Trade Perspectives: Reactions to Forbes on Brian Michael Bendis, Superman news

On Thursday Mark Hughes released on Forbes a surprisingly in-depth and far-ranging interview with new DC Comics-exclusive writer Brian Michael Bendis. (At what point business magazine Forbes began covering comics-writer shakeups I'm not sure, but I guess when comics goes mainstream, comics goes mainstream.)

Kudos to Hughes for an interview with as many twists and turns as any good superhero epic; probably my mouth hasn't hung open as much reading about DC's upcoming plans since their live Rebirth roll-out. As I noted on Twitter, there's a lot to unpack here, and indeed I'd like to do just that in a "quick hits" (or "not-so-quick-hits") format -- snag some quotes from the Hughes interview and offer my reactions as a starting point for further conversation. Again, you can read the full interview over at Forbes.

"Award-winning fan-favorite writer Brian Michael Bendis ... will be taking over writing duties on DC Comics' monthly Superman and Action Comics titles."

That's a bomb dropped right in the first sentence, because of course this means the exit of Dan Jurgens, Peter Tomasi, and Patrick Gleason (except Gleason is staying with Bendis on Action). I'm not totally bummed about this because I have not been thrilled by Action's direction since "Oz Effect," and while I haven't been keeping as close an eye on Superman, my sense is Tomasi and Gleason have been keeping it light in deference to the big events in Action. So it's not as though either team is killing it, though I am eager to see where Tomasi and Gleason go, being a powerhouse duo in their own right.

Also Superman and Action get the same writer, making them essentially a weekly book -- except, if that detail is right, Superman and Action will become monthly now instead of twice monthly, so essentially now we have just one twice weekly Superman title.

"Bendis will contribute to Action Comics #1000 on April 18, after which DC will release his 6-issue miniseries Man of Steel starting May 30. Published on a weekly basis, Man of Steel will include art by such comic book luminaries as Ivan Reis, Evan “Doc” Shaner, Ryan Sook, Kevin Maguire, Adam Hughes, and Jason Fabok. Check out this first look at the original pencil art for four of the six covers for Man of Steel..."

First thing, that sounds very strongly like DC won't be publishing Superman stories for about a month between Action Comics #1000 and Man of Steel, which has almost never happened except for during "Death of Superman" (and excepting the Superman story in DC Nation #0 on May 2).

Second, calling the miniseries Man of Steel is most assuredly a gauntlet thrown, because that assuredly hearkens back to when John Byrne revamped Superman after Crisis (dare I call it the most successful revamp ever?). Obviously there's similarities too to Byrne and Bendis having left Marvel for DC. But boy does DC want to claim something here by calling it Man of Steel, hubris to an almost frightening degree.

And now cue an army of worried DC fans -- that's just four of the covers for Man of Steel's six issues, but there's nary a young Jon Kent in sight ...

"But lest you think he's merely talking about a small contribution to a special event issue that won't factor into his later work with the character, Bendis wants you to know that's not the case. 'In that first story,' he said, 'it's not just some random backup story or flight of fancy. It is a major chapter in what we're doing, with some really big bombs we’re dropping in Superman’s life — and two of them happen right there in Action Comics #1000. So it's a huge tease of what we’re doing and what’s coming up in Superman's life.'"

Well, that's fantastic. I had been wondering whether Action Comics #1000 would contain any "of the moment" storytelling or if it would be all anniversary tales. I sooner expected something to finish off Dan Jurgens's present Action stories -- and that may yet still be -- but we know at least the book will lead off Bendis's run.

Which -- by the way -- makes this listing for the Action Comics Vol. 6 collection, supposedly collecting Action #1001-1006 and written by Dan Jurgens -- absolutely hogwash now, and indeed that book appears to have been cancelled.

"While keeping as much secret as he could, Bendis was willing to give us a little hint about what to expect from the miniseries. 'The Man of Steel story will debut a huge new villain, a blockbuster villain who connects deeply to Superman’s origin story and to his birthright,' Bendis revealed. 'We’re going to dig in very hard, this is one of my goals, to be a additive to Superman as possible. The characters we debut right away, including this new villain, will send ripples of horror across the entire Superman family and beyond!'"

