What was the point of the pre-Reborn 'Action' run?

[bat39]

Not a hate post by any means! Not even saying things should necessarily have been different.

But, in the wake of Reborn, I'm just trying to figure out the thought process Jurgens, and those above him at DC, had with regards to his 'Action' run leading up to Reborn.

Now, its no secret that of the two titles, 'Superman' was the 'continuity-free' title that just focused on the family and exciting new adventures and stuff and mostly ignored the awkward 'doppelganger' and 'parallel universe' questions. It was just Superman, Lois and Jon having their own adventures as a family and dealing with Jon's new identity as Superboy.

Indeed, this continuity-free nature of Tomasi's Superman title means that a good 99% of the run so far easily fits into the new post-Reborn timeline. Just ignore the uniform (and we're still yet to know EXACTLY how they're dealing with it) and the fact that the family was living as 'the Smiths' in Hamilton...and everything else stands. The battle with Eradicator, the trip to Dinosaur Island, Multiplicity (okay, this one has some issues)...everything.

Compare and contrast this with Jurgen's 'Action' run though. The first six issues were Superdad making his 'debut' to the world as a new parallel universe doppelganger of the deceased Nuperman, even as a new fake 'Clark Kent' shows up, restoring Superman's secret identity. Then there's a story about an investigation into this new Clark Kent, about Lois returning to the Daily Planet and assuming the identity of her deceased doppelganger, and a team-up with Lex Luthor that is predicated upon Superman dealing with a doppelganger of his old foe (I haven't read that particular story so I'm not sure how much that aspect plays a part though).

Basically Jurgen's entire run depended heavily on the whole notion of Superman being a parallel universe doppelganger, and the aftermath of Nuperman's death - not to mention stuff like Lois assuming her doppelganger's identity and meeting the 'fake' Clark Kent.

Now, needless to say, it does seem like an awful lot of the stuff Jurgens has worked on this past year will likely stand invalidated with the post-Reborn timeline. Granted, its too early to say (tomorrow we'll definitely get a MUCH better idea of the real scenario) but far too much of his run has been tied in with the fallout of the New 52 continuity and the 'two Supermen, two Loises' stuff for anything more than the bare bones of it, IMO, to make it into the new history and really 'count' moving forward.

All of which makes me question - why?

If Jurgens knew the outcome was the post-Reborn Superman and a brand new history that eliminates the 'two Supermen', then why bother focusing so much of his run on Superdad being a doppelganger? Why bother with the 'fake' Clark Kent to restore Superman's secret identity, when it would anyway be restored by the grand cosmic retcon at the end of Reborn anyway?

I get that they needed stories to run in Action for a year before Reborn, but surely Jurgens could have done what Tomasi did and just produced some stories about Superman and Lois and their adventures in Metropolis without focusing too much on an unstable status quo that he knew wasn't going to last.

Because right now, it does seem like the majority of Jurgen's run so far has become irrelevant.

Maybe the stuff with Lex could still fit in (I haven't read it so I'm not so sure). Superman could easily have 'still' fought Doomsday. And...that's really about it.

Now, perhaps I'm wrong, and maybe there's some explanation which still leaves in the 'fake' Clark stuff (maybe Clark was still outed in the post-Reborn timeline?) But even if there is, it just seems like a solution to a problem that was created for absolutely no reason!

[DonnyMac27]

Now, needless to say, it does seem like an awful lot of the stuff Jurgens has worked on this past year will likely stand invalidated with the post-Reborn timeline. Granted, its too early to say (tomorrow we'll definitely get a MUCH better idea of the real scenario) but far too much of his run has been tied in with the fallout of the New 52 continuity and the 'two Supermen, two Loises' stuff for anything more than the bare bones of it, IMO, to make it into the new history and really 'count' moving forward.

I think thats the answer, to look at, examine, and build upon the fallout from the death of the New 52 Superman. While you are right, the new timeline post Reborn does make the events of the previous issues no longer fit, I still think they have their place. It worked on a few different levels for me. It help set the stage for Reborn, and furthering along the overall mystery of Rebirth. It developed the threads of Johns run on JL, with Lex becoming a hero. i think it was very interesting to see Superman try to figure out what Lex was really up to and coming to the conclusion that Lex really was doing best to be a good guy. This also gave resolution to the pre Flashpoint relationship between Supes and Lex, while helping to set the stage for whats to come. What side is Lex on now? If he's bad, how does Superman handle him after seeing just what Lex can be? Im hoping that the stories are still in continuity, just the events are now tweaked to fit with the new timeline.

[Jadeb]

Even at the time, I suspected Jurgens had been handed a lot of the heavy lifting in establishing the new status quo. Tomasi and Gleason had the fun new family dynamic to explore, but Jurgens had to fill pages and build the mystery needed to complete the transition. And I'm guessing he was doing it on the timetable decided by editorial. So, yeah, a lot of that run seems less interesting now that the mystery is solved, but at the time he managed to put out some solid issues while in a difficult position.

[Miles To Go]

I think it's just a matter of DC seizing to ride momentum sooner rather than later.

