You're in charge of Superman!

[superduperman]

Let's say you got complete control of Superman. What would you do? What would you keep? What would you get rid of? Reboot? Yes? No?

[Chris24601]

For now, I'd keep it as is. It's selling well and seems to be pretty popular so why mess with it other than sheer arrogance that I know better?

Beyond that I'd take steps to get ahead of the probably inevitable worst-case scenario that has, more than likely, been shaping the direction of the Superman titles for the past twenty years so that whoever comes after me never has to deal with the problem again and can just focus on telling good stories.

That worst case scenario is that DC loses their rights to the Action Comics #1 concepts with no viable way to regain them. Given the nature of lawyers and greed I feel its just a matter of time before one of the never ending attempts winds up before a judge willing to strip DC of its partial ownership of the rights. Hoping for the best without preparation for the worst is a sure ticket for disaster.

So, I think for the good of the character's long term viability I'd HAVE to start writing around the AC1 concepts.

First, that would mean the end of the 'high gravity' and 'raw physical power/invulnerable skin' aspects of Superman's powers forever in favor of the 'solar powered aura' version.

Second, it would mean that the identities of Clark and Lois Smith and their alternate occupations would stick around. I'll admit I'm of two minds on this.

On the one hand, allowing them to be Lois Lane and Clark Kent by day, while keeping the farmhouse and the Smith identities intact outside of work and establishing that they keep their lives as the Smiths completely separate so they have a backup plan that is minimally disruptive to their son's life if Superman is ever exposed as Clark Kent or the heat on Lois Lane gets too high would get things mostly back to the traditional setup while maintaining a backup plan that could jettison the AC1 material in the span of a single story arc if needed.

On the other hand, letting it get back to the AC1 aspects leaves a proverbial Sword of Damocles hanging over future writers and the need to implement the backup plan immediately might not make sense with whatever stories are being told at the time such an could occur. That would argue for pulling the band-aid now and giving everyone a chance to adapt to an ongoing status quo that could evolve organically in new directions without the fear of ever having to derail things mid-story somewhere down the line.

Of the two options I think I'd favor pulling the trigger well before any lawsuit could force matters because it would be healthier in the long term because you can make plans around it happening at a controlled rate. Have Lois decide she prefers writing books to writing newspaper articles and have Perry White become her book editor and her publisher be the DP book division. Let Jimmy graduate to a full reporter who covers the superhero beat and is "Superman's Pal" because he always covers the stories involving him faithfully.

Finally, to separate the relevant origin from the AC1 version, I'd either keep the "Temporal Refugee Family" angle and make their arrival the start of any future stories for Superman (with only vague references to the doomed universe they left behind) -OR- I'd make the fact that other Kryptonians also escaped Krypton's destruction at the same time Kal-El did into a core part of Superman's origin story in order to ensure that the story is distinctly different than the one that belongs in AC1.

Then I'd try to stick around for a decade or so in order to ensure that these changes actually stick around and don't require nearly so many recons.

[Superlad93]

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

I'm not a writer or the creative type, so while I have a ideal Superman in mind, I wouldn't be able to actually construct that version of the character.

What I'd do, if DC was prepared to accept Superman as mediocre seller, would be to bring in new talent, many that weren't well versed in superhero comics, and let them do nearly anything they wanted with the character.

The only three rules I'd have as the person in charge would be.

#1. Superman doesn't kill under any circumstance
#2. Superman is practically vegan. He doesn't partcipate in anything that comes at the cost of another life.
#3. No romances or romantic plotlines involving Superman or Clark

The last rule would be flexible depending on how badly the creative teams wanted to explore Superman and romance, and it would be up to the creative teams whether they wanted to make the first 2 rules either positive or negative aspects of the character.

Since the creative teams would be given a lot of freedom with Superman, there would a lot of continuity discrepancies, and there would have to be some canonical explanation for that, which I'll leave up to greater minds than mine.

Those writing Superman appearances in other comics, such as Justice League, would have to consult with the Superman creative teams.

[sunofdarkchild]

The only changes I would make now is bringing back one missing character and trying to build up the supporting cast, which after today's Action I think they'll be doing anyway, so other than bringing back Linda Danvers I'd let the current creative teams have their freedom and focus more on being an editor than a plotter.

[superduperman]

For now, I'd keep it as is. It's selling well and seems to be pretty popular so why mess with it other than sheer arrogance that I know better?