I don't like to judge before a book comes out. There's nothing new under the sun, on one hand, and on the other hand, Bendis isn't this big a deal for nothing, so I'm sure something good is on the way. But take umpteen Zod stories, or J. Michael Straczynski's Superman: Earth One, or Scott Snyder's Superman: Unchained, or any of a number of other Superman stories, and this "tied to his birthright" bit has just been done to death. And that's what I see in the Man of Steel #3 cover with "evil alien figure"'s face over the exploding Krypton ... but I recognize this is the most basic of speculation.

"After Man of Steel's publication, Bendis will take over writing duties on the monthly titles Superman and Action Comics. The Superman monthly will relaunch with a new issue #1 on July 11, while Action Comics picks up with issue #1001 on July 25, and each will have a different approach and tone. While the main Superman title will be an adventure-driven book, Action Comics will delve into Clark Kent's daily life."

I've been reading comics long enough at this point that when something big starts -- especially Rebirth, after New 52 -- among my first curiosities is how's it going to end. What we learn here is that after probably 50 or less issues, the Rebirth Superman title will relaunch with a new #1, having lasted fewer than the New 52 title. There's no question, as I've opined before, that comics publishers don't want big numbers on their comics because they're afraid the numbers scare away readers, but at the same time every time you publish an issue, the issue count ticks up. The result is this: short of a comic in the 1,000s, no book is going to surpass a hundred issues any more unbroken, certainly not unless the creative team doesn't change. At some point comics publishers ought just quit with series altogether and simply publish strings of related miniseries -- if they don't otherwise start going straight to trade, that is.

"'The fallout of Man of Steel #6 is enormous,' Bendis insists. 'It's some of the biggest status quo changes to Superman literally since Crisis.'"

Once upon a time, I was certain ahead of time that Superman: Our World at War was going to have the most far-reaching effects of any Superman story before or since. After that I figured out what the comics hype machine was.

"'For those who are worried, they should not be,' assures Bendis. 'The last runs on Superman by Dan Jurgens and Peter Tomasi and Pat Gleason have been phenomenal runs, and my run will be following their runs. We're not throwing anything out, we're not abandoning anything, we're following what's been going on and taking it to surprising new areas.'"

Requisite paragraph to assure fans that indeed Jon Kent isn't going anywhere. At the same time, what we understand is that Superman will be seeing his biggest changes ever and also not changing at all. You may have and also eat your cake now.

"Prior to the release of Man of Steel, Bendis will also contribute to the special comic book event DC Nation #0 on May 2. And hang on to your hats, DC fans, because joining the author for that story is one of the greatest and most iconic artists to ever work at DC Comics. Bendis eagerly told me, 'In between Action Comics #1000 and Man of Steel #1, there will be another special chapter, this one by myself and — I'm so excited to say these words out loud — very special art by José Luis García-López, who came out of semi-retirement to do this with me.'"

Love it. First of all I delight in looking at the retro-modern José Luis García-López art in the clothing stores, drawing Cyborg in with the Justice League in modern fashion and so on. What a thrill that he'll be drawing this story.

Also so glad to see DC publishing another one of these twenty-five cent issues again; these were fun in their short heyday. I also miss when the Free Comic Book Day issue was an actual event launch comic and not just a reprint; this isn't that, but close.

If I can nitpick though, I do not like Jorge Jimenez's depiction of the newly-restore trunks on that cover; they look weirdly like shorts, and this is not the kind of problems we should be having this soon after the trunks are restored. Also it looks like Superman has some sort of bracelets on his right arm?

"As for the relevance of DC Nation #0 to the rest of what's to come for Superman, Bendis proclaimed, 'That storyline will set up a lot of what's going to be going on in Action Comics, we'll dig really deep into what's going on at the Daily Planet, and introduce some new cast members at the Daily Planet and some new villains in Metropolis.'"

Again, feel like I've been here before; I think I'd prefer to hear Bendis say he's going to be revitalizing the somewhat-overlooked Superman core cast over creating all-new characters, but I'll reserve judgment for the actual books. What's not here though, I note, is any mention of synchronicity with Geoff Johns's Doomsday Clock, which one might think would be a Very Big Deal. Less than twenty issues after Oz Effect, are we to understand that all of that is said and done in the Superman titles? This seems a rather quiet end to Rebirth's raucous launch.

That's a lot from me. What do you all think?