Official : Bendis gets both books

[Ascended]

To be fair, and to put things in context, that's kind of the gift given to every single writer at DC from Snyder's Mental. The Justice League broke the Source Wall and recreated the Universe, and it came back with some new amendments to it. Plus, Reborn never really established more than the absolute basics of Superman's current origins, so that's all pretty much fair game.

Metal even makes it possible for Young Justice to be a thing, and for the Crime Syndicate of Earth 3 to be back. I remember Snyder calling it an opportunity to create for all writers at DC. It's almost Zero Hour in nature.

And let's not forget that continuity has been in flux since the Rebirth special when we found out Manhattan had stolen a decade of time. So there's really no concrete continuity for a writer to "break" right now anyway.

But that's one of the big complaints about Bendis, and I was trying to address is as best I could.

[Yoda]

I think 1004 made it pretty clear this was going to happen. The guy in the background with the cell phone taking a photo seemed too obviously placed for anything else.

I genuinely hope this is somewhat misdirection given it doesn't look like that's a published post yet on Trish's blog. For one it makes Lois look unfaithful and makes Superman a homewrecker essentially, to the public at least. I had hoped the direction this was going was to make Trish evaluate the value in the gossip she posts given she's faced physical harm for what appeared to be poorly sourced rumor mongering already.

And two, this is kind of the cheap soap opera drama Bendis seemed to be talking about being unnecessary in interviews.

[Miles To Go]

And two, this is kind of the cheap soap opera drama Bendis seemed to be talking about being unnecessary in interviews.

Bendis has said in the past fans should be worried about the marriage coming under attack from all angles and feeling pressure. That was in one of his first interviews on the job. It's not the same as breaking them up.

[Yoda]

Bendis has said in the past fans should be worried about the marriage coming under attack from all angles and feeling pressure. That was in one of his first interviews on the job. It's not the same as breaking them up.

Oh, I'm not worried about a breakup. I just think it's cheap and paints the characters in a bad light. You make Lois and Superman look pretty bad. Clark looks bad as well in this situation. Superman in universe essentially is seen as carrying on with a married woman. Lois is unfaithful both explicitly with Superman and impliedly with Lex. It's all nonsense obviously but the characters get their in universe reputations muddied for cheap soap opera drama.

Essentially it's obvious lowest common denominator stuff that plays into the worst elements of fandoms critistims of all of the characters and the old triangle aspect.

[Sacred Knight]

Only disappointment with the Leviathan storyline is Waller's role. I just...can't stand the character. I knew she'd be in it in some capacity but I'd hoped it'd be minimal. With those solicits it most definitely isn't going to be a small role.

[Superlad93]

This is a genuinely fascinating and conflicting idea for me.

I remember very clearly that Bendis compared Superman and his family to a head of state/president/some sort of official and their family. If I'm not mistaken he also touched on how things like public perception and the news/gossip plays into that. I think that's around the time we were all speculating that public perception would be mixed for Superman because he somehow need to send the Earth into the Phantom Zone (this was before and during Man of Steel obviously).

The jury is still out on how I'll feel about it being handled, but I can kind of 100% get behind Superman and Lois totally slipping up and getting caught up in a the heat of the moment in issue 1004 and kissing in public. That's a very cool human moment for them, and having it bite them in the butt is something I'm not opposed to. Moreover, Trish isn't really a bad guy. She's doing her job, and she's into it. Her flaw is the tunnel vision she gets when writing because she forgets that it's about actual people.

I'm personally intrigued by the idea of putting Superman in a situation where things might get a bit messy for him. It's like the argument of "why even put him in a situation where he has no choice but to kill or let people die" but this is far less done to death. In fact, I don't think "Superman vs gossip that actually stings" has been done, right? At the very least not often when it's not about him being an alien. The world being in Superman's intimate businesses and drawing their own conclusions is a fascinating and scary idea.

It's also foreshadowed in Superman issue 4 where Superman talks to Jon about this. It fits with Bendis' whole "situations and issues that Superman can't punch but they hurt." Plus, I'm personally really, really into injecting a bit of "super celebrity" into my hero books. Bendis has always been somewhat conscious of the idea that these characters would generate some sort of social and political chatter, so I was secretly hoping for some of that. But this is genuinely a scary prospect for me, and that might be a good thing, so I don't know how I feel.

[manwhohaseverything]

Oh, I'm not worried about a breakup. I just think it's cheap and paints the characters in a bad light. You make Lois and Superman look pretty bad. Clark looks bad as well in this situation. Superman in universe essentially is seen as carrying on with a married woman. Lois is unfaithful both explicitly with Superman and impliedly with Lex. It's all nonsense obviously but the characters get their in universe reputations muddied for cheap soap opera drama.

