Inter-Action
"Ask Eddie" Fan Forum Archives
Here are Eddie Berganza's answers to questions fans put to him in September & October 2001:
Eddie's Answers
September/October 2001
Due to the events of September 11th, we were forced to miss the September edition of the "Ask Eddie" Fan Forum, however, to make up for it, we bringing you this "Berganza Bonanza" - a double-dose of Questions and Answers from Eddie Berganza!
Clint Crawford (texclint81@yahoo.com) asks:
Since the topic was brought up in "Superman: Where Is Thy Sting?", I was wondering if we'll ever see an age-progression in any of the characters (except for Superman of course)? Or will Jimmy still look 18 ten years from now? I know stories are not planned that far in advance, but I'd love to see how these changes affect these people, like in real life. Of course noone wants to see Lois grow old and silver haired, but realisticly, it would eventually happen (after many years). So far, the only person I've seen grow older is Luthor's daughter, but she's been time displaced. Will anyone ever grow older, or will they continually be kept frozen in time?
Eddie: At certain points, although very, very slowly, we do age the characters. Look at Dick Grayson. Jimmy has matured since the Byrne revamp as well. It just may be so gradual the rest of us we'll be too old to notice.
Michael Cassano (cssnmc@yahoo.com) says:
I love what you've all been doing and I hope the best is yet to come. My question is are there any plans for a Team Superman book (perhaps a quarterly to fill those skip weeks) or a book centered on the Steelworks itself?
Eddie: Thanks, Michael. The Team Superman book is something I get asked about a lot, but there are no plans for one right now. And those skip weeks are filled with specials from DC, so they are not as empty as they used to be. As for something with Steelworks, well, Mark Schultz is filling up the place with characters, and he has this giant storyline that will be running in MAN OF STEEL solely this January through April, so it almost seems like he's thinking of something. We'll see.
Neal Bailey (baileyn@cc.wwu.edu) asks:
Will we see more of Bibbo soon? Simple question. I just miss the big lug!
Eddie: The Big Lug is close to all our hearts, but lately the stories have been very Superman focused and there hasn't been room for much of our immediate supporting cast, much less guys like Bibbo. But when we can we try to make room for him.
Alexandre "Durton!" Donnard (Alexdonnard@aol.com) says:
I'm a huge fan of Superman since the relaunch of creative teams in december 1999! I took a look at the changes that will appear in Action Comics where you (Eddie) will be co-writer with Joe Kelly. I'm not sure if it's a good idea that an editor becomes writer. How will you handle these functions?
Eddie: This is a mix-up that happened somewhere down the line because of my helping Joe Kelly on SUPERBOY. I am NOT going to be co-writing ACTION. Just editing. And editing the 4 Superman books is enough for anyone. If I do write more, I would like it to be something other than the Man of Steel, Clark and I spend enough time together.
Gary Wilbur (garybari@cs.com) asks:
I'm sure you have received questions from fans asking why the "electric" Superman story was never properly finished. My question is, whose decision was that? Yours? Mike Carlin's? Both of the above? Neither of the above? And why? I can speculate, but the truth is usually better than speculation.
Eddie: Electric Blue Superman's story was done when I came on the book as editor. We were starting fresh. Since then we've only tapped into the visual as another resource Superman has to his abilities.
Gary Locke (gsl24fps@webtv.net) asks:
I've been a comics reader for over 40 years, and I've returned to Superman often as those years have gone by, but my interest is the Man in the "Man of Steel". The galaxy spanning sagas are fun, but this long time fan can't make a steady diet of them.Will one of the books PLEASE focus on earth-bound stories?!
Eddie: After OUR WORLDS AT WAR we are going to be staying mostly Earthbound, the only exception being the DECEMBER on sale of ACTION, which does have Superman going off-world, but it turns out to be in a Red solar system, so he'll think twice before he goes out there again.
gpranata (gpranata@yahoo.com) asks:
I heard that there might be a future storyline exploring whether Superman and Lois can have kids. Could you confirm that the story will be run? If yes, when will we see it? Can't wait for it to come out! Personally, I have always thought that Clark and Lois can't have kids because they are different species, yet Superman looks almost 100% identical to a human male! What's the deal with that?
Eddie: They've only been married (in DCU terms) for a short-time, give them a while--and that's to say, no kids in the immediate future.
Supes (Supes_DcMb@hotmail.com) asks about the creative team changes:
It was recently announced that Duncan Rouleau and Pascal Ferry will be sharing art chores on "Action Comics". While I usually applaud having 2 great artists join the group, I and many are wondering why you've decided to put them on the same book? Fan favorite Doug Mahnke is leaving "Man of Steel" this year and this leaves the door open for Mr. Rouleau, Mr. Ferry would obviously stay with Joe Kelly on "Action Comics" considering their work history. It has also been rumoured that Yvel Guichet will be replacing Mr. Mahnke... Is this true? Will we ever see Mike McKone drawing a Superman title? He was just great! Thanks alot and keep up the great work. It's a great time to be a Superman fan thanks to you guys.
Eddie: The schedules on the books are tough, and we want to keep them going. Both Pascual and Duncan work wonderfully with Joe Kelly, and it just seemed to be a good idea to have them work on arcs simultaneously. It's an experiment. We'll see what happens. The situation on MOS happened after things were decided on ACTION, so it was handled separately. Yvel Guichet, who is doing some real cool things, has come on to help us. And we keep asking Mike McKone to stop by, but he got mixed up with mutants. Go figure.