Beyond that I'd take steps to get ahead of the probably inevitable worst-case scenario that has, more than likely, been shaping the direction of the Superman titles for the past twenty years so that whoever comes after me never has to deal with the problem again and can just focus on telling good stories.

That worst case scenario is that DC loses their rights to the Action Comics #1 concepts with no viable way to regain them. Given the nature of lawyers and greed I feel its just a matter of time before one of the never ending attempts winds up before a judge willing to strip DC of its partial ownership of the rights. Hoping for the best without preparation for the worst is a sure ticket for disaster.

So, I think for the good of the character's long term viability I'd HAVE to start writing around the AC1 concepts.

First, that would mean the end of the 'high gravity' and 'raw physical power/invulnerable skin' aspects of Superman's powers forever in favor of the 'solar powered aura' version.

Second, it would mean that the identities of Clark and Lois Smith and their alternate occupations would stick around. I'll admit I'm of two minds on this.

On the one hand, allowing them to be Lois Lane and Clark Kent by day, while keeping the farmhouse and the Smith identities intact outside of work and establishing that they keep their lives as the Smiths completely separate so they have a backup plan that is minimally disruptive to their son's life if Superman is ever exposed as Clark Kent or the heat on Lois Lane gets too high would get things mostly back to the traditional setup while maintaining a backup plan that could jettison the AC1 material in the span of a single story arc if needed.

On the other hand, letting it get back to the AC1 aspects leaves a proverbial Sword of Damocles hanging over future writers and the need to implement the backup plan immediately might not make sense with whatever stories are being told at the time such an could occur. That would argue for pulling the band-aid now and giving everyone a chance to adapt to an ongoing status quo that could evolve organically in new directions without the fear of ever having to derail things mid-story somewhere down the line.

Of the two options I think I'd favor pulling the trigger well before any lawsuit could force matters because it would be healthier in the long term because you can make plans around it happening at a controlled rate. Have Lois decide she prefers writing books to writing newspaper articles and have Perry White become her book editor and her publisher be the DP book division. Let Jimmy graduate to a full reporter who covers the superhero beat and is "Superman's Pal" because he always covers the stories involving him faithfully.

Finally, to separate the relevant origin from the AC1 version, I'd either keep the "Temporal Refugee Family" angle and make their arrival the start of any future stories for Superman (with only vague references to the doomed universe they left behind) -OR- I'd make the fact that other Kryptonians also escaped Krypton's destruction at the same time Kal-El did into a core part of Superman's origin story in order to ensure that the story is distinctly different than the one that belongs in AC1.

Then I'd try to stick around for a decade or so in order to ensure that these changes actually stick around and don't require nearly so many recons.

It's sad that that even needs to be taken into consideration at all.

[Superlad93]

Okay I'm back lol

I'm really digging the comics we have so far, so this is more of a hypothetical than a "I hate it and think I can do better for some reason" sort of thing.

The Messy stuff: I guess I have to address the whole current refugee thing, huh? Honestly, I think my objective here is to find the simplest way to keep all of the current stories we've had with this Superman. That means no reboots or changed memories on Superman or his family's part (that's part of the selling point that's been working). So I'm gonna pull a Rebirth Wonder Woman and call into question the validity of the New 52 Superman and Lois. Time echos, cultivated sentient fungus, or whatever. The idea is that they were stand ins. When Convergence was over and Lois, Clark, and Jon were supposed to be sent home, they were. It was just heavily changed. I'm going to assume that our heroes (and some of the people of Earth) will learn of the Multiversal tampering that went on, and that'll lead to some fun stories and interesting dynamics to play with. But most of all this--along with the fact that the New 52 versions of Superman and Lois weren't "real"--will solidify the idea that going forward this is and was always supposed to be our Superman.

We get them back in the Clark Kent and Lois Lane identities. Ten years are added so Jon and the marriage are now known. They, unfortunately, have to move from Hamilton County but Jon still visits Kathy on Weekends (she's his Pete Ross/Lana Lang) and they video chat ("Q-time" I guess) all the time. I'd establish that Jon ended up becoming the unofficial hero of Hamilton County while they were the Smiths, so--with Krypto's help--Jon makes a point to help out there whenever he's able. The change from wide open farm land to city/suburban life parallels his dad, but the constant moving and starting over parallels his mom's childhood. I'd leave the Smith identity not as something they actively go back to, but more as a contingency "escape hatch" that Clark keeps tending to in case something like "Truth" should happen to him. He also has about 3 or 4 more identities seeded and lined up just in case. Bruce and Diana help to set them up. Bruce makes sure they are foolproof because he doesn't want anything to disrupt the life Jon will have with his parents.