Essentially it's obvious lowest common denominator stuff that plays into the worst elements of fandoms critistims of all of the characters and the old triangle aspect.

To me atleast, they have already done far worse with 1004 and upcoming "My son grew faster than I could blink" for soap opera drama. So anything like this happening would not bother me at all.(out of the universe)
Clark's and Lois's reputation inuniverse is already ruined. Clark was getting the "oh! Poor you" treatment. God knows, what DP Staff were thinking of Lois.

Since Jon's secret human life is over(it seems). And he is an experienced kryptonian warrior when he returns. He will not be going back to school(too bad, I was looking forward to some more school adventures in supersons). So might as well go public.So the kid will loose his childhood, and his personal life.I want some consequences for the actions Clark and Lois are taking in regards to themselves and their child. So yeah! Drama will be just what the doctor ordered. If it did not have soap opera drama, then it will be cheap. If it is all just hand waved away, then it would feel like bendis is not treating readers with respect.

[Yoda]

To me atleast, they have already done far worse with 1004 and upcoming "My son grew faster than I could blink" for soap opera drama. So anything like this happening would not bother me at all.(out of the universe)
Clark's and Lois's reputation inuniverse is already ruined. Clark was getting the "oh! Poor you" treatment. God knows, what DP Staff were thinking of Lois.

Since Jon's secret human life is over(it seems). And he is an experienced kryptonian warrior when he returns. He will not be going back to school(too bad, I was looking forward to some more school adventures in supersons). So might as well go public.So the kid will loose his childhood, and his personal life.I want some consequences for the actions Clark and Lois are taking in regards to themselves and their child. So yeah! Drama will be just what the doctor ordered. If it did not have soap opera drama, then it will be cheap. If it is all just hand waved away, then it would feel like bendis is not treating readers with respect.

I'm not quite on board with burning it all down because Jon aged up just yet.

[Superlad93]

I'm not quite on board with burning it all down because Jon aged up just yet.

I don't think anything needs to burn down. It doesn't even sound like that's the case. It sounds more like it's just gonna be really difficult, and they're gonna have to jump through some hoops. Like, Jon likely not going to his old school anymore, or possibly being outed as Superman's biological son and Clark's step-son doesn't spell the end of the world. It just means there's gonna have to be a new way of thinking of things. I'd wager maybe something closer to the Fantastic Four's kids where everyone know's but the kids have some semblance of a normal life. For example, Franklin has normal friends and even went to public school for a bit even while being known as the actual most powerful being in the galaxy.

Plus, as far as we know Doomsday Clock is set a year in the future and Lois and Clark are good, and Perry White is still acknowledged as his godfather. And in the defense of Doomsday Clock being after this portion of Bendis' run, I'll point to Batman's suit. Bendis had Batman show up in the current King classic suit but we've yet to see the yellow oval suit that Batman is wearing in Doomsday Clock, and King has acknowledge that his run is set before Doomsday Clock. Small, yes, but it's true.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

For some reason I could have swore Waller already knew Superman was Clark. So this doesn’t bother me. If she blackmails him, he’ll just find one of Waller’s many many skeletons in her closet, and even it out.

[Yoda]

I don't think anything need to burn down. It doesn't even sound like that's the case. It sounds more like it's just gonna be really difficult, and they're gonna have to jump through some hoops. Like, Jon likely not going to his old school anymore, or possibly being outed as Superman's biological son and Clark's step-son doesn't spell the end of the world. It just means there's gonna have to be a new way of thinking of things. I'd wager maybe something closer to the Fantastic Four's kids where everyone know's but the kids have some semblance of a normal life. For example, Franklin has normal friends and even went to public school for a bit even while being known as the actual most powerful being in the galaxy.

Plus, as far as we know Doomsday Clock is set a year in the future and Lois and Clark are good, and Perry White is still acknowledged as his godfather. And in the defense of Doomsday Clock being after this portion of Bendis' run, I'll point to Batman's suit. Bendis had Batman show up in the current King classic suit but we've yet to see the yellow oval suit that Batman is wearing in Doomsday Clock, and King has acknowledge that his run is set before Doomsday Clock. Small, yes, but it's true.

My comment was in refernce to manwhohaseverything's parade of horribles because Jon's been aged up. I don't see Bendis taking things that far.

But I'm not going to lie that I find the "Super Love Triangle" angle from Trish's desktop to be kind of gross and Lois again gets the worst of it. It plays up the sad sack Clark Kent angle in a gross direction completely at Lois's expense. "Poor Clark, his wife cheating on him with Superman in public." It's just cheap, gross, and plays into the worst characterizations of Lois and Clark from like the 1950's. And lets face it, it is Lois's character that is going to take the brunt of this both in universe and from a subset of fans that already think she's a gold digging b*tch to begin with.

