LBCC: Lobdell Promises Radical Changes for "Superman," "Teen Titans" & "Red Hood"

[Daye]

On writing, Waid and Hickman can beat Lobdell with both hands tied in the back.

Which is part of the problem when they take shot at each other. Lobdell is average with sparks of good at best while Waid and Hickman have pretty high batting averages.

[Mr. Holmes]

Hickman yes, Waid no.

[unoaranya30]

Neat. I am enjoying the Superman title for the first time since the reboot. Hope Action stays good. glad that Lobdell is honoring the new status quo of Superman and Wonder Woman. looking forward to seeing how he furthers their relationship in the Superman title. It's always nice when the different titles compliment each other and really nice when they are written well.

very much enjoying the new 52. way to go DC!

[burroughs]

Grant Morrison pretty much does the same thing; he's just better at it.

Elementary my dear Watson.
Morrison is Morrison, and Lobdell is... Lobdell. (unfortunately) ;)

[darkesword]

I would LOVE a Starfire book with her as the captain of a starship. I loved that turn that Red Hood ended up taking.

The stuff about Clark exposing the Suicide Squad is awesome too. I love that Lobdell is really committing to Clark being a journalist. For the longest time Superman stories felt like they only reminded us that Clark was a reporter at the end where he'd publish his insider's account of the battle with a nudge, a wink, and a smile to the audience. It's nice to see Clark embracing some more journalistic integrity.

[FredrikLjungberg]

Yeah,him exposing Suicide Squad is pretty awesome.

[santino27]

Digging this:
Attachment 103908

Rocafort is awesome. Lobdell, not so much.

[James Hunter]

Hickman yes, Waid no.

Waid not good?? That's one of thestrangest things I've ever heard, I'll have to assume you haven't read his FLASH, JLA, FANTASTIC FOUR or [pretty much anything else he's done.

I'm *shocked* anyone would say Lobdell is better then Waid!

Cheers.

James.

[Mr. Holmes]

I've yet to read his Fantastic Four, but no I think his JLA and Flash are overrated.

[hellacre]

Well finally someone tackling ethics and modern journalism (in as much as they can in a comic) I like his ballsy Clark Kent and really think this is the first time this book feels like the guy in Action and JL are one and the same. Looking forward to seeing how Lobdell writes Diana. If his Lara ( she was really written well) is anything to go by, I won't be too worried that he can't write someone like Diana.

[DarkKnghtJared]

Also, I think him saying stuff like writing a 25-page proposal shows that he isn't just throwing stories out of his ass.

[Sillia]

One of the things I've noticed about Lobdell's writing in the new 52 is that he seems to like purposely changing things just for the sake of changing them. Usually this results in mixed reviews.

--S

[misslane38]

It's astonishing to the point of comedy how much avoiding the Superman/Lois relationship (not necessarily romantic, but their iconic partnership) and, as part of that, the triangle-for-two is negatively impacting Clark's narrative. Keep in mind, this partnership is one viewed essential by the likes of Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, Jim Lee, and Elliot S! Maggin. It's even something that is being copied in Oliver and Laurel's relationship in ARROW.

I say this because, after reading Lobdell's remarks I can't help but see the elephant in the room that he, and others, seem to be avoiding. For example, Lobdell tells us that a significant factor in Clark's decision to leave his job at The Daily Planet wasn't the reason presented to us in Superman #13, which was the unprincipled reporting of others like Perry and Lois, but rather Clark's own guilty conscience. Problem is, Clark was on the Superman beat for almost a year and did nothing about this dilemma when there was a very easy solution staring him in the face...literally. See, Clark is Superman so he could have, whenever he pleased, decided to make another reporter at the paper his primary contact. Traditionally this has been Lois Lane's role, and it was already her role in the New 52 considering Action Comics #0, Superman #2, and Justice League #9 all depict her as the go to journalist for Superman articles. Morgan Edge would still be happy because he'd continue to get good, and perhaps better coverage, of Superman, and Clark could easily deflect blame or responsibility for the loss of his in with Superman by suggesting that Superman expressed an explicit desire for him to go back to writing those hard hitting pieces that made him a remarkable reporter to begin with. In short, Clark's conflict of interest is not enough of an insurmountable obstacle that quitting The Daily Planet was the only viable solution. It's so irrelevant that it amazes me Lobdell brings it up, especially when Morgan Edge's business practices provided a perfectly sufficient basis for Clark's resignation and were presented as such in the issue itself whereas Clark's guilt about writing Superman stories because he's Superman wasn't referred to at all.

Lobdell also says in this article, "I don't think I would ever forget a kiss from Superman, no matter the circumstances. It must be very hard to be Clark -- to have best friends and this whole section of your life you're not able to talk about. Imagine being best friends with someone and you can't tell them anything you did that day -- any of the exploits and situations." To which I, again, say that traditionally Clark dealt with this problem by speaking to Lois about these issues as Superman. There are countless scenes in TV shows and film depicting Superman and Lois Lane having heart to hearts about his exploits and dilemmas as the world's foremost superhero. The only difficulty that ever arose from this is he felt conflicted about lying to Lois about the masquerade; he was a man split in two, but both sides connected to Lois. However, that always simply provided a possible end goal to ultimately achieve: complete honesty. It's what fueled the angst in an dramatic way which led to a romantic and cathartic resolution once the truth was revealed.

Finally, if Lobdell is going to repeatedly reassure Lois fans that Lois is going to remain a huge and important part of Clark's life, it might behoove him to actually tease a little bit about what form that will take. Because right now, with her and Clark at odds because of their approaches to journalism, and with his departure from the Planet following his discovery of her moving in with Jonathan, it's difficult to see how she fits in. Hopefully, Lobdell isn't simply going to do lip service to this idea. I'd better be shown and not told about Lois' role and effect on Clark's life. Plus, it is getting beyond annoying how often Lobdell reminds us that Lois and Clark needn't be defined by each other, yet whenever he talks about Lois he either does so only in relation to Clark or in relation to Jonathan. Thus, Lobdell himself effectively defines Lois by Clark, and defining her by her new boyfriend Jonathan is neither different nor better.

Overall, I'd say Lobdell's admitted preference for impulsive writing and generally not thinking things through is evident in his out of character portrayal of several key characters in Superman #13 and his rationale for some of his stories going forward.

[LoneNecromancer]

One of the things I've noticed about Lobdell's writing in the new 52 is that he seems to like purposely changing things just for the sake of changing them. Usually this results in mixed reviews.

--S

Not really. A lot of the changes to Titans-continuity, which are generally what are perceived as sake-of-change and mixed, are handed down by editorial. His original pitch for TT and Superboy involved picking up with them pretty much exactly before Flashpoint.

[Jon Clark]

One of the things I've noticed about Lobdell's writing in the new 52 is that he seems to like purposely changing things just for the sake of changing them. Usually this results in mixed reviews.

--S

And there is my biggest fear. When Lobdell mentioned not wanting readers to see the new 52 returning to the Pre-Flashpoint status quo, my first thought was but isn't a lot of the Pre-Flashpoint stuff ideas that stood the test of time. Clark quitting the Planet to become a blogger is not a bad idea and flows realistically from what Superman has always been, but Clark quitting the Planet and becoming a car salesman doesn't. Both however could be done if your main goal is to make New 52 Superman different from past incarnations. And Lobdell didn't say anything that made me positive he sees the difference.