*~LANE & KENT~* Clark/Superman & Lois relationship...

[The Dying Detective]

DC have released a five page story from Action#1000 early, it's called "Of Tomorrow" and it's by Tom King

https://www.dccomics.com/reader/#/comics/436774

spoilers:

It takes place billions of years in the future, and Superman has returned to Earth as it begins to come apart, he's there to say farewell to his Earth parents, he lets us know Lois and Jon are fine...Lois has been taking some kind of eternity drug (tastes like grape, which she usually likes, but she's grown tired of it after many years) and runs something called the Universal Info Network...he wishes Martha Kent could see what Jon's grown up to be. He puts together a crystal monument of his younger self with Ma and Pa and leaves it with a plaque honoring their names.

end of spoilers

Most stories that involve Superman living in the future involve Lois dying, he's childless and getting paired up with Wonder Woman this is different for change from all the doom and gloom scenarios that involve Lois's death.

[rpmaluki]

Superman and Lois together, always. As it should be.

[rosawater]

DC have released a five page story from Action#1000 early, it's called "Of Tomorrow" and it's by Tom King

https://www.dccomics.com/reader/#/comics/436774

spoilers:

It takes place billions of years in the future, and Superman has returned to Earth as it begins to come apart, he's there to say farewell to his Earth parents, he lets us know Lois and Jon are fine...Lois has been taking some kind of eternity drug (tastes like grape, which she usually likes, but she's grown tired of it after many years) and runs something called the Universal Info Network...he wishes Martha Kent could see what Jon's grown up to be. He puts together a crystal monument of his younger self with Ma and Pa and leaves it with a plaque honoring their names.

end of spoilers

I loved it. Clark's love is as extraordinary as he is. spoilers:

Even after a billions of years, he continues to love, honor and "visit" his parents. When he says he loves someone until the end of time, he freakin' means it.

end of spoilers

Superman and Lois together, always. As it should be.

Ayup. Forever and always.

[Jon11]

Action Comics #1000 1980s variant cover by Joshua Middleton:



Pat Gleason on the new arc:

Building Boyzarro: Patrick Gleason Expands the Bizarroverse

By Tim Beedle

Since the launch of Rebirth in 2016, Patrick Gleason and Peter J. Tomasi have reinvigorated the Man of Steel through a series of powerful standalone stories in the pages of SUPERMAN. They’ve featured Lex Luthor, Eradicator, Apokolips and Mister Oz, among many others, but not Bizarro. Not until today’s SUPERMAN #42.

“Bizarroverse” is a three-part story that features the return of Gleason to art as well as writing. It looks to expand the world of Bizarro in remarkable new directions…and it may surprise you. Especially if you’re one who sees Bizarro largely as a humorous villain. We recently spoke to Gleason about how this story came together, what it felt like to return to art and how he came to like the new character of Boyzarro so much, he made the story about him.

So, it’s been almost two years since you and Peter started your run on Superman. Why do you think it took this long to get to Bizarro?

It’s two years on a biweekly schedule, so in real schedule time, that’s like four years’ worth of work, basically.

It’s a good question. He didn’t really stand out to us. But one day I was going through some old sketchbooks and I found one of my first Superman sketches, and I saw this Bizarro sketch that I had done. And I thought that he might be fun to draw. That’s really where it started.

I met with Pete in Chicago last year and we started kicking around an idea of what the story could be, and it kind of took its shape slowly. Basically, we wanted to do something with Bizarro, but focus on the character. He’s always been Superman’s opposite, but he’s never been this Superman’s opposite, with the family and things like that. That’s what was interesting to me, and Pete and I just had a blast talking about that and what that could look like.

This comic has some long, extended interior narrative by Bizarro that I actually found a fun sort of challenge to get through. Was that difficult to write?

Well, it’s interesting. In SUPERMAN #1, the first thing that I wrote was the two-page spread with Clark Kent pulling open his shirt, and that line, “The colors will fly.”

So, when it came to this, I wanted to do the Bizarro version of that. I have to say, my brain is permanently changed by this. I finished dialoging the last issue, SUPERMAN #44, yesterday. When I got done, I was literally thinking in Bizarro-speak. Something is permanently wrong in my brain now!

