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"Ask Matt" Fan Forum Archives
Here are Matt Idelson's answers to questions fans put to him in August-September 2010:
Matt's Answers
Matt (Email address withheld by request) asks:I was having a debate with a friend of mine and was wondering something: Was Lex always in Project 7734 when Brainiac left, aside from "Blackest Night"? Was it Luthor in ADVENTURE COMICS and "Last Stand of New Krypton" or was it the bot, while Lex was on Earth the whole time? Who did what?
Matt: Hmm. I can see where there would be confusion, Matt. Lex himself escaped with Brainiac, as part of his plan with General Lane. In the period of time between ADVENTURE #6's conclusion and the start of LAST STAND, Lex replaced himself with a robot Lex and returned to 7734 to watch the carnage and chaos on New Krypton from afar. Man, good thing he didn't drop in RoboLois by accident, huh?
Thomas Hickman (Email address withheld by request) asks:
Will we be seeing Mon-El, Flamebird & Nightwing again any time soon?
Matt: Hi, Thomas. I think we'll be giving that trio a bit of a rest for a while, at least in the present. We want to play with different characters and concepts now that the New Krypton era is behind us. Notice, however, I did say "the present." As you may or may not know, Mon-El was/is/will be rescued from the Phantom Zone in the future and be joining up with the Legion, so you can certainly get your Mon-El fix there.
Frank (Email address withheld by request) asks:
So far JMS's "Grounded" arc seems to be a series of short stories, is this the case or is there a whole cohesive story we just aren't seeing yet? Also JMS in his interviews refers to the Golden Age Superman; the lone social crusader, does this mean we will see this Superman during his run?
Matt: Hola, Frank. The short story nature of "Grounded's" opening is something I think you saw change with issue #703. While Superman's stop in a particular local will be primarily limited to one issue, there is indeed a through-line emerging which began with #703. And of course, the emotional journey that Supes is on is most certainly a single, long story. As for the lone social crusader aspect, I think that's been evident already, don't you?
Lemar Jones (lemarjones@gmail.com) asks:
After collecting anything Clark Kent from 1985 to 2006, I've only purchased a handful of Clark Kent related comics since. I don't like the Superman-real/Clark Kent-mask direction the books have taken. I don't like the non-existent role of the supporting cast. When are we due to see Clark (strong, bold) Kent in the books again? I want to see the farm boy who just happens to have super-powers again. Otherwise it's 20 years of back issues for me.
Matt: A fair set of points, Lemar, and ones we're very, very much going to be rectifying in the coming year. When Superman returns from his journey across America, the supporting cast will very much be playing a larger role in the books, and I think you'll find we'll be playing Clark a bit differently as well. My hope is that you'll like what you read and stick around in the present!
Jose A. Rivera (superby1@aol.com) asks:
I've loved SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN except for its constant delays. I understand delays are unavoidable sometimes, but those of us picking up the single issues and made to wait feel slighted when we see the trade paperback coming out shortly after the last issue is released. It's starting to feel like there's no incentive to pick up a book when it's always late and we could just wait for the trade. Your thoughts?
Matt: I can't argue with that viewpoint, Jose, and I do feel bad about it. The viewpoint from this end, at least as far as the collection is concerned, is that it was originally slated to come out a decent chunk of time after the initial miniseries was completed. Since the collection of course had to be pushed back to accommodate the release of the individual issues, but also knowing how well-received the collection would be by readers who didn't pick up the original mini, we felt some urgency to release the collection closer to issue #6's release than we normally would. And an additional apology here for that endless sentence.
Kevin (Email address withheld by request) asks:
Firstly I wanted to say keep up the good work on the books Matt. I wanted to ask about a change in Superman's new canonical appearance. Recently I found myself re-reading ACTION COMICS #850 where it shows Supes saving a space plane in the middle of a park. But he saved Lois in SECRET ORIGIN along with a helicopter. Just curiously, since both comics were written by Geoff what caused the change for Mr. Johns?
Matt: It's kind of a complicated answer, Kevin, and not one that I can totally address for you, though I'll say that as our viewpoint on Superman's origin and what from prior continuity we were going to be keeping versus updating post "Infinite Crisis," Lois and the helicopter took precedence. How's that for not really answering your question?
Alex (Email address withheld by request) asks:
If you have a really great idea for a Superman comic how would you go about submitting it to DC? I am a writer, not an artist, so it is very hard for me to find a connection to submit it to. I have been sitting on this idea for many years now and would really like to share it with the world. How would I go about doing so?
