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Here are Kurt Busiek's answers to questions fans put to him about "Superman #674" and other relevant topics:
Kurt's Answers
Chris Clow (demolitionist@gmail.com) asks:Well, Kurt, it's going to be weird not seeing your name on issues of Superman anymore. Now that you're moving on to other things, did you leave any directives or benchmarks for the next writer (or writers) to fill in, or are you saving those for when you can take another crack at the book?
Kurt: As a freelancer, I can't actually tell the writers who come after me what to do or what not to do, so directives and benchmarks are up to someone else. That said, what I would have been doing next was a big crossover with Geoff and Action Comics, and a bunch of what I'd planted in Superman was going to lead into or come up in that in one way or another. All those plans are now in Geoff's hands, and he'll be getting to that story either in Action or, if he still wants to do it as a crossover, with James [Robinson]. The stuff I had in mind that wasn't tied in to that, I'll save for later. Although the Lex Luthor mini-series is still in the works, and some of the stuff I was doing in Superman will lead into that, too.
Nathaniel Ruff (Nate1986) (Email address withheld by request) asks:
Since #674 & 675 are your final Superman issues of your run before Jerry Robinson starts his, how do you set up your finale for these issues? When you're planning them, do you think full circle going back to the "Camelot Falls" storyline that, pretty much, is your entire run? How does your thinking process work when you wirte your last issues to end your run on Superman, that started back in '06? Also, how is Trinity coming along and do you have some plans if you were to go back to Superman when the time is right?
Kurt: James Robinson, actually. Jerry Robinson, classic Batman artist and co-creator of Robin and the Joker, would be pretty interesting as a Superman writer, though!
As for my departure, up until fairly late in the gestation of Trinity, we were still thinking I'd stay on Superman, maybe working with Fabian as co-writer. So when it became clear that Trinity was going to be too much work to allow even that, it was decided that #675 would be my last issue. At the time I was finishing #673, so that wasn't much warning. And since we'd finally gotten clearance to do it, we decided that my swan song on the book would be the introduction of Chloe Sullivan -- except that a rights problem developed at the last minute, and the clearance to use Chloe evaporated.
So it became kind of a juggling act. In two issues, I needed to tell a story worthy of wrapping up in a double-sized #675, one that would finish out my run in style, without using Chloe as planned, and oh yeah, it's 5PM on Friday and the penciller needs plot on Monday, since the Chloe stuff you've been working on has to be scrapped now. Aiee. The thinking process had a lot of panic to it. But I think we managed it, and there was even room to bring about a kind of coda to a lot of what I'd been doing in my run, stuff that we were planning to get to later but brought in as a finale here. The readers will get to judge how well we succeeded.
As for Trinity, it's going quite well -- DC's quite happy with the fact that we're ahead of schedule, and with the material we're all turning in, and I think the book is going to be a lot of fun and have a lot of energy. If I were to return to Superman afterward, I've still got lots of story ideas, but not a concrete plan, since a lot would have to depend on what was going on with Superman at the time. Last time I was handed the character, he was powerless and we weren't allowed to bring back his powers for several months, so that's where we started. If and when I return to the series, who knows what the status quo will be?
Rob S. (grimmbeau@optonline.net) asks:
Thanks for a great run on Superman, Kurt. I'm a little curious about your reasoning behind the Kent's new Super-Apartment, though. It seems to take away a bit from the "everyman" aspect of Clark; what do you see it as adding? And couldn't "a gift for my two favorite reporters" been seen by the public as a bribe in exchange for favorable coverage? This might all be moot -- next month's blurb mentions "Lois and Clark, Homeless!", but it seems odd to spend so much space on this new apartment to take it away in the next issue. Again, thanks for a great run -- I'm looking forward to "Trinity".
Kurt: Glad you enjoyed the run, Rob. My big gripe on the Kent apartment was that we were juggling artists a lot, and nobody ever seemed to draw the apartment the same way -- it would change from an open-plan, very modern-looking flat to a cramped, pre-war-style apartment to generic boxlike rooms and more. I wanted something distinctive and memorable, that would be drawn clearly enough so that later artists could be handed that issue and told, "That's what the apartment looks like. Draw that," instead of making it up fresh every time. So we took advantage of Chris inadvertently blowing the place up to do a remodel, one that would be able to be visually established and used as reference from there on.