It was a challenge, but like you said, it’s fun challenge. It’s working different muscles, and you kind of play with double meanings and things like that. Again, the reason for that was because we want this Bizarro story to have a deeper meaning. It is fun, but there is really more behind it. At its core, this story is about fathers and sons, and the perception of Superman, Jon and Lois as that perfect family. That whole too-good-to-be-true kind of relationship. What Pete and I were interested in was if there was a version of that relationship that wasn’t perfect.

One of the thoughts I had after reading this was that you have Superman and Jon who are Kryptonian, along with Bizarro and Boyzarro and Kathy and her grandfather, who also aren’t human. These are all very extreme, otherworldly characters, but the relationships are so recognizable and human. Was that one of your points, showing how universal these bonds are?

Absolutely. No matter who you are or where you are, the people around you, whether they’re blood relatives or close relationships, they become your family. They become the relationships that shape who you are. That’s always been what we wanted to do with Superman, with Jon, specifically, and Hamilton and Kathy. We didn’t just want to give Jon a town to grow up in and then have him always running off to Metropolis. We wanted Hamilton to be his Smallville.



We went through a few changes with Kathy. Interestingly, she was originally going to be a villain, and we ended up liking her so much that I told Pete, “I don’t think I can do it. I don’t think I can make her a villain. I like her. She’s almost like a Lana Lang, but different too.”

Bringing her into this story was very intentional because we’ve always had plans to grow her beyond what she is. I’m always interested in creating new characters and playing with characters that are new because there isn’t a preconceived notion of where they’re going. I like there to be a variety and a freshness where you’re not sure who they are or how they’ll relate. I think it’s been great to see Kathy and Jon grow together and Superman and Boyzarro, too!

Let’s talk about Boyzarro for a moment. After helping to introduce Jonathan Kent, was it fun to flip it on its head and introduce us to Boyzarro?

Yes. Boyzarro was an idea that was kind of a joke. “Well, obviously if there’s a Bizarro, we need a Bizarro Boy, too.” That’s what I was calling him at the time. I did a sketch of him, and as soon as I drew it, I knew who that character was. I could see into this character’s soul. He was just a special character. So much so that I actually changed the end of issue #42. The original focus was going to be about Bizarro, but as I was writing the script, I called Pete up and told him that I thought this was actually a Boyzarro and Jon story. There was a fluid, organic process with this. It really took over. There’s a lot more, obviously, to come with him.

So how did his name evolve from Bizarro Boy to Boyzarro?

It’s kind of a funny thing. I’m on Instagram and Twitter, and I share artwork and things like that. One day, I decided to show Bizarro Boy off. I was just really proud of him. I’d taken a break from art duties to focus primarily on writing last year, and I just wanted to give people something to look forward to and let them know I was going to come back on art. So, I posted this preliminary design for Bizarro Boy, and the response to it was great. I had multiple people on multiple platforms say, “We love Bizarro Boy, but why didn’t you just call him Boyzarro? It’s right there!”

And I kind of sat back, and said, “Oh, they’re right! They’re right. That’s a great name!”

I went back and counted, and there were five or six different people on Instagram and Twitter, and I responded and re-sent the drawing with the name crossed out and Boyzarro written on it instead. I said, “You know what? You guys are right.”



This first chapter blends humor with pathos pretty effectively, much of it due to the art. How do you pull that off?

I have a genie in a lamp somewhere. [laughs]

Obviously, writing with Pete is great because we can bounce these ideas off of each other, and a lot of the terrible ideas that I have never make it to the page because Pete will tell me it’s a terrible idea and not to do it! That’s always what I want to do in a story, whether I’m writing or drawing it. I want to get to the emotion and the character. You could have a great Michael Bay explosion, but if you don’t feel anything about the characters, then it doesn’t matter. If you’re not feeling anything, then all the hours that I put into the art ring hollow. At least for me.


A benefit to writing and drawing is that I know exactly how they’re feeling, and I have total control of that, so I’m able to arrange things in a way to get the most emotion out of the reader. And it’s not me telling everyone how to feel. I think a lot of it is just getting out of the way. Giving you something to look at and read, and then let the reader fill in the blanks themselves. Less is more sometimes. The reader is bringing something to comics. They’re bringing their own experience, their own pasts and their own relatable feelings to this.

