The True Superman Arrives, Batman Faces Competition & More in DC Comics' June Releases

[The Nuke]

I really don't see DC going back to New52 Superman if the upcoming RebirthSuperman titles in any way, eclipse the sales of what New52Superman's was bringing in the past couple of years. Which were declining or stagnated if you want to be nice about it. Going for a whole different direction with a Super-Family being the focus, only to later go back to the other guy, who DC obviously doesn't have much faith or interest in upholding, would be bizarre. But hey, it's DC.

I don't think which Superman it is will have an affect on Sales. What will be the deciding factor is quality of the comics themselves. Lets forget that Pre52 is returning and the NU52 may be going(may be), and lets talk about him simply as Superman. DC tried new things with "SUPERMAN," with the NU52. They tried the hip and cool look, didn't work. Stories where Superhero's lose their powers are usually very compelling, because people like the moments when they get them back. They tried that story with Clark again, it had happened to him before, and it still didn't work.

I think it's gotten to the point where people just want to read Superman stories. Old School Superman stories. All Star Superman and American Alien show how just treating Superman as Superman seems to garner the most enjoyment out of the character.

I'm also liking the idea of him getting his own Super family of sorts. That might help him too.

Anyway, you people can bitch all day about which Superman you prefer. I'm just gonna call him Superman.

[Grayskull Guardian]

Isn't New 52 Superman supposed to be Pre-Flashpoint Superman after Barry Allen messed with time travel for Flashpoint (all because Geoff Johns had to pull a Disney on his Mom). I know Convergence said otherwise but I didn't make it through that to the end.

[The Nuke]

Isn't New 52 Superman supposed to be Pre-Flashpoint Superman after Barry Allen messed with time travel for Flashpoint (all because Geoff Johns had to pull a Disney on his Mom). I know Convergence said otherwise but I didn't make it through that to the end.

This is accurate. People who now love the NU52 characters consider this otherwise, but all the characters were supposed to be their Pre-Flashpoint selves. The whole concept was making these older versions seems fresh and new, and thus retconning out stuff DC didn't like and introducing new concepts. Still the same characters.

Then Convergence happened, and we found out that, not the case. At the same time after Zero Year, it was pretty obvious that Batman in the NU52 wasn't the same guy as from the Pre-52.

Even with Convergence we're supposed to believe that the Pre52 Earth EVOLVED into the NU52 Earth after Flashpoint. I don't think there's a Pre52 World.

[Handsome men don't lose fights]

Isn't New 52 Superman supposed to be Pre-Flashpoint Superman after Barry Allen messed with time travel for Flashpoint (all because Geoff Johns had to pull a Disney on his Mom). I know Convergence said otherwise but I didn't make it through that to the end.

Yeah. They're all supposed to be the same characters, just with their pasts tweaked by Barry accidentally messing with the timeline. The convergence retcon is a cop out. It makes sense, but it's also infuriating if you've been investing coin in this universe. DC jerks its readers around too much. That's the prime reason I don't pay for their product, and check out the trade paperbacks from my local public library.

[Dataweaver]

Isn't New 52 Superman supposed to be Pre-Flashpoint Superman after Barry Allen messed with time travel for Flashpoint (all because Geoff Johns had to pull a Disney on his Mom). I know Convergence said otherwise but I didn't make it through that to the end.

Answer: Hypertime. Specifically, whenever you change history, the timeline splits. New52 Superman is from the timeline that Barry and Pandora established at the end of Flashpoint; “Superdad” is from the timeline that the New52 timeline was split off of. This is especially true when the timeline changes are as extensive as the New52 changes have been.

They're both “the True Superman”.

[pogofan]

Great thanks! I found a Convergence: Flashpoint Book 1 TPB which seems to feature the post Crisis Supes with a pregnant Lois. Guess I should start there. For the life of me I can't find any TPB (or solicit) for the Jurgens Lois & Clark series. You'd think even if it was ending soon, there'd be a TPB coming on the horizon.

Amazon lists "Superman: Lois & Clark, vol. 1" [and only, presumably] as coming out on Sept. 6th. That probably means Aug. 31 for the comics shops--maybe Aug. 24. FYI, there are five stories in that Convergence: Flashpoint book, only one of which is about Superman.

[solletaire]

They're really sticking with Terry being dead? That's horrible

I agree. I know they are trying to make sure the New 52 stories are still counted as continuity, but considering the whole Futures End/Batman Beyond series occurred in a hypothetical future, couldn't they just changed things up this one time... I think even the folks who bought the entire weekly series are at this point convinced it was a What IF?! Elseworlds! type of story...

[The Shredder]

I don't think which Superman it is will have an affect on Sales. What will be the deciding factor is quality of the comics themselves. Lets forget that Pre52 is returning and the NU52 may be going(may be), and lets talk about him simply as Superman. DC tried new things with "SUPERMAN," with the NU52. They tried the hip and cool look, didn't work. Stories where Superhero's lose their powers are usually very compelling, because people like the moments when they get them back. They tried that story with Clark again, it had happened to him before, and it still didn't work.

