Action Comics Annual #11: Discussion and Review Thread

[Binker]

By Nathaniel Ruff (also known as Binker and Nate on many forums)

ACTION COMICS ANNUAL #11

Written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner
Art and cover by Adam Kubert
Variant cover by Kubert
Edited by Matt Idelson

PLOT:
The extra-length conclusion to "Last Son" is here! Superman and the new Superman Revenge Squad — Lex Luthor, Bizarro, the Parasite and Metallo — take on General Zod, Ursa and Non in a battle for Metropolis, the future of Krypton and Christopher Kent!

REVIEW:
Don't you hate delays? Of course you do! Even though I loved the "Last Son" storyline by both Geoff Johns and Richard Donner, the delays on that arc, which didn't delayed Action Comics of course, were unforgivable. The last time I experienced something like this was with All Star Batman & Robin; the Boy Wonder when we were waiting for #5 to come out. But in comparison, that was worse because we wait for a year and some months since issue #4 for #5 to come out. We have waited for the next Action Comics Annual that would collect the final two issues of "Last Son" since the last part was in Action Comics #851, and that was from July 2007. So ten months, not very but still very close for it being a year's worth of waiting. But I still wanted to get this Annual for very good reasons. Reasons anyone would agree with. One was the writing, the art improved as seen from the previews, the storyline left from its fourth part and the storyline since part one were all great. Needless to say, despite our hate, we were still dying for this to come out. And now, it finally has. Here is the finale to "Last Son", starting...now!

Finally, we're given the finale. And back then up to Didio's comments at New York Comic Con, all the comments about it were the sense of epic. And you know what? They weren't wrong. We get the big battle between Superman against Zod and Ursa, and also a small battle between Bizarro against Non, and the rest of Lex Luthor's Superman Revenge Squad against the Phantom Zoners. And plus, you cannot forget Chris Kent. The Annual helps in showing what an action Hollywood writer-director and an action comic book writer can do together to tell a story such as this. I believe it was the first time in which I thought this was a movie, almost. From the first part in issue #844, to this Annual, the mixture of elements from Superman II and Superman Returns onto the DCU continuity were all great to see and was pulled off quite well. Hell, even the battle in this blew the Superman and the Three Villains battle from Superman II out the water. I loved this!

Now from all the pros and greatness coming from this Annual, there are some cons with the flaws. And the one and only flaw this Annual has is this: continuity. At the end of the story, when the ships reopen and send every criminal back into the Phantom Zone, Chris realizes that the ship must be shut off in order to deactivate it. Chris goes in, and stops it, but doesn't come back. See the problem? Chris says here that he already met Robin, as seen in Kurt Busiek's "Third Kryptonian" arc, which would mean that the whole Camelot Falls storyline up to Busiek's final issue in issue #675 all happened in-between the Clark, Lois, and Chris in the park scene and the three criminals' first appearance scene from Action Comics #845. Kinda complex, isn't it? This flaw doesn't hurt in me re-reading the story again, but it will become a hard thing to re-read if the next Superman stories starting now has Chris back with no explanation on how he returned, since Geoff Johns and James Robinson have plans for Chris in their runs. Unless we're "suppose" to accept that he somehow he came back, and we don't have to see it.

Overall, the FINALLY released Annual was great. Despite the only one flaw, I enjoyed it. In fact this entire "Last Son" storyline; it was epic, and since DC and WB are now doing animated Direct-to-Video movies, "Last Son" is suitable to be one. Maybe "Last Son" the comic book will become "Last Son" the movie in the foreseen future. If this is still in the mind of Bryan Singer, he did mention he'd take a look at "Last Son" for the sequel to Superman Returns. Who knows? All we do know now is that the “Last Son” storyline, which started back in 2006, has finally ended. And like a great storyline is, it ended with a bang.

Now one other thing I wanted to talk about was those who have been all negative over the delay on getting the finale to "Last Son". When it was revealed that this Annual was finally going to come this week, there were people online who wanted no one to get it to show DC how much the delays hurt them. Well I must ask: what's the point? If no one gets the Annual, all it really does is still give people an unfinished storyline. Not only that, not getting it would be worse as DC has apologized, and even readers by now should know that, not just DC but Marvel as well, has had a history of delays, and that comes with being a comic book reader. So the delays might've been bad, but not getting this would be worse. It’s almost like you start out with the readers as victims, and DC trying to please them while trying themselves to get the book out. But once they do finally get the book out, the so-called victims just refuse to get the book they’ve wanted to get. At the end, who’s the bad one here now? See what I mean? Don’t live with an unfinished storyline, and don’t miss this epic Annual to conclude this epic storyline. Get the book.

RATING: Yay

[The Batman]

Damn, it actually came out.

[Jack Zodiac]

How could they still not manage to tell a complete story after an entire year? They get rid of the Phantom Zone criminals, but Chris mysteriously disappears, which means there's still an untold gap between this and the most recent Superman adventures. After an entire year? For five bucks? !@#$ that. And the art was subpar. I'm sorry that Adam's health has been poor, but for a year's wait, I wanted some spectacular art, and aside from the devastation of Metropolis, his art was even rougher than usual. Beautiful art from Roux in the backups, though. I'd like to see him get some more work.

Otherwise, decent action and some much-anticipated Lex Luthor. Shame he couldn't get some more play out of it, or his Superman Revenge Squad. I hope Johns or Robinson utilize 'em again soon.

[Mon-el]

Now one other thing I wanted to talk about was those who have been all negative over the delay on getting the finale to "Last Son". When it was revealed that this Annual was finally going to come this week, there were people online who wanted no one to get it to show DC how much the delays hurt them. Well I must ask: what's the point?


Really, this didn't need to be in a review of the issue, but since you asked what the point is I will give you the point. Dc cares about your money, it's a corporation that tries to get you to buy a product, no more or no less.


If no one gets the Annual, all it really does is still give people an unfinished storyline.

I can live with an unfinished storyline, in the grand scheme of things it wasn't worth it for me, to find out the conclusion. Last Son isn't the only storyline I have dropped in the past since OYL, I dropped Trials of Shazam(I am a huge Freddy Freeman fan), but again it wasn't worth it for me. For the first time ever in my life I am no longer reading Wonder Woman due to inept scripts and lateness. I have dropped a ton of books across the boards.

Not only that, not getting it would be worse as DC has apologized, and even readers by now should know that, not just DC but Marvel as well, has had a history of delays, and that comes with being a comic book reader..

Another point, as far as I recall, Dc never apologized. Geoff Johns did. Dc or Dido never did, or I may have been mistaken.

[Binker]

Didio did, a few times. I think he would represent DC since he is their editor.

[DonC]

I said I wasn't going to buy this, but it was a slow week for me and I had a couple extra bucks to spend.

I'm thinking I should have saved my money.

How could they still not manage to tell a complete story after an entire year? They get rid of the Phantom Zone criminals, but Chris mysteriously disappears, which means there's still an untold gap between this and the most recent Superman adventures.

I would guess that "Last Son" now takes place after the more recent issues that featured Chris Kent.

After an entire year? For five bucks? !@#$ that. And the art was subpar. I'm sorry that Adam's health has been poor, but for a year's wait, I wanted some spectacular art, and aside from the devastation of Metropolis, his art was even rougher than usual. Beautiful art from Roux in the backups, though. I'd like to see him get some more work.

Otherwise, decent action and some much-anticipated Lex Luthor. Shame he couldn't get some more play out of it, or his Superman Revenge Squad. I hope Johns or Robinson utilize 'em again soon.

I agree. I wanted more of the Revenge Squad. What did Metallo and Parasite get, maybe three pages of fighting? If you can call that fighting. These are Kryptonians, yet they're going out like punks. If Metallo and/or Parasite can take out a Kryptonian in seconds, how is Superman still alive?

And where was the Justice League vs. Zod's army stuff? How cool would it have been to see Wonder Woman or the Martian Manhunter going full on against a Kryptonian?

Still, I'm glad the kid is gone. And we can finally lay to rest the debate about whether or not Lois and Clark can have a kid.

[Mat001]

I would guess that "Last Son" now takes place after the more recent issues that featured Chris Kent.

I think more aptly it takes place before Zod and the others get out, even though Action #846 has Chris unfamilar with Batman and Wonder Woman. Everything else comes before then. "Escape From Bizarro's World" and "Superman & The Legion Of Super-Heroes" take place later on.

I wonder if the "Last Son" trade will alter the dialogue from 846 to make it gel better.

[Pinnacle]

I don't see how you can possibly make this storyline gel with all the other storylines with Chris Kent in them. We have to assume that all the stories that occurred with Chris Kent had to occur before Clark and Lois introduced Chris to the rest of the Planet staff, but yet we see him walking down the street with them. I thought Chris was one of the better concepts to come out of the Superman comics in several years and now that's been ruined. I hope Johns fixes this fast. Busiek showed how well Chris could fit into the Superman comics so let's bring him back. I hope someone uses Chris in an upcoming story so we'll have to have another Annual to show how Chris is brought back.

[SuperSince92]

Well they bollacks'd that one up, didn't they?

Chris Kent. Disappears into the Phantom Zone, yet he's been in Busiek's Superman run. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Damnit, DC....

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I wait a very long time for each issue of Planetary to come out. And, no matter how long it takes between issues, it's usually worth the wait.

I waited even longer between issues for The Ultimates. And it was worth the wait.

This?

Wasn't worth the wait.

