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"Ask Matt" Fan Forum Archives
Here are Matt Idelson's answers to questions fans put to him in May-August 2012:
Matt's Answers
Blair (Blair.Burns@Ozanam.org) asks:Matt, I have to ask, with the launch the "Smallville: Season 11" comic, does Smallville now exist somewhere in the new multiverse?
Matt: That's a great question to lead off with, Blair. If Smallville exists within the multiverse (emphasis on the "if"), we haven't revealed that. I'd like to believe that in the vast possibilities of the multiverse, Smallville indeed exists, but until we see it...
Paolo (Email address withheld by request) asks:
Hi Matt, A question about the Super suit. Now that we know it's Kryptonian and seems to morph to the wearer, does that leave the door open to casual updates to the suit and changes from time to time? I'm trying to get into the redesign...but man I can only stand it when Jim Lee is drawing it. I think it needs more yellow.... and the boots are killing me. Go figure the Earth-2 suit I love and you guys kill that Superman off in the first issue!
Matt: Yeah, isn't irony a drag, Paolo? I'll be honest, it took a while for the new suit to grow on me, and in truth, it's hard for most folks to draw anything as well as Jim does. Having said that, this is the direction we've committed to, and I've really come to like the suit. I think part of the problem is that there's been a tendency for artists to approach it, at least subconsciously, as fabric like the old suit, when in fact it is armor. But with what Kenneth Rocafort is doing on SUPERMAN and with Rags tackling it, I think it's looking better and better. Hope it grows on you like it did me.
Rachel (Email address withheld by request) asks:
I wasn't against the reboot in theory because as a lifelong Superfan, I enjoy retellings of the Superman myth, and as part of that, of the Superman/Lois love story. Lois is integral to Clark's narrative in a unique way, made as much to be his foil as his love interest. But the past few months, it's begun to sound like DC no longer thinks it's important that she fill that dual role. I don't want to be an alarmist, but I have to ask: do you, and DC, no longer consider Lois Lane the female lead of the Superman mythos?
Matt: Wow, based on this and the subsequent couple of letters, it looks like I inadvertently touched a nerve (and gave the wrong impression in the process), Rachel! Clark most definitely has feelings for Lois, but he not only sees her as unattainable, but also unavailable (as we saw in the first issue of SUPERMAN - which reminds me, we really need to get back to her sometimes-boyfriend, Jonathon). As we've seen more and more in ACTION, Clark does indeed have feelings for Lois, unrequited though they might seem to be. From the standpoint of being a foil, we definitely want to emphasize that more in the coming year, which we'll start doing by addressing her employment status.
What it all comes down to is that getting away from the marriage and the relationship was one of the primary elements of the reboot, something that would truly show that we're starting from square one with this thing. If Clark and Lois aren't together, than anything is possible in the New 52. If we reunite them, certainly in the short term, we run the risk of telling stories we've told before. I'd much rather see the readers pining for them to couple up, with growing intensity, until we have no choice but make that magic moment happen.
And in truth, I engaged in some ill-advised hyperbole there when I said they wouldn't get together on my watch. I was trying to emphasize that they're not a couple and we're not going to revert to old status quo, but in truth, it's up to the characters and the readers, not me.
Kelly (Kelly1142@gmail.com) asks:
I am a Superman fan and a huge fan of the Clark and Lois romance. It is vital and the lack of it in the New 52 is why I have stayed clear of all superman books, except Smallville which is the only one that respects it's importance in the mythos. With your recent comments about it not happening on your watch, why should this fan even consider the New 52? And why do you have such disrespect for Lois and the relationship's place on the mythos?
