It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman Discussion!!!

[DiscipleofBob]

Chapter Zero is up!

This and chapter 1 will be the only "past" issues before Superman comes to the present.

Hopefully the next issue will be up later this month.

[Drake]

Wow. That was really, truly good. I don't have any complaints or critiques beyond it was a little on the short side.

Honestly, this is some of the best writing I've seen from you. It's emotional, descriptive, exciting, and powerful. Your Zod might be my new favorite incarnation; a man who isn't truly evil but an honest general. This issue does what it needs to do as a zero issue. I hope the rest of your tenure on Superman can keep the quality of this fantastic start.

9/10

[jackalope]

I enjoyed it too, a promising start, and an interesting take on the Kryptonians. Very cinematic writing. Look forward to more.

[buck]

Strong first issue. I agree with jack that it was indeed very cinematic. Was hoping you'd jump right in to the adventures of Superman but lots of stuff has to be fleshed out. I look forward to the next issue.

[thejellyfish]

Wasn't expecting a Kneel moment that soon, but it's ultimately (tee hee) what drew me in. I've never really been interested in Superman stories (aside from Superman/Wonder Woman by the amazing Charles Soule), but I am eagerly awaiting what comes next.

[jordan]

Very strong start to the series. I'm really excited that you took over the franchise and plan to move it forward into what seems like a very hard story to follow, for whoever the next writer may be. Excellent story and I look forward to more. It was a little short, so my total points will come to 8.35/10

[DiscipleofBob]

Much obliged for the wonderful reviews. I'm glad I decided to go with that plot as it wasn't my original concept for the first issue.

To give some general info, Superman by the present will have been active for a little over a decade. As was implied in Ex Machina, he was conspicuously absent during the Brainiac attack in 2007. Luckily the Great Machine was around to make his debut and defend Metropolis in his absence.

As for the reason Superman was gone, that will be the subject of the next chapter.

Any other plot questions, feel free to ask.

[DiscipleofBob]

Superman 1's almost, but not quite, done.

Unfortunately, I'm about to collapse as is so the next Superman won't be out for another day or so. Hopefully the delay won't be too long.

[Drake]

I read this a while ago, but I just hadn't found the time to review it till now. So here it goes...I hope I can remember everything well enough...

It was a nice, fun issue. You've got Superman down pat. I like the one off with an overarching story vibe you've got going. Really, there isn't much to say. It was good. Not incredibly mind blowing, but good and fun which is all I ask for in a story.

Also, I remember something about your Supergirl being different from the usual Supergirl. Is she not Clark's cousin? If she isn't, the kiss is a lot less awkward. If she is, while creepy, it's funny as hell and a semi-nod to Star Wars (probably not on purpose).

The Tamaranean tech thing was cool, btw.

Over all 8/10. I'm excited for the next issue.

[DiscipleofBob]

1. Technically that's not Supergirl. No way you could know that until she takes up her Power Girl mantle next issue. Supergirl will be a separate character.

2. To answer your question, neither version will be biologically related to Superman. So there's no squicky factor involved.

[Stardrifter]

So. Interesting. First issue was a good departure. The only problem I had was Zod was coming across kind of heroic until he put everything on the line for one baby. I get perhaps it's a cultural thing, but it just seemed silly.

Second issue was okay. Felt a bit rushed. The kiss was awkward. If you plan for them to not be related, fine. But you need to reveal that right away. You have to expect the readers to think they are. Especially since you expect the readers to get Superman in general by skipping to him being Superman and forgoing an origin. The lack of origin I appreciate btw.

I liked your Ultra Humanite. I was probably wrong to do so, but for some reason I read his dialogue like a Dalek.

The fight scenes were a bit awkwrd. Way too much talking during them. I know it's a comic trope, but Clark's speechifying in the middle of life or death situations got a bit ridiculous.

I find it interesting that Kara got her powers instantly. I personally don't like the idea. I didn't like how fast it happened in Man of Steel, and it seemed slower there than how you did it. I know it's a valid interpretation, going all the way back to the Golden Age, but since his powers became explained by absorbing yellow sunlight, it seems to me that it should take time to store up energy.

All in all you've done a good job. But the series feels like something's missing. Like we should already know these characters to appreciate what you're doing. And while in a way we do, we don't know YOUR version.

Keep em coming.

[Ultimate Silentking]

I think it is great. Everyone else, especially Star, have pointed out my problems with issue #1. So I won't repeat them here. Hopefully, we will have more great stories in the future.

[DiscipleofBob]

Zod's decision to go severely out of his way for one child should feel out of place, even though we know who the baby is. It's not only a cultural thing, but that decision will come back later in a big way.

Unfortunately there's no real way to say 'No really these two aren't related' at this point, especially since neither character has a reason to believe they're anything but the same species. Hopefully at the worst for readers it'll just come across as an awkward Luke/Leia moment.

My goal here is to not tell the Superman story from the ground up, but only touch upon the parts that will be different for the sake of my run, like Zod's role in Krypton's destruction and Power Girl being something other than a cousin/alternate dimension character. Other than those details, hopefully most other Superman mythos details can probably be safely assumed to be similar to other versions you may be familiar with.

