Inter-Action
"Ask Eddie" Fan Forum Archives
Here are Eddie Berganza's answers to questions fans put to him from January 2006:
Eddie's Answers
Ian (imfreakity@msn.com) asks:With all the re-infusion of the Silver Age into current continuity and Clark showing up less and less there has been a lot of fan debate regarding who is 'real'. I view Clark as real and Superman as the disguise, but what is the current position of DC? Is Clark a disguise or is Superman?
Eddie: For my run, he's been the kid from another world, who grew up in Smallville. He's Clark Kent. He only puts on a suit, so he can have a normal life. And the suit allows him to be a bit more of extrovert than he would normally be.
Freddie Crespo (crespof@prtc.net) asks:
"Superman/Batman" books, if I'm not mistaken, have always been in DC Universe continuity, those books were the one that introduced Supergirl. Now with all that has happened in the Crisis, it seems to have no effect on those books. Now my question is, is "Superman/Batman" books happening before the Crisis, after the Crisis, or is this run an Elseworlds story?
Eddie: They just happen before the current events going on in CRISIS. This is similar to what's going on in SUPERGIRL. They are not out of continuity, they are just further back in it.
Paul (Lionheart1_16@yahoo.com) asks:
Are there any new Superman Elseworlds coming out in the near future?
Eddie: None that I am aware of, but what did you think of RED SON's appearance in SUPERMAN/BATMAN?
JB (kid_icarus@comcast.net) asks:
I know Earth-2 Superman is a Kryptonian, and on Earth-2 Powergirl was as well. However, while E2 Kal-L was spared from the changes in the multiverse merger, Kara Zor-L was not. She was (somewhat unsuccessfully) merged into the new Earth. My question: can Powergirl be considered an actual Kryptonian now? Or is it more that she used to be a Kryptonian in a former (now non-existent) life, and is now existing with no real origin and from no definitive background?
Eddie: Yeah, that's about right. It's almost as simple as Krypto's origin of being a dog from a fake Krypton in the Phantom Zone.
Jeremy (jp1701@hotmail.com) asks:
Will their be anymore of John Byrne's early Superman work to be printed as trades for example Man of Steel vol. 5?
Eddie: I'm not sure, ask again later.
Ryan Brown (daredevilstitch@hotmail.com) asks:
Obviously Lex has a brilliant scientific mind as established by "Birthright" (building a gateway to Krypton's past, creating a vaccine for cancer). So, my question is why doesn't he hold some sort of doctorate? Doctor Lex Luthor does sound pretty menacing.
Eddie: I think because Lex made every school mad at him, which is how he winds up in Smallville keeping a low profile. Besides it's not what he cares about at all, and he did become the President of the United States anyway.
Danny Borden (danny_b0rden@yahoo.com) asks:
Given the fact that the Birthing Matrix doesn't exist anymore via the Birthright retcon, where did the Cyborg Superman get his Kryptonian tech and DNA samples from?
Eddie: The ship still carried with it important material from Krypton that kept the baby safe and healthy. As I've said it's not too disimilar from the Birthing Matrix.
Tomas B. (Gokitalo@aol.com) asks:
I may have missed an issue where this was addressed, but what's Kelex been up to? He hasn't appeared in the titles for a while.
Eddie: I think I will be using him in SUPERGIRL. I like him, but he has been busy picking up the pieces from the old Fortress and moving them to the new one.
Tomas B. (Gokitalo@aol.com) asks:
Your time as editor of the Superman titles will be ending soon. Looking back, what were some of your favorite Superman moments during your time as editor of these titles?
Eddie: Well, the first month I took over was amazing because it was all heading back to basics. Getting Clark and Lois back at the Daily Planet and just re-establishing everything. I had Phil Jimenez covers on all the books. And here we are seven years later, and my final story explores both the origins of Superman-1 and Superman-2, which is tied into INFINITE CRISIS drawn by Phil. Pretty much where I started, I guess just on a bigger canvas. My last arc uses as many people as I have enjoyed working with throughout the years, like Joe Kelly, Jeph Loeb, Mark Schultz, Duncan Rouleau, Ed McGuinness, Doug Mahnke, Lee Bermejo while adding some new faces like Howard Chaykin and Tim Sale to the mix.
