Superman issue #8 discussion: DINOSAUR PUNCHING!!! (spoilers)

[Last Son of Krypton]

Fun issue. It makes me wish that Superdad and son remain trapped on the island and never come back.

[AcesX1X]

this was my favorite book of the week. so heart-warming and just a really great story

[Dispenser Of Truth]

A thought: this doesn't seem quite as simple as Dinosaur Island just being in the main DCU. There's some very specific stuff in there, especially on the last page, that shouts out New Frontier - as a story, not just broad strokes evocation of the spirit of it. But clearly New Frontier couldn't have happened exactly the same on the main Earth, and I don't think they'll go for something as cheap as Superman quickly beating his Earth's Centre.

It took that motherbox-looking contraption to get there; in theory they could have just flown over the island (which would have worked fine, Clark taking his kid on a field trip), but for the purposes of the story, it needed to be this. So what if they're not on 'their' Dinosaur Island? What if they've been sent to Earth 21, shortly before the final battle that resulted in the JLA's formation? That could be the ending; the island comes to life as Clark and Jon get off, and right before they beam home, they watch in awe as its enveloped in a red-and-gold streak before just as suddenly vanishing into green, and Clark smiles as he realizes what exactly it is he's seeing happen, just like he's seen twice before with the Appellaxians and Darkseid...that'd be a nice little testament.

[Superlad93]

It took that motherbox-looking contraption to get there; in theory they could have just flown over the island (which would have worked fine, Clark taking his kid on a field trip), but for the purposes of the story, it needed to be this. So what if they're not on 'their' Dinosaur Island? What if they've been sent to Earth 21, shortly before the final battle that resulted in the JLA's formation? That could be the ending; the island comes to life as Clark and Jon get off, and right before they beam home, they watch in awe as its enveloped in a red-and-gold streak before just as suddenly vanishing into green, and Clark smiles as he realizes what exactly it is he's seeing happen, just like he's seen twice before with the Appellaxians and Darkseid...that'd be a nice little testament.

I think you're right, but, while I'd LOVE to see that ending, I think it might be set a little earlier than that. The "present day" story of NF is set in the early 1950s, while the story of the Losers is set in 1945. The decomposed bones mean a good amount of time has passed, but the inclusion of a solder on the island makes me feel like it's set only a little after 1945. The solder on the variant cover actually looks just like Skipper who we never actually SEE die. He's simply carried off. It's a nice way to revisit the world but still stay respectful. This attention to detail is where you can see Tomasi and the team's passion for this arc.

But Tomasi basically confirms that this IS Cooke's island from NF straight up in an interview. He's asked what version of Dinosaur island is this, and he responds "it's Darwyn Cooke's dinosaur island from New Frontier." I'll link the interview later (it's in the preview thread). People took it as a homage, but given that NF has it's own world, it seems more than likely that he just simply used it.

Side note: Why isn't New Frontier Earth-21 an ongoing? The idea of a perpetually optimistic space age DCU full of science heroes and lead by and idealized JFK sounds amazing. I would be awesome if the assassination attempt were stopped by Superman pretending to be the president, and the JLA stopping the shooter. Why isn't this a thing? I'm sure Tomasi and A LOT of creators would kill to be on such a book.

[Superlad93]

Newsarama: Pat and Pete, can we just say right up front what version of Dinosaur Island you're featuring in this book?

Peter Tomasi: It's the New Frontier Dinosaur Island.

http://www.newsarama.com/31255-next-...-frontier.html

[AlexanderLuthor]

This issue is one of the reasons I'm really enjoying Rebirth generally - DC no longer seem afraid to try a story like this because of a continuity issue. The approach now seems to be, hey these are great stories let's fold them into our Universe even if we just give it a comic book explanation. It's a pretty big deal, I think, that the Multiverse is showing up in the main Superman book

[superduperman]

I think you're right, but, while I'd LOVE to see that ending, I think it might be set a little earlier than that. The "present day" story of NF is set in the early 1950s, while the story of the Losers is set in 1945. The decomposed bones mean a good amount of time has passed, but the inclusion of a solder on the island makes me feel like it's set only a little after 1945. The solder on the variant cover actually looks just like Skipper who we never actually SEE die. He's simply carried off. It's a nice way to revisit the world but still stay respectful. This attention to detail is where you can see Tomasi and the team's passion for this arc.

But Tomasi basically confirms that this IS Cooke's island from NF straight up in an interview. He's asked what version of Dinosaur island is this, and he responds "it's Darwyn Cooke's dinosaur island from New Frontier." I'll link the interview later (it's in the preview thread). People took it as a homage, but given that NF has it's own world, it seems more than likely that he just simply used it.

