Michael Dorn and Sami Basri on Steelworks

[Vordan]

STEELWORKS #2

Written by MICHAEL DORN
Art by SAMI BASRI
Cover by CLAY MANN
Variant cover by SAMI BASRI
1:25 variant cover by IBRAHIM MOUSTAFA
$3.99 US | 32 pages | 2 of 6 | Variant $4.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 7/4/23
ENTER: THE SILVER MIST!
John Henry Irons’s Steelworks company may be up and running, but this radical reimagining of Metropolis civic works has caught the attention of the biggest players in the city—both good and evil! With rival businessman Charles Walker III’s newest mutation, the Silver Mist, stalking Steel’s armory, John Henry had better watch his back or he might get a knife planted into it! All this while wrestling with the biggest question of all for our man of steel…“Am I man or Super-Man?”

Guess Jay is showing up here too. Joy. Still despite the initial solicit for the first issue, seems like this is very much a John Henry Irons story after all which makes me happy. Odd there’s been no explicit cover showing Lana, I was hoping she would be more of a participant in this.

[Frontier]

Jay feels so random.

[Vordan]

Jay feels so random.

Guarantee it’s just Kaminski finding a place for Jay to be while Taylor wastes everyone’s time with Jon off by himself in Injustice land. Maybe Dorn will do something interesting with him? If they’re committed to keeping him and Jon together then someone needs to make him more interesting.

[Quinlan58]

Jay there is indeed curious. Not that I mind it, since unlike everyone else it seems, I actually like Jay. If only because he was like, the only interesting thing in those issues of SoKE I did read. Still, I wonder what aspect of the guy is going to be playing a role here. His news stream? Or his connections to Gamorra?

Still, more interested in this seemingly doing the heavylifting regarding Metropolis worldbuilding for the PKJ era. Williamson strikes me as playing to his own tune, after all. I suppose doing it like this both frees PKJ to explore other stories and makes everything feel "bigger". Just hoping Dorn and Basri pull this off.

[Mantis-Ray]

Wait thats Jay? That is a weird inclusion.

Guarantee it’s just Kaminski finding a place for Jay to be while Taylor wastes everyone’s time with Jon off by himself in Injustice land. Maybe Dorn will do something interesting with him? If they’re committed to keeping him and Jon together then someone needs to make him more interesting.

I will laugh if they actually manage to find a decent use of the character that Taylor never managed to despite devoting 18 issues to it.

[Kuwagaton]

I mean I suppose it makes as much sense as borrowing Lana.

[Vordan]

I mean I suppose it makes as much sense as borrowing Lana.

Lana is JHI’s current girlfriend/maybe fiancé, makes perfect sense she would show up. Far as I remember, JHI and Jon haven’t said one word to each other yet. JHI is closest to Nat, Clark, and Conner, Jon’s boyfriend is not the most obvious choice to include in a Steelworks book. I could see him potentially bringing something to the table if they’ve ditched Lana being a reporter, something Bendis established, but if she is still a reporter I can’t really see what Jay brings that Lana couldn’t do. Maybe Jay is an antagonist, investigating Steelworks to make sure it’s on the up and up? That would potentially be interesting, which means that’s not what they’ll do with him since DC is committed to Jay being the safe boring boyfriend.

Long as his inclusion doesn’t detract too much from the Irons’, it’s a “sure whatever” move to me.

[Kuwagaton]

I think in total I have read three comic pages with Jay on them. Pretty indifferent as well, to say the least.

But I was trying to point out that Lana meant nothing to Jon, until one day she really did. He'd been a Super character for twenty years and then I guess it was pak

[Vordan]

I think in total I have read three comic pages with Jay on them. Pretty indifferent as well, to say the least.

But I was trying to point out that Lana meant nothing to Jon, until one day she really did. He'd been a Super character for twenty years and then I guess it was pak

Ah I understand now. Yeah Pak was the one to pair the two, and in fairness to him, it was during the New 52 reboot when JHI was one of the first superheroes and Pak was also trying to build Lana into a supporting character for Superman’s post Smallville life. Enjoyed it in Pak’s Action run but what made it really click into place for me was actually a blog post from Priest about his Steel run. He described his take on Steel as a “mean-spirited deconstruction” of the Super-Mythos, and seeing Steel in that light was what made me really a fan of JHI/Lana.

