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"Ask Matt" Fan Forum Archives

Ask Matt Fan Forum Here are Matt Idelson's answers to questions fans put to him from September-October 2006:

Matt's Answers

Daniel (daniel15ark@yahoo.com) asks:
Now that Superboy's clone Match will be showning up in "Teen Titans" any chance of seeing him show up in Superman comics?

Matt: Sadly, Daniel, we don't have any plans to explore that character in the near (or distant) future. We've got a pretty comprehensive plan on where the books are going to go for a very long stretch, so I don't think we'll find the space for a long, long while. Sorry, man. Don't hate us.



Barry Freiman (barryfreiman@ameritech.net) asks:
Any chance of seeing Pre Crisis character Kristin Wells, aka Superwoman, and/or the Earth Angel/Matrix/Linda Danvers Supergirl?

Matt: There's a chance, Barry. But only a chance. Then again, long odds can be fun when they pay off!



Ninos Shimshon (Bazniya16@hotmail.com) asks:
Just a quick question. One remnant of the "Man of Steel" Krypton is totally missing since Infinite Crisis... When will we find out what's going with The Eradicator?

Matt: I can't really tell you when we'll be dealing with the Eradicator, Ninos, but someday that's a concept we'd like to revisit and resolve. And if that isn't a dissatisfying answer, I don't know what is.



Fulvio (TheFulvio@yahoo.com) asks:
I thought I had heard a few years ago that us "Smallville" fans would get to see Chloe Sullivan in the comics. I would have thought Infinite Crisis would be agreat time to introduce her. Will we get to see her show up anytime soon?

Matt: Here's the story, Fulvio. Kurt really wants to bring Chloe into the books, and has pitched an idea. He likes it. Geoff likes it. I like it. Nachie likes it. Dan Didio likes it. All we need is for a couple more people in even bigger offices to like it, and we're on our way. So we've got our fingers crossed...



Thales Gomes (tgpereira@hotmail.com) asks:
Hey Matt, I would like to know if Lex Luthor daughter Lena is still in continuity and if there are any plans for her in upcoming issues? The previous editor told us that she's in foster care... If she still exists, how come Lex hasn't gone to get her?

Matt: Lena Luthor is in foster care -- though just what kind of "foster care" will come as a surprise to many. Look for her -- and her dad -- to appear in a special project next year that'll answer a lot of your questions.



Scott Miller (red_voodoo5150@msn.com) asks:
I've been a huge comic book fan for well over 20 years, the peak of my collecting coming in the 1990s. I was collecting all four (and later five) Superman titles almost religiously. My question comes from that time period...The supporting cast. I am talking everyone at the Cadmus Project, Gangbuster, Bibbo, Ron Troupe, and the like. I don't really see them much anymore. In the 90s, the supporting cast was one of the strongest points of the series. Whatever happened to these guys and will we see them again?

Matt: Yo, Scott. Gangbuster and Bibbo aren't in the plans at the moment, but Ron Troupe will start popping up at the Daily Planet very soon, and we're working to expand the supporting cast both at and away from the Planet in the months to come. Really, Jimmy can only stand so much screen time...



Matt (mattofsteel@hotmail.com) asks:
As I have been reading and hearing from lots of my fellow Superman fans, we are all concerned about the current historical backstory of Superman. I believe we all simply wish to know what version we are dealing with. It's incredibly important to us all to know the nuances of our current Mr. Kent. It helps us get into his head to know where he has been. Why does it seem there there is nothing in the works to explain the continuity changes to the biggest name in the superhero comic book genre to his die hard fans other than a silly 2 page spread in some random future "52" comic that will probably raise more questions than it answers? Otherwise doing a good job. For once it seems that Supes is acting like himself across the board. Nothing is worse that some writer's ego getting in the way of how an already well established character acts.