Side note: Why isn't New Frontier Earth-21 an ongoing? The idea of a perpetually optimistic space age DCU full of science heroes and lead by and idealized JFK sounds amazing. I would be awesome if the assassination attempt were stopped by Superman pretending to be the president, and the JLA stopping the shooter. Why isn't this a thing? I'm sure Tomasi and A LOT of creators would kill to be on such a book.

Hmmm...That could be read one of two ways. Tribute or straight up teleportation. With the way DC tries to be "sneaky" with things, it could go either way. Though with them incorporating Watchmen characters into the DCU, they may be feeling freer to use the larger multiverse in a way that they didn't before. I would think if they really wanted to incorporate the larger multiverse into the main books, they'd have the Multiversity crew show up at their door.

[Superlad93]

Hmmm...That could be read one of two ways. Tribute or straight up teleportation. With the way DC tries to be "sneaky" with things, it could go either way. Though with them incorporating Watchmen characters into the DCU, they may be feeling freer to use the larger multiverse in a way that they didn't before. I would think if they really wanted to incorporate the larger multiverse into the main books, they'd have the Multiversity crew show up at their door.

Honestly, I'm pretty darn sure that they're going to leave it ambiguous with a BIG wink at the end. But given the fact that the events happened beat for beat like NF, I feel it's safe to say that's where Tomasi envisioned taking us. There's a whole multiverse out there and NF is number 21 on the list. I see no reason why we can't just pop in over there for a fun story.......however.....

Tomasi keeps on saying that even this tribute arc is in some way in service of the larger events in the book. Jon says he gets the idea for his science project from a dream. It takes on a cube-like shape just like......the multiversal transporter device that keeps popping up around the multiverse. Remember how it would show up? Yup, via someone's dream. In the new 52 Lex says the device came to him in a dream, and similar events happen to other great minds around the multiverse. What if Jon has gotten the same "inspiration."

What does this mean going forward? The cubes only seemed to come to those who are truly imaginative or brilliant on their world. What does that say about Jon's future? Stuff to think about.

[13th Superman]

Why isn't New Frontier Earth-21 an ongoing? The idea of a perpetually optimistic space age DCU full of science heroes and lead by and idealized JFK sounds amazing. I would be awesome if the assassination attempt were stopped by Superman pretending to be the president, and the JLA stopping the shooter. Why isn't this a thing? I'm sure Tomasi and A LOT of creators would kill to be on such a book.

This!.jpg

This is all I ever need..

[sandmountainslim]

Im so impressed I am reading it a second time today This team nailed it again and the art is phenomenal.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

Jon says he gets the idea for his science project from a dream. It takes on a cube-like shape just like......the multiversal transporter device that keeps popping up around the multiverse. Remember how it would show up? Yup, via someone's dream. In the new 52 Lex says the device came to him in a dream, and similar events happen to other great minds around the multiverse. What if Jon has gotten the same "inspiration."

What does this mean going forward? The cubes only seemed to come to those who are truly imaginative or brilliant on their world. What does that say about Jon's future? Stuff to think about.

Oh jeez. Can't believe I didn't realize the moment he said it came to him in a dream, but you're absolutely right, this is definitely one of the Multiverse machines. So this is Earth 21.

[Flash Gordon]

Side note: Why isn't New Frontier Earth-21 an ongoing? The idea of a perpetually optimistic space age DCU full of science heroes and lead by and idealized JFK sounds amazing. I would be awesome if the assassination attempt were stopped by Superman pretending to be the president, and the JLA stopping the shooter. Why isn't this a thing? I'm sure Tomasi and A LOT of creators would kill to be on such a book.

Darwyn Cooke unfortunately is no longer among us. That was his book.

[JLH]

Fun issue. LOVE that it included Krypto, too.

[The tall man]

Doesn't Superdad have his own fortress inside a mountain, how does he have access to 52 Superman's fortress? I would think that it would have been left to Supergirl. Did he take it over for himself.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

Doesn't Superdad have his own fortress inside a mountain, how does he have access to 52 Superman's fortress? I would think that it would have been left to Supergirl. Did he take it over for himself.

This is the problem with how they are integrating Post-Crisis Superman into the New 52 Universe.

But, New 52 Superman did give his blessing to Post-Crisis Superman before his death and he told Kara the Fortress was hers before he knew of Post-Crisis Superman. I think New 52 Superman would be ok with the Post-Crisis family and Supergirl sharing his Fortress, and Post-Crisis Superman picked up on that when New 52 Superman said "The world is going to need you".