Superman Rogues Gallery Appreciation 2023

[Vordan]

[Prime]

I miss classic Maxima.

How can we bring classic Maxima? I would just make Nu Maxima her daughter or younger sister.

[Vordan]

Running through the list of who is using who currently (and who I suspect will be using which villains soon):

Lex - Williamson and PKJ
Brainiac - Williamson mentioned he would be using him
Zod - Possibly Williamson given Kaminski said Zod would be important for 2023 and PKJ has made it seem like he wouldn’t use Zod until the endgame of his run. Williamson previously used Zod in his Batman/Superman run and may want to follow up on that
Toyman - Zdarsky has him in the Batman backup, I have a feeling Waid is the one who would use him next
Parasite - Williamson
Metallo - PKJ
Livewire - Williamson
Silver Banshee - Williamson
Bizarro - Williamson
Doomsday - If anyone uses him I expect it will be Jurgens for the Jon backups in Action
Magog - Waid
Kryptonite Man - Possibly Williamson judging by some of the arc names he’s teased, and he referenced Clay Ramsay in his Batman/Superman run
Mxy - PKJ is probably going to use him after Metallo, if not him then…
Conduit - …I bet Kenny paired with Aethyr is who he’ll use
Maxima - PKJ was very enthusiastic about using her but it sounds like it won’t happen until 2024 since he seems to have already plotted out 2023
Ultraman - Taylor

Waid is the big question mark insofar as we really don’t know who he will be using over in his book after the current arc, the solicits do a good job of hiding what’s coming. I’d like to see someone do something with Solaris.

[Frontier]

Running through the list of who is using who currently (and who I suspect will be using which villains soon):

Lex - Williamson and PKJ
Brainiac - Williamson mentioned he would be using him
Zod - Possibly Williamson given Kaminski said Zod would be important for 2023 and PKJ has made it seem like he wouldn’t use Zod until the endgame of his run. Williamson previously used Zod in his Batman/Superman run and may want to follow up on that
Toyman - Zdarsky has him in the Batman backup, I have a feeling Waid is the one who would use him next
Parasite - Williamson
Metallo - PKJ
Livewire - Williamson
Silver Banshee - Williamson
Bizarro - Williamson
Doomsday - If anyone uses him I expect it will be Jurgens for the Jon backups in Action
Magog - Waid
Kryptonite Man - Possibly Williamson judging by some of the arc names he’s teased, and he referenced Clay Ramsay in his Batman/Superman run
Mxy - PKJ is probably going to use him after Metallo, if not him then…
Conduit - …I bet Kenny paired with Aethyr is who he’ll use
Maxima - PKJ was very enthusiastic about using her but it sounds like it won’t happen until 2024 since he seems to have already plotted out 2023
Ultraman - Taylor

Waid is the big question mark insofar as we really don’t know who he will be using over in his book after the current arc, the solicits do a good job of hiding what’s coming. I’d like to see someone do something with Solaris.

Thanks for the recap .

[Vordan]

[Mantis-Ray]

That is surprisingly adorable, father's are hated rivals but the kids have a crush on each other, thats cute.

Also damn I recently read Last Son of Krypton, shame that Lor went full villain

[Mantis-Ray]

That is a fucking cool looking toy

[signalman112]

Australia reprint comic.

ActionAnnualAustralia.jpg

[BlackClaw]

😜

I’m so ready for Jason to play Lobo.

[The Frog Bros]

Don't mess with the shades...
20230104_090150.jpg

[Vordan]

From Williamson’s recent Substack:



Nick Dragotta’s Lex armor designs.

[Frontier]

From Williamson’s recent Substack:



Nick Dragotta’s Lex armor designs.

Straight up Mecha .

[Vordan]

Should come as no surprise that the two likely choices for the Big Bad of Testament are General Zod and Brainiac. Figured I’d write up reasons to support why it’s either of them.



Reasons why it’s Zod:

1. Hitch has said it will cover everything from Krypton to the LoSH. We already saw Krypton’s death in Birthright, why go back there? Because we didn’t see Waid’s version of Zod, that justifies a trip back to Krypton to see his origin and relationship with Jor-El. And the Legion? Well you’ll recall the infamous Byrne story which involved a Zod killing Pocket Zone Superboy, who has a connection to the Post Crisis Legion, with Superman retaliating by executing Zod and his comrades. Which leads into reason 2.
2. It’s been teased that Testament will deal with Superman’s no kill rule. Waid still hates Snyder’s Man of Steel and he also hates Byrne, both of those two had Superman kill Zod, Waid doing a big Zod story where Superman is tested but holds fast to his principles as a repudiation to those two is definitely the kind of thing he would try. Hitch also hates Snyder’s MoS and he’s the master of doing big superhero slugfests that feature a lot of urban destruction. Would not be surprised if Testament is Waid and Hitch doing their own take on how MoS should have ended.
3. Kaminski has said Zod will play a big role in 2023, but neither PKJ nor Williamson seem set to use him. However we know Kaminski is a huge supporter of Waid and I would not be surprised if Testament was what he was referring to, especially since 2023 is when Testament is set to come out per Hitch.