With this issue, I really wanted to try and do something a little different with the art, which was not just draw with pencil, but with ink too. To ink myself. This not any slight to Mick Gray, who’s a fantastic inker that I’ve worked with for years, but it’s something that for this story, I wanted to have that control over. To approach it different and see if I could make it feel a little different.

Source: DC Comics.

[rosawater]

Action Comics #1000 1980s variant cover by Joshua Middleton:



Pat Gleason on the new arc:

Building Boyzarro: Patrick Gleason Expands the Bizarroverse

By Tim Beedle

Since the launch of Rebirth in 2016, Patrick Gleason and Peter J. Tomasi have reinvigorated the Man of Steel through a series of powerful standalone stories in the pages of SUPERMAN. They’ve featured Lex Luthor, Eradicator, Apokolips and Mister Oz, among many others, but not Bizarro. Not until today’s SUPERMAN #42.

“Bizarroverse” is a three-part story that features the return of Gleason to art as well as writing. It looks to expand the world of Bizarro in remarkable new directions…and it may surprise you. Especially if you’re one who sees Bizarro largely as a humorous villain. We recently spoke to Gleason about how this story came together, what it felt like to return to art and how he came to like the new character of Boyzarro so much, he made the story about him.

So, it’s been almost two years since you and Peter started your run on Superman. Why do you think it took this long to get to Bizarro?

It’s two years on a biweekly schedule, so in real schedule time, that’s like four years’ worth of work, basically.

It’s a good question. He didn’t really stand out to us. But one day I was going through some old sketchbooks and I found one of my first Superman sketches, and I saw this Bizarro sketch that I had done. And I thought that he might be fun to draw. That’s really where it started.

I met with Pete in Chicago last year and we started kicking around an idea of what the story could be, and it kind of took its shape slowly. Basically, we wanted to do something with Bizarro, but focus on the character. He’s always been Superman’s opposite, but he’s never been this Superman’s opposite, with the family and things like that. That’s what was interesting to me, and Pete and I just had a blast talking about that and what that could look like.

This comic has some long, extended interior narrative by Bizarro that I actually found a fun sort of challenge to get through. Was that difficult to write?

Well, it’s interesting. In SUPERMAN #1, the first thing that I wrote was the two-page spread with Clark Kent pulling open his shirt, and that line, “The colors will fly.”

So, when it came to this, I wanted to do the Bizarro version of that. I have to say, my brain is permanently changed by this. I finished dialoging the last issue, SUPERMAN #44, yesterday. When I got done, I was literally thinking in Bizarro-speak. Something is permanently wrong in my brain now!

It was a challenge, but like you said, it’s fun challenge. It’s working different muscles, and you kind of play with double meanings and things like that. Again, the reason for that was because we want this Bizarro story to have a deeper meaning. It is fun, but there is really more behind it. At its core, this story is about fathers and sons, and the perception of Superman, Jon and Lois as that perfect family. That whole too-good-to-be-true kind of relationship. What Pete and I were interested in was if there was a version of that relationship that wasn’t perfect.

One of the thoughts I had after reading this was that you have Superman and Jon who are Kryptonian, along with Bizarro and Boyzarro and Kathy and her grandfather, who also aren’t human. These are all very extreme, otherworldly characters, but the relationships are so recognizable and human. Was that one of your points, showing how universal these bonds are?

Absolutely. No matter who you are or where you are, the people around you, whether they’re blood relatives or close relationships, they become your family. They become the relationships that shape who you are. That’s always been what we wanted to do with Superman, with Jon, specifically, and Hamilton and Kathy. We didn’t just want to give Jon a town to grow up in and then have him always running off to Metropolis. We wanted Hamilton to be his Smallville.



We went through a few changes with Kathy. Interestingly, she was originally going to be a villain, and we ended up liking her so much that I told Pete, “I don’t think I can do it. I don’t think I can make her a villain. I like her. She’s almost like a Lana Lang, but different too.”

Bringing her into this story was very intentional because we’ve always had plans to grow her beyond what she is. I’m always interested in creating new characters and playing with characters that are new because there isn’t a preconceived notion of where they’re going. I like there to be a variety and a freshness where you’re not sure who they are or how they’ll relate. I think it’s been great to see Kathy and Jon grow together and Superman and Boyzarro, too!