[WorstThingUS]

Now one other thing I wanted to talk about was those who have been all negative over the delay on getting the finale to "Last Son". When it was revealed that this Annual was finally going to come this week, there were people online who wanted no one to get it to show DC how much the delays hurt them. Well I must ask: what's the point? If no one gets the Annual, all it really does is still give people an unfinished storyline. Not only that, not getting it would be worse as DC has apologized, and even readers by now should know that, not just DC but Marvel as well, has had a history of delays, and that comes with being a comic book reader. So the delays might've been bad, but not getting this would be worse. It’s almost like you start out with the readers as victims, and DC trying to please them while trying themselves to get the book out. But once they do finally get the book out, the so-called victims just refuse to get the book they’ve wanted to get. At the end, who’s the bad one here now? See what I mean? Don’t live with an unfinished storyline, and don’t miss this epic Annual to conclude this epic storyline. Get the book.

No. If you're willing to flat out take the crap the DC is giving pretty much insures they will continue give you more. After all, you put more food on an empty plate, not a full one.

I am a devoted Superman fan who has endured a lot of crap recently (can you say "Camelot Falls"), but I flat out refused to buy this. The difference between this and Planetary, the first two volumes of The Ultimates and most importantly, All Star Superman is that when you get it, it's so satisfying you can almost understand why it took so long. When I looked at this and saw that the Chris Kent storyline wasn't even resolved, I knew this wouldn't be the case. I'm not giving myself an unfinished storyline. It was given to me a year ago (and it's not like I didn't already know what happened, so how "unfinished" can it be?).

And last I heard excellent books like Immortal Iron Fist and Captain America come out every month with top artists and writers without fail. Iron Fist even has extra one shots! So, no it's not just part of being a comic book reader. It's part of a being comic reader who takes shit and that is not me. If DiDio put as much effort into just getting his tentpoles out as he did his "events" this wouldn't have happened to the three most important characters in the DCU.

[Jack]

I wait a very long time for each issue of Planetary to come out. And, no matter how long it takes between issues, it's usually worth the wait.

I waited even longer between issues for The Ultimates. And it was worth the wait.

This?

Wasn't worth the wait.
Once, Planetary and Ultimates came out on the same day.

[dupersuper]

Chris mentioned he "even got to meet Robin", so I assume the end of this story now takes place after the past year or so of Superman books...however f-ed up that may be. :frown:

[botch]

How could they still not manage to tell a complete story after an entire year? They get rid of the Phantom Zone criminals, but Chris mysteriously disappears, which means there's still an untold gap between this and the most recent Superman adventures. After an entire year? For five bucks? !@#$ that. And the art was subpar. I'm sorry that Adam's health has been poor, but for a year's wait, I wanted some spectacular art, and aside from the devastation of Metropolis, his art was even rougher than usual. Beautiful art from Roux in the backups, though. I'd like to see him get some more work.

Otherwise, decent action and some much-anticipated Lex Luthor. Shame he couldn't get some more play out of it, or his Superman Revenge Squad. I hope Johns or Robinson utilize 'em again soon.

I loved the art, opinions. I mean you like Jerry Ordway and pretty much any comic book penciller can draw as simply as he can. but yes the back up art was very nice.

[4thHorseman]

I thought the issue was pretty good. Was it worth the delay? No. Not even a hesitation with that answer. But if this was what would have come out if everything ran smoothly, it would have been awesome.

And thanks to the art delay, I'm sure Johns was pissed that he had to do a little rewording to make it seem like this is one of the most recent events in the Superman books. Now people are going to complain it makes no sense continuity wise, so they blame DC and the writer. Never the person whose fault it was. Thanks Kubert! I'll be sure to avoid any of these mini-series they are putting you on since I'm not sure how long those will take to finish.

But I am curious as to what Zod said was in the Phantom Zone that he plans on unleashing on Kal-El....

[van_line]

Don't take this the wrong way, Binker but do you work for DC? I don't know how you can find anything positive to say about this book.

Long Delay

Terrible Art (wow, that scene with Superman and Lex either Supes is floating or Lex is 5' tall and Superman is 7')

Continunity issue

Where is the quality control?

DC editor 1: "this looks like crap and it doesn't make any sense, what should we do?"

DC editor's boss: "publish it"

I hope this is the end of "hey let's bring in non-comic book writers to write comic books" because it has been a total failure.

[van_line]

almost forgot my final compliant:

terrible character design of the villians, gray cloaks with googles.

[Usernamessd]

Don't take this the wrong way, Binker but do you work for DC? I don't know how you can find anything positive to say about this book.

Long Delay

Terrible Art (wow, that scene with Superman and Lex either Supes is floating or Lex is 5' tall and Superman is 7')

Continunity issue

Where is the quality control?

DC editor 1: "this looks like crap and it doesn't make any sense, what should we do?"

DC editor's boss: "publish it"

I hope this is the end of "hey let's bring in non-comic book writers to write comic books" because it has been a total failure.

Do you work for Marvel?:mad:

[The Batman]

Don't take this the wrong way, Binker but do you work for DC? I don't know how you can find anything positive to say about this book.

Long Delay

Terrible Art (wow, that scene with Superman and Lex either Supes is floating or Lex is 5' tall and Superman is 7')

Continunity issue

Where is the quality control?

DC editor 1: "this looks like crap and it doesn't make any sense, what should we do?"

DC editor's boss: "publish it"

I hope this is the end of "hey let's bring in non-comic book writers to write comic books" because it has been a total failure.


Except nearly all the issues you've mentioned have nothing to do with the one non-comic writer involved in this.

[WorstThingUS]

Do you work for Marvel?:mad:

Because that's the only other comic book company in the world? Because that's the only way someone would have a problem with this is to work for a rival comic book company? I too found Binker to be nothing shot of an apologist for DC and contemplated that very rhetorical question myself.

You want to see this story done right, pick up Action Comics #471-473. Three issues in three months. No excuses.

[The Batman]

Because that's the only other comic book company in the world? Because that's the only way someone would have a problem with this is to work for a rival comic book company?

I too found Binker to be nothing shot of an apologist for DC and contemplated that very rhetorical question myself.


Because the only way someone could have something positive to say about this story is to work for DC?

[Mon-el]

I too found Binker to be nothing shot of an apologist for DC and contemplated that very rhetorical question myself.


I usually enjoy Binker's reviews. I really just wished he would have left out that last paragraph, all that last paragraph (seemed like to me) was a jab at the fans. It had nothing really to do with the issue in itself.

Didio did, a few times. I think he would represent DC since he is their editor.

Like I said earlier, I may have been mistaken about that, but currently I'm trying to find a source to where he actually apologized. Care to give me a link in providing one. Not that I doubt your word, it's just something I would like to read for myself.

[WorstThingUS]

Because the only way someone could have something positive to say about this story is to work for DC?

He wasn't saying positive things about DC, just why we should overlook everything and still buy this issue. How it would be our misfortune not to do so. Apologist, pure and simple.

[4thHorseman]

Like I said earlier, I may have been mistaken about that, but currently I'm trying to find a source to where he actually apologized. Care to give me a link in providing one. Not that I doubt your word, it's just something I would like to read for myself.

I may be remembering this wrong (and I don't want to go listen to the two hours to find the statements), but I believe Didio apologized both last year and this year at the NYCC convention

[Mon-el]

I may be remembering this wrong (and I don't want to go listen to the two hours to find the statements), but I believe Didio apologized both last year and this year at the NYCC convention

Many Thanks 4thHorseman!

In providing me a look in the right direction.

[4thHorseman]

Many Thanks 4thHorseman!

In providing me a look in the right direction.

No problem. Hope I don't lead you on a wild goose chase. I remember at this year's NYCC, a fan asked about it and they stated it was done. I just can't remember if he added to that or not.

EDIT: Just checked last year, he wasn't at the big guns convention. So if someone did apologize, it wouldn't have been him then.

[The Batman]

He wasn't saying positive things about DC, just why we should overlook everything and still buy this issue. How it would be our misfortune not to do so. Apologist, pure and simple.

. . . . and the only way anyone could have something positive to say about DC is to be working for them?

If that bit of rhetoric you were contemplating using against Binker is wrong about the people complaining about DC then it's probably wrong about the people praising DC too.

[WorstThingUS]

. . . . and the only way anyone could have something positive to say about DC is to be working for them?

If that bit of rhetoric you were contemplating using against Binker is wrong about the people complaining about DC then it's probably wrong about the people praising DC too.

Positive, no. Apologizing for obvious and continuing mistakes while trying to shift blame over to the fans? It does cause eyebrows to be raised.

[Mon-el]

No problem. Hope I don't lead you on a wild goose chase. I remember at this year's NYCC, a fan asked about it and they stated it was done. I just can't remember if he added to that or not.

EDIT: Just checked last year, he wasn't at the big guns convention. So if someone did apologize, it wouldn't have been him then.

Found this one: from CBR and it's dated March 15th of this year.

In response to fan's question, DiDio reminded the crowd that the "Last Son" storyline by Geoff Johns, Richard Donner and Adam Kubert is set to be completed, with all the art now finished and a print run to be set within the week. He said DC had broken its committment to fans, and promised such a pronounced delay would never be repeated.

[WorstThingUS]

In response to fan's question, DiDio reminded the crowd that the "Last Son" storyline by Geoff Johns, Richard Donner and Adam Kubert is set to be completed, with all the art now finished and a print run to be set within the week. He said DC had broken its committment to fans, and promised such a pronounced delay would never be repeated.

But notice this didn't result in say, the book being discounted in price. Why? Because it's a business that's why and the only way to really make an impact and make sure he stick to this promise is to hurt his business and that's why I didn't buy this book and hope others did the same.

[4thHorseman]

But notice this didn't result in say, the book being discounted in price. Why? Because it's a business that's why and the only way to really make an impact and make sure he stick to this promise is to hurt his business and that's why I didn't buy this book and hope others did the same.

The book was...what...3-4 x's the size of a regular issue and the price wasn't even doubled....don't think it's that bad.

as for Mon-El, I checked the Countdown to Crisis panel from this year. He only states that they understand it was late, but it'll be worth the wait. No real apology.