I don't think it takes away from Clark's "everyman" aspect, in part because I don't think Clark's an everyman, I think he's a pretty specific guy. Everymen tend to be generic, but Clark's a mild-mannered guy from the heartland who uses an affable-but-introverted manner to hide the universe's greatest secret; I think he's that whether he's in a distinctive apartment or a bland one. He was already in a pretty envious position, home-wise -- a penthouse apartment in a luxury building, a wedding gift from billionaire Bruce Wayne. We just dressed it up, made it look sharp. Whether Superman's comment to the building manager is the public explanation or not, I'll let others decide, but Superman's been oft-associated with the Daily Planet for years, so if bribery was really a concern, then he should have avoided fixing the big globe on top of the building a number of times, and other stuff that could be perceived as beneficial to the Planet.
And don't worry about that next-issue blurb -- it seems to be a leftover from when the story was going to involve Chloe, and was an exaggeration even then. Had we done the originally-planned story, Lois and Clark would have been looking for a new apartment, but not homeless -- they'd be staying in the hotel Lois was in in #673. But they won't be homeless in #675 at all.
Sara Cigelske (Email address withheld by request) asks:
While looking at the newly renovated apartment, Lois and Clark whisper to each other. Presumably, they whisper so that Chris cannot hear them. But why do they whisper in front of someone (Chris) who has super-hearing? Couldn't Chris hear what they said whether Lois and Clark whispered or not? Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, Kurt.
Kurt: It depends on whether Chris was listening, really -- he wasn't paying much attention to them. Plus, it's natural to lower your voice when you don't want to be overhead; Lois and Clark won't alter all their mannerisms overnight now that Chris is living with them. So could Chris have heard them? Sure, if he paid attention, he could have heard them whether they whispered or not. But speaking quietly is less likely to draw his attention. And it's not as if speaking normally would have made a difference, so why not? They're used to having quiet, muttered conversations.
Michael Kayman (Email address withheld by request) asks:
I've always understood it that red solar energy doesn't weaken Superman, he's simply non-super under a red sun (as people were on Krypton), and that it's not an instant switch thing, meaning that if Superman went instantly from a yellow sun to a red sun environment that he'd still be super while his body retained stored yellow sun energy, but would simply deplete with usage. Why then would putting on the red-sun generator wrist watch be a threat to Paragon? Surely if Superman put it on it wouldn't immediately make him powerless?
Kurt: Red-sun radiation hasn't worked that way since Infinite Crisis, Michael. We had Batman lay it all out for the readers in #668. Red-sun radiation doesn't drain Kryptonians of energy, but it locks the energy in their cells, preventing them from accessing it. So yes, it would have immediately shut off Superman's powers, much like it shut off Chris's in #668-672. Although hopefully not with the exploding part at the end...
Adam Goodman (agoodman1975@yahoo.com) asks:
Surely Superman didn't build Lois and Clark's new apartment all on his own? I mean he's not an architect, engineer, or builder. And when did their apartment space become so big? Two levels? Double staircase? Huge master bedroom? Another bedroom for Chris? Two offices (one for Lois, one for Clark)?
Kurt: He's Superman. He's got more than just reporting and carpentry skills -- so yes, his brain, skills and super-powers make him capable of doing an excellent job as an architect, engineer or builder.
Their apartment isn't all that much bigger -- Chris already had a bedroom in the old one, after all, and Lois, at least, had an office. It was easy to add the loft library, because it was already a penthouse apartment, so adding to the top of it didn't displace anyone else.
Thanks Kurt. In regards to "Trinity", what can Superman fans expect and why should we pick it up?
Kurt: It's a big cosmic story that'll explore Superman's place in both the DC "trinity" of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, and his and their place in the DCU. It'll take Superman to lots of interesting places, get him into some terrific battles, and it'll have parts to play for Lois, Supergirl and others as well, and some unexpected and interesting twists. It's not a Superman solo story, and not a JLA story -- it's something different, with its own atmosphere and focus. Beyond that, it's a big sprawling DCU adventure, with enormous scope and earthshaking ramifications, with a huge cast dealing with tons of threats, with DC's Big Three at its center. Plus, it's got gorgeous art by Mark Bagley and Art Thibert, and sharp-looking secondary-chapters with art by Scott McDaniel, Tom Derenick, the combo of Mike Norton and Jerry Ordway, and cool stuff like that. It's got the return of at least one important Superman supporting player of the late Eighties and early Nineties, and it's got Fabian Nicieza as "The Beaver."
If that sounds interesting, give it a try. I think a lot of people are going to enjoy it. But I'm biased -- we'll all find out, starting in June!
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