Comic Book News

[ThatNickGuy]

After 26 years, DC rumored to close Vertigo imprint.

I'm incredibly saddened by this. Vertigo is responsible for some of the best comics in the industry. I could list out every series off the top of my head and still forget many great ones.

But as the article points out, Vertigo isn't quite what it used to be. Their recent relaunch with a variety of titles ran into various problems.

Image has essentially replaced Vertigo as THE place to go for top-notch self-contained series.

Meanwhile, I'll be eternally pissed that the stopped publishing the Scalped deluxe edition softcovers before finishing.

 

[Gryfter]

Keep making those great decisions DC.

 

[Yoshimickster]

Apparently a sequel to "Batman: White Knight" is coming out in July...yaaaaaaaaaaaaay?

 

[figmentPez]

Superman is joining the military.

"The upcoming comic Superman: Year One debuts on June 18 and will introduce an entirely new back story for Clark Kent — he's still a super-powered alien from another world growing up in rural America — but this time, instead of taking a job as a mild-mannered reporter at the Daily Planet, .... Superman will spend at least some time at Illinois' Naval Recruit Training Great Lakes, before heading off to Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training."

Uh, that doesn't sound right, but okay....

"renowned comic-book writer Frank Miller, "

Oh no....

"He's living in the Midwest, but he's from a planet that has oceans. So, at one point he thinks, 'I need to be near water!' "

WUT? That's not logic!

"This version of Clark Kent also has a vastly different personality. As Froeba writes for Military Times: "This Kent wants to kick ass and take names. He is frustrated and wants others to acknowledge his superior abilities and strengths. He is also not above exposing his powers to win the favors of several love interests.
"From high school to boot camp, this Clark Kent is a barely contained showoff. He wins the football game by dragging several players across the field. He has a perfect sharp-shooter score in basic training and holds the lead position in his SEAL training class."

No. No, no, no. Not enough "No" to know how much "no" I want to NO.

 

[Frank]

Oh good, Frank Miller's still alive. I'm glad he gets to keep writing the worst comics in decades.

 

[DarkAudit]

Superman is joining the military.

"The upcoming comic Superman: Year One debuts on June 18 and will introduce an entirely new back story for Clark Kent — he's still a super-powered alien from another world growing up in rural America — but this time, instead of taking a job as a mild-mannered reporter at the Daily Planet, .... Superman will spend at least some time at Illinois' Naval Recruit Training Great Lakes, before heading off to Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training."

Uh, that doesn't sound right, but okay....

"renowned comic-book writer Frank Miller, "

Oh no....

"He's living in the Midwest, but he's from a planet that has oceans. So, at one point he thinks, 'I need to be near water!' "

WUT? That's not logic!

"This version of Clark Kent also has a vastly different personality. As Froeba writes for Military Times: "This Kent wants to kick ass and take names. He is frustrated and wants others to acknowledge his superior abilities and strengths. He is also not above exposing his powers to win the favors of several love interests.
"From high school to boot camp, this Clark Kent is a barely contained showoff. He wins the football game by dragging several players across the field. He has a perfect sharp-shooter score in basic training and holds the lead position in his SEAL training class."

No. No, no, no. Not enough "No" to know how much "no" I want to NO.

Where are the whores? It's not a proper Frank Miller story without the whores.

But really, fuck this.

 

[Null]

Okay, DC needs to hire someone to sit in on their planning meetings with a cricket bat, for the express purpose of bludgeoning anyone who comes up with shit like this.

 

[Yoshimickster]

God...dammit Frank...god dammit DC.

"He wins the football game by dragging several players across the field. He has a perfect sharp-shooter score in basic training and holds the lead position in his SEAL training class."

Yes let's just forget the decades of canon where Clark was forced to refrain from sports due to how much of a danger his powers would mother fucking be on his classmates and fuck Frank Miller/John Romita Jr respectively.

 

[Sparhawk]

Where are the whores? It's not a proper Frank Miller story without the whores.

But really, fuck this.

I think that they used "polite speak" in the press release by calling the whores "love interests." That seems much more Miller, and everyone knows that whores are always around naval stations.