[Zombie Superman]

Don't take this the wrong way, Binker but do you work for DC? I don't know how you can find anything positive to say about this book.

Long Delay

Terrible Art (wow, that scene with Superman and Lex either Supes is floating or Lex is 5' tall and Superman is 7')

Continunity issue

Where is the quality control?

DC editor 1: "this looks like crap and it doesn't make any sense, what should we do?"

DC editor's boss: "publish it"

I hope this is the end of "hey let's bring in non-comic book writers to write comic books" because it has been a total failure.

Do you even know what you're talking about?

Donner had ZERO to do with the delays. It was all Kubert.

Z\S/

[elise]

I'm in a different boat than it sounds like everyone else is in, since I didn't read the previous issues of the Last Son arc and wasn't waiting for this issue for so long. I wasn't even planning on buying the Annual, but my comic shop pulled it for me anyway so I figured why not.

I actually really liked it. I'd only read anything with Chris written by Busiek and I loathed him (and Busiek's run in general). This issue made me like him, though, and I really enjoyed reading it. I even liked the art. I just wonder what they're planning on doing to make everything fit together with Chris disappearing in the Phantom Zone.

[WorstThingUS]

Do you even know what you're talking about?

Donner had ZERO to do with the delays. It was all Kubert.

Z\S/

I think that's in reference to the overall failure of non-comics writers doing comics. Ultimate Hulk & Wolverine anyone?

[JCAll]

I liked it. I knew I would like it. Hell, I'm still waiting for Duke Nukem Forever, a little delay isn't going to sway me.

Did anyone catch the throwaway headline towards the end that said Metallo and Paragon had been caught in Gotham?
Yeah, it has to have taken place at the end of all the other Chris Kent stories.

Now I wonder how they'll get him back. The Legion of Super Heroes is getting a lot of press lately. Maybe they pull him out of the Zone in the 31st century when the Legion goes in after Mon-El. Or hell, maybe Supes will hire Lobo to track him down, that'd be funny as hell...if wildly our of character.

[Solaris01]

I LOVED it!

-This story and graphics really felt epic and cinematic, IMO.

-Loved when Lois hit Luthor on the head and said "shut up, Luthor," bwhahaha!

-And I found the part where Chris tells Superman goodbye..........:frown: very heartfelt and compelling, IMO. I got teary eyes. I feel sad for Supes and Lois.

[WorstThingUS]

I LOVED it!

-This story and graphics really felt epic and cinematic, IMO.

-Loved when Lois hit Luthor on the head and said "shut up, Luthor," bwhahaha!

-And I found the part where Chris tells Superman goodbye..........:frown: very heartfelt and compelling, IMO. I got teary eyes. I feel sad for Supes and Lois.

Why? Chris Kent has been a regular in the Superman books for months now. That ending has no suspense or emotional resonance because we know what happens in the end.

[dreyga2000]

Why? Chris Kent has been a regular in the Superman books for months now. That ending has no suspense or emotional resonance because we know what happens in the end.

What?:confused: Did I miss something how do Chris's apperances as a regular in the Superman monthlies suggest he was going to sacrifice himself and be lost in the Phantom Zone? Has there been a story alerady explaining how he escapethe place or referncing his imprisonment? The ending really suprised me and seems cause for major continuity error. Did I miss an issue or a quote something? Help Please...

[brundlefly]

-Loved when Lois hit Luthor on the head and said "shut up, Luthor," bwhahaha!

Ugh. That bit of goofy "Lois beats Luthor" silliness, along with Lex back in Silver Age prison greys in the slammer & grumbling about Superman and son stealing his glory, was straight out of Hackman's "Luthor as campy comedic villain" portrayal in the movies. Hell, I half expected to see Otis show up as his cellmate. :rolleyes: That, along with the rest of the "everybody just goes back to the Phantom Zone or jail" non-ending where we don't even see how the rest of the Revenge Squad was brought down, was the glaring weakness of this issue, imo. The first and middle parts of the comic were pretty entertaining, but the poor ending took me out of it altogether.

And was that a picture of Brian Michael Bendis used as the mug shot for Lex on the Daily Planet cover in the last page with all the Planet employee bios? As a Lex fan, I am extremely offended. :evilsmile:

[The Batman]

Positive, no. Apologizing for obvious and continuing mistakes while trying to shift blame over to the fans? It does cause eyebrows to be raised.

Holy shit you're right!

I mean, pointing out that Geoff's said stuff like this (http://www.comicbloc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=930320&postcount=1) and suggesting that people not pass up on something they might enjoy just to tell DC something they already know: How could this guy not be a shill?


If you want to dismiss positive viewpoints by suggesting they're the result of company plants, be my guest. But that means we get to ask the same questions of the really negative ones too.

[Solaris01]

Why? Chris Kent has been a regular in the Superman books for months now. That ending has no suspense or emotional resonance because we know what happens in the end.

Before reading it, I had No idea that this was going to happen to Chris, so it really surprised me. Sorry it didn't work for you.

What?:confused: Did I miss something how do Chris's apperances as a regular in the Superman monthlies suggest he was going to sacrifice himself and be lost in the Phantom Zone? Has there been a story alerady explaining how he escapethe place or referncing his imprisonment? The ending really suprised me and seems cause for major continuity error. Did I miss an issue or a quote something? Help Please...

Yeah, I know. The continuity feels 'weird,' but since I don't care so much about continuity, I enjoyed the issue a lot. Let's see what happens later.

Ugh. That bit of goofy "Lois beats Luthor" silliness, along with Lex back in Silver Age prison greys in the slammer & grumbling about Superman and son stealing his glory, was straight out of Hackman's "Luthor as campy comedic villain" portrayal in the movies. Hell, I half expected to see Otis show up as his cellmate. :rolleyes: That, along with the rest of the "everybody just goes back to the Phantom Zone or jail" non-ending where we don't even see how the rest of the Revenge Squad was brought down, was the glaring weakness of this issue, imo. The first and middle parts of the comic were pretty entertaining, but the poor ending took me out of it altogether.

And was that a picture of Brian Michael Bendis used as the mug shot for Lex on the Daily Planet cover in the last page with all the Planet employee bios? As a Lex fan, I am extremely offended. :evilsmile:

:smile: I see. But I never thought of Otis while reading the issue. Luthor felt pretty sinister to me. But yeah, the issue felt rushed, I agree. They should have fleshed it out more, no doubt. Still, the good outweighed the bad for me. There are some parts that I really loved, especially the ones with Chris and Supes together.

[WorstThingUS]

Holy shit you're right!

I mean, pointing out that Geoff's said stuff like this (http://www.comicbloc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=930320&postcount=1) and suggesting that people not pass up on something they might enjoy just to tell DC something they already know: How could this guy not be a shill?

Let's see, Geoff Johns's does work for DC and says you should just take their shit and buy it anyway and the OP not only says you should take their shit and buy it anyway and insults the fan on top of it. Why on earth would anyone think he was a shill?

If you want to dismiss positive viewpoints by suggesting they're the result of company plants, be my guest. But that means we get to ask the same questions of the really negative ones too.

One more time since no matter how often I say it you ignore it: this isn't about his positive viewpoints on the issue it's about his negative viewpoints on the people who didn't want to buy it. That's what made the poster question his loyalties and why I also considered doing the same.

[WorstThingUS]

What?:confused: Did I miss something how do Chris's apperances as a regular in the Superman monthlies suggest he was going to sacrifice himself and be lost in the Phantom Zone? Has there been a story alerady explaining how he escapethe place or referncing his imprisonment? The ending really suprised me and seems cause for major continuity error. Did I miss an issue or a quote something? Help Please...

No, but knowing he's going to be all right and with The Kents pretty much instantly kind robs the "sacrifice" of its drama and suspense. It's like seeing The Two Towers before Fellowship of the Ring and knowing Gandalf is going to be just fine when he takes on the creature.

[d newton]

And the OP not only says you should take their shit and buy it anyway and insults the fan on top of it.
I assume you're referring to this comment at the end of the review:
Now one other thing I wanted to talk about was those who have been all negative over the delay on getting the finale to "Last Son". When it was revealed that this Annual was finally going to come this week, there were people online who wanted no one to get it to show DC how much the delays hurt them. Well I must ask: what's the point? If no one gets the Annual, all it really does is still give people an unfinished storyline. Not only that, not getting it would be worse as DC has apologized, and even readers by now should know that, not just DC but Marvel as well, has had a history of delays, and that comes with being a comic book reader. So the delays might've been bad, but not getting this would be worse. It’s almost like you start out with the readers as victims, and DC trying to please them while trying themselves to get the book out. But once they do finally get the book out, the so-called victims just refuse to get the book they’ve wanted to get. At the end, who’s the bad one here now? See what I mean? Don’t live with an unfinished storyline, and don’t miss this epic Annual to conclude this epic storyline. Get the book.
How was this insulting to the fans? :confused:

[Jack Zodiac]

It wasn't, but it was insulting to intelligence in general. There's no logic in that argument. People weren't considering boycotting the annual to spite DC, but to send them a message. "Put your books out on time or we aren't buying them." This after over a year of delays for the finale to this story (and a half-assed finale at that), and two years of delays on several of their flagship titles. "It happens" isn't a suitable excuse for delays. Not in serial entertainment.

[DonC]

No, but knowing he's going to be all right and with The Kents pretty much instantly kind robs the "sacrifice" of its drama and suspense. It's like seeing The Two Towers before Fellowship of the Ring and knowing Gandalf is going to be just fine when he takes on the creature.


How do you know Chris is going to be okay and living with the Kents? The over-a-year delay has continuity all messed up. They could have easily added Chris to what were supposed to be post-"Last Son" stories to keep his going back to the Phantom Zone a surprise.