I think it's gotten to the point where people just want to read Superman stories. Old School Superman stories. All Star Superman and American Alien show how just treating Superman as Superman seems to garner the most enjoyment out of the character.

I'm also liking the idea of him getting his own Super family of sorts. That might help him too.

Anyway, you people can bitch all day about which Superman you prefer. I'm just gonna call him Superman.

I've spoken about this before, but I think DC taking Superman into the direction of the Super Family, reminiscent of whats going on over with the Batman titles for some time now, is what DC is hoping becomes successful & better yet, can sustain itself without continually changing the character's distinct personality/history/experiences via reboots and such. I'm not so sure editorial can pull this off, but I'll return as a reader and give it a go. Not only RebirthSuperman, but the new DC line of books as well. If it doesn't suit me, I'm gone. Much like how I gave the overwhelming majority of the New52 for a couple of years before deciding I'm out.

[Dataweaver]

I agree. I know they are trying to make sure the New 52 stories are still counted as continuity, but considering the whole Futures End/Batman Beyond series occurred in a hypothetical future, couldn't they just changed things up this one time... I think even the folks who bought the entire weekly series are at this point convinced it was a What IF?! Elseworlds! type of story...

If ever there was something worry of retconning, this is it: it's to be expected that Terry's fans didn't like the change; but it's important to note that Tim's fans didn't like it either.

[steeplejack2112]

Meh....whatever is, is. I didn't care for the New 52 Superman, but I still bought the books. New....True....Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, Modern Age....makes no difference to me anymore. I'll buy the damn books, and see what comes of it.

[Doctor Bifrost]

Of course, I don't know what they're going to do. And maybe they've got some great idea, and they'll make it all turn out good.

But really, I wish they would just pick a universe. And put some thought into having that universe make sense as a fictional setting. And have a Superman who was born in that universe, and raised on that universe's Earth, and met people and had experiences and reacted to them and thus had his character develop.

And then tell stories about that Superman. Good stories. Going forward.

Maybe I have a preference of a Superman version from among SuperDad, and N52 Superman, and post-CoIE pre-FP Superman, and Superman who was Superboy and Superbaby before that, and Superman who can move planets, and Superman who can jump but not fly and doesn't have heat vision. I have read them all, after all. But you know what? I'm not even going to mention which of those is my favorite. (It may depend on the day.)

Because my preference from among all those versions of Superman is nowhere near as strong as my preference for narrative coherence. Stories that follow through on their premises. Stories that don't read like the writers are getting bored with "this version of the character" every three years. Or where they keep mixing and matching dimensional counterparts in a desperate and ultimately futile attempt to get "the right version of Superman for the readership base" - futile because the constant changes almost ensure that you can't build up a readership over time.

Give me good stories about interesting characters, have those characters develop over time, have some consistency and continuity so you can create an interesting and compelling fictional setting that matches the characters and is useful in storytelling, and I won't care very much about whether this Superman has a son or not. (There's lots of ways to introduce a Superboy character, if that's what you want to do.) But if you tell me: "This year we're mixing Superdad, the DK Batman, Cyborg as a founding member of the JLA, Catwoman in her purple slinky phase, and a Swamp Thing who was Alec Holland - but in a couple of years, if we don't like the sales figures, we'll have a Retcon/Reboot/Relaunch/Rebrand Marketing Event and switch those around" - that is not likely to capture my interest long-term. And I bet it won't do much for your sales figures long-term either.

Create your characters. Write good, ongoing, serial stories about them. Give your readers something to get interested in, to come back to every month, and stop pulling the rug out from under them so often! Personally, I think that's even more important than whether Superman is married or not (even if I do have a preference there).

But that's just me.

[Robotman]

so someone at a DC editorial meeting said "hey i've got an idea. let's make Superman, comics' most iconic character, a convoluted mess." to which of course Didio and co. said "genius!"

[JasonTodd428]

They're really sticking with Terry being dead? That's horrible

Nope. Terry will be returning to the cowl this October and Tim gets the boot and I'm very pleased with that. It was announced at Wonder con.

[JasonTodd428]

I agree. I know they are trying to make sure the New 52 stories are still counted as continuity, but considering the whole Futures End/Batman Beyond series occurred in a hypothetical future, couldn't they just changed things up this one time... I think even the folks who bought the entire weekly series are at this point convinced it was a What IF?! Elseworlds! type of story...

Um... Terry is coming back though when Batman Beyond gets it's Rebirth this fall.

[Sacred Knight]

so someone at a DC editorial meeting said "hey i've got an idea. let's make Superman, comics' most iconic character, a convoluted mess." to which of course Didio and co. said "genius!"

That's "what was missing" from the New 52. His origin and his history was too clean. DC needs him as much a mess and complicated as he can possibly be. Then they can go back to ignoring him like they always do at peace.