williamson is doing. Maybe they also tease stories that PKJ is planning?

If I recall correctly PKJ did express interest in Toyman and Maxima...or at least Maxima.

The solicit for the May issue of Icon vs Hardwire also has Braniac on the cover hyping up his apparent involvement over there as well.

Also what is all this about Maxima? What happened to her in the New 52?

Basically they made Maxima younger and a lesbian and made the latter aspect pivotal to her character.

[Vordan]

Williamson is writing the Knight Terrors event, and I guess this guy was the one being teased instead of Solaris. Disappointing, but it does provide context. Looks like the Brainiac pages aren’t teasing just stuff for Superman, but stories for the DCU as a whole that Superman is involved in. Therefore the black woman in the teaser is probably Waller not Moonlight since we know something is coming with Waller. Also means that panel of Supes riding a horse probably isn’t a Terra-Man tease, no clue what it could be though.

The solicit for the May issue of Icon vs Hardwire also has Braniac on the cover hyping up his apparent involvement over there as well.

Also what is all this about Maxima? What happened to her in the New 52?

Like a couple other characters, New 52 Maxima has basically nothing in common with her Pre-FP incarnation other than the name. Think New 52 Superboy for a good comparison. New 52 Maxima was a lesbian hero who was friends with Kara, totally different character, and there’s no real way to reconcile her with the old Maxima. She doesn’t make sense as a Rogue for Superman, they have no history together and I don’t think they’ve ever even MET each other.

I'm very curious to hear about your new 52 Maxima as the daughter of classic Maxima and Superman.

I think I wrote out the basic gist on my blog if you click the link on my signature and then go to Superman Masterpost 2 where I keep all the villains. There’s a Maxima entry there.

[Frontier]

I wonder if Williamson will write the Superman tie-in.

[Prime]

Ok I read it Vordan I liked it. I liked it a lot. But that War World thing has to happen early in his career and why not make Maxima be there with he when he first rebled against Mongul?

[Vordan]

If I recall correctly PKJ did express interest in Toyman and Maxima...or at least Maxima.

Basically they made Maxima younger and a lesbian and made the latter aspect pivotal to her character.

He came around on Toyman recently, says he’s got a darker pitch for the character that he thinks he might have to do as a BL book. And yeah I managed to ask him about her in one of his Q&A’s and he was very enthusiastic about using her. Didn’t have any immediate plans at the time it sounded like, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Almerac ends up being the next long term setting for Superman like Warworld was the next time PKJ takes Supes out into space.

Perhaps Williamson had already called dibs on Maxima and PKJ has to wait?

Ok I read it Vordan I liked it. I liked it a lot. But that War World thing has to happen early in his career and why not make Maxima be there with he when he first rebled against Mongul?

Heh I’ll take it under consideration once DC gives me a call to write the books

I wonder if Williamson will write the Superman tie-in.

Makes sense for him to be the one, but if he’s already doing the main series I could see him handing that off to someone else. Knight Terrors might be like Lazarus Planet in that you have an experienced hand writing the main book and then a bunch of newer writers getting tested by DC with event tie in books.

[Prime]

It's amazing how you guys can come up with arcs and plots on the go. And somehow a multi million dollar company can't

[Thor-Ul]

Is that the new 52 Maxima? Can’t we just have the classic one be her mom or older sister?

nuMaxima should be the clone. It would be fair counterbalance. OG Maxima being called an impostor was Lobo/nuLobo situation all over again.

[Ascended]

It's amazing how you guys can come up with arcs and plots on the go. And somehow a multi million dollar company can't

Nobody here has to deal with editorial or worry about the constraints of someone else's story that's a year away.