[The Batman]

How do you know Chris is going to be okay and living with the Kents? The over-a-year delay has continuity all messed up. They could have easily added Chris to what were supposed to be post-"Last Son" stories to keep his going back to the Phantom Zone a surprise.

You know, I think this might be almost exactly what happened: have Chris show up in Kurt's stories to keep that ending a surprise and make the conclusion fit better when they then slot the Zod's invasion parts of "Last Son" in after the last regular Chris Kent appearance.

Is Kurt Busiek still poking around here? Maybe he can shed some light on how this is supposed to all fit together?

[Jack Zodiac]

You guys are too optimistic. I think it's more likely that nobody told anybody what was going on with the kid, so he shows up for over a year of stories, and then disappears in the conclusion to a story that happened the year prior to his introduction. It was a !@#$ up. Nothing more than that. And I'd be the last person to bitch about someone ditching continuity for the sake of a good story, but they ditched some direct continuity and gave us a really !@#$ing awful story, so it wasn't even kind of worth it.

[WorstThingUS]

I assume you're referring to this comment at the end of the review:

How was this insulting to the fans? :confused:

I find the idea that simply because I don't want to buy this book I see myself as some sort "victim" who is "cutting off his nose to spite his face" insulting. I'm not denying myself anything. I stopped caring about this story last year, so if it never came out, I don't really think I'd have noticed. It would just be a trivia question. It was done better and more efficiently 30 years ago. I recommend everyone who didn't buy this annual go spend their money on that.

[The Batman]

Let's see, Geoff Johns's does work for DC and says you should just take their shit and buy it anyway and the OP not only says you should take their shit and buy it anyway and insults the fan on top of it. Why on earth would anyone think he was a shill?

One more time since no matter how often I say it you ignore it: this isn't about his positive viewpoints on the issue it's about his negative viewpoints on the people who didn't want to buy it. That's what made the poster question his loyalties and why I also considered doing the same.

Yeah, except that's isn't what either of them said. Geoff gave us a "Yeah we're sorry it's late but when it does come out we think it'll be worth it" and Binker said what amounts to "now that the book you've been complaining about not getting is here, it's good, and it doesn't make sense not to get it." You might've taken them as "take out shit" comments, but that's probably not what was meant and certainly not what was said by either of them.

While I do think that fans can get a little too bent out of shape over late books I don't quite agree with Binker (I keep wanting to call him Binky)'s thought process on this. I usually pass on late books more out of a loss in interest than a desire for protest but I do pass on them often enough.

That all being said, calling him a shill seems like a cheap debate tactic designed to just cut his opinion off at the knees rather than counter it.

[The Batman]

You guys are too optimistic. I think it's more likely that nobody told anybody what was going on with the kid, so he shows up for over a year of stories, and then disappears in the conclusion to a story that happened the year prior to his introduction. It was a !@#$ up. Nothing more than that. And I'd be the last person to bitch about someone ditching continuity for the sake of a good story, but they ditched some direct continuity and gave us a really !@#$ing awful story, so it wasn't even kind of worth it.

Too optimistic?

Maybe.

Probably.

If we have to, and I don't think we have to, but there is a way to fit this all together. That's the only thing making me think there might be the slightest of premeditation behind this.

[The Batman]

I find the idea that simply because I don't want to buy this book I see myself as some sort "victim" who is "cutting off his nose to spite his face" insulting. I'm not denying myself anything. I stopped caring about this story last year, so if it never came out, I don't really think I'd have noticed. It would just be a trivia question. It was done better and more efficiently 30 years ago. I recommend everyone who didn't buy this annual go spend their money on that.

Okay, I understand better now why you want to swat back at Binker with a perjorative "shill".

[PatrickG]

You guys are too optimistic. I think it's more likely that nobody told anybody what was going on with the kid, so he shows up for over a year of stories, and then disappears in the conclusion to a story that happened the year prior to his introduction. It was a !@#$ up. Nothing more than that. And I'd be the last person to bitch about someone ditching continuity for the sake of a good story, but they ditched some direct continuity and gave us a really !@#$ing awful story, so it wasn't even kind of worth it.

Well, Jack... Chris does mention meeting Robin from the Busiek run in the annual. So the Busiek run IS apparently intended to take place between parts of LAST SON.

[Jack Zodiac]

Well, Jack... Chris does mention meeting Robin from the Busiek run in the annual. So the Busiek run IS apparently intended to take place between parts of LAST SON.

Yes, I like how he very cleverly slid that in there to make it look like "Last Son" wasn't just a weekend in the life of Superman.

I'd have more respect for anyone who just came out and went, "whoops, we !@#$ed up." Still wouldn't have been a good story, but right now, all it is is one mediocre cluster!@#$.

[WorstThingUS]

Okay, I understand better now why you want to swat back at Binker with a perjorative "shill".

And this is why I "understood" the poster who actually did say it when I refrained and felt the need to step up for him.

[The Batman]

Great but I'm still not getting how you're turning that into an offensive comment or how you can still see "shill" as anything other than an easy smear.

[WorstThingUS]

Great but I'm still not getting how you're turning that into an offensive comment or how you can still see "shill" as anything other than an easy smear.

Which is probably by I didn't use it myself, but understood why someone else would. And it's offensive to suggest that a person wouldn't buy a book because they were petty, which is pretty much what Binker says at the end of his review. The poster who originally took exception to it was correct: it has no place there. Review the book, not the readers and most certainly the people who choose not to be readers.

[d newton]

I find the idea that simply because I don't want to buy this book I see myself as some sort "victim" who is "cutting off his nose to spite his face" insulting. I'm not denying myself anything.
I read it as the the OP getting annoyed at people who moaned about how late the conclusion to Last Son was & thought the issue should have come out on time (see Who Is Wonder Woman / Camelot Falls for example).

[WorstThingUS]

I read it as the the OP getting annoyed at people who moaned about how late the conclusion to Last Son was & thought the issue should have come out on time (see Who Is Wonder Woman / Camelot Falls for example).

Which has absolutely no place in a review. Not to mention his attitude of "suck it up" as if they're giving these books away. This isn't a delay of a few months. It's a freaking year! We're paying for a product and if they don't deliver we're neither obligated to buy nor at fault for not doing so. The OP seems to think we are. I maintain, if DC really wanted to make some sort of amends to the readers, the book should have been discounted. That would have indicated sincerity to me. Talk is cheap.

[Fatguy]

I maintain, if DC really wanted to make some sort of amends to the readers, the book should have been discounted. That would have indicated sincerity to me. Talk is cheap.

Please. Why would they sell it cheap? It's not like they owe us anything because a book was late. Late books suck, but give me a break.

As for the issue, I thought it was ok. But honestly, it's been so long that I was so disconnected from the story, I wasn't able to get into it as much as I would've liked.

Which is a shame. It started so well, it had a good chance of being one of my favorite Superman stories. The beginning clicked with me big time, and Kubert's art was fantastic.

[chriskenny]

I don't know what the hoopla over the continuity errors are. It seemed pretty clear to me when I read it that Busiek's run over in Superman could be fit into a block of time between one of the parts of Last Son. The issues in Superman where Chris was adjusting to life in Metropolis, helping Superman fight Kryptonian-hunting pirates, and re-fitting their apartment happened (obviously) after Chris showed up in a pod in the center of Metropolis but before General Zod and crew broke free of the Phantom Zone and conquered Metropolis.

The side benefit to the delay of part 4 of Last Son was the idea that the Chris being written out of a book was no longer a foregone conclusion. Having him as such a presence in Busiek's book gave the distinct impression he was now part of the status quo. The one issue where he creates a new apartment with Chris in mind gave a since of permanence to him. So it actually made the finale to this story far more effective.

I thought the idea of him having an adopted son for awhile to explore the idea of Superman as a dad was an interesting avenue to go down, but I'm glad we didn't get stuck with it as a permanent fixture. Just look at the abysmal Flash comic for a reason why kids hurt a book.

Now he has this kind of heartbreaking subplot that has the same spirit as his quest to cure Mon-El or re-size Kandor: find Chris in the endless depths of the Phantom Zone. Kind of cool.

The thing that bothered me about the story is how it functions under the premise that all the Phantom Zone criminals are the worst of what Krypton has to offer but when they capture all the super-heroes and Lois they don't kill them? After being defeated so easily, one would think it would be no big thing to just off them... especially Lois, who represented Kal-El's love interest. They had no reason to keep her as a hostage or anything, and as far as they knew Superman wasn't coming back because he was stuck in the Phantom Zone. Also, why did they limit their conquest to Metropolis and Metropolis alone? It seems like they could have taken the planet over in a long weekend.... I don't know, I just think the notion that an army of Kryptonians sounds like such overwhelming odds, that when it comes down to it they have to create these inconsistencies to make it possible to overcome them.

[chriskenny]

P.S.: I am also very interested in the reference to the Doomsday terrorists. It is obvious that the Doomsday backstory has been retconned in some way by Johns. Which is nice, btw, because I never really liked Doomsday in practice but felt like he could be made to be interesting. That wasn't the first reference to Doomsday terrorists, either, and I hope he is planting seeds of an upcoming event. I wonder, too, if Zod's reference to unleashing an unknown horror from the Zone is connected to the Doomsday terrorists reference.

I know the Brainiac/ Kandor reference is going to be dealt with in the next Gary Frank arc, and I am excited. I love that he is bring back a lot of Silver Age elements to Superman sans the silliness. The Phantom Zone, his friendship with the Legion, a more villan-like Luthor, etc.

[Mon-el]

Why? You'd have moaned if he hadn't said that comment.

Did this really needed to be said as well?

Look, I really don't have a rat's race in this thread. I feel like since I didn't read the issue and I really can't comment on it, that I have no reason to even be in this thread.

I think WorstThingUS has explained his view on the issue.

Judging by other boards on the issue, and reader's here as well. Their was some continuity error's.. Aw heck even Jack Zodiac can say that, and he's probably the last person in the world that would point that out about continuity.