Miller has written some great ideas, but his personal obsession with some things just ruins the enjoyment of exploring those ideas.

 

[Hailey Knight]

"This version of Clark Kent also has a vastly different personality.

"This is my self-insert Klark Cent. Original character; do not steal."

 

[Celt Z]

Jesus Mary and Joseph. Would it kill DC to ghost Frank Miller? Just don't answer the phone and change the locks.

 

[DarkAudit]

Okay, DC needs to hire someone to sit in on their planning meetings with a cricket bat, for the express purpose of bludgeoning anyone who comes up with shit like this.

It's not like Frank showed up unsolicited to pitch this, right? Someone at DC had to have approached him with the request.

In any case, yeah. Whoever was involved in approving this blasphemy needs to be shortened by a head. Any one else who had the chance to say no and didn't just get severely beaten.

 

[Bubble181]

I think the story might actually work. As an Elseworld thing, or with another name/character attached. Superman, though? I mean, I could sort-of imagine Superman joining the army - which would pretty much make him a more-super-powered version of Captain America. A super-powered cocky show-off bully? That's just a different character. I mean, if it wasn't Frank Miller I might assume it could be salvaged - learn from the mistakes, atone for the sins, grow as a person, etc etc, to become the Superman we know through struggle and so on. Something somewhat similar has been done with Spider-man at some point, I think. But....

 

[Celt Z]

Exactly. Miller can't conceive of anything like that. In the hands of a better writer, sure. We could have an examination of Superman's character, like Red Son, where we can how a different attitude/environment can shape the most powerful man on Earth.

But this is Frank Miller, who's too busy jerking off to the amount of guns and violence he can squeeze into a single panel. Wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this is his way to get Clark to mow down a bunch of brown people wrapped in an American flag. And I'm sure Lana Lang will appear long enough to made out to be a whore who will sleep with anyone and everyone on the football team.

 

[Gryfter]

Pretty sure the early word is that there is an almost gang-rape of Lana Lang (it's okay though because Clark will rescue her) so .... yeah... Miller is still Miller.

 

[Celt Z]

And I'm sure Lana Lang will appear long enough to made out to be a whore who will sleep with anyone and everyone on the football team.

Pretty sure the early word is that there is an almost gang-rape of Lana Lang (it's okay though because Clark will rescue her)...

Hey, look at that. Got it in one.

Just waiting for the splash page of Clark with a gun and the flag.

Because Miller

 

[figmentPez]

I think the story might actually work. As an Elseworld thing, or with another name/character attached.... A super-powered cocky show-off bully? That's just a different character.

Zod. This is the story of "What if Zod were the child sent to earth instead of Kal-El, and was adopted by someone other than the Kents?"

 

[Celt Z]

Zod. This is the story of "What if Zod were the child sent to earth instead of Kal-El, and was adopted by someone other than the Kents?"

We kinda already got this. Man of Steel asks, "what if Clark was raised by assholes?".

 

[PatrThom]

I thought Clark already applied to the Army... but was then rejected due to poor vision (after accidentally reading an eye chart in the next room—because comics).
They even went through the trouble of putting Clark into fatigues in another story, which they justified through some contrived “in the military but not really in the military” storyline.

—Patrick

 

[DarkAudit]

#NotMySuperman

 

[figmentPez]

I thought Clark already applied to the Army... but was then rejected due to poor vision (after accidentally reading an eye chart in the next room—because comics).
They even went through the trouble of putting Clark into fatigues in another story, which they justified through some contrived “in the military but not really in the military” storyline.

—Patrick

From what I'm reading, Superman was kept out of the military at the request of the actual US military, out of fears that Superman winning battles in comics, while real life losses happened, would have a negative impact on morale. This source says that Clark did become a war correspondent on a Navy vessel, though.

 

[Dave]

So a Superman who isn't super nice? So Superman on one extreme, Brightburn on the other...and this somewhere in the middle?

You know, if they did this as a "What If?" kind of scenario I'd be okay with it.

