Originally Posted by
manofsteel1979
Good point, and I think it underlines one of the weaknesses of the conceit of the New 52...which is that in spite of the fact the powers that be present the DCNu/DC YOU era as something bold and new and a clear break from the past, it really isn't as divorced from the past as it appears on the surface, and the fact is, it's a case of wanting to have their cake and eat it too.
Look at the conceit of TRUTH and just the Lois Lane stuff, and how the story has been sold. As much as it may not be the case in the actual published comic, there is no doubt the Press office at DC want everyone that hasn't picked up a Superman comic for awhile, or ever,to think that Lois Lane, "Superman's Girlfriend/lover/wife", has betrayed him, yet in the actual current state of the Superman continuity, Lois is and never has been romantically linked to Superman, and in fact is supposidly just (barely) bff's with Clark Kent and has barely interacted with Superman aside from a couple issues of Grant Morrison's ACTION COMICS, A cameo or two in JUSTICE LEAGUE, an extended cameo as BrainiLois in DOOMED and all of SUPERMAN UNCHAINED (although it's place in continuity is questionable at best). Now, granted, one of the other conceits of the NEW 52, at least early on, was a lot of the stuff that happened before FLASHPOINT occured, just over the course of 5 years rather than 15-20 years as it was previously, thus some details changed, but going just on whats been published and shown, Lois Lane really doesn't have that much of a history with Superman at all, and that's why, when we get to the big reveal in #42...it feels just empty. It lacks emotion or resonance....UNLESS you view it through the prism of all the previous Superman and Lois Lane stories...then and only then does it regain any sort of real impact.
Same with Perry's reaction here. It should be a heartbreaking moment for us in the audience and for Perry,but when viewed through just the lens of just the stuff actually published and in continuity....well...it just doesn't gel or have any impact. I mean, how much panel time have we had with Perry since the relaunch? Not a whole heck of a lot. However, if one adds to the mix all the history from prior? Then you can feel more of an impact.
Again though, that relies on a knowledge of who these characters were in a previous history, and that speaks to the larger issue at hand, which is while Superman himself has been developed better since the early months of the restart, most of his cast that wasn't Jimmy or Lana have been very poorly defined or at the least his relationship to those characters has not been given any real life. I mean, we have been told over and over that Lois and Clark are best friends...but other than SUPERMAN UNCHAINED...where have we actually seen it given any real time? We are told here that Perry loved Clark like a son....yet, other than a couple of the more recent Johns penned issues, where have we gotten a sense this is true? The previous Perry and Clark....we saw that relationship defined over many years. Same with Lois...but the current versions? Borderline cyphers. With Jimmy's part in all this, you feel some resonance, as we have seen that relationship explored over the course of the last 4 years. Same with Lana and John Henry. Same with Diana to an extent. Superman needs his cast and universe better defined before you go tearing it all down like they've done here.You need a sufficent number of apples in the apple cart before upsetting it, otherwise, why do it in the first place?
Which is why, i think, instead of jumping right into something like TRUTH, Yang, Pak and company should have spent a year or two further developing the various corners of the Superman universe. Pak could have defined the future kentville and it's residents more clearly. Yang in Superman could have more clearly shown his relationship with Lois and Perry and the Daily Planet itself. WW/SUPERMAN could have spent more time developing that relationship...etc.Flesh out all corners of the Superman mythos as it exists in 2015 without relying on continuity that is no longer supposidly in play. Build up his world for a couple years...then...BAM out of nowhere spring all this.
Don't misunderstand...I like a lot of the ideas shown and the overall concept....and it's mostly been overall well written, but I can't help but think the full potential here won't and can't be utilized because of the folly of past poor creator and editorial decisions.