I wished that Binker would come back to this discussion, because we are mostly talking about his review instead of the issue, but he has that choice. Like everyone does. Like I said I usually enjoy his reviews because they are mostly positive, and their's nothing wrong in which a person talks about what they like to love.

Worst and I have disagreed about John's Superman and the Legion, but we also have agreed on Camelot Fall's.

Edit:(after having read the con in Seattle):

This was said at the Seattle Con today.

Things tuned more serious for a moment as the next person in line criticized the long delay in Action Comics Annual #11. Didio emphasized that no one ever intends for books to ship late and went in to a little bit of why the “Last Son” storyline ending was delayed so much. He then asked for a show of hands of audience members who wanted their books every month, on time and regardless of creative team. A few hands went up. Then he asked who wanted the superstar creative team to finish their storyline no matter how long it took, asking the many hands that went up to stay up. Then he asked hands to go down if the delay was a month and so on until twelve months. Noting that some hands were still up he said people would wait. Didio did emphasize that they have addressed the lateness issue and are doing much, much better about shipping on time.

[Solaris01]

I don't know what the hoopla over the continuity errors are. It seemed pretty clear to me when I read it that Busiek's run over in Superman could be fit into a block of time between one of the parts of Last Son. The issues in Superman where Chris was adjusting to life in Metropolis, helping Superman fight Kryptonian-hunting pirates, and re-fitting their apartment happened (obviously) after Chris showed up in a pod in the center of Metropolis but before General Zod and crew broke free of the Phantom Zone and conquered Metropolis.

The side benefit to the delay of part 4 of Last Son was the idea that the Chris being written out of a book was no longer a foregone conclusion. Having him as such a presence in Busiek's book gave the distinct impression he was now part of the status quo. The one issue where he creates a new apartment with Chris in mind gave a since of permanence to him. So it actually made the finale to this story far more effective.

I thought the idea of him having an adopted son for awhile to explore the idea of Superman as a dad was an interesting avenue to go down, but I'm glad we didn't get stuck with it as a permanent fixture. Just look at the abysmal Flash comic for a reason why kids hurt a book.

Now he has this kind of heartbreaking subplot that has the same spirit as his quest to cure Mon-El or re-size Kandor: find Chris in the endless depths of the Phantom Zone. Kind of cool.

.

Interesting post, and I largely agree with you here.

[WorstThingUS]

Now he has this kind of heartbreaking subplot that has the same spirit as his quest to cure Mon-El or re-size Kandor: find Chris in the endless depths of the Phantom Zone. Kind of cool.


But he doesn't. It's been solved and solved pretty quickly to fit into any sort of continuity.

[van_line]

so what was the cause of the 12 month delay? I would hope that after 12 months the art work would be specatular since that is why we waited, but I really thought the majority of the artwork was very poor, also i like he did very loose breakdowns of the pages and the inker supplied all the details.

[Lorendiac]

This was said at the Seattle Con today.
Things tuned more serious for a moment as the next person in line criticized the long delay in Action Comics Annual #11. Didio emphasized that no one ever intends for books to ship late and went in to a little bit of why the “Last Son” storyline ending was delayed so much. He then asked for a show of hands of audience members who wanted their books every month, on time and regardless of creative team. A few hands went up. Then he asked who wanted the superstar creative team to finish their storyline no matter how long it took, asking the many hands that went up to stay up. Then he asked hands to go down if the delay was a month and so on until twelve months. Noting that some hands were still up he said people would wait. Didio did emphasize that they have addressed the lateness issue and are doing much, much better about shipping on time.

In a way, I agree with Dan DiDio's point that people will wait for the original creative team to wrap up what they started. I'm one of those people who waits and waits in a reasonably patient fashion. Specifically, I'm still waiting for the whole "Last Son" thing to be finished and then collected in TPB before I bother to spend my time and money on any of it. So a long delay between "monthly" installments of it doesn't ruffle my feathers . . . because I haven't even started reading about Chris Kent yet! These long delays between issues on some of my favorite projects (anyone remember when "Astro City" was first launched and it was supposedly meant to be an regular monthly title with no strings attached?) are one of several reasons I prefer to "wait for the trade" these days -- almost all the time!

In other words, my waiting embraces however long it takes the creative team to complete an entire story arc -- so instead of biting my nails while I wait for them to get their act together, I just wait even longer, for as long as it takes until I have the chance to read the entire story arc in one sitting! (After all, I don't normally read, say, a science fiction novel by perusing a few dozen pages at a time, followed by a gap of one or more months, followed by another few dozen pages, etc. I prefer to still be able to remember what has happening in Chapter 2 by the time I reach Chapter 20!)

[Sean Whitmore]

And I'd be the last person to bitch about someone ditching continuity for the sake of a good story, but they ditched some direct continuity and gave us a really !@#$ing awful story, so it wasn't even kind of worth it.

It's like the creation of Donna Troy all over again!


SEAN

[Sean Whitmore]

P.S.: I am also very interested in the reference to the Doomsday terrorists. It is obvious that the Doomsday backstory has been retconned in some way by Johns. Which is nice, btw, because I never really liked Doomsday in practice but felt like he could be made to be interesting. That wasn't the first reference to Doomsday terrorists, either, and I hope he is planting seeds of an upcoming event. I wonder, too, if Zod's reference to unleashing an unknown horror from the Zone is connected to the Doomsday terrorists reference.

I thought he was just referring to the guys who created Doomsday, as shown in Hunter/Prey. But now that you mention it, I wouldn't mind seeing him given a more iconic back story.


SEAN

[NotSuper]

Zod's ancestor also had a ship called the Doomsday.

[4thHorseman]

so what was the cause of the 12 month delay?

Someone on the newsarama board was at the ECCC and said that Didio said it was due to sickness and other circumstances.

I don't know how many people are sick for over a year, and I doubt someone like Johns would have let one issue slide to the backburner for this long.

[lawman]

Chris mentioned he "even got to meet Robin", so I assume the end of this story now takes place after the past year or so of Superman books...however f-ed up that may be. :frown:
It's very f'd up indeed. It makes no sense whatsoever.

Which just adds to my overall sense of disappointment with this Annual. The art was lackluster, and the plot seemed perfunctory. The delays and the continuity gaffes just add insult to injury.

...And thanks to the art delay, I'm sure Johns was pissed that he had to do a little rewording to make it seem like this is one of the most recent events in the Superman books...
Why would he "have to" do that? What's wrong with just treating this as the conclusion to a story that "happened" months ago? Are there any readers who didn't realize that's what it was? If any story changes needed to be made at all, a few panels at the end showing Chris's survival/escape/rescue would have been better -- not only would that have avoided a continuity glitch rather than creating one, but it would have given this story a more genuine and satisfying ending as well.

How do you know Chris is going to be okay and living with the Kents? The over-a-year delay has continuity all messed up. They could have easily added Chris to what were supposed to be post-"Last Son" stories to keep his going back to the Phantom Zone a surprise.
Well, yeah, story elements that don't make sense usually do come as a surprise. :rolleyes: (Although unfortunately, not as much of one as it used to be.) Seriously, if this was the ending they really insisted on for the Annual, couldn't Johns or one of the editors just have told Busiek, a year ago, "don't use Chris in your Superman stories"? How hard would that have been?

I don't know what the hoopla over the continuity errors are. It seemed pretty clear to me when I read it that Busiek's run over in Superman could be fit into a block of time between one of the parts of Last Son. The issues in Superman where Chris was adjusting to life in Metropolis, helping Superman fight Kryptonian-hunting pirates, and re-fitting their apartment happened (obviously) after Chris showed up in a pod in the center of Metropolis but before General Zod and crew broke free of the Phantom Zone and conquered Metropolis.
Actually, what's "pretty clear" is the exact opposite. Look again at the end of Action #845: as Lois and Clark walk in the park and decide on a name for Chris, we skip to Zod and company landing in the arctic... creating the clear impression that these events are close in time. Now look at Action #846: Lois and Clark are taking Chris to meet their coworkers for the first time, and still getting their "stories straight"... Chris is asking "who's Batman?"... and the news blurbs playing in the background indicate that "the boy from Krypton who mysteriously disappeared" is still breaking news, with rewards being offered for his recovery. Perry's still calling it his "single most important story," and Jimmy has a new camera to replace the one he just lost in the Bizarro battle.

Clearly, this is meant to take place shortly after Chris's arrival, and before the events of any of the Busiek stories (in which months pass and Chris meets a great many people, including Batman). That same scene leads directly into Zod and company's attack, the Metropolis battle, and Superman's captivity in the Zone... which then flows forward to the conclusion in the Annual with no appreciable breaks, let alone one long enough for the all the Busiek stories to happen.

The side benefit to the delay of part 4 of Last Son was the idea that the Chris being written out of a book was no longer a foregone conclusion. Having him as such a presence in Busiek's book gave the distinct impression he was now part of the status quo. The one issue where he creates a new apartment with Chris in mind gave a since of permanence to him. So it actually made the finale to this story far more effective.
Umm, actually having him "written out of the book" (at least during "Last Son") wasn't just "no longer a foregone conclusion," it was logically impossible. Being hit with this completely illogical "surprise" is what you call "effective"?

Now he has this kind of heartbreaking subplot that has the same spirit as his quest to cure Mon-El or re-size Kandor: find Chris in the endless depths of the Phantom Zone. Kind of cool.
Actually, that sounds pretty tedious to me, perhaps because it's so obviously derivative. Heck, you name the antecedents yourself.

All around? The story was mediocre enough, the delay made it worse, but for all that they didn't have to let the delay also produce a continuity snafu. That could and should have been avoided. Major disappointment.

[Harding Prime]

I just read the entire arc.