 

[Null]

I think the story might actually work. As an Elseworld thing, or with another name/character attached. Superman, though? I mean, I could sort-of imagine Superman joining the army - which would pretty much make him a more-super-powered version of Captain America. A super-powered cocky show-off bully? That's just a different character. I mean, if it wasn't Frank Miller I might assume it could be salvaged - learn from the mistakes, atone for the sins, grow as a person, etc etc, to become the Superman we know through struggle and so on. Something somewhat similar has been done with Spider-man at some point, I think. But....

I mean, that's basically what Marvel did with Hyperion.

 

[PatrThom]

This source says that Clark did become a war correspondent on a Navy vessel, though.

I’m sure I’m remembering one of the Navy stories as my “Technically in the military but not really” scenario, because they make the eye doctor flashback during that story.

—Patrick

 

[Gryfter]

After 26 years, DC rumored to close Vertigo imprint.

I'm incredibly saddened by this. Vertigo is responsible for some of the best comics in the industry. I could list out every series off the top of my head and still forget many great ones.

But as the article points out, Vertigo isn't quite what it used to be. Their recent relaunch with a variety of titles ran into various problems.

Image has essentially replaced Vertigo as THE place to go for top-notch self-contained series.

Meanwhile, I'll be eternally pissed that the stopped publishing the Scalped deluxe edition softcovers before finishing.

And it's gone.

 

[Hailey Knight]

And Ink and Zoom too. And probably Black Label soon.

DC got really confident from Rebirth and then cold feet the moment Didio pushed John's aside and ruined it.

 

[figmentPez]

Marvel, no, please, no, stop.



TLDW; Absolute Carnage storyline/crossover coming up. Bragging it will have every character who has ever been in Spider-Man, and every character to ever have been bonded with a symbiote, and promising that someone is going to die, and everyone is going to be changed....

"Carnage never dies", but god damn he really should.

 

[Yoshimickster]

"Carnage never dies", but god damn he really should.

Damn straight, every time he's logically killed he gets a bull crap power-up out of no where and is somehow able to survive. Him, Green Goblin, and the Jackal, all Spider-man villains who can just friggin' DIE for all I care!

 

[IronBrig4]

Didn’t Sentry fly Carnage into space and rip him in half?

 

[Celt Z]

Ok, so didn't we already do this around '93? I know that was Maximum, not Absolute, but sounds like the same non-event.

 

[Yoshimickster]

Didn’t Sentry fly Carnage into space and rip him in half?

He got better...well, physically at least, in terms of story quality he's degraded immensely. Venom to if I'm honest, WAY too many retcons.

 

[figmentPez]

Ok, so didn't we already do this around '93? I know that was Maximum, not Absolute, but sounds like the same non-event.

I imagine it's supposed to be an homage to that story, like all the repeated Crisis stories at DC. Only 90s comics didn't have writing, so much as they had three doodles on cocktail napkins, stacked on top of each other and wearing a trench coat (with lots and lots of pockets).

 

[Yoshimickster]

So DC is rebooting the timeline...again.

And...I GOT rebooting New52 into Rebirth, it needed a reset button, but Rebirth can be EASILY fixed with just a few changes. Give Bruce and Selina a daughter, give Wally and Barry their families back, bring back to life the people Wally accidentally killed, tell Brian Michael Bendis to sit on it, EASY fixes!

 

[mikerc]

So DC is rebooting the timeline...again.

And...I GOT rebooting New52 into Rebirth, it needed a reset button, but Rebirth can be EASILY fixed with just a few changes. Give Bruce and Selina a daughter, give Wally and Barry their families back, bring back to life the people Wally accidentally killed, tell Brian Michael Bendis to sit on it, EASY fixes!

Okay I know it doesn't actually mean what it's hinting at, but DC has to know where people's minds will go on reading their outline for the 2030 event right? Supes in a brawl with Thor & a green behemoth? Come on.

 

[PatrThom]

Dangit, @ThatNickGuy ! Why didn't you tell us you'd won the lottery?
Christopher Reeve’s ‘Superman’ Cape Sells for almost $200,000 at Auction

--Patrick