Matt: Hi, Alex. That's a great question, and one I'm asked quite a bit. It's a tough road for new writers to break in to comics. Unlike an artist, who can draw a bunch of sample pages that we can look at to assess their talent, we're legally not able to read ideas for stories from new writers. What you need to do, and I realize this is easier said than done, is to get yourself published (either for another company or by self-publishing) so we can read your non-DC work and assess if you're a writer we want to go into business with. And if the answer is that we do, then pitching your Superman idea can be explored. Like I said, it's not an easy road, and I wish I had a better answer for you.
Larry (Email address withheld by request) asks:
I have a problem with the premise of the 'Walk across America' - Superman not being there to save someone with a brain tumor and then his being "disconnected". First, as for the tumor, it's been established over and over that is NOT what Superman is about (as recently as that Supergirl storyline with the boy who died from cancer). If Superman was there, the man still would've died. As for the disconnect - isn't that part of what Clark Kent is for?
Matt: Well, Larry, that's an interesting question or questions. Regarding the issue of the tumor, what JMS was illustrating is the disconnect between the heroic actions folks like Superman take on, and the public perception that has seemed to develop of heroes being disconnected from "real folks" types of issues. Supes' walk across America is, in part, his effort to make sure he has indeed been on the right path, and that he's not neglecting the smaller problems (well, smaller in comparison to what he usually takes on) that are front-and-center crucial to regular folk. I hope that helps clear things up, Larry.
Lucas Gattoni (pandaservicial@hotmail.com) asks:
So... we know Luthor had a sister named Lena now, but... what happened to his baby girl Lena?! I mean, she just disappeared! Does that mean she's been retconned...? And if so... are all those stories (2001-2002) out of continuity now?
Matt: Wow, lot of questions regarding continuity this go 'round. Well, Lucas, while I'll state with total clarity that baby Lena is no more (or never was, depending on your point of view), that's as far as I'll go in reference to the 2001-2002 period.
Doug The Doug Tisdale (Email address withheld by request) asks:
Dear Mr Idelson: "Secret Origin" took nearly a year to tell. Books 1-3 came out monthly but 5 months passed between #5 and 6. Nor is this the first Supertitle to suffer publication delay recently. I'm not looking for an apology or even an explanation. I'm hoping to get a commitment from you that this sort of thing will stop. I understand life happens and some delays are unavoidable, but surely there's something you as editor can do to address the problem. Please. It's very frustrating.
Matt: A more than fair complaint, Doug. I think the late shipping of titles is both frustrating for you readers who go by your store looking forward to a particular comic only to find it not there, for the retailers, and for us as well. I'm glad you're not asking for an explanation, but I do feel reasonably confident in saying that things will be running smoother with the Superbooks for the foreseeable future. It sort of brings me back to a question I posed publicly a couple of years ago about what's better: missing shipping, having guest talent lend a hand in telling a particular story, or running a fill-in story to make sure the books come out when they're supposed to. And honestly, I don't think you could find any person or group of people who would agree with whatever your answer might be. Personally, I absolutely hated it when I would go to pick up my weekly comics only to find items not out yet, and I hate it just as much from this side of the desk.
Daniel (daniel15ark@yahoo.com) asks:
Now that Superboy is going to have his ow series agian any chance well see any cracthers form his old series like Rex or Roxy Leech agian?
Matt: Good question, Daniel! The answer for right now is "no." For the first year of the series, Jeff and Pier have a pretty tightly-planned set of stories and characters that they want to involve Conner with, but part of the secret for keeping a series fresh and exciting is to periodically assess the book and bring in either new characters, return older faces, or do a mix of both.
Michael Sacal (Email address withheld by request) asks:
During the Brainiac arc, Superman remarks that his costume is based on the Kryptonian flag and emblem of the House of El. This was changed in SECRET ORIGIN to the costume being based on clothes worn by 12 year old boys on Krypton. Why is it so hard to lock down a definite origin for Superman?
Matt: I'm afraid I'll have to refer you back to my answer to Kevin's question of a similar vein a few questions before this, Michael. Sorry to be vague and oblique-though I like to pretend it makes me mysterious and interesting.
Steve asks:
As you can see from some of the questions above, people are concerned about publication delays and many readers today seem to be of the opinion that writers (and their publisher) are more concerned with writing for the Trade Paperback release than the individual issue. Is this a valid concern?
Matt: No, I don't really think that's the issue, Steve, at least not with the folks I'm working with. In large part what the delays seem to most often come down to is unrealistic planning and tighter-than-advisable schedules, which often result in potholes that delay projects (since you have no room in your schedule to absorb the delay and still make proper shipping). I will admit we look towards the collection when planning an arc or the year-long map for a series, but only to the extent of how, say, 12 issues will read if broken into two collections with a break between issue #6 and #7.
And speaking of delays, I'm sorry to have left you all hanging in what was a very eventful September for us. As things settle down, I hope to hit my deadlines for you folks a bit better.
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