Besides a few errors in continuity, they handled Chris Kent well. It is obvious they were trying to have Chris Kent's adoption take place during the Camelot Falls arc because they knew of all the delays were inevitable, and Buseik handled it brilliantly, (can't wait for Trinity just for his work, he does great work and always helps continuity, IMO). I liked the first good use of Lex since OYL, but could have used some more panels of ass kickin with JLA and Superman Revenge Squad, against the Phantom Zone Escapees, instead of all the splash pages. More action just would have been better. But this would be a great story to re-tell in movie form I feel, in cartoon form or live action.

[Harding Prime]

Zod's ancestor also had a ship called the Doomsday.

Which was in the OYL arc, UP, UP, and AWAY.

But I think he was most certainly referring to Doomsday the creature, and I thought it was a great reference to throw in.

[Mon-el]

In a way, I agree with Dan DiDio's point that people will wait for the original creative team to wrap up what they started. I'm one of those people who waits and waits in a reasonably patient fashion. Specifically, I'm still waiting for the whole "Last Son" thing to be finished and then collected in TPB before I bother to spend my time and money on any of it. So a long delay between "monthly" installments of it doesn't ruffle my feathers . . . because I haven't even started reading about Chris Kent yet! These long delays between issues on some of my favorite projects (anyone remember when "Astro City" was first launched and it was supposedly meant to be an regular monthly title with no strings attached?) are one of several reasons I prefer to "wait for the trade" these days -- almost all the time!

In other words, my waiting embraces however long it takes the creative team to complete an entire story arc -- so instead of biting my nails while I wait for them to get their act together, I just wait even longer, for as long as it takes until I have the chance to read the entire story arc in one sitting! (After all, I don't normally read, say, a science fiction novel by perusing a few dozen pages at a time, followed by a gap of one or more months, followed by another few dozen pages, etc. I prefer to still be able to remember what has happening in Chapter 2 by the time I reach Chapter 20!)

Ahh, Lorendiac your post's are so wonderful to read. Your patience is greatly admired from me. As a individual who used to never buy a trade unless I had the issue's already, it's easier getting them off the bookshelves, instead of diving through my boxes, it's somewhat new territory for me. What I mean to say is that for the past couple of years due to extreme lateness of many books or mishandling of properties.I have succomb to the enivitable question "the chicken or the egg" "trades versus floppies". It's not that I fear change, it just seem's that it is being forced upon me. I find myself waiting for trades more and more instead of picking up the monthlies. All the monthlies are doing for me anymore is giving me splash page, splash page, splash page, a little story, splash page, splash page. I find myself not caring as much as I used too for these giant arc's where it take's avenues of direction to find a conclusion.

[Harding Prime]

This book for me coming this late and after the end of Buseik's run kinda ends the story arc time period of One Year Later and everything that has happened since. It has all kind of ended lately and everything is starting fresh. Though I have enjoyed almost everything that has come out since Infinite Crisis; Up, Up and Away, Camelot Falls, Last Son & Legion of Super Heroes, to name the big stories that have come and gone; I don't know how much of Action Comics or the Superman title I'll be picking up starting now.

Everything that has happened has been awesome and kind of all ended together, and with Final Crisis and Trinity coming out, I don't know how much good Superman will be left for these monthlies.

[Joe Acro]

This was an interesting read.

I'm going to set aside the continuity problems of Chris leaving and Clark and Lois supposedly never having adopted him (because I pretty much expected the arc would end up that way anyway). Because if I do that, it's a fun read. I still find pretty much everyone more interesting and fun to read about than Superman himself. Especially Metallo. That was neat.

The art looked surprisingly crisp, clear, and vibrant. I was expecting something a little more like the cover, considering the lateness of it all. Either would've worked, but I'm glad we got what we did.

Too bad Luthor's only thinking in extremes, acting selfishly, and doing immoral things. Because his rant toward Superman close to the start just hit me in all the right places.

[WorstThingUS]

So I'm looking over the Annual I refuse to buy while waiting to get my new Robin figure (Judas Contract/George Perez version and it is awesome!) and I notice the new approach this is how we're doing post-Infinite Crisis continuity revisions: throwing them into back stories and character profiles in Annuals. We found out the new version of Krypton's destruction in the Action Comics Annual #10 (along with the return of The Parasite who'd died) and here the back profiles show us that Cat Grant is back and apparently not a single mom, much less the single mother of murdered child, which I guess means The Toyman is no longer a murderer because he killed him. Ron Troupe is apparently no longer brother-in-law to Lois Lane. And Steve Lombard is back!?! Also, Krypto is no longer from the Krypton Brainiac created during the Return To Krypton runs from a few years back. It's his original origin. But the most noticable change is Supergirl. Aside from adding the suspended animation older-than-Kal-El change, it was her mother, Allura, who designed the rocket and put her in, not Zor-El. This seems to be based on the version of Supergirl from Superman The Animated Series. It's kinda sad that this is the third version of Supergirl's origin in the last two years.

[Lupek]

Lateness sucks, sure, but I enjoyed this.

It did seem a little rushed for a book we've been waiting so long for though. There is some great Adam Kubert artwork but there are a few panels that look off. And Chris's sacrifice could have used a bit more build up, but I am sure the whole story reads differently when you read it all together.

I really liked the Luthor,Superman,Parasite,Bizarro,Metallo team up. They could have gone into that a little more before wrapping the story up.

I loved the Zod,Ursa and Non's designs/looks. More of them please.

I like Chris Kent. I want a Chris Kent and Mon El in the Phanton Zone story. And I wpuld be happy if he stuck around the Super books.

[NotSuper]

I like the new Daily Planet "cast." I especially like how Steve Lombard now resembles Ron Burgundy.

It'll be interesting to see how this mismatch of characters from different eras interact. It should be pretty cool.

[lazlo_toth]

Well they bollacks'd that one up, didn't they?

Chris Kent. Disappears into the Phantom Zone, yet he's been in Busiek's Superman run. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Damnit, DC....

In light of all the other unexplained continuity changes in the Superman books, this hardly is worth mentioning. All of a sudden Clark Kent is a clumsy, oafish, milquetoast (in the first chapter of Superman & the LSH he's treated so dismissively by Perry White that it's difficult to believe he's supposed to be one of the DP's better reporters); while the post-COIE CK was never an alpha male, it's been established that he's got a little bit of backbone and self-esteem. While the marriage to Lois is still intact (for now), I'm curious how Clark actually got Lois to fall for him if he's always been such a tool, since he was bound and determined to win her affection as Clark Kent and not Superman.

As much as I like to see the return of the Superman "mythology," the reason I got into Superman was that the Byrne reboot made the man himself more believable and relatable. Clark Kent acting like a total dillweed was a real impediment to getting into the character when I was a kid; it certainly was the reason I never made any connection to any solo Superboy stories (outside of Legion appearances, anyway). I also never bought the themes of apartness and alienation he's supposed to grapple with; I'm reminded of a tongue-lashing Batman gave to J'onn J'onzz in JLA once, basically saying "Jesus Christ, J'onn, what do we have to do to get it through your head that you're one of us, and you're not alone? What sign of our acceptance do you need that we haven't given you yet?" Superman looks human, was raised as a human, and has spent decent chunks of time deprived of his powers and therefore forced to live as a human. And it doesn't make sense to put a lot of emphasis on the "otherness" of a character you want people to care about and relate to, IMO.

Anyway, the point is that right now we have NO idea what's what regarding Superman apart from that he was a member of the Legion when he was a teenager, he apparently died and came back, and he's married to Lois Lane. Everything else is is in a murky hyper-position of "did it happen" or "didn't it?" You can throw Chris Kent into the already huge pile of continuity issues. Until I know where things stand, I'm going to have a very hard time getting excited about the Superman books, no matter who's writing them.

[Lorendiac]

So I'm looking over the Annual I refuse to buy while waiting to get my new Robin figure (Judas Contract/George Perez version and it is awesome!) and I notice the new approach this is how we're doing post-Infinite Crisis continuity revisions: throwing them into back stories and character profiles in Annuals. We found out the new version of Krypton's destruction in the Action Comics Annual #10 (along with the return of The Parasite who'd died) and here the back profiles show us that Cat Grant is back and apparently not a single mom, much less the single mother of murdered child, which I guess means The Toyman is no longer a murderer because he killed him. Ron Troupe is apparently no longer brother-in-law to Lois Lane.

I don't think I had heard about Ron and Lucy no longer being married. Does a profile on Ron clearly say he's a bachelor, or does it just fail to mention whether or not he's married to anyone (such as a coworker's sister)?

One reason I ask is because I recently saw a very similar argument being made about DC's plans for the Lois & Clark marriage, based partially on evidence in those profiles at the end of the Annual (which I haven't bought, myself).

Actually, I don't think this has come up before in this thread (although I could have missed it). Over on DC's own boards, someone has posted a theory -- I'll paraphrase it in my own words.

1. In these profiles in the Annual, a quick summary is given of how Clark fits into the Daily Planet team, and another quick summary of how Lois is perceived there (I hear it says or implies she was regarded as just another mediocre reporter until she started getting lots of Superman exclusives? :rolleyes: ), but those summaries never say: "And Clark married Lois a few years ago" or anything along those lines.

2. The guy also says that in a recent "Action Comics" arc about "Superman and the Legion," written by Geoff Johns, Perry White asserted that Clark Kent has only made one close friend among his coworkers at the Planet in all the years he's been there -- and that friend is Jimmy Olsen.

3. Looking at the above, the guy suggests that Geoff Johns is looking forward to lots of writing Superman stories in which Clark Kent is not, and never has been, a married man. Accordingly, the comment in "Superman and the Legion" about his only friend being Jimmy is significant because the heavily implied meaning is: "Lois and Clark have never even gotten as far as becoming good friends." That's laying the groundwork for the idea that they never came within a mile of falling in love and getting married, either, since people are much likelier to marry people they're on a good, friendly basis with!