From what we've gathered from interviews with Jurgens, the precise outcome of Reborn was a fairly recent thing based off the positive reception of Superdad and there were still altogether different plans for the books. Mxyzypltx for example was promoted to a much bigger role than what he was originally going to have.

[DragonPiece]

Set up Mr. Oz messing with Superman, fixing the after effects with Truth by having two Clark Kent's, establish Lex Luthor as a good guy as Superman,etc.. It's job was to wrap up things from new 52 as well as begin to establish things for post reborn continuity.

[FishyZombie]

the point was to set up reborn.

[Last Son of Krypton]

Maybe Jurgens has some kind of weird fetish in wanting to write stories that go out continuity immediately after being published: Convergence, L&C, Rebirth: Action Comics...

[DragonPiece]

Maybe Jurgens has some kind of weird fetish in wanting to write stories that go out continuity immediately after being published: Convergence, L&C, Rebirth: Action Comics...

Or maybe he was just doing Didio's bidding lol

[Last Son of Krypton]

Or maybe he was just doing Didio's bidding lol

That's more likely.

[Sacred Knight]

In reality most of the Action stuff still works. Superman confronts Lex in a big city showdown over him deciding to be a superhero wearing his symbol. If some semblance of Truth still happened in the sense that something occurred that made Clark and his family have to go into hiding for a bit (as the latest Supergirl hints at, considering she notes that Superman has been gone for a while), this could be the opening Lex used to take up the mantle. Superman returns though and its a big deal because this is the first time he's been back in a month or two. They fight and Doomsday is released. Nothing odd about the version of Doomsday this time around just that his whereabouts had been unknown since last Superman saw him so his sudden arrival is still a surprise. The other Clark Kent story still works because Clark and Lois still remember Mxy shenanigans. Men of Steel...nothing about that which doesn't work either. That story's just about Superman coming to terms with the fact that Lex is indeed trying to do good. Just omit any mentions of it not being "his" Lex Luthor, but that doesn't hurt the story at all.

In the end, it never should have been planned that a year's worth of stories would be plotted before the fixing. The wait was too long, imo. But, at least the broad strokes of the tales told still work for the most part. The only things that are concretely out are Convergence and the Lois and Clark mini. And I mean, no loss there whatsoever.

[Miles To Go]

The only things that are concretely out are Convergence and the Lois and Clark mini. And I mean, no loss there whatsoever.

Don't speak for those who will miss those stories and their brief place in canon, as I certainly enjoyed them.

I think some of L&C can still be folded in because of Blanque's continued presence and elements like Lois exposing Intergang, which I think is what necessitated their move to Hamilton in the first place (just retcon it from moving from one farmhouse to moving from Metropolis to a farmhouse)

[Lvenger]

Reintroduce Superman to the DCU, conclude the continuity threads left hanging from Truth and Last Days of Superman, fix Clark Kent = Superman being public knowledge, bring Lois back to the Daily Planet, make Lex an ally of Superman, set up Mr Oz's role in Superman and Rebirth and reveal who the mystery Clark Kent was. Jurgens had to deal with the strings left over from the Superman switch over where Tomasi could focus more on telling the family adventure stories he wants to.

[Clark_Kent]

Simple: those stories still happened and are part of continuity. It's just that Reborn changed the past and now those stories aren't remembered (in their entirety). Oz knows that 2 Supermen became one, so everything with Nuperman and Superdad still played out exactly the same. It's just that AFTER those things happened, the past was altered. It doesn't mean they didn't (at one time) happen that way.

[Sacred Knight]

Don't speak for those who will miss those stories and their brief place in canon, as I certainly enjoyed them.

I think some of L&C can still be folded in because of Blanque's continued presence and elements like Lois exposing Intergang, which I think is what necessitated their move to Hamilton in the first place (just retcon it from moving from one farmhouse to moving from Metropolis to a farmhouse)

I didn't say no one liked them. I thought the way I worded it expressed individual opinion from the outset.

In any case, if they wanted to fold in some L&C stuff as adventures that took place while Superman was "gone", as Supergirl put it, that could work. Didn't think of it that way. And I would have no problem with that. It was the premise I hated, not anything specifically that happened within. Convergence, now that I think was just bad all around. I felt the premise was poorly executed and the individual tales were bad. So the idea the entire event may end up going down after all as just one big filler, I will admit I would gain some level of personal satisfaction with that. The only good thing I felt it accomplished was putting in that little nugget that the ending of COIE was changed. But that has yet to be touched upon in any facet and I'm beginning to question now if it ever will. Not begrudging anyone who liked it though.

[lorddominicus85]

While I understand the desire to have everything explained once history has been altered ( like how did blackest night still happen in the N52 ) but this is one time where I will say it's just comics. Everything Jurgens wrote still happened and mattered and the point was to get to where we got to. That's it. Tell an enjoyable story as they built to this ending. As for what did and didn't happen, as long as the comics are available to read then the events happened, just maybe not the way the fictional character remembers that and I honestly don't think that's that big of a deal. All we need to know is there were two Superman's, someone removed ten years of everyone's lives, the Supermen merged and seemingly regained some lost memories and this is the set up for what is next.