Is Superman: WoNK New-Reader Friendly?

[Elayis]

I'm really intrigued by this new world of Superman, and the bottled city of Kandor being enlarged and returned to normal.

However, I'm worried that it would be to hard for a new-reader to understand.

Is it truly new-reader friendly, or must you read the Thy Kingdom Come trades to comprehend it?

[carabas]

It is not quite new-reader friendly.
It draws heavily from John's run on Action Comics (Zod, Brainiac, Supergirl's parents...). I wouldn't say it is really required reading, but it'd lend mportance to certain characters.

It has absolutely zero connections to "Thy Kingdom come" though.

[Flash's Lightning]

I read it to my son, who is 9, and he understood it fine. I just had to clue him in on a few things. He hasn't seen Superman 2, for example, so he didn't know who Zod et al were.

Other than that, he thought it was fun and understandable.

[Will.S]

It's half and half.

You'd have to read the previous New Krypton stuff to get up to speed with how New Krypton was put up into outer space and get more information about Alura first hand. But you can just as easily go to Wikipedia and read the rundown from the build up to World of New Krypton and just as easily dive in.

But for more background on Zod, Ursa, Non, Lex Luthor and his other Kryptonite colors read the Last Son of Krypton story.

http://www.heroes4sale.com/catalog/supermanlastsonhcgn.jpg

For more on Braniac and how Kandor and the other cities were freed by Superman as well as the story where Pa Kent dies, check out the Brainiac story.

http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/images/2009/March/5/GN6196.jpg

[Elayis]

So I think I'll start picking this up, but before I do I want to get all of the previous stuff.

Let me make sure I have it all down:

Last Son
Braniac
New Krypton (May)

I'll also be getting Birthright and the For Tomorrow Absolute. Anything that I missed?

[Mat001]

The stories that actually tie in are "Last Son", "Brainiac" and "New Krypton" to start "World Of New Krypton". And that's if you want to just read WONK and not the other Superman books. "Birthright" and "For Tomorrow" have no direct connection to what's going on now. Those two you can read just for the hell of it.

[carabas]

I'll also be getting Birthright and the For Tomorrow Absolute. Anything that I missed?
What Mat001 said. "For Tomorrow" is also, for all intents and purposes, not really part of canon. I mean, it is or was, but the rather dramatic, global events have never been referenced anywhere, and the villain that shows up is a rather different version than the one that appears in later and earlier stories.

But, while opinions are rather divided on this, I really liked it for the writing. The Jim Lee art is actually a bit miscast.

[Karl O'Neill]

Yes. it is intriguing.

[RunningWithJuanPablo]

Being new to Superman in general, I have not had a problem with WONK, yet. I'm going to read most of the trades that deal with pre-wonk so that I fully understand what is going on, but I think any new reader would enjoy the story that's developing. I don't always understand what's going on, but I enjoy knowing that if I have a question someone on here has an answer without my having to be excessively spoiled by Wikipedia. Definitely try it out, with only two issues currently out, there is plenty of time to catch up.

[Will.S]

What Mat001 said. "For Tomorrow" is also, for all intents and purposes, not really part of canon. I mean, it is or was, but the rather dramatic, global events have never been referenced anywhere, and the villain that shows up is a rather different version than the one that appears in later and earlier stories.

But, while opinions are rather divided on this, I really liked it for the writing. The Jim Lee art is actually a bit miscast.
Yeah it sort of was.

I loved Jim Lee's take on Wonder Woman, Equus, and the elementals but Zod and even Equus looks straight out of the 90's and the subtle stuff wasn't as well handled. I'm not sure what other artist I would have used outside of the usual collaborators like Risso or Lee Bermejo.