I'd say that they lived in the suburban part of Metropolis. The commute wasn't bad from Hamilton County, but it's even simpler now. Now that all the housekeeping is done, lets have fun!

Small Mandates: First off, I'd make it mandatory that all writers have to from time to time do single to two part arcs. They're allowed to either link it to whatever greater story they're telling or they can just have some fun. Eventually I want to get to the point where from time to time the books feel like the digital-first Adventures of Superman comic. This could even be a chance to bring in guest writers/artist.

Minis: I'll also be introducing a semi regular stream of minis to expand the Superman world. All of the minis have a chance to go to full ongoing status OR we treat it like a TV show and give them seasons. Like a 7 or 10 issue run and then go on hiatus. First up is Jimmy Olsen. This has been a long time coming, and I want to get it right. I want to push the popularity of this mini and show Jimmy's worth. Who ever I get to write this book (Matt Fraction, Dan Slott, Kieron Gillen) is going to approach this book as if it were an indie title that were allowed use of Superman/DC related ideas. If it gets "TV show" status then I wouldn't mind teaming up with the Young Animal section of DC to put this book out. They're allowed slightly more mature content, but it's not tasteless.

The next few down the pipeline are a Lois book that mixes pulp action and ground level investigative journalism. Jake Jordan, Guardian, is a reoccurring cast member along with the Guardian news paper as the Planet's friendly rivals. After that it's a Steel book that focuses on John and Nat sharing the name Steel. Then it's a Science Police anthology mini that takes an even handed look at the western concept of the justice system and the people that work in it, but filtered through the extraterrestrial high concept fictional world of the DCU. I think this book works best in the "TV show season" format I mentioned above. We've also got Lex Luthor mini coming down the pipeline. A strange and fantastic look at Lex Luthor.

Out of Continuity: I really wanna work on the out of continuity books that the Superman section can put out. Anytime we have a break in the scheduled I'd like to put out more Earth One Superman. But I'd give the book to Jonathan Hickman. I'd let him know that he isn't totally shackled to any previous characterizations or story beats. He's welcome to them obviously, but he can more or less contradict them--to a point. We could even move forward in time a ways if that will help "reboot" the book for him. I remember Hickman saying how he loved Millar's Ultimates book, and how he could've worked on that book forever. Well Mr. Hickman, any of that energy that you felt didn't get put out with your far too short Ultimates run, you can channel it here. Have at it!

Out of Continuity Specialty Projects: Along side Earth One I'd have specialty projects from creators who wouldn't or couldn't work on Superman long term. This is where Max Landis' Agent of Batman would come in. But there's a catch. If a writer wants to get to their specialty project, then they've gotta do one of the 1 or 2 issue long stories from the main books. We'll give them ad space and an interview about their upcoming book at the back of the issue(s) that they've done AND in up to 4 of the issues following. This should really help boost the sales from time to time, and it keeps the books fresh.

Tales from the Multiverse: There's also going to be Supermen: Tales from the Multiverse. This isn't a team up book. It's a book that takes the digital-first Adventures of Superman "just into any story you want" format and widens it to encompass Supermen from across the Multiverse. Wondering what the Super-President of Earth-23 is up to? Want to check in on Kal from New Frontier? Chris Kent from Earth-16? How bout Captain Carrot? This is the book for you, friend. This book spins out of the upcoming Multiplicity arc of Superman. It'll be 100% "seasonal" and it'll be 100% fun.

In Continuity Weekly: Now as far as the continuity of the main books go? I'd put out a weekly book that's written/plotted by Tomasi, Jurgans, Johns, Morrison (we'll be negotiating something for his inclusion), and Orlando. We'll also be putting a hold on the double shipping of Action and Superman for the weeks this book is being put out. Superman and Action will run largely independent of this book and each other while this is going on, but once everything is set and this book ends the two books will be allowed to take from what this book has established. This book is mainly a means to get the continuity up and running after the move back to Clark Kent/Superman. It's also their to set up the minis coming down, and just overall cohesion of Superman, Action, and Super Sons.

And that's basically what I'd do for the comics. I'd make it one big ticking clock.

[Chris24601]

It's sad that that even needs to be taken into consideration at all.

Sad, but unfortunately necessary.

As a publically held company WB/DC has a fiduciary obligation to its shareholders to do everything in their power to minimize losses and turn a profit. Failure to manage obvious risks such as the loss of a shakily held copyright and what that loss could do to their bottom line are grounds for lawsuits and termination in the world of business.