And oh boy, if you didn't like the talking in last chapter, this next one won't be an improvement. I still stand by using dialogue in a fight scene. Even if it's less realistic, I still think it helps frame the action a bit better.

This next chapter gets us fairly close to the present. Not a terrible amount of action and mostly more introductions. After this chapter, things are hopefully going to start moving quickly though.

[Drake]

I liked it. It was a decent issue. My only legit complaints are that you switched around between LuthorCorp and LexCorp a few times, and this all felt very by-the-books. Beyond the Superman/Power Girl team up and Luthor's new Hope bot it didn't feel particularly original. I'm also a bit iffy on your Luthor. I like mine fierce and narcissistic, both of which didn't appear in the droves I would have preferred. Yours was restrained, if an ass, and very business-y, which makes sense but is a bit more boring.

7.75/10

[DiscipleofBob]

Jul 2, 2014 12:29:04 GMT -5 Drake said:

I liked it. It was a decent issue. My only legit complaints are that you switched around between LuthorCorp and LexCorp a few times, and this all felt very by-the-books. Beyond the Superman/Power Girl team up and Luthor's new Hope bot it didn't feel particularly original. I'm also a bit iffy on your Luthor. I like mine fierce and narcissistic, both of which didn't appear in the droves I would have preferred. Yours was restrained, if an ass, and very business-y, which makes sense but is a bit more boring.

7.75/10

My bad on the LexCorp mixup. I'll have that fixed soon.

Also for the record, neither Mercy nor Hope are robots, but they haven't gotten much screen time yet, so I suppose it's an acceptable theory from the reader's point of view.

[Stardrifter]

I liked this issue more overall. The narration at the beginning was a whole lot of exposition and a bit clunky. As I was reading it it was saying to me, "This is what I would have written were Superman not so far behind on the site." And Superman narrating to himself that the world will always need a Superman just came across as arrogant and narcissistic.

I like where you're going with Kara, even if you're going a bit fast. The possibilities you're setting up are great, but after Superman scolded her once or twice, it was getting redundant. Maybe this storyline could use a bit more breathing room and a slower build.

Superman was Superman, though standing next to Kara and her interesting setup, he felt very bland. Even if he had just shown some conflict over what Kara was doing. A moment of, "I know how you feel, Kara. There are times I'd like to tear Lexcorp apart and toss Luthor into space, but we can't ever let ourselves..." etc. etc.

I just don't see this Superman as very interesting compared to all the characters around him. We don't know a whole lot about him or him as Clark. Kara and your villains are much more rounded and are overshadowing your hero IMO.

Speaking of Lex, I thought he was fine. Well spoken and non chalant. Typical Lex, but well done.

Keep em coming.

[DiscipleofBob]

If Superman comes across as a bit white bread compared to other characters, that's okay in my book. All the best Superman portrayals I've seen have him at least be a little bland compared to the world around him, at least until the shit really hits the fan. Which isn't to say it won't in future chapters, but this chapter was more showing the typical day in the life and setting up some other exposition.

It's not so much "this is what I would have written but didn't because Superman is behind" but more "I could write all this out in detail and take time to slowly develop his relationships with every single character, and it might even be a better story in the long run, but the majority of it would just be padding building up to the story I currently have in mind." I'd rather rush the exposition a little bit in a few chapters and get to the good stuff in a few chapters.

I'd meant to include some stuff as just Clark Kent, but it got pushed back to next chapter, not due to length or time, but just how the story was flowing.

As a side note, I corrected the LexCorp/LuthorCorp mistake. It should read just LuthorCorp, as that would be the name of the business owned by the Luthors in general, not just Lex.

[buck]

So every single time I see your subtitle this pops into my head. Not sure if that was intentional or not.

I'm not completely sold on your series yet. I really enjoy your Lex and Superman, but Powergirl has me completely thrown for a loop. Just not feeling her as a character yet I suppose.

Also, I have a theory on Hope and Mercy, but not going to say it in case it proves to be correct.

[DiscipleofBob]

Jul 2, 2014 23:29:29 GMT -5 buck said:

So every single time I see your subtitle this pops into my head. Not sure if that was intentional or not.

I'm not completely sold on your series yet. I really enjoy your Lex and Superman, but Powergirl has me completely thrown for a loop. Just not feeling her as a character yet I suppose.

Also, I have a theory on Hope and Mercy, but not going to say it in case it proves to be correct.

It is completely and intentionally the source of the subtitle. I almost tried to make it a theme for my chapter titles but so far all I've been able to do was Stranger Like Me.

Feel free to PM me the theory if you want to take a guess.

[Question]

So I'm enjoying the series so far, but there's one glaring flaw in issue 2 that I can't help but comment on.

Superman and Power Girl bust Lex's window, accuse him of harboring Metallo, and fly away. And this is the room where Lex brings Metallo? They already commented that the building was impervious to their x-ray vision, and they both have super hearing (unless they don't, I guess; but even then, Lex did comment on Superman's 'fifty kinds of super senses'). This seemed like an incredibly stupid move on Lex's part when it would have been just as easy to go meet Metallo in another room somewhere.