Bendis' full takeover of Superman revealed

[lordultimus]

source: forbes.com



After Action Comics #1000, DC will release a weekly six-issue Man of Steel miniseries written by Bendis, apparently retelling his origin, "shake up the classic story of Krypton's final days and Kal-El's path to becoming an iconic hero." Bendis will introduce a new villain that holds a "terrifying secret" about Krypton's destruction.



Afterwards, Bendis will take over both the Action Comics and Superman titles, with Superman being relaunched and renumbered with a new #1.

"I have a lot of goals for Superman, one of which is to help turn Metropolis into something as provocative and unique as Gotham City is," Bendis explained. "I think everyone will agree Gotham is one of the most built and best places in all of fictional cities, and Metropolis should follow suit. So Action Comics and DC Nation will be the first hints at how we're going to be building up Metropolis. Both in people and in culture, it'll be more than just the place Superman lives. We'll be taking a good look at a lot of places we haven't looked at before."

This Superman line takeover line is part of a three-pronged Bendis initiative by DC, which also includes the creation of a formal Jinxworld imprint for Bendis' various creator-owned books, as well as a second "Custom" imprint to work akin to Gerard Way's Young Animal.

Comments

[speedingtortoise]

Huh. Bendis writing superman. Definitely not something i ever expected to see happen.

[icon_uk]

So he's pretty much starting with a Byrne Redux, using a six issue mini called "Man of Steel" to redefine his origin.

Is that Etrigan on the cover?

I hope that they're not going to dissolve the marriage or retcon Jonathan out of existence.

[lordultimus]

Bendis said he's not getting rid of anything from the Tomasi/Gleason and Jurgens runs.

Jon isn't going anywhere.

[goattoucher]

Renumbered? Is that how important Bendis is? Sheesh.

Bendis is master of the mundane conversation. His dialogue adds verisimilitude and depth to the characters he portrays.

How well has he ever done at anything epic? How is this guy going to write Superman?

[laughing_tree]

It's not like there's a dearth of epic Superman stories for anyone looking for that. Heck, the same time this is running, there will no doubt simultaneously be one or two other ongoing Superman titles, written by others, and those will presumably remain epic. Why shouldn't there also be room for a 'mundane' Superman?

[locuatico]

Eh. fifty issues is a far more reasonable point for a renumbering than... say... ten.
I feel the journalist aspect of the characters fit nicely into Bendis strenghts. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we get a lot of Lois under his pen.

[captainbellman]

What Everyone Wanted: yet another take on Superman's origin story!

I'm sure THAT won't be boring!

[owlbrigade1]

Agreed, not like that hasn't already been done:

“Doomed planet. Desperate scientists. Last hope. Kindly couple. Superman.”

Not sure how to spread that out over more than a whole page, let alone a new mini series relaunch. And with yet another new number one issue, because DC still thinks that they can fool folks into thinking it is a collectable investment.

[thatnickguy]

AND with a terrifying secret! It's another "everything you know is a lie!"

YAY!

*sarcasm*

[gnarll]

Bendis has a real problem with characters with different power levels. He can write streetlevel characters taking out massively powerful opponents as if it was nothing. That's...not good on Superman.

[bruinsfan]

Well, at least we'll get to see some forgettable street-level thug jobbing all the established Superman villains and recurring constantly like a UTI you just can't shake. Can't wait!

[thanekos]

A new Superman villain.

That always indicates a character with staying power, and not someone who becomes dated the instant their story's over.

[shadowpsykie]

hmmm I hope he does more with Lois. He's great at the investigative types.

[cyberghostface]

I think he’d be better on Batman but we’ll see.

[janegray]

Same. Specifically I was thinking he could really work on Red Hood.

Oh well.

[locuatico]

From what I heard, this was done in part because both Tomasi and Jurgens have trouble keeping up with a bi-weekly schedule. Bendis (like him or not) is one of those writers who can keep up with multiple books at once (how many marvel books was he writing before leaving? 5? 6?).
I also wouldn't be surprised if both King and Tynion were unhappy with that arrangement and DC gave in because the sales number are still really good.

[thatnickguy]

Ugh.

[coldfury]

Man, who knew Parker Robbins destroyed Krypton?

[locuatico]

I know, right? And who knew Martha was Martha Wayne's long lost second cousin twice removed?

[michaelsaint]

Since when did Superman start wearing his red trunks again??

[lordultimus]

He's going to start in Action #1000.

[philippos42]

Why on Earth would you put Bendis on Superman?

[locuatico]

Because years ago, DC was lucky enough to get Jack Kirby, one of the comicbook legends, to work for them. And DC, in what could be considered one of the worst creative decisions of all times, did NOT give him the main superman title.

[zylly]

Argh and ugh.

I get why they're doing this. You don't poach one of your competitor's top talents and not give them one of your flagships.

But Jurgens' and Tomasi's runs were some of the best Superman stories in a good long while. Neither one of them is exactly a "hot stuff" creator (or in Jurgens case, isn't anymore), but they're extremely talented storytellers whose current runs have been very successful.

[scorntx]

And if the problem is that Jurgens and Tomasi are just having problems with a bi-weekly schedule (like Rucka did on Wonder Woman)...
Why can't they just go to a regular monthly schedule?

[katefan]

I wonder how far into Bendis' run it will be before he replaces Clark with a teenage black girl, still call the title Superman and the girl will be called "Superheart". And while Superman lays in a coma the fortress will be run by Lois, Ma Kent (I lost track of whether or not she's dead. If she is Bendis will bring her back), Superheart and a hologram of Clark's Kryptonian mother Lara.

[cyberghostface]

Because he did it with Iron Man that means he’s going to do it with everyone he writes?

[junipepper]

It’s like he wants to do Superman: The ‘Astro City’ version. I can appreciate the irony, as soon as I manage to unpack all the layers of it.

[kore]

"I have a lot of goals for Superman, one of which is to help turn Metropolis into something as provocative and unique as Gotham City is," Bendis explained. "I think everyone will agree Gotham is one of the most built and best places in all of fictional cities, and Metropolis should follow suit. So Action Comics and DC Nation will be the first hints at how we're going to be building up Metropolis. Both in people and in culture, it'll be more than just the place Superman lives. We'll be taking a good look at a lot of places we haven't looked at before."

Hoo boy.

(Now I feel weirdly defensive of Metropolis. It has....the Daily Planet! Newstime! Centennial Park!)