You’ve got two people whose lives were touched by Superman, one who was inspired to be better after being saved by Supes, one who initially hoped to be with him romantically before accepting it wasn’t meant to be, and the two of them end up together because they’re both still in Superman’s orbit. Steel, the man who tried to replace Clark when he died but isn’t him, and Lana, the other iconic LL love interest who will never be able to beat Lois, getting together feels in line with the way Priest saw Steel. Neither are the person they were hoping to be but both are trying to be more than they were before. It’s a more interesting relationship to me than Lana being with Pete, and Lana having been changed to an engineer herself by Pak makes it more believable.

That’s my two cents anyway lol, we’ll see how Dorn handles it and whether the relationship gets any real development.

[Mantis-Ray]

Huh now that I think about it, does this mean the Revolutionaries are in play? Cause Jay is a member of them.

That be something considering only Taylor their creator has used them. Well they could make decent antagonists, they are kind of a violent bunch to put it lightly........

[Hypo]

DC reveals art and details on Michael Dorn’s ‘Steelworks’ #1

[Ascended]

Including Jay does seem weird. But maybe he'll actually turn into an interesting character here. He's got three strong hooks this book might be able to use; he's tied to an advanced country that John Henry might do business with or be in competition with. He's a journalist who might either be looking for the hidden dirt or a true supporter of the cause. And he's tied to Jon and the Kents, which means there could be some family drama regardless of whatever Jay's interests here include.

It's John Henry. It's Michael Dorn. That's more than enough for me to get this. Jay isn't a factor at all; I read all of SoKE, which I think includes basically all of Jay's appearances and he's still a crap excuse for a character who brings virtually nothing to the table, and has failed to deliver on the few things he *does* bring. But if he can be used well here, that's good for everyone. Good for Steel, good for Jon, good for Metropolis as a whole. We need quality supporting cast characters, and if this book can make Jay one of them, then it'll accomplish something Taylor has failed to do.

[Vordan]

DC reveals art and details on Michael Dorn’s ‘Steelworks’ #1

I like the art here and I dig what Dorn has to say about the character.

Including Jay does seem weird. But maybe he'll actually turn into an interesting character here. He's got three strong hooks this book might be able to use; he's tied to an advanced country that John Henry might do business with or be in competition with. He's a journalist who might either be looking for the hidden dirt or a true supporter of the cause. And he's tied to Jon and the Kents, which means there could be some family drama regardless of whatever Jay's interests here include.

It's John Henry. It's Michael Dorn. That's more than enough for me to get this. Jay isn't a factor at all; I read all of SoKE, which I think includes basically all of Jay's appearances and he's still a crap excuse for a character who brings virtually nothing to the table, and has failed to deliver on the few things he *does* bring. But if he can be used well here, that's good for everyone. Good for Steel, good for Jon, good for Metropolis as a whole. We need quality supporting cast characters, and if this book can make Jay one of them, then it'll accomplish something Taylor has failed to do.

I’d rather Taylor’s OCs get swept under the rug then see others put in the hard work of making them worthwhile and Taylor reaping the glory of creating them myself.

[Kuwagaton]

Basri reminding me of Clayton Henry. Must be the coloring

[Ascended]

I like the art here and I dig what Dorn has to say about the character.

I don't expect incredible quality out of Dorn, as far as pure craft is concerned. This is the guy's first comic gig after all, it's probably gonna be a little rough around the edges. But I do have a lot of faith in Dorn's ability to understand the characters and craft an interesting story with them. I'm pretty damn hopeful overall, and thrilled that the best Super (other than Clark himself) is finally getting some page time!

Does Dorn have a co-writer, or a hands-on editor/mentor who is showing him the ropes and teaching him how to write for the medium?

I’d rather Taylor’s OCs get swept under the rug then see others put in the hard work of making them worthwhile and Taylor reaping the glory of creating them myself.

That'd be ideal, but if we're stuck with Jay I'd rather another writer try to make him interesting, Taylor's done **** all for that so far.