Now more directly, some of my favorite moments are (and this list is not at all complete)...
- The intro of the Elite in ACTION #775
- Mongul teaches Superman to fight in SUPERMAN#152
- Reintroducing Beef Bouginon with Ketchup into continuity
- Parasite becomes Lois and has an exchange with Lex in SUPERMAN#156
- Superman dying of Kryptonite poisoning and Batman team-up to find Lois in ACTION #766
- Introducing a new Fortress in MOS #100
- Imperiex Probe showing up in SUPERMAN #172
- The submarine crew being saved by Superman in ADV #599
- La Encantadora
- Drew Struzan on the cover of ACTION #800
- The way Pascal Ferry drew Mia (the least liked Supergirl), Traci 13, and Natasha.
- Steve Seagle and Scott McDaniel doing the SUPERMAN 10¢ Adventure
- Joe Kelly and Geoff Johns teaming for a very dark non-costume adventure for Clark in "Lost Hearts" (SUPERMAN #189, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #611, SUPERMAN: MAN OF STEEL #133 and ACTION #798, which they should collect)
- Working with the great guys at Aspen, Mike, Frank and Peter and then Talent on "Godfall"
- Ivan Reis's double page of Gog holding up a smiling Superboy (where would we see that again?) and working with the very nice Chuck Austen, who didn't deserve any of the bad treatment he got.
- Greg Rucka's last Mxy story
- Mark Veirheiden and Ed Benes's first issue which had to follow Jim Lee
- And Jim Lee on Superman!
Neal Bailey (bailey.neal@comcast.net) asks:
I have something that perplexes me, reading the Superman books. Starting with the end of Luthor's presidency, Clark has been on the outs with the Daily Planet. He was fired for a while because of the story he put in for Lois about Luthor knowing about the Imperiex invasion, but then, after that, he was shown in cahoots with Perry trying to bring Luthor's corrupt presidency down. So here's my question, coming out of all that. Why is Clark Kent no longer a premiere reporter at the Planet? Why was he demoted to the Shack (for a while)? One would think, given that he was working with Perry, and since Luthor was proven to be a green-and-purple suit wearing baddie, he would, in fact, be vindicated and brought back to his former position. Is there something I missed?
Eddie: Nothing at all, the Superman/Batman storyline was supposed to culminate the firing story, but it took us too long to get there, so we had to devise that the demotion was also in part to appease many of President Lex's powerful friends in the government, who Clark had impicated. Not Perry's usual mode of operating, but he wanted to keep Clark out of the spotlight for a while for his own safety. After all, Lex is still running around.
Calvin (dalektaskforce@yahoo.com) asks:
I have been wondering this for a long time because the cartoons, movies, TV shows and comic books all contradict each other on this... If you trapped Superman in a room with kryptonite how long would it take for him to die from it? No one has ever been able to answer this for me, sometimes he is shown being exposed for days, sometimes he's about to die in minutes... What is the authoritive answer?
Eddie: No real one beacuse he always seems to get out. And the exposure seems to vary, which can only be attributed to how refined and pure the Kryptonite is. But let's hope we never find out how long it takes to kill Superman.
Thanks Eddie!
Eddie: Well, goodbye, it's been great doing this, and you guys are some of the best fans and this is one great site! Take care!
Personally I just wanted to thank you soooooo much for firstly suggesting the idea for the "Ask Eddie Fan Forum" way back in June 2001 (can it really be that long ago?).
The fact that you've stuck with this over 5 years is a true testament to you. We, as Superman fans, appreciate the time you've given us in this regard. We'll miss you.
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