Superman by Josh Williamson and Jamal Campbell Discussion & Spoilers

[Venomized-spider-man]

New Superman ongoing!

Art by Campbell!

We actually using Livewire right now! (seriously why did they try to make her into a batgirl villain?)

Aw man I feel vindicated and optimistic about the future right now

[Sacred Knight]

Stealing Superman characters to make them Bat-characters or some other book's character has been an annoying trend for a long time. Thankfully in this case at least one will be rectified.

[Quinlan58]

Williamson apparently featuring the Daily Planet cast is sure to be interesting, if we're still sticking with Clark having a public identity. Will he try to make the two work together, I wonder?

[TheKryptonMan]

Williamson apparently featuring the Daily Planet cast is sure to be interesting, if we're still sticking with Clark having a public identity. Will he try to make the two work together, I wonder?

I've enjoyed Williamson on his various books , some were better than others.
Great to see Clark/Superman getting his own book again . Long overdue actually .
I do hope that after Dark Crisis , the secret identity is back . At least for the general public .
Also I hope that after Dark Crisis that the Bendis stuff is forgotten .
One thing I did like was Jor-El being around , but I think that was Jurgens that brought him back.

[Jeffrey2]

I haven't read any Superman books in a number of years now. I much prefer the retro/traditional Superman and that's been hard to find for a long time. Dare I hope this book is bringing back what made me love Superman? The artwork in the panel is spectacular. Love Lex's look. A return to the DP? Will Clark have a secret identity once again? Are Clark and Lois married? What about kids - do they have any? All that and some great villains.

For sure I'll be picking this book up in February. Fingers crossed it draws me back in.

[Vordan]

Williamson apparently featuring the Daily Planet cast is sure to be interesting, if we're still sticking with Clark having a public identity. Will he try to make the two work together, I wonder?

Some people were speculating that Kal-El Returns might end with the secret identity restored, but we’ll see. Bendis had Clark still be a reporter even after his identity was outed.

[Digifiend]

Yeah, he just couldn't write about Superman any more.

[Robanker]

Williamson is generally pretty middling to me, but I'm so happy to see DC investing some more talent and time in Metropolis. I'll be supporting this book for a while to see if I like Williamson's Superman (he is one of the few writers who wrote a Damian I enjoyed, so anything's possible even if his event comics put me to sleep). The art alone may carry it, though.

[Mantis-Ray]

Its nice that they are giving around the a-list talent. I know Williamson can be hit or miss but he is clearly considered a big name by DC and they are allowing him to handle the Superman ongoing.

Plus Campbell is drawing this, providing a distinctive high-quality artist of the character, instead of just hogging all the talent over to Batman.

[Vordan]

Campbell is great but he is not fast so I’m skeptical he’s going to be on the book for long. Let’s see if he can get 3 issues out on time.

[OBrianTallent]

Campbell is great but he is not fast so I’m skeptical he’s going to be on the book for long. Let’s see if he can get 3 issues out on time.

I would say Campbell has had a large lead time and this is also why Dragotta is on deck as well.

[Vordan]

I would say Campbell has had a large lead time and this is also why Dragotta is on deck as well.

Is Dragotta fast? I only know him from Hickman’s F4 and East of West both of which I read in trades. Oh and American Alien which I also read in trade. Never followed him on a monthly book. I like his art but he and Campbell are not similar at all, I can’t see Dragotta being a good pick for “filling in” on issues where Campbell needs help. I think Campbell will do the first arc but I just can’t buy that he would stick around for long, much as I would like him to.

[Robotman]

I’ve lost a ton of faith in Williamson after Shadow War and Dark Crisis but I’m still excited about this.

Happy to see Superman’s classic rogues showing up. Finally someone is using Livewire again! She’s a cool villain and since she’s made of electricity and can become intangible, Superman can just grab or punch her and he can’t use heat vision or super breath.

Interested to see who the big looming figure is. It looks like he has a skeletal face so it could be the new and improved Metallo that PKJ is building up.

Isn’t she still at the Planet? Or am I forgetting something? Williamson is definitely a “classic” kind of writer so I fully expect this will be going for a very safe meat and potatoes kind of run. I think the cop up there is supposed to be a new take on Inspector (Commissioner?) Henderson.

I hope it’s Inspector Henderson. the Metropolis SCU hasn’t played a big role in Superman stories in a very long time. It’s unfortunate Maggie Sawyer isn’t available but here’s hoping Dan Turpin shows up. Superman needs his own version of Jim Gordon

[Celgress]

Yes, a Clark solo book, and it looks rather interesting to boot. I'm so happy.

[Frontier]

Thoughts:

- Overall, I'm fine with Williamson. I've enjoyed his work more than I haven't, and I think he can do solid work with Superman's world and going back to a more classic feel for Clark.

- Re-focusing on the Daily Planet cast...will the secret identity be coming back?

- Yeah, my first assumption was that dude was a race-bent Chief Inspector Henderson. Especially since Smashes the Klan and Black Lightning both made him black.

- Livewire! Silver Banshee! Bizarro! Parasite! Man, it's nice to see the Rogues Gallery up front and back in action. And that Livewire design looks great.

- We're getting another phase of Lex being in prison, but it looks like he'll still be a behind-the-scenes player judging by that hologram hovering over Mercy.