Is the Next Issue the Last Issue of "American Alien"?

[Flash Gordon]

I'm thinking, if he does do follow-ups (which seems increasingly unlikely - possibly for the best given how rough a lot of his material for Agent of Batman sounds), I'm wondering how much he'd have to do to cover his whole version of the Superman mythos. He specifically outlined once that his version of Superman's life goes:

Smallville -> Metropolis -> Luthor -> Parasite -> Lobo -> Batman -> Metallo -> Wonder Woman -> Bizarro -> Doomsday -> Brainiac -> Zod -> Mxyzptlk -> Luthor As President -> Metallo -> Versus Batman -> form JLA -> Ultra Humanite -> marry Lois -> Darkseid

Now, this timeline was from 2014, before American Alien was a thing, and there may well have been changes in the 'plan' - for instance, Superman's already fought Ultra-Humanite offscreen in American Alien, though maybe it was a smaller fight compared to what he's suggesting happens later on. But American Alien covers that scheme roughly up through Lobo, and maybe Batman (unless he's banking on Agent of Batman happening, there has to be some kind of resolution to that subplot in the last issue where they meet again). Agent of Batman would cover Batman, probably Metallo (he's posted a bit online that suggested as much), Wonder Woman, and probably Bizarro as the finale. With his Death of Superman story covering Doomsday/Brainiac/Zod, you could probably divide his whole Superman Saga up into 5 books, with Mxyzptlk emerging right before Superman's darkest hour with Luthor becoming President, Metallo returning, and fighting Batman all right before the big triumphant moment of the JLA forming, and a final book covering his marriage to Lois and the JLA facing Darkseid. All of which seems to suggest his story isn't so much a comprehensive look at Superman's life as a whole so much as getting him to a point of relative classic stability (married to Lois, the League is formed and his relationships there are stable, Luthor is presumably outed as a villain, he's fought an evil god and won), where I guess is where Landis runs out of stories to tell about him.

It's funny that, that is where most creators run out of stories to tell about Superman. That's right where mine start to lift off.

I guess that's why we always get these "Vs Batman" and "Death of Superman" stories now, though. It's like some weird Greatest Hits, only not any of the songs I enjoy listening to.

[Tayswift]

But that doesn't make him look foolish. Just brutal, vicious, and murderous. Apparently that's a look they're willing to use.

clearly dC doesn't like jokes with superman, but superman burning people alive is ok since it is serious and badass (also psycho)

[Myskin]

I'm thinking, if he does do follow-ups (which seems increasingly unlikely - possibly for the best given how rough a lot of his material for Agent of Batman sounds), I'm wondering how much he'd have to do to cover his whole version of the Superman mythos. He specifically outlined once that his version of Superman's life goes:

Smallville -> Metropolis -> Luthor -> Parasite -> Lobo -> Batman -> Metallo -> Wonder Woman -> Bizarro -> Doomsday -> Brainiac -> Zod -> Mxyzptlk -> Luthor As President -> Metallo -> Versus Batman -> form JLA -> Ultra Humanite -> marry Lois -> Darkseid

Now, this timeline was from 2014, before American Alien was a thing, and there may well have been changes in the 'plan' - for instance, Superman's already fought Ultra-Humanite offscreen in American Alien, though maybe it was a smaller fight compared to what he's suggesting happens later on. But American Alien covers that scheme roughly up through Lobo, and maybe Batman (unless he's banking on Agent of Batman happening, there has to be some kind of resolution to that subplot in the last issue where they meet again). Agent of Batman would cover Batman, probably Metallo (he's posted a bit online that suggested as much), Wonder Woman, and probably Bizarro as the finale. With his Death of Superman story covering Doomsday/Brainiac/Zod, you could probably divide his whole Superman Saga up into 5 books, with Mxyzptlk emerging right before Superman's darkest hour with Luthor becoming President, Metallo returning, and fighting Batman all right before the big triumphant moment of the JLA forming, and a final book covering his marriage to Lois and the JLA facing Darkseid. All of which seems to suggest his story isn't so much a comprehensive look at Superman's life as a whole so much as getting him to a point of relative classic stability (married to Lois, the League is formed and his relationships there are stable, Luthor is presumably outed as a villain, he's fought an evil god and won), where I guess is where Landis runs out of stories to tell about him.

(I think that the double-mentioned Metallo is just a Landis' typo).

Anyway, true, lot of writers or aspiring writers have in mind a Superman "epic" which stops at one point. But it is something I understand, and I don't think that it depends exclusively on running out of ideas. To me it is clear that, rather than a never-ending battle, Superman's story is perceived as a progress towards a climax, and not as an endless series of battles and experiences. I think that this happens for a variety of reasons, and at least two of them are Lois Lane and Lex Luthor. In Superman's narrative, once Superman has revealed his ID to Lois, or Lois has discovered it, the only possible outcome is their love story and the marriage. It's inevitable. It's very difficult to conceive Lois' death, or her marriage to another man, or something like that. It's instinctive and natural to perceive her relationship as something which will have a definitive ending.

The same could be said for Luthor, especially the businessman version. The Luthor/Superman challenge is based on the idea that Superman can stop Luthor's plan, but never definitely prevail. It is a brilliant idea IMHO, and one of the best ones ever conceived by Byrne. Once you have Luthor fall from grace and go to prison, there is no way back. He is, and always be, a criminal - you can have his redemption at one point or not: it is a secondary detail, which depends on the writer's tastes.

Also: there aren't that many Superman villains, and the battles against Bizarro, Parasite and Metallo after a while become repetitive.

I think that somehow the Batman epic is a bit more flexible in that account, because his adventures could go on, so to say, forever. The idea that he can't have a definitive victory is part of his tragic aura. His villains are generally easier to use within the stories - ALL of them are criminals with a certain depth, all the writer has to do is having them conceive a new nefarious plan and Batman thwarting it - and Batman doesn't have any lasting relationship. There can be stories where Batman marries Catwoman, or Silver St Cloud, or Talia Al Ghul, or even stories where he stays alone till the end of his life. None of these versions are more important than the other ones, because in Batman's life there are mainly two elements: an infinite series of battles until the final one (for example against the Joker, or Superman if you take DKR into account), and and a series of possible disciples/descendants.

Just to be clear, I don't think that neither of these versions is more valid than the other one. I think that both the Batman epic and the Superman epic have some good qualities and interesting points and I don't think that having a superhero's adventures go on forever is necessarily a good thing for the character: sometimes, it's just fine to have a beginning and a end.