Let’s talk about Boyzarro for a moment. After helping to introduce Jonathan Kent, was it fun to flip it on its head and introduce us to Boyzarro?

Yes. Boyzarro was an idea that was kind of a joke. “Well, obviously if there’s a Bizarro, we need a Bizarro Boy, too.” That’s what I was calling him at the time. I did a sketch of him, and as soon as I drew it, I knew who that character was. I could see into this character’s soul. He was just a special character. So much so that I actually changed the end of issue #42. The original focus was going to be about Bizarro, but as I was writing the script, I called Pete up and told him that I thought this was actually a Boyzarro and Jon story. There was a fluid, organic process with this. It really took over. There’s a lot more, obviously, to come with him.

So how did his name evolve from Bizarro Boy to Boyzarro?

It’s kind of a funny thing. I’m on Instagram and Twitter, and I share artwork and things like that. One day, I decided to show Bizarro Boy off. I was just really proud of him. I’d taken a break from art duties to focus primarily on writing last year, and I just wanted to give people something to look forward to and let them know I was going to come back on art. So, I posted this preliminary design for Bizarro Boy, and the response to it was great. I had multiple people on multiple platforms say, “We love Bizarro Boy, but why didn’t you just call him Boyzarro? It’s right there!”

And I kind of sat back, and said, “Oh, they’re right! They’re right. That’s a great name!”

I went back and counted, and there were five or six different people on Instagram and Twitter, and I responded and re-sent the drawing with the name crossed out and Boyzarro written on it instead. I said, “You know what? You guys are right.”



This first chapter blends humor with pathos pretty effectively, much of it due to the art. How do you pull that off?

I have a genie in a lamp somewhere. [laughs]

Obviously, writing with Pete is great because we can bounce these ideas off of each other, and a lot of the terrible ideas that I have never make it to the page because Pete will tell me it’s a terrible idea and not to do it! That’s always what I want to do in a story, whether I’m writing or drawing it. I want to get to the emotion and the character. You could have a great Michael Bay explosion, but if you don’t feel anything about the characters, then it doesn’t matter. If you’re not feeling anything, then all the hours that I put into the art ring hollow. At least for me.


A benefit to writing and drawing is that I know exactly how they’re feeling, and I have total control of that, so I’m able to arrange things in a way to get the most emotion out of the reader. And it’s not me telling everyone how to feel. I think a lot of it is just getting out of the way. Giving you something to look at and read, and then let the reader fill in the blanks themselves. Less is more sometimes. The reader is bringing something to comics. They’re bringing their own experience, their own pasts and their own relatable feelings to this.

With this issue, I really wanted to try and do something a little different with the art, which was not just draw with pencil, but with ink too. To ink myself. This not any slight to Mick Gray, who’s a fantastic inker that I’ve worked with for years, but it’s something that for this story, I wanted to have that control over. To approach it different and see if I could make it feel a little different.

Source: DC Comics.

Oh wow, that variant is beautiful. So far, Kaare Andrews' variant is still my favorite but...damn.

Thanks for the interview. I really want Tomasi and Gleason to end this run with a bang.

[ARIARAIDEN]

Yaaaassssss, a Action Comics #1000 variant cover with Lois & Clark by the uber talented Kaare Andrews (Third Eye Comics exclusive):

They look so much alike in this cover like Brother and Sister.

[rpmaluki]

Because of the hair colouring? Because nothing else about this cover says "siblings".

[adrikito]

FINALLY, LUTHOR IS IN ONE OF AC 1000 covers..

[I]

I like her design... I saw her yesterday in one image... In the kind of team that one fan wants, a new generation, however I am against 2 boys with kryptonian powers in this team:

Attachment 63081

[Miles To Go]

Ayup. Forever and always.

Too bad there's already fans trying to deconstruct the whole story and suggesting Clark has "cracked" and is alone, or that it's not even Superman

[rosawater]

Aw, come on now. There is no need to insult them. You don’t want to get yourself banned.

