Action Comics #974 (spoilers)

[Sacred Knight]

Derp. I thought they were in the second Fortress in the preview, not the real Fortress. Explains the statue situation but he still drew Lara wrong.

spoilers:

And boom goes the second Fotress. Gotta admit Blanque isn't all that bad a villain.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

"Clark" believing he should be engaged to Lois, something pulling him to that belief, and then saying Superman ruined his life at the end when he supposedly "remembers" something actually still suggests Henshaw. He had some of Superman's memories when he first arrived on the scene, and knew Superman and Lois were engaged at the time. And he always blamed Superman for ruining his life. I know he's already around...but who says there might not be a third merger alongside Superman and Lois?

end of spoilers

[Last Son of Krypton]

spoilers:

I know he's already around...but who says there might not be a third merger alongside Superman and Lois?

end of spoilers

To be sincere, this merging of characters that people keep talking around here feel just like bad narrative. I fail to see why everyone is so in favor of it.

[Miles To Go]

To be sincere, this merging of characters that people keep talking around here feel just like bad narrative. I fail to see why everyone is so in favor of it.

I blame Peter David's Supergirl run (When Matrix merged with Linda)

[Sacred Knight]

In my case its not so much necessarily being in favor of it rather just expecting it because all the signs point to it. I just haven't seen the sense in denying the writing on the wall once the hints and signs became apparent.

[Last Son of Krypton]

I blame Peter David's Supergirl run (When Matrix merged with Linda)

I blame Hawkman.

[Miles To Go]

I blame Hawkman.

Admitedly, his history is probably way more linear than Kal, Diana, and Donna Troys' by this point

[Last Son of Krypton]

In my case its not so much necessarily being in favor of it rather just expecting it because all the signs point to it. I just haven't seen the sense in denying the writing on the wall once the hints and signs became apparent.

Ok and I agree that all the signs point to... bad narrative choices.

[Kuwagaton]

It's a pretty solid issue if you excuse the misleading cover. So I guess Blanque just killed all the others?

[spirit2011]

I blame Peter David's Supergirl run (When Matrix merged with Linda)

it kinda of worked well, because Linda was a new character

[manofsteel1979]

Good issue, although I was disappointed we didn't get a definitive answer to Clark's identity.

Goodbye Mountain Fortress. We hardly knew ye.

As for the statues, if that is indeed Nuperman's fortress, it still doesn't explain the wrong Lara and the vague Jor-El. It may be artist error, but I still think there is something to the " time in flux" theory. That and both Superdad, Lois and I'd even say Henshaw having memories that are blurry and reflective of their counterparts, as well as Lana mentioning she just saw Superman when she was fading is lending credence to time fixing itself.

I don't think we are getting a literal merger. I think we are getting a new history that merely incorporates some Nuperman continiuity into the fabric of things going forward. There will have been only one SUPERMAN all along.

[David Walton]

To be sincere, this merging of characters that people keep talking around here feel just like bad narrative. I fail to see why everyone is so in favor of it.

Mainly out of preference for post-Crisis, pre-Flashpoint characterizations. That's the personality the mergers would largely favor, I suspect--and I'm all for it.

[stephens2177]

It's a pretty solid issue if you excuse the misleading cover. So I guess Blanque just killed all the others?

I don't think it was misleading,as.leading to the NEXT issue lol.

The real question is of its Prime time

[DragonPiece]

It is funny we were just wondering what Superman would do with two ice fortresses and now they just settled that plotline. So Reborn's main villains are gonna be this fake Clark, the coming thread of all of these pre 52 superman villains and Mr. Oz, as well as solving what's going on with superwoman(though that may just be solved in her tie in book) as well as whatever happened to new 52 Superman and Lois. Lots to cover in 4 issues.

[SuperCrab]

This run of Action Comics sure has a way of dragging things out, doesn't it? I like a lot of the ideas that Jurgens is playing with, but I feel like there must have been 10 issues that have primarily been about "Who is Clark Kent?" and all of them end with the reader going "I still don't know.".

