Posts tagged DCnU

A while back I wrote up some predictions for what I thought DC might do with the Superman franchise in the DCnU. A great deal of what I hypothesized was, of course, wildly off-base… but Grant Morrison and I seem to see eye-to-eye on the relationship between Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen.

What Grant Said:

Nrama: Is Jimmy different in this world?

Morrison: Yeah, I mean, I like a capable Jimmy, from the start, rather than a buffoon. So there’s a bit of that. Again, he’s a young guy.

The way I’m playing it is that rather than him being ‘Superman’s friend,’ which never seemed to make a lot of sense, he’s Clark Kent’s friend. And the two of them get on because they’re a couple of really smart geeks. They’re into everything from astronomy to zombies, and they love hanging out and talking.

So Jimmy becomes Superman’s friend eventually because Jimmy started out as Clark’s best friend. He was the first person he knew when he came to the big city. It’s much more about the two friends on that level, which I think is a different, slightly warmer, more believable dynamic between the two characters.

What I Said:

If we’re bringing Clark back to around age 22, his relationship with Jimmy can become a totally different beast. Instead of being the guy that Jimmy hero-worships, they can be great friends. They can be (and wow do I hate to use this term) “bros.” We don’t ever really get to see Clark as having regular people he can think of as peers — his friends almost all wear capes and tights — and I think it would be great for the character to allow that sort of friendship to grow.

Jimmy’s a couple of years older than Clark, and already works as a photographer at the Planet when Clark starts there. A quick and easy friendship forms between them. I can see Jimmy still being star-struck by Superman, and unlike Lois, I can see Jimmy not figuring out Clark’s dual identity — remember, most people will never assume that Superman even has a “secret identity,” so it’s just not something that will occur to him. Why would he ever think that this kinda-nerdy dude with glasses who plays video games and eats Chinese food and watches Metropolis Monarchs games with him be Superman?

(I started writing this post late last week, before I realized that DC would be announcing all of their launch titles this week. I don’t know that I can say this is done, because I haven’t really gotten around to talking much about Superman/Clark himself, but I wanted to get it out there before DC officially announces the Superman titles, which should be Friday.

Oh, and my predicitions for the four Superman books to get announced: Superman #1, Action Comics #1, Supergirl #1 and Lois Lane #1.)

I can’t truly say that what follow are predictions, exactly. Speculation, surely. But based on the idea (which still hasn’t been proven true) that they’re making Superman younger, these are a couple of ideas I’d like to see if DC told me “Hey, Allen, we’re making Superman younger and we want you to run with it. How would this new Superman interact with his traditional supporting cast? Go.”

Lois Lane

Lois would be older than Clark Kent by several years. Not too much — say, if he’s 22, she’s pushing 30. She’s older enough that she’s established as a star reporter, she has her reputation underneath her, she knows who she is and what she’s about. Her story isn’t one of discovery as much as expansion, seeing her relationships with Clark and Superman build over time.

Oh, this isn’t the 1950’s-style “two-sided triangle” relationship. Lois knows that Clark is Superman. Well, not at first, not when Clark first starts at the Planet, but she figures it out pretty quickly. She’s a brilliant, award-winning investigative journalist, and she’ll be too close to him not to know what’s up. For her to be clueless about that fact for very long would be totally against her character.

But she doesn’t spend all of her time trying to get him to prove it. At first she might not understand the need, but as she observes both identites in practice, she comes to get why Clark needs time not being Superman and understands that his secret identity protects the people he cares about. She doesn’t tell him that she knows, but she subtly finds ways to help him keep his cover, especially as she grows to care more and more for Clark.

Eventually, of course, the secret will have to come out if their relationship is to grow, which I think it should do. That said, I don’t think they should get married in this new continuity. In fact, I think it might be awhile before they would even get together; if we’re exploring a 22-year-old Superman, you better believe that his being involved with a number of women would likely be part of that story. But someday, he and Lois will inevitably get together.

And I think they’d split up at some point after, which would be an entirely new type of Superman-Lois story than what we’ve seen: as exes, either amiable or antagonistic. Either way would certainly be something new for the relationship, and that’s the whole point of the reboot, right?

Not only do I think we’d see more of Clark “playing the field” before he and Lois get together, I think it would be good to get to explore more of Lois’ character outside the context of her relationship with Superman. While she’s certainly a supporting cast member of his books, I’d like to see more stories where she’s the focus. DC doesn’t have that many iconic female characters, and superpowers or not, Lois is definitely one of them. And she’s certainly a strong enough character to carry stories on her own. Hell, if she’s an award-winning investigative journalist, she might feel right at home in Detective Comics…

Jimmy Olsen

If we’re bringing Clark back to around age 22, his relationship with Jimmy can become a totally different beast. Instead of being the guy that Jimmy hero-worships, they can be great friends. They can be (and wow do I hate to use this term) “bros.” We don’t ever really get to see Clark as having regular people he can think of as peers — his friends almost all wear capes and tights — and I think it would be great for the character to allow that sort of friendship to grow.

Jimmy’s a couple of years older than Clark, and already works as a photographer at the Planet when Clark starts there. A quick and easy friendship forms between them. I can see Jimmy still being star-struck by Superman, and unlike Lois, I can see Jimmy not figuring out Clark’s dual identity — remember, most people will never assume that Superman even has a “secret identity,” so it’s just not something that will occur to him. Why would he ever think that this kinda-nerdy dude with glasses who plays video games and eats Chinese food and watches Metropolis Monarchs games with him be Superman?

Lana Lang

Jimmy can be Clark’s most normal friend, the one he doesn’t have to be super around, the one who appreciates him just for being Clark. But he’s got to have somebody he can talk to about the problems he runs into as Superman, someone who can give him relationship advice when he first goes out with Wonder Woman (oh, c’mon, you know it’s happening at some point), someone who can be honest with him and talk to him in a way no one else can.

He needs a best friend. And that best friend is Lana Lang.

She’s known him since they were toddlers, she was there when he discovered his powers, she’s always been his rock. They dated briefly in high school, but it didn’t work, though she’ll probably always love him. 

This isn’t the John Byrne-era Lana who was utterly destroyed when Clark left, however. She’s incredibly proud of him and the work he does. And she’s strong in her own right — she takes inspiration from him and tries to be super in her own way. If she’s 22-ish, the same age as Clark, she’s just starting law school… in Metropolis, of course. She might not have his superpowers, but she’s going to change the world as best she can.

Oh, and she and Lois will butt heads like nobody’s business, which will be understandable given how much they have in common.

Supergirl

If Superman’s 22-ish, it makes sense for Supergirl to be, say, 14-ish. And if she’s 14-ish, why, that’s a perfect age for her to star in a series geared toward a younger audience! Maybe even a more predominantly female audience! Her character wouldn’t have to change; the fundamentals of Supergirl work whether she’s nineteen or fourteen or eleven.

She needs to cover up her damn belly, though. DC has plenty of heroines to sex up — let Supergirl be wholesome, OK?

Superboy

Since I started writing this, we’ve seen that Superboy’s going to be in the horrific-looking new Teen Titans book (in an even more wretched “costume” than he wears currently). No idea what this new Superboy’s backstory is going to be, but I don’t know that having him be a combo-clone of Clark and Lex Luthor will still make sense. I’m not sure what they’re doing here.

My idea, though, was going to keep the combo-clone idea — but move him into the 31st Century for a new Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes series. He could be a clone of Superman and Luthor created 1,000 years in the future and fit right in with the Legion.