4. By the same token, he suggests that these "character profiles" of Lois and Clark in "Action Comics #11" bend over backwards to absolutely avoid any reference to a marriage, so that these profiles will still be valid if fans want to use them as reference sources a year or so from now, after some "post-Final Crisis" retcons have been imposed upon Superman continuity.

Does he have a point? I don't know -- I have not bought the comics he cites as evidence, since I almost always "wait for the trade" these days. But I had to admit that it sounds a trifle odd for DC to offer us a "character profile" that doesn't even mention that the character in question is currently married! Unless, of course, he soon won't be . . .

Suddenly I'm remembering reading the "Update '89" supplements to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe as they were first coming out. In a few cases, the material provided in published entries gave away plot twists for the near future. (For instance, I think the entry on Jubilee described things that hadn't happened to her yet in the "Uncanny X-Men" title at the time that issue of "Update '89" hit the stands.)

[lazlo_toth]

I don't think I had heard about Ron and Lucy no longer being married. Does a profile on Ron clearly say he's a bachelor, or does it just fail to mention whether or not he's married to anyone (such as a coworker's sister)?

One reason I ask is because I recently saw a very similar argument being made about DC's plans for the Lois & Clark marriage, based partially on evidence in those profiles at the end of the Annual (which I haven't bought, myself).

Actually, I don't think this has come up before in this thread (although I could have missed it). Over on DC's own boards, someone has posted a theory -- I'll paraphrase it in my own words.

1. In these profiles in the Annual, a quick summary is given of how Clark fits into the Daily Planet team, and another quick summary of how Lois is perceived there (I hear it says or implies she was regarded as just another mediocre reporter until she started getting lots of Superman exclusives? :rolleyes: ), but those summaries never say: "And Clark married Lois a few years ago" or anything along those lines.

2. The guy also says that in a recent "Action Comics" arc about "Superman and the Legion," written by Geoff Johns, Perry White asserted that Clark Kent has only made one close friend among his coworkers at the Planet in all the years he's been there -- and that friend is Jimmy Olsen.

3. Looking at the above, the guy suggests that Geoff Johns is looking forward to lots of writing Superman stories in which Clark Kent is not, and never has been, a married man. Accordingly, the comment in "Superman and the Legion" about his only friend being Jimmy is significant because the heavily implied meaning is: "Lois and Clark have never even gotten as far as becoming good friends." That's laying the groundwork for the idea that they never came within a mile of falling in love and getting married, either, since people are much likelier to marry people they're on a good, friendly basis with!

4. By the same token, he suggests that these "character profiles" of Lois and Clark in "Action Comics #11" bend over backwards to absolutely avoid any reference to a marriage, so that these profiles will still be valid if fans want to use them as reference sources a year or so from now, after some "post-Final Crisis" retcons have been imposed upon Superman continuity.

Does he have a point? I don't know -- I have not bought the comics he cites as evidence, since I almost always "wait for the trade" these days. But I had to admit that it sounds a trifle odd for DC to offer us a "character profile" that doesn't even mention that the character in question is currently married! Unless, of course, he soon won't be . . .




I have got to believe that even if there were plans for Johns and/or Robinson to undo the marriage, somebody at DC is paying attention to the uproar that unmarrying Spider-Man stirred up. I don't buy the arguments against the Spider-Man/MJ marriage, and I am even more skeptical of the arguments that marriage to Lois damages Superman as a character. I could be wrong, but it looks to me like the marriage is staying intact, but Clark Kent has been retconned back into being a dork, which always irked me; the guy is six-foot plus and has the physique of a bodybuilder! I can believe a laid-back, unassuming Clark Kent, but a clumsy, oafish, dweeby Clark Kent who presumably works out like a fiend and is an award-winning reporter, but still trips over his own feet and can't even order a pizza without stuttering and stumbling over himself? Come on! This is probably the first time I have had a serious problem with anything Geoff Johns has written. I cannot get my head around the notion that Clark Kent HAS to be an oaf, or even the notion that that's in any way better or more plausible than CK just being a normal guy, with at least a modicum of social grace.

Do not misunderstand me: I am not in any way saying Clark has to be portrayed as macho or suave or fashionable. But it strains plausibility that he could have put together much of a career as a journalist without some degree of self-esteem, and the ability to interact with people with certain amount of ease and grace.

[Lupek]

I liked it. I knew I would like it. Hell, I'm still waiting for Duke Nukem Forever, a little delay isn't going to sway me.

Did anyone catch the throwaway headline towards the end that said Metallo and Paragon had been caught in Gotham?
Yeah, it has to have taken place at the end of all the other Chris Kent stories.

Now I wonder how they'll get him back. The Legion of Super Heroes is getting a lot of press lately. Maybe they pull him out of the Zone in the 31st century when the Legion goes in after Mon-El. Or hell, maybe Supes will hire Lobo to track him down, that'd be funny as hell...if wildly our of character.

Yesh. I like your Mon El idea. I might even like Chris Kent as a Legionaire.

Hopefully they aren't done with him. I think there is a lot of potential for a character who is a son to both General Zod and Superman.

[elise]

But doesn't Chris age normally in the Phantom Zone since he was born there?

[GRANT!]

I have got to believe that even if there were plans for Johns and/or Robinson to undo the marriage, somebody at DC is paying attention to the uproar that unmarrying Spider-Man stirred up. I don't buy the arguments against the Spider-Man/MJ marriage, and I am even more skeptical of the arguments that marriage to Lois damages Superman as a character.

I think DC is watching the Spider-man books closely. But I think they are paying more attention to sales then internet uproar. I haven't heard of any major drop in the Spider-man books. And reviews have been pretty favorable for the most part even from pro-marriage critics (who always need to chime in "I don't see why they can't tell this story with married Peter" but I disgress).

Also seems like they are looking at All Star Superman which is pretty strong seller and critical/fan favorite. The Daily Planet cast page alone recalls All Star.

[dupersuper]

Also seems like they are looking at All Star Superman which is pretty strong seller and critical/fan favorite. The Daily Planet cast page alone recalls All Star.

Yes, but All-Star can write about a non-married Supes without pissing all over fans of the last 20 years.

[PatrickG]

And it doesn't make sense to put a lot of emphasis on the "otherness" of a character you want people to care about and relate to, IMO.

For my money, he's supposed to be relatable for people who feel like an "other".

The X-Men kinda stole his thunder there but I don't think anybody has seriously suggested ditching the "hated and feared" angle entirely from X-Men.

Superman isn't hated (by most) but he's certainly feared and he's NOT a white man and white european culture isn't his heritage. He's an outsider, at least to the extent that a child of mixed race who appears white would be.

[Alex L]

I don't see Superman as a character who was intended to be feared.

Within the DCU, there are those who mistrust him -- but said people tend to be more paranoid than most. They're not often the ones in the story we're supposed to relate to.

Or, put in other terms, what would Joe/Jane Citizen on the street think when they see Superman?

:smile:...?
:mad:...?
http://forums.prowrestling.com/images/smilies/ahhhhh.gif...?

[PatrickG]

I don't see Superman as a character who was intended to be feared.

Within the DCU, there are those who mistrust him -- but said people tend to be more paranoid than most. They're not often the ones in the story we're supposed to relate to.

Or, put in other terms, what would Joe/Jane Citizen on the street think when they see Superman?

:smile:...?
:mad:...?
http://forums.prowrestling.com/images/smilies/ahhhhh.gif...?

Well, my reaction would probably be "Holy #$%@!" followed by embarrassment for the language in earshot of the big guy and a smile.

I don't think you're human if your first response isn't fear though.

And if you look back, Superman's early appearances all had people terrified of him, running and screaming. Not just criminals either.

Look back to ACTION #1. He needed the governor to pardon someone on death row. So he punched in the governor's door and picked him up by the collar screaming.

If he's not a little scary, he ceases to be effective as the friend of the average person against threats from people in power and visitors beyond the stars.

Bullets bouncing off a man's chest is frightening.

[NotSuper]

Superman was created due to feelings of alienation. That's why Clark Kent was always mild-mannered and introverted while Superman was strong and outgoing. Later stories expounded on this and what it meant to be a god-like alien living among humans, and being the last of his kind. And look at his early foes, Gilded Age robber barons and politicians--all seen as what a person ought to aspire too; Superman, on the other hand, was a defender of the downtrodden, of those who didn't fit into society.

Superman is the ultimate outsider, and yet, he loves humanity.

[Harding Prime]

I have always understood why Superman chose to have a secret identity, what I never understood is why readers and some characters alike think that he should have been outed by now and his disguise would never work. No one thinks that Superman has another identity in the DCU so there is no reason for it to be a big to do. Clark Kent puts his glasses on and shrugs his shoulders and no one would ever be the wiser because no one is looking for the secret identity of the Man of Steel.

[JCAll]

I have always understood why Superman chose to have a secret identity, what I never understood is why readers and some characters alike think that he should have been outed by now and his disguise would never work. No one thinks that Superman has another identity in the DCU so there is no reason for it to be a big to do. Clark Kent puts his glasses on and shrugs his shoulders and no one would ever be the wiser because no one is looking for the secret identity of the Man of Steel.

I was always under the impression that Superman was the secret identity. The Superman persona exists solely to protect his loved ones and normal life as Clark Kent.

[NotSuper]

I was always under the impression that Superman was the secret identity. The Superman persona exists solely to protect his loved ones and normal life as Clark Kent.
It's debatable. The Clark Kent/Superman relationship is supposed to be an ironic one; i.e. Superman pretends to be meek and mild when he's really strong and outgoing. However, that's not to say that there's not a REAL Clark Kent. The general public doesn't get to see that Clark Kent, though, only Lois and the Kents do. Everyone else sees an awkward, non-confrontational, mild-mannered guy.