I would actually really like to see Clark Kent turn into a missing part of Superman. I think he actually has been noticeably missing in a figurative sense from Rebirth Superman's makeup in so far as even when he's not Superman, he's not Clark Kent. This guy being a miss part of him would make a lot of sense. Obviously, the New52 Superman is an even more important element that needs to be merged in, with memories from New52 Superman's adventures retained.

However, I am not sure they would make the current Clark this creepy and villainous if he was ultimately going to be merged (back) into Superman. You might have some ambiguous stuff, but you'd portray him largely as sympathetic and doing things that are ambiguous out of confusion or with good reasons given his limited knowledge. I mean, the narrative repeatedly has characters calling him creepy- so if they merge him back in, are they saying the part of Superman that is Clark Kent is a really creepy guy? I mean, they *could* do that, and do a line about how everyone is complex and has good and bad elements that make up who they are and whatnot, but that doesn't sound like the type of story they want to tell (Just my gut feeling).

My guess is the blue surrounding Clark is Dr. Manhattan's influence, not Superman Blue (Second guess would be Mr. Oz). I think he was taken from somewhere and put in place with memories to achieve a goal or achieve a goal. Underneath, he may be a Clark Kent from another universe or another timeline, though. I hope they don't just make him a straight-forward villain with memories overwriting who he is for a while. It'd be nice if it were something more significant than that.

When he says he remembers everything and "You ruined my life", it sounds like he thinks he should have been with Lois, but that she changed things. That makes me think he is at some level Clark Kent. His original memories seem to be returning, but he still seems to think he should be in this picture. And that may point to Lois being the manipulator outside time. Perhaps that's what New52 Lois is up to, apart from haunting Lana? Remember, she "died" with superpowers of her own, and could be working with the New52 Superman. I wonder if one of the largest Watchmen-related players pulled the new52 characters from time to to help arrange this situation for some reasons having to do with his largescale multi-universe chess match with the other player(s). Then they erased their own memories and came back as the Rebirth characters, dividing up their powers, who knows? I think at some level there are some of the people who created the situation who erased their own memories to make sure things happened a certain way and protect themselves who are "on the board" in the universe- possibly including Rebirth Superman and Lois themselves.

I think it's time to wrap up these threads and really provide some answers and stop teasing us. Hopefully Reborn actually does that and isn't some sort of cop out. If I see "Who is Clark Kent?" as the start of a gazillionth similar story arc this June, I'm going to scream. Answer time.

This Clark being Superboy Prime is definitely in the running.

Clark using anachronistic dialogue is probably a clue.

Not all that upset that Superman's extra-judicial black site prison has been destroyed. That was really a black mark on the Rebirth character.

Could Mr. Oz be Lois Lane?

One other thought is that they are prominently showing us Henshaw somewhere else at the same time, to make us rule out that Clark Kent is Henshaw. However, the more they do that, the more I wonder if he's somehow going to be Henshaw anyway. They are going to such exaggerated lengths to move us away from making that guess, and assuming that they want to surprise us in the end, they may be doing that because that's who he is.

[Superlad93]

I've been pretty into Action since the last issue, and this one was pretty good too.

-I liked the Himalayan mount fortress more than I like the current New 52 look. It was pretty cool looking when Morrison introduced it, but even then I liked the Collector ship's aesthetics more. With the New 52 one I mainly just don't like the super vague architecture that changes from artist to artist (if they decide to render it at all). My favorite Fortress is still the most simple and consistent one: All Star Superman/Silver age Fortress. It's literally just a mountain with a door on it. The inside has a clean and simple look to it, and you can tell the fortresses "attractions" and wonders apart from the walls. Here and here. The Himalayan mount fortress was far more defined than the New 52 one, and I also loved that he had plants growing about. The minimal crystal work was a nice very touch too. Here and here

-"Clark" saying "I'll be good" reinforces all those childlike clues we've been getting from him (his order at Big Belly last issue). He must have a link to those childlike drawing in the cell, but since that prisoner escaped after "Clark" had already been active for 17 issues, I don't know what the link is.

-Is it me or does the New 52 fortress look a bit more like mount fortress? It's even got the battle armor. Sees that Clark has been moving some of his stuff over. I hope he does some redecorating after Reborn to go along with his new look.

-I'm so glad Blanque is still very much in play. Love how just sits and marinates in the destruction lol