There is a fine needle Bendis would have to thread with this and particularly if he's building to Jon being outed as Superman's son. You can make Clark a stepfather without turning Lois into a cheater. In fact I'd go so far as to say that is the only way that story could be told without damaging all the characters.

I get that he may be making some commentary on this type of reporting, but at the same time he's doing it at Lois's expense. And in the real world it is always the woman who is looked down upon in these situations, the public isn't going to hold it against Superman in the DCU. And it's more fodder for the fans who dislike her character.

And honestly, Clark looks like a complete coward if he lets his wife be dragged through that in public to protect his own secret identity. Moresoe if his son's is outed as well. Jon is man enough to take the risk of being a public superhero and Lois is strong enough to be the mother of a public superhero but Clark Kent can't? Why is his secret more important than Jon's.

And I still don't buy Doomsday Clock is occuring after this run.

[rpmaluki]

Lois being caught "cheating" on Clark with Superman was done on the TV show years ago and it was just as messy as you can imagine. The premise was Superman vs scandal and no, he couldn't just punch his way out. It's an interesting angle and now one that involves their son. I do think Bendis is setting Jon up to becoming the son of Superman and Clark's stepson. I feel like Superman and Lois the pic on Trish's computer shows them in an embrace and not the actual lip lock we saw. Bendis, through Trish, will push the rumours (already foreshadowed during that Jon flashback) but fall short of actually providing concrete proof of any "wrongdoing" on their parts, much like the show did. Bendis is not trying to break them up but wants them to reexamine and adjust accordingly for their family's well-being as things change. Jon aging quickly can't remain the human son of an expectedly human Clark. He needs an out and Lois and Superman from years back does just, forget that this solution is for a problem that he's created....

It's a major shift but not one that up undoes whatever shaky foundation this continuity is built on. Before Lois being with Superman before Clark isn't news. The world knows how close they are even now, no doubt there are those who've always suspected that these two have carried out an affair all this time even without any actual proof. You see it even in #1001 with key words (particularly Lois) that the Metropolis underbelly refrains from saying because they know Superman's always listening for it. It was impossible for people not to draw their own conclusions before this preview shot, let alone witness that careless mistake of embracing like a married couple in public. The only difference between this and the show is that this won't be done out of malice to destroy Superman's reputation. It was an accident that Trish has unwittingly stumbled upon and will naturally exploit it as we saw already in #1001. Lois and Clark's marriage may be up for some ruffling but it will remain strong regardless because they know they weren't cheating in the truest sense of the word. What others think is their business.

Right now I'm not burning anything down because we don't actually know what will be in the issue. Maybe Bendis is just playing with our heads making us imagine the absolute worst because he conveniently placed that man with the camera phone and knew we'd latch onto that thread.

[Yoda]

But in order for Superman to be Jon's father Lois would have had to have been with Superman before they were married. So unless he's going to fudge that timeline, the only way she gets pregnant is to "cheat" on Clark. Which yes, they know it's BS. But it's still a pretty gross and unnecessary angle. Why feed into that?

And again, it does make Clark/Superman look terrible because he's letting his wife be thought of as an adulterer. He's letting his son be outed as a public superhero, but he keeps his secret identity safe and gets the sympathy of being cheated on?

I honestly think Trish may bury the story and what we are shown isn't published yet. Superman just saved her life, she's going to out him and hurt his friends for a story after that?

[rpmaluki]

My comment was in refernce to manwhohaseverything's parade of horribles because Jon's been aged up. I don't see Bendis taking things that far.

But I'm not going to lie that I find the "Super Love Triangle" angle from Trish's desktop to be kind of gross and Lois again gets the worst of it. It plays up the sad sack Clark Kent angle in a gross direction completely at Lois's expense. "Poor Clark, his wife cheating on him with Superman in public." It's just cheap, gross, and plays into the worst characterizations of Lois and Clark from like the 1950's. And lets face it, it is Lois's character that is going to take the brunt of this both in universe and from a subset of fans that already think she's a gold digging b*tch to begin with.

There is a fine needle Bendis would have to thread with this and particularly if he's building to Jon being outed as Superman's son. You can make Clark a stepfather without turning Lois into a cheater. In fact I'd go so far as to say that is the only way that story could be told without damaging all the characters.

I get that he may be making some commentary on this type of reporting, but at the same time he's doing it at Lois's expense. And in the real world it is always the woman who is looked down upon in these situations, the public isn't going to hold it against Superman in the DCU. And it's more fodder for the fans who dislike her character.