Basically, there are actually TWO Clark Kents: one the public persona ("Metropolis Clark") and the other the real persona ("Smallville Clark"). When Kal is talking to Jor-El in the Fortress, alone with Lois or the Kents, or in costume he's being who he really is. The guy at the office, while a good guy in his own right, is an act. It's really not that odd when you think about it. After all, many people put on "acts" at their jobs, for various reasons.

[Harding Prime]

I was always under the impression that Superman was the secret identity. The Superman persona exists solely to protect his loved ones and normal life as Clark Kent.

Either way, Clark Kent is a nobody and Superman is the World's hero. We as readers sometimes miss the fact that no one would ever join the two because we know the truth, but the truth in there world is there is no reason to believe that the world's hero has a double identity. Especially since he is everywhere you need him.

[Chino]

Hey, can anyone tell me what issues this annual ties into? I wasn't reading action when this took place but I'd like to pick up on the story, thanks.

[Joe Acro]

Hey, can anyone tell me what issues this annual ties into? I wasn't reading action when this took place but I'd like to pick up on the story, thanks.
The previous parts can be found in Action Comics #844-846 and #851.

[NDHorse]

We found out the new version of Krypton's destruction in the Action Comics Annual #10 (along with the return of The Parasite who'd died) and here the back profiles show us that Cat Grant is back and apparently not a single mom, much less the single mother of murdered child, which I guess means The Toyman is no longer a murderer because he killed him.

Go check out the recent Action Comics #865. It looks like they are keeping the Cat Grant/Toyman continuity in.

[WorstThingUS]

Go check out the recent Action Comics #865. It looks like they are keeping the Cat Grant/Toyman continuity in.

I saw that, but that makes that description of her badly in need of updating, because the Cat Grant that left could give a rat's ass who was looking at her chest. She wasn't that person any longer.

[Lorendiac]

Go check out the recent Action Comics #865. It looks like they are keeping the Cat Grant/Toyman continuity in.

Well, that could fit with the same theory that somebody else expressed on DC's site, which I paraphrased in Post #82 in this thread. His theory was: "The Profiles at the end of the new annual are 'anticipating the future' -- they are meant to be very accurate as reference materials a year from now, after Final Crisis has shaken up the DCU continuity all over again!"

This (he argued) was why the profiles didn't say a word about Lois and Clark actually being married. Maybe they still act like a married couple right now in the Superman titles, but a year from now they will have "never been married!" By the same token, it's quite possible that Cat Grant -- as described in that profile -- was never a mother in the first place, but that Cat Grant -- as portrayed right now in "Pre-Final Crisis" stories -- did lose her child to the Toyman, for the time being, but that's scheduled to change soon!

(I don't know if he's right. I only know it's a very interesting idea!)

[lawman]

Well, that could fit with the same theory that somebody else expressed on DC's site, which I paraphrased in Post #82 in this thread. His theory was: "The Profiles at the end of the new annual are 'anticipating the future' -- they are meant to be very accurate as reference materials a year from now, after Final Crisis has shaken up the DCU continuity all over again!"

This (he argued) was why the profiles didn't say a word about Lois and Clark actually being married. Maybe they still act like a married couple right now in the Superman titles, but a year from now they will have "never been married!" By the same token, it's quite possible that Cat Grant -- as described in that profile -- was never a mother in the first place, but that Cat Grant -- as portrayed right now in "Pre-Final Crisis" stories -- did lose her child to the Toyman, for the time being, but that's scheduled to change soon!

(I don't know if he's right. I only know it's a very interesting idea!)
It's a godawful hideous idea, and for me it would provide a jumping-off point after years of loyal reading, just as "Brand New Day" did on the Spider-Man titles.

Fortunately, I don't think it's true. My take is that the profile page was nothing more than filler based on some character notes Johns and Donner had thrown together. And I certainly doubt that Johns would waste an issue rehabilitating Toyman from the effects of that child-murder storyline if the whole thing was just about to be erased anyway. Of course, Donner's not involved any more, and James Robinson is coming aboard (thank goodness) to help steer Superman, and IMHO the less we see of the sort of idiotic one-note character interpretations shown in those profiles (and in Johns' own Daily Planet scenes so far), the better. Cat Grant back to being a deliberate sex object? Clark unable to use a computer? Please. :rolleyes: Frankly, it was (again, much like the recent Spider-Man "what you need to know" profile pages) insulting to any readers who are actually familiar with these characters.

[Lorendiac]

It's a godawful hideous idea, and for me it would provide a jumping-off point after years of loyal reading, just as "Brand New Day" did on the Spider-Man titles.

I jumped off the Spider-Man titles (again!) a few years ago, even before "Sins Past." From what I've heard about recent events in them, though I haven't read any of that stuff, I would have been a lot more bothered by the ugly details of the ham-handed way the mission statement was approached in the plot ("Gee, I'm such a doofus that I think I'll make a history-altering bargain with Mephisto and expect it to all work out for the best!") than I would have been by the general idea of "Let's erase the marriage somehow!"

Clark unable to use a computer? Please. :rolleyes: Frankly, it was (again, much like the recent Spider-Man "what you need to know" profile pages) insulting to any readers who are actually familiar with these characters.

I heard about the "unable to use a word processor" thing and I thought, "Uh, right. That's supposed to make sense for a man trying to get and keep a job as a journalist on a major daily newspaper in the early 21st Century? Why would Perry White even consider keeping him around if he couldn't so much as e-mail rough drafts back and forth?"

In this modern world, saying "I'm a journalist who can't use a word processor or other fancy electronics" makes about as much sense to me as saying, "I'm a musician who has the slight misfortune of being tone-deaf."

I hadn't even heard about these recent Spidey profile pages, though.

[lawman]

...I would have been a lot more bothered by the ugly details of the ham-handed way the mission statement was approached in the plot ("Gee, I'm such a doofus that I think I'll make a history-altering bargain with Mephisto and expect it to all work out for the best!") than I would have been by the general idea of "Let's erase the marriage somehow!"
Yeah, that was the worst of it. You really didn't miss much. I wasn't pleased with either the means or the ends, but "One More Day" was really painfully insulting to readers' intelligence, and pretty much an assassination of Peter's character as well, from beginning to end. He would not have had a problem getting medical care for May; if he did, he would know that she would never have wanted him to place her survival over his marriage; and most important, he would never have made a literal deal with the devil. (Which is also, on its own terms, a really stupid and cheap way to execute a retcon.) If Quesada was so dead-set on getting rid of the marriage, there were ways of doing it that wouldn't have slaughtered both character and continuity.

"Brand New Day" (from what I've seen; I had the first few issues preordered before I dropped it) wasn't nearly that bad; it's merely boring, a retread of the sort of Spider-Man stories we read 20 or 30 years ago.

Now, to get this back on topic...

I heard about the "unable to use a word processor" thing and I thought, "Uh, right. That's supposed to make sense for a man trying to get and keep a job as a journalist on a major daily newspaper in the early 21st Century? Why would Perry White even consider keeping him around if he couldn't so much as e-mail rough drafts back and forth?"
It stuck out like a sort thumb to me as well, and I have little doubt that it'll be "Mopeed" by future writers, just utterly ignored as if it had never appeared in print. It's not merely a retcon, it's a pointless and stupid retcon. And heck, we've seen Clark using computers countless times, and at least as recently as the "Up, Up and Away" OYL kickoff story co-written by Johns himself. (Of course, those were also co-written by Kurt, and offered a far more plausible characterization of Clark and his co-workers than Johns' recent solo stories.)

I hadn't even heard about these recent Spidey profile pages, though.
"Spider-Man: The New Status Quo" from Amazing #546. A sample:

"Absolutely no one knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Not Daredevil, not the Avengers, not anyone. His identity is truly secret. Although some people seem to recall that Spidey unmasked himself during Civil War, no one quite remembers whose face was under the mask."

Talk about stupid and pointless retcons. (And in case you were wondering, "anyone" also includes Aunt May, thus utterly wiping out years of great character development between her and her nephew.)

[Solaris01]

Superman was created due to feelings of alienation. That's why Clark Kent was always mild-mannered and introverted while Superman was strong and outgoing. Later stories expounded on this and what it meant to be a god-like alien living among humans, and being the last of his kind. And look at his early foes, Gilded Age robber barons and politicians--all seen as what a person ought to aspire too; Superman, on the other hand, was a defender of the downtrodden, of those who didn't fit into society.

Superman is the ultimate outsider, and yet, he loves humanity.

YES, well said. And that's one of the reasons why I love SR. Singer actually dared to flesh out and humanize the character in a more serious and realistic way. And I appreciate it. I see Superman as more than just the 'boy scout' and action figure that punches things; I think Superman is interesting enough to be developed as a character.

[JCAll]

I heard about the "unable to use a word processor" thing and I thought, "Uh, right. That's supposed to make sense for a man trying to get and keep a job as a journalist on a major daily newspaper in the early 21st Century? Why would Perry White even consider keeping him around if he couldn't so much as e-mail rough drafts back and forth?"

In this modern world, saying "I'm a journalist who can't use a word processor or other fancy electronics" makes about as much sense to me as saying, "I'm a musician who has the slight misfortune of being tone-deaf."

I hadn't even heard about these recent Spidey profile pages, though.

You don't really need to use computers when you can type something up and have it on your editor's desk before anyone one else could hit a send button. They've been playing up the computers hate Superman thing since Up Up and Away, personally I blame Brainiac, his PDA keeps shorting out and Perry White even mentioned once that he doesn't care how many computers Clark breaks as long as he keeps turning in quality stuff.

If Clark is stuck on a typewriter, so be it, it's no like they're going to fire one of their best reporters. Maybe he'll even build himself a special typewriter that doesn't explode when typing faster than the speed of light.