If DC doesn't already have a plan in place to manage that risk, then whoever is in charge deserves to be fired. It is perfectly valid for a court to order the compensation for or destruction of all backstock that violates a holder's copyright. While product produced prior to a termination would almost certainly be grandfathered, anything currently in the pipeline including upcoming comics and toy packaging referencing the copyrighted material would have to be scrapped even if you're in the middle of a story arc.

The only real way to protect the company's interests is to minimize the influence that the copyrighted material has. I think DC has been getting there. At first I thought the current Lois was basically a Post-Crisis mashup with her short brown hair and purple eyes, but I've also realized that its also yet another distinctive difference to Lois Smith from the raven-haired and blue eyed Lois Lane created by S&S. I'm 50/50 on whether Lois Smith using the name Lois Lane (which is trademarked by DC) as an alias is enough of a divergence to clear her of the copyright when she's still a reporter, but at least she's still working on the book and so could go back to full-time book author pretty quickly.

To be fair Disney hasn't initiated a new round of lobbyists acting to "protect the rights of the creator's families" yet so they may as well use the concepts while they can, but if the laws look like they're about to change again I'd not even wait for the lawsuit to start implementing the exit strategy.

Its not the fun, "what personal preferences would you make canon" approach that I think the OP was expecting, but my honest first concern if ever given the responsibility for running the line would be to ensure its long term viability or you'd just be building your dream castle on a base of sand.

[Ascended]

Its not the fun, "what personal preferences would you make canon" approach that I think the OP was expecting, but my honest first concern if ever given the responsibility for running the line would be to ensure its long term viability or you'd just be building your dream castle on a base of sand.

This was my first thought as well. The primary concern of anyone in control of Superman has to be ensuring DC's ownership remains intact.

I think I might take a different approach than you are though. You seem to know more about copyright law than I do, and my plan here isn't very well thought out and might not be possible. But I think what I'd do is take my creative teams and have them work out two separate directions; one that builds on the status quo material from Action #1 and one that avoids that stuff to whatever extent is needed to protect DC's ownership. And I'd have them craft those directions so that the trigger could be pulled on either at any time, with minimal turbulence.

Then I'd sweet talk my bosses at DC and convince them to sweet talk their bosses at WB and instead of waiting for the next round of lawsuits, we'd go after it ourselves. At this point the lawsuit has moved up several rungs on the judicial ladder, and I'd try to get the Supreme Court to hear our case. No chance of appeals either way. Put an end to it one way or another, for good.

Then, when the dust has settled, I'd have my creative teams pull the trigger on whichever direction was left available to us.

I'd like to say that I'd see if DC and the heirs could find enough common ground to put this whole thing to bed without the need for court action, but considering that they keep bringing this up whenever copyright law is changed or a new lawyer bribes them with money signs, that doesnt seem likely.

As for the creative stuff, the books are selling decently right now so why mess with that? If it aint broke, dont fix it! Not entirely my cup of tea, but this isnt about my personal preferences its about making the property viable again.

[titansupes]

I could have sworn the whole lawsuit thing was shut down indefinitely a few years ago? That scumbag lawyer tried to take it to the Supreme Court and they outright turned it down. You guys mean to tell me that this whole thing can rear its ugly head again when copyright laws are altered?

[Ascended]

Im not 100% sure, but yes.

Look at it like this. DC bought Superman from S&S way back in the day for pennies. It was a crap deal but it was legal. Despite it being legal the family still caused problems for DC and a new deal was struck in the late 70's. And again, it was signed and sealed and totally above board (though ethically still debatable). Yet they've still had to go back to court at least three times since then.

I think the only way this gets resolved for good is Supreme Court action, and even then depending on how the SC rules there might be wiggle room.

[DieHard200904]

1) Pay off whatever liabilities are there on Superman. I am not sure about how much the legal issues were, but if they are real, I would set it up to pay it off, and I mean pay it off.

2) Give an outline about what happened regarding the character's origin story, so that way the people working in the various titles at the start know what it going on, and consistency can be achieved in issues like the origin run, the early years, etc.

3) Office meetings for the creative teams, so that they all know what each team is doing. The guidelines for the storytelling can be set down as well too.


Don't have much to say, but I can surely say, even though Clementine beat me to it, that organization and taking the director's chair would be my top priority.