Matt: Hi, Kelly. I'll let you in on a little secret: I was dead-set against resetting the Clark/Lois relationship from the start, and lobbied hard and passionately against going that route, but I came to see that if we were really going to restart the DCU from scratch, we needed to reintroduce the characters to ourselves and each other, and see where things take us, and to try and explore new avenues of story. The only way to do that would be to not continue with certain elements of the lore, be it in the case of Superman or any other hero in the New 52. I don't want to repeat my answer to Rachel too much, but we couldn't very well achieve that, I don't believe, without poking at some of the sacred cows. I miss them as a couple, I really do, but I also know that good drama comes from complicating the path that leads to the happily forever after ending.
Natasha (wreakhavoc2010@yahoo.com) asks:
Dear Mr. Idelson, do you think that your reluctance to admit Lois' importance to the mythos is because you fail to realize what she means to several female fans of the Superman narrative (fmoon excluded obviously)? That she represents everything that Superman is but in human form? That she fights his same fight with his same courage only without his powers? And that pushing her to the background to bring in other love interests is promoting the idea that women are dispensable? Just wondering.
Matt: Again, I have to apologize, Natasha, for giving an incredibly distorted impression of how I view this. We wanted to introduce a Superman and Clark Kent that are seemingly much more aloof, though that comes from a guardedness. Superman has that with the other heroes of the Justice League, just as Clark does with his human colleagues. Some of that comes from having to hide his secret, some from not really understanding entirely who or what he is, and some from losing his parents at a terribly early age. My hope is that ultimately, we'll all look back twenty years from now and see that without Lois in his life, that human representation is something he had to grow towards, and that the absence of Lois in his romantic life held him back.
farehin (Email address withheld by request) asks:
Will we see a cross-over within the Superman books. There has already been a cross-over involving all the Batman books. Also can you share any tidbits on what Superman's role will be during the "Trinity War"?
Matt: In fact, "yes!", farehin! In this very month of October, SUPERMAN, SUPERBOY and SUPERGIRL are all crossing over for several months, as a new threat is introduced, and the differences between the characters are very clearly underscored. I'm just wondering how many folks picked up on the hints (some subtle, some blatant) we dropped into their respective #0 issues.
Andrew (Email address withheld by request) asks:
Will see the origin of Superman's Family "S" shield? I've always wondered how the House of El came up with that symbol.
Matt: That is something I'd LOVE to see, Andrew! What a great idea!
Martin Gray (martingray1@gmail.com) asks:
Hi Matt, thanks for responding to comments. I'm sorry to read, in response to fmoon, that you don't bother with online reviews - there's a lot of insightful criticism around. I do reviews myself and try to be fair, and helpful. Given that the New 52 isn't running lettercols, where else can we express ourselves? Not everyone can see you at a con - I'm in the UK.
Matt: Well I'll tell you what, Martin - if you or anyone else want to suggest some links to actual reviews (instead of hate rants), I'd love to read them! I just looked you up, so now I know where to go for your reviews, sir. I used to read many a review, until I noticed how unhelpful they mostly seemed to be. I love the feedback, and the sense of what's working and what's not. In fact I think it's essential to the job. So now I'll regularly peruse yours, and hopefully I can learn about some additional ones to check out.
Olaoluwapo Williams (Email address withheld by request) asks:
Next year would be 75 years since Superman's appearance in 1938 and that's big (with the movie "Man of Steel" coming out next summer). Does DC have plans to celebrate his 75th anniversary?
Matt: We have some wonderful plans in the works for Supes next year, Olaoluwapo! Some will be revealed in a couple of weeks, some after, but I'm VERY excited about 2013, to put it mildly.
Steve asks:
How involved are you with the digital versions of the Superman family of comic books? Is the process of "digitizing" the books something that happens after your involvement or is it part of what you do?
Matt: And a great question to end this session on, Steve. I'm really not involved in the "digitizing" process. Once we have the book ready to go to the printer, we review it one last time digitally, to ensure that everything is as it should be (lettering hasn't shifted or dropped out, the right color files are used, the pages are in the correct order, those sorts of things) so we can make any last-second fixes needed, and then the book goes off to be "digitized" and printed.
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