I saw that theory and personally thought it was a reach. But that said, if we pretend for a moment that he snapped from loneliness, it would be so tear jerkily sad that spoilers:

he uses the fantasy of Lois and Jon being alive and well to soothe his soul. That would be tragic, but not necessarily a bad story. But then, if we pretend that he snaps of loneliness we have to examine why he seems to accept his parents death but not Jon and Lois’ deaths.

end of spoilers

Also, DC Black Label appears to be a thing. : https://www.newsarama.com/38970-dc-l...e=notification

The initial projects are Superman: Year One by Frank Miller and John Romita Jr.; Batman: Damned by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo; Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Phil Jimenez; Batman: Last Knight on Earth by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo; Wonder Woman: Diana's Daughter by Greg Rucka and an artist to be announced; The Other History of the DC Universe by John Ridley and an artist to be announced.

F**k me, I’m not here for this. Not a fan of Frank Miller. Like, at all. His portrayal of Wonder Woman ( And Batman....AND Superman ) was awful. And given his penchant for sexism I cringe on how he will portray Martha and Lois.

[Miles To Go]

Aw, come on now. There is no need to insult them. You don’t want to get yourself banned.

You're right, I was out of step there. My apologies, I've edited my post.

[rpmaluki]

I don't think there's a need to deconstruct it and make of it what it isn't. This is part of the AC 1000 celebration and I doubt their aim is for the melancholy. spoilers:

He's sad because this is the last time he'll pay his folks a visit before the earth takes its last gasp and has to let both go. Jon and Lois are the hopeful part of the story. You can practically "hear" it in his voice when he starts talking about them. To me that's hardly delusional and it wouldn't make sense to say goodbye to his parents and the earth yet hold on to Lois like some mad man.

end of spoilers

[rosawater]

I don't think there's a need to deconstruct it and make of it what it isn't. This is part of the AC 1000 celebration and I doubt their aim is for the melancholy. spoilers:

He's sad because this is the last time he'll pay his folks a visit before the earth takes its last gasp and has to let both go. Jon and Lois are the hopeful part of the story. You can practically "hear" it in his voice when he starts talking about them. To me that's hardly delusional and it wouldn't make sense to say goodbye to his parents and the earth yet hold on to Lois like some mad man.

end of spoilers

I agree with all of this.

[Jon11]

For one moment I confused this with another Action Comics 1000 cover... But is Reeve.. I needed the others characters here for confirm that..

It's a poster celebrating the 40th Anniversary of "Superman: The Movie."

DC have released a five page story from Action#1000 early, it's called "Of Tomorrow" and it's by Tom King

https://www.dccomics.com/reader/#/comics/436774

spoilers:

It takes place billions of years in the future, and Superman has returned to Earth as it begins to come apart, he's there to say farewell to his Earth parents, he lets us know Lois and Jon are fine...Lois has been taking some kind of eternity drug (tastes like grape, which she usually likes, but she's grown tired of it after many years) and runs something called the Universal Info Network...he wishes Martha Kent could see what Jon's grown up to be. He puts together a crystal monument of his younger self with Ma and Pa and leaves it with a plaque honoring their names.

end of spoilers

Very poignant story and beautiful art by Clay Mann. I'm no fan of immortal Superman, but the stories around it can be very moving, such as this one is.

I like her design... I saw her yesterday in one image... In the kind of team that one fan wants, a new generation, however I am against 2 boys with kryptonian powers in this team:

Attachment 63081

I can't exactly see Lor-Zod joining any heroes team. I think his place currently is a foe for Jon.

(But who knows, I'm certainly not opposed to him bonding with Jon somehow.)

Also, DC Black Label appears to be a thing. : https://www.newsarama.com/38970-dc-l...e=notification



F**k me, I’m not here for this. Not a fan of Frank Miller. Like, at all. His portrayal of Wonder Woman ( And Batman....AND Superman ) was awful. And given his penchant for sexism I cringe on how he will portray Martha and Lois.

Eh, I'll just ignore it, like I've done with other takes recently. Although I do find it funny how DC managed to pair on Superman just the two creators that are at the bottom of my list, LOL.

By @Dee_Stroyer:



Art by Al Rio, colored by Angel Rd:



By robseraf:

[Jon11]

By Juan Ferreyra:





From Superman Family #220:



Source: ComicArtFans.