[superduperman]

This was my first thought as well. The primary concern of anyone in control of Superman has to be ensuring DC's ownership remains intact.

I think I might take a different approach than you are though. You seem to know more about copyright law than I do, and my plan here isn't very well thought out and might not be possible. But I think what I'd do is take my creative teams and have them work out two separate directions; one that builds on the status quo material from Action #1 and one that avoids that stuff to whatever extent is needed to protect DC's ownership. And I'd have them craft those directions so that the trigger could be pulled on either at any time, with minimal turbulence.

Then I'd sweet talk my bosses at DC and convince them to sweet talk their bosses at WB and instead of waiting for the next round of lawsuits, we'd go after it ourselves. At this point the lawsuit has moved up several rungs on the judicial ladder, and I'd try to get the Supreme Court to hear our case. No chance of appeals either way. Put an end to it one way or another, for good.

Then, when the dust has settled, I'd have my creative teams pull the trigger on whichever direction was left available to us.

I'd like to say that I'd see if DC and the heirs could find enough common ground to put this whole thing to bed without the need for court action, but considering that they keep bringing this up whenever copyright law is changed or a new lawyer bribes them with money signs, that doesnt seem likely.

As for the creative stuff, the books are selling decently right now so why mess with that? If it aint broke, dont fix it! Not entirely my cup of tea, but this isnt about my personal preferences its about making the property viable again.

This might actually be feasible once Scalia's replacement is (finally) put in. If the SCOTUS turned it down once, maybe changing the makeup of the court might make them a little more amiable to the idea. I have a feeling it's eventually headed there anyway and if people on both sides keep trying to bring it there, I would think they would eventually capitulate and take it just to get it off the docket for good and move on. So the question is what, exactly, is DC likely to lose should they lose the case? That part has never been entirely clear to me. And I guess it depends on what copyright law says at the time of the case. I'm curious what effect it would have on things like TV shows and movies. I kind of wonder if stuff like Smallville and Supergirl were made less out of a desire to be different and more of a safety net to get around potential lawsuit problems.

[superduperman]

Okay I'm back lol

I'm really digging the comics we have so far, so this is more of a hypothetical than a "I hate it and think I can do better for some reason" sort of thing.

The Messy stuff: I guess I have to address the whole current refugee thing, huh? Honestly, I think my objective here is to find the simplest way to keep all of the current stories we've had with this Superman. That means no reboots or changed memories on Superman or his family's part (that's part of the selling point that's been working). So I'm gonna pull a Rebirth Wonder Woman and call into question the validity of the New 52 Superman and Lois. Time echos, cultivated sentient fungus, or whatever. The idea is that they were stand ins. When Convergence was over and Lois, Clark, and Jon were supposed to be sent home, they were. It was just heavily changed. I'm going to assume that our heroes (and some of the people of Earth) will learn of the Multiversal tampering that went on, and that'll lead to some fun stories and interesting dynamics to play with. But most of all this--along with the fact that the New 52 versions of Superman and Lois weren't "real"--will solidify the idea that going forward this is and was always supposed to be our Superman.

We get them back in the Clark Kent and Lois Lane identities. Ten years are added so Jon and the marriage are now known. They, unfortunately, have to move from Hamilton County but Jon still visits Kathy on Weekends (she's his Pete Ross/Lana Lang) and they video chat ("Q-time" I guess) all the time. I'd establish that Jon ended up becoming the unofficial hero of Hamilton County while they were the Smiths, so--with Krypto's help--Jon makes a point to help out there whenever he's able. The change from wide open farm land to city/suburban life parallels his dad, but the constant moving and starting over parallels his mom's childhood. I'd leave the Smith identity not as something they actively go back to, but more as a contingency "escape hatch" that Clark keeps tending to in case something like "Truth" should happen to him. He also has about 3 or 4 more identities seeded and lined up just in case. Bruce and Diana help to set them up. Bruce makes sure they are foolproof because he doesn't want anything to disrupt the life Jon will have with his parents.

I'd say that they lived in the suburban part of Metropolis. The commute wasn't bad from Hamilton County, but it's even simpler now. Now that all the housekeeping is done, lets have fun!

Small Mandates: First off, I'd make it mandatory that all writers have to from time to time do single to two part arcs. They're allowed to either link it to whatever greater story they're telling or they can just have some fun. Eventually I want to get to the point where from time to time the books feel like the digital-first Adventures of Superman comic. This could even be a chance to bring in guest writers/artist.