Martin Salinas asks:
In Superman #157, you (Jeph Loeb) killed the Parasite, during the "Our Worlds at War" saga, Mongul apparently died, in The Adventures of Superman #595 the man of steel says that he must kill Brainiac 13, and in a recent interview, you said that Superman #175 will be the last time we will see Doomsday. Are you thinking of killing all the classic Superman villains?
Jeph Loeb answers this one for us: Short answer, NO! We love the classic villains and are doing our best to beef up the rogues gallery! Well, by now you've seen how the War ended and you can decide for yourself. Yes, we told the last Parasite story -- for that character. Whether or not we've seen the last of Mongul, remains to be seen. And while I'm flattered that B13 is considered a classic character, he was introduced in Superman #154 by myself and Ed McGuinness (who designed him). The "classic" Brainiac 2.5 was last seen having bonded with Lena Luthor, so we don't yet know his fate. And since B13 is a time travelling entity, you can decide for yourself whether or not you've seen the END of this character, who is to say you won't see him again on the earlier side of his or her career. And as to fate of Doomsday in #175 -- you'll have to read the issue to determine if death is the only way to tell "the last Doomsday" story as far as I'm concerned. Hope that helps and thanks for enjoying the books!
Ben (beegoodie69@aol.com) and Paul Wallis (paulw3079@hotmail.com) ask:
Will the "Emperor Joker" and "Our Worlds at War" story lines be released in Trade Paperback form? And if so, when?
Eddie: We're going in order on the storylines in our TPB. The next one due out in December is the Parasite/Lois storyline. Next will be the Fantastic Voyage into Superman's body and then Emperor Joker.
Jake Tucker (Squiddyboy@hotmail.com) asks:
Will the reappearance of General Zod and the "Return to Krypton" storyline somehow be linked?
Eddie: Hmmm, that would be telling, but not as it stands right now.
Dominic Harman (superharman@aol.com) says:
Now that you have the S-Shield inspired by the Fliescher cartoons, any chance of some stories inspired by those amazing cartoons? Personally I would love to see a modern version of the Bulleteers.
Eddie: There's also the Atom Man from the radio show that we like too, but currently nothing like that is planned. But maybe after the Summer of 2002.
Van Banoovong (vbanoovong@yahoo.com) asks:
Any chance of seeing a Hypertime story between Superman, the Golden-Age Superman, and the Kingdom Come Superman?
Eddie: Sorry, no.
Ray Currie "supermanred2001" (Currieray@aol.com) notes some loose ends from the first year of Superman reboot:
I remember reading about Superman facing a new adversary called Tantrum in a "3-D" special or graphic novel that was due out waaaay back in 1987? What happened to him? And whatever happened to Dr. Stratos? He apparently drowned outside his castle and transformed into a "god" called Stratos. He vowed revenge on Superman when Superman least expected it. And what was the deal with the Circle and the 5000? I don't recall anything ever explained.
Eddie: The reality is that those were stories began by other creators. The current guys have their own loose ends to tidy up, and it's only until we address those that we can look at what else is out there to mine for stories.
Ryan Steans (rsteans@mail.utexas.edu) asks:
Are there any plans in the works for more Team Superman one-shots or limited series? Would Krypto be included in any future plans for full Team Superman team-ups? How do Stars and STRIPE work into the Team Superman equation?
Eddie: Team Superman is something I would like to do more with. And if that happens, Krypto would be a part of it. Stars and STRIPE are connected to Steelworks, so it would depend on the nature of the story that gets Team Superman involved.
John-Paul Zito (Zitoman11@aol.com) asks:
Hey, I was looking at the solicitations for Superman for the next few months. I was wondering when the super books would go to solo/non-crossover format? It works great for the bat books. And I think it's really alienating new readers. Plus the writers styles on all four book are so different and great, I feel that the connecting books inhibit the writer's creativity.
Eddie: On the contrary these guys work really well off of each other. We have a couple of months now when the books are not connected at all (this began with the September issues), except for certain themes or LAST LAUGH, but Jeph Loeb, Joe Casey, Mark Schultz and Joe Kelly all talk to each other about where the charcter is headed and what the continuing threats should be. They help each other make better stories. They really are Team Superman.
Jeff Javorie asks:
The December books appear to be labelled "DC Full Coverage! entry-point issues", what's this all about? And what challenges did the creative teams face in writing issues (which I'm guessing) are aimed at giving new fans the opportunity to start reading the Superman titles?
Eddie: These are self contained stories that hopefully a new reader can start reading from. SUPERAN #178 is a fun story reimagining an old adversary. AOS #599 is one of my favorites that deals with a regular guy making a difference and a sacrifice. It was written before the WTC tragedy of 9/11, but it really speaks of what real superheroes are. This story is about a Russian submarine Captain, and the things we discover he and Superman have in common. MOS #121 is a fill-in by Geoff Johns with Todd Nauck and Lary Stucker that they did to help Mark Schultz get ahead for a multi-part story that will be contained to MOS solely. Geoff's done a great job of bringing back the Royal Flush Gang and making them a threat to Superman. ACTION #786 is a cool redo of an old JLA villain by Joe and Pascual Ferry, and the threat posed on a world in a red solar system.
They all add up to what Superman stands for. I'm really happy with them.
Thanks Eddie! Thanks Jeph!
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