And honestly, Clark looks like a complete coward if he lets his wife be dragged through that in public to protect his own secret identity. Moresoe if his son's is outed as well. Jon is man enough to take the risk of being a public superhero and Lois is strong enough to be the mother of a public superhero but Clark Kent can't? Why is his secret more important than Jon's.

And I still don't buy Doomsday Clock is occuring after this run.

I get your fears, I share them but I'm trying to be a little hopeful that they won't be exposed as having an affair for Lois' sake.

[Superlad93]

My comment was in refernce to manwhohaseverything's parade of horribles because Jon's been aged up. I don't see Bendis taking things that far.

Sorry if it seemed like I was implying that you thought it would be taken as far as manwhohaseverything assumes. My intention was actually to support your comment, tbh.

But I'm not going to lie that I find the "Super Love Triangle" angle from Trish's desktop to be kind of gross and Lois again gets the worst of it. It plays up the sad sack Clark Kent angle in a gross direction completely at Lois's expense.

Tabloid/click-bait journalism. Perry's fighting it right now, but it's a think he knows is effective. Not saying he'd run it though. And I'm waiting to see what--if this becomes an actual thing--how much of the worst Lois will actually get of this. From my stand point right now, I'm assuming the worst will be on Superman. I'm assuming it's gonna be like DCU finding out its collective "father figure" actually has sex, and how strange that thought will be.

"Poor Clark, his wife cheating on him with Superman in public." It's just cheap, gross, and plays into the worst characterizations of Lois and Clark from like the 1950's.

I think the public assumption is that they're on a "break"/separated. Superman then looks like he's "swooping" in, ya know?

And lets face it, it is Lois's character that is going to take the brunt of this both in universe and from a subset of fans that already think she's a gold digging b*tch to begin with.

I pay very little attention to that subset of fans, if I'm honest. It's just such a strange and misinformed opinion to have. But as far as in universe hard knocks? If this story gets out, then I think it'd be a bit disingenuous for Lois not to take some hate, but I just hope it's the right kind such as lying about her kid along with her husband.

There is a fine needle Bendis would have to thread with this and particularly if he's building to Jon being outed as Superman's son.

I agree. And I also agree that it no way NEEDS to be this sort of deliberately trashy gossip angle (again, if it even is), but I can understand where he's coming from by deciding on it. The idea of taking this core concept in the Superman world: the news, and focusing on is nastier and less flattering aspects to create a truly unfortunate trap for Superman and his family. But, like I said, I'd need to see how he goes about it.

I get that he may be making some commentary on this type of reporting, but at the same time he's doing it at Lois's expense. And in the real world it is always the woman who is looked down upon in these situations, the public isn't going to hold it against Superman in the DCU.

You don't think maybe it's worthwhile to tackle the very real fact that it's always the woman who takes the blows in these situations by having one of the strongest female characters beat it via he wits (her book) and resiliency? I'm not being rhetorical, but rather I'm actually asking. Now, conceptually I think that's worth a story, but I'm shaky as hell for just about anyone to handle that idea, thus my trepidation if it ends up being a thing at all. And again, I think/hope Superman takes more of a hit for this because of the unknown territory/ trap it puts him specifically in.

Jon is man enough to take the risk of being a public superhero and Lois is the mother of a public superhero but Clark Kent can't?

I doubt it's gonna be a risk on Jon's part, but rather a necessity/want given his time in space/other Universes. And at the very least Lois being the public mother of a superhero/famous person lets her still function as Lois Lane, but Clark being outed is the only situation where someone in the family gets something taken away that they don't want taken away. Clark dies, right? And, as Bendis has harped on, Clark is the one thing Superman decided to do for himself. I imagine Lois stops him if he decides he wants to out himself.

But this is all conjecture of course, and it should be STRESSED that we're going off theory from interviews and one page that's be confirmed to have both reliable and unreliable information plastered all over it.

And I still don't buy Doomsday Clock is occuring after this run.

Know what? I don't think they'll ever really acknowledge it past things like the JSA and Legion coming back along with whatever cosmetic changes and Mime and Marionette (along with their kids) being in the DCU. Outside of those additive concepts, I honestly think Johns set it in the future for the sake of it being evergreen. A year into the future lets him do basically whatever/deal with all of the characters' most iconic settings while technically being in continuity. I think we latched onto the idea of the one year later too hard. I mean, it's not even something they advertised outside of interviews, right? Like, does the book ever say "one year into the future" ever?

So, Bendis', King's, and Snyder's runs on their books may as well be in the future or where ever. Pretty sure each run is just gonna be like "well Doomsday Clock happens between this arc and this arc" off screen, and that's about it.