Minis: I'll also be introducing a semi regular stream of minis to expand the Superman world. All of the minis have a chance to go to full ongoing status OR we treat it like a TV show and give them seasons. Like a 7 or 10 issue run and then go on hiatus. First up is Jimmy Olsen. This has been a long time coming, and I want to get it right. I want to push the popularity of this mini and show Jimmy's worth. Who ever I get to write this book (Matt Fraction, Dan Slott, Kieron Gillen) is going to approach this book as if it were an indie title that were allowed use of Superman/DC related ideas. If it gets "TV show" status then I wouldn't mind teaming up with the Young Animal section of DC to put this book out. They're allowed slightly more mature content, but it's not tasteless.

The next few down the pipeline are a Lois book that mixes pulp action and ground level investigative journalism. Jake Jordan, Guardian, is a reoccurring cast member along with the Guardian news paper as the Planet's friendly rivals. After that it's a Steel book that focuses on John and Nat sharing the name Steel. Then it's a Science Police anthology mini that takes an even handed look at the western concept of the justice system and the people that work in it, but filtered through the extraterrestrial high concept fictional world of the DCU. I think this book works best in the "TV show season" format I mentioned above. We've also got Lex Luthor mini coming down the pipeline. A strange and fantastic look at Lex Luthor.

Out of Continuity: I really wanna work on the out of continuity books that the Superman section can put out. Anytime we have a break in the scheduled I'd like to put out more Earth One Superman. But I'd give the book to Jonathan Hickman. I'd let him know that he isn't totally shackled to any previous characterizations or story beats. He's welcome to them obviously, but he can more or less contradict them--to a point. We could even move forward in time a ways if that will help "reboot" the book for him. I remember Hickman saying how he loved Millar's Ultimates book, and how he could've worked on that book forever. Well Mr. Hickman, any of that energy that you felt didn't get put out with your far too short Ultimates run, you can channel it here. Have at it!

Out of Continuity Specialty Projects: Along side Earth One I'd have specialty projects from creators who wouldn't or couldn't work on Superman long term. This is where Max Landis' Agent of Batman would come in. But there's a catch. If a writer wants to get to their specialty project, then they've gotta do one of the 1 or 2 issue long stories from the main books. We'll give them ad space and an interview about their upcoming book at the back of the issue(s) that they've done AND in up to 4 of the issues following. This should really help boost the sales from time to time, and it keeps the books fresh.

Tales from the Multiverse: There's also going to be Supermen: Tales from the Multiverse. This isn't a team up book. It's a book that takes the digital-first Adventures of Superman "just into any story you want" format and widens it to encompass Supermen from across the Multiverse. Wondering what the Super-President of Earth-23 is up to? Want to check in on Kal from New Frontier? Chris Kent from Earth-16? How bout Captain Carrot? This is the book for you, friend. This book spins out of the upcoming Multiplicity arc of Superman. It'll be 100% "seasonal" and it'll be 100% fun.

In Continuity Weekly: Now as far as the continuity of the main books go? I'd put out a weekly book that's written/plotted by Tomasi, Jurgans, Johns, Morrison (we'll be negotiating something for his inclusion), and Orlando. We'll also be putting a hold on the double shipping of Action and Superman for the weeks this book is being put out. Superman and Action will run largely independent of this book and each other while this is going on, but once everything is set and this book ends the two books will be allowed to take from what this book has established. This book is mainly a means to get the continuity up and running after the move back to Clark Kent/Superman. It's also their to set up the minis coming down, and just overall cohesion of Superman, Action, and Super Sons.

And that's basically what I'd do for the comics. I'd make it one big ticking clock.

I imagine some of this stuff is already in the works or coming down the pipe eventually anyway. I think it's safe to assume that Nuperman is gone for good and my guess is he's going to turn out to be some kind of artificial creation like the pocket universe Superboy. Complete with a full history living on Earth. Remember, people remember growing up with him like Lana so you can't just say he has false memories. And if the January solicits are any indicator, we may finally be getting a good look at the rest of the multiverse. I know Earth One isn't your favorite and I'd sure like to see it continue. I hope they don't change his history but moving forward in time a few years where he's a little more "mature" is a good idea. Of course if DC loses the copyright, I guess all this becomes a moot point. Ironically, he's the closest thing DC has to the "traditional" Superman right now.

[Sacred Knight]

These threads frustrate me because I always have trouble getting my ideas down into one cohesive post as to how I'd relaunch. Which I would do. All things being equal, if I had my way I'd certainly want to start fresh with my way.