Reasons why it’s Brainiac:

1. Waid had no problems cribbing from the DCAU, I could see him adapting the DCAU origin for Brainiac as a Kryptonian AI which would mandate a trip back to Krypton for similar reasons as Zod. And of course Brainiac 5 has a self-evident connection to both Superman and Brainiac which would justify him and the LoSH being involved
2. Brainiac is the one villain Waid has said he really wants to do a big Superman story with to revamp him. He’s also a big enough threat to justify Superman wrestling with the ethics of whether or not to keep him alive.
3. Brainiac invading Metropolis is the perfect kind of setup for Hitch to draw, lots of urban destruction straight out of the Authority when the Skull Ship shows up over the city to bottle it

Frankly I think it’s Zod personally. Kaminski’s comments just make more sense if he was referring to Waid’s project and no one else as of right now seems to be using him. Plus Zod is set to appear in The Flash and what better time to try to get some synergy sales than a big Superman vs. Zod story by one of Superman’s most well-known writers which is all about wrestling with the impact of Man of Steel the same way The Flash is rumored to? Bonus points in that both serve as a kind of capstone for Zack Snyder’s era with The Flash erasing Cavill from the franchise and Waid doing a story that’s all about how terrible and wrong Snyder’s take is.

[marhawkman]

Should come as no surprise that the two likely choices for the Big Bad of Testament are General Zod and Brainiac. Figured I’d write up reasons to support why it’s either of them.



Reasons why it’s Zod:

1. Hitch has said it will cover everything from Krypton to the LoSH. We already saw Krypton’s death in Birthright, why go back there? Because we didn’t see Waid’s version of Zod, that justifies a trip back to Krypton to see his origin and relationship with Jor-El. And the Legion? Well you’ll recall the infamous Byrne story which involved a Zod killing Pocket Zone Superboy, who has a connection to the Post Crisis Legion, with Superman retaliating by executing Zod and his comrades. Which leads into reason 2.
2. It’s been teased that Testament will deal with Superman’s no kill rule. Waid still hates Snyder’s Man of Steel and he also hates Byrne, both of those two had Superman kill Zod, Waid doing a big Zod story where Superman is tested but holds fast to his principles as a repudiation to those two is definitely the kind of thing he would try. Hitch also hates Snyder’s MoS and he’s the master of doing big superhero slugfests that feature a lot of urban destruction. Would not be surprised if Testament is Waid and Hitch doing their own take on how MoS should have ended.
3. Kaminski has said Zod will play a big role in 2023, but neither PKJ nor Williamson seem set to use him. However we know Kaminski is a huge supporter of Waid and I would not be surprised if Testament was what he was referring to, especially since 2023 is when Testament is set to come out per Hitch.



Reasons why it’s Brainiac:

1. Waid had no problems cribbing from the DCAU, I could see him adapting the DCAU origin for Brainiac as a Kryptonian AI which would mandate a trip back to Krypton for similar reasons as Zod. And of course Brainiac 5 has a self-evident connection to both Superman and Brainiac which would justify him and the LoSH being involved
2. Brainiac is the one villain Waid has said he really wants to do a big Superman story with to revamp him. He’s also a big enough threat to justify Superman wrestling with the ethics of whether or not to keep him alive.
3. Brainiac invading Metropolis is the perfect kind of setup for Hitch to draw, lots of urban destruction straight out of the Authority when the Skull Ship shows up over the city to bottle it

Frankly I think it’s Zod personally. Kaminski’s comments just make more sense if he was referring to Waid’s project and no one else as of right now seems to be using him. Plus Zod is set to appear in The Flash and what better time to try to get some synergy sales than a big Superman vs. Zod story by one of Superman’s most well-known writers which is all about wrestling with the impact of Man of Steel the same way The Flash is rumored to? Bonus points in that both serve as a kind of capstone for Zack Snyder’s era with The Flash erasing Cavill from the franchise and Waid doing a story that’s all about how terrible and wrong Snyder’s take is.

Hmmm..... "Son of Vril Dox.... KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!

[Vordan]

Hmmm..... "Son of Vril Dox.... KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!

They really need to try another three way war between Lex, Brainiac, and Zod. New Krypton wasting that great idea is why I’m still miffed over the whole fiasco. Supes three biggest foes all having good reason to hate each other and the power/resources to wage war is a killer premise.