Matt: Well, Matt, the beautiful thing about working with Geoff and Kurt is that they're very much on the same page about Clark and the people in his life. That always makes things easier. And since no one here is trying to reinvent the wheel, it's pretty easy to get the character right. As for why we haven't done some kind of blanket statement or story clarifying Clark's history, well, the answer is twofold. First, there's a tremendous amount of back history to sort through and decide upon, and the general feeling is that taking things on a case-by-case basis leaves us more room to explore and be inspired along the way. For example, Superman is going to meet Zod for the first time, but he's already met Bizarro prior to ACTION #845. We'd just really like to not limit ourselves by deciding everything up front. The second part of this already-long answer is that we want to leave room for Superman stories outside this office (a la SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL). Deciding everything now would potentially limit what's being done in that book, and we're big believers in karma. I'll tell you what, though: if there's a significant enough outcry for some kind of one-shot or miniseries to clear things up (well, for the most part), then we'll have no choice but to do it. Fair enough?



Will Courtney (willsabelcourtney@nyu.edu) asks:
Hey, Matt! I was wondering, who first had the idea of reincorporating some of those Silver Age characteristics back into Superman - you know, the total recall memory, the more sensitive hearing, him having been "Superboy" (at least in some way or other), and so forth. I was always a big fan of the post-Crisis Superman because he didn't have a lot of those traits - he seemed more relatable to me. Why did you (or whomever was ultimately responsible) decide to bring those things back?

Matt: Is super-hearing a new power for Superman? We thought he always had it. As for the others, they came up during Geoff and Kurt's many phone calls to talk over Superman plans, and then they braced us here in the DC offices and told bad knock-knock jokes until we agreed. The two of them want to use elements from across Superman's rich history, not just drawing from one era, but using whatever's interesting from the Golden Age, pre-Crisis, post-Crisis, the movies, the TV shows and more, but to build it all into something new and exciting. They're both approaching the character from a place of affection, while trying not to do anything that will come off as dated and dopey. And honestly, I find it much more interesting to discover and use these "new" powers than just limit Superman to flying, strength and his two vision powers (yeah, and the super-breath).



Alessandro (alexpowerlinks@tiscali.it) asks:
Now that Dan Jurgens has an exclusive contract with DC will their be a possibility for him to draw Superman again?

Matt: Hi, Alessandro! I'd love to answer you with a big, loud "YES!!!", but the truth is DC is keeping Señor Jurgens very busy these days, what with his work on a METAMORPHO miniseries, not to mention his 52 work.



Neal Bailey (writer/review for SupermanHomepage.com) asks:
As you must know, Superman stories in the past were weekly, where the story was ongoing and hooked together in the form of a continuing narrative with a shared continuity. Now, with editorial changes and market demands, there are two main in-continuity books with SUPERMAN and ACTION COMICS, a shared title in-continuity with SUPERMAN/BATMAN, and ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, continuity irrespective. There's also SUPERGIRL, and SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES. Heck, even SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL is now available. This would seem, on its surface, to be a really great time to be a Superman fan, akin to that period of time when there were four to eight titles a month. The motivations for the changes seem obvious and prudent. Picking and choosing allows people not to have to spend a ton of money and stick with only the creators they like, even though to old school continuity fans, like me, it offers a bit of a dalliance from coherent, structured continuity. But, as ALL-STAR SUPERMAN shows, that can even be a good thing with the right context. The fans are adapting, and generally loving this new direction, if the mail I get as a writer for this site is any inclination. However, their biggest complaint, and that which I'd like to ask about, is the scheduling. ACTION COMICS seems to be skipping an issue for the Annual. ALL-STAR SUPERMAN has been constantly delayed while already on a bi-monthly schedule. SUPERMAN/BATMAN experiences regular delays. All in all, I'm not complaining that we're not getting enough Superman books. It's obvious we get just as many as we used to. But here's the real question... and the question many fans are really, really struggling with. Why constant lateness? The armchair critic steps back, even I do it, and says "well, look, if they can't get a book out on time, why do they get that privilege," to which the obvious counter is the extreme demand for "names" in the comic industry right now. The civil person just waits patiently, believing that the wait is worth it for all of these titles. You can't really have the "shared" universe feeling that made the Stern era, and so recently the Infinite Crisis build-up so truly great if the books never bump into one another, yet at the same time sales dictates that you must get the top creators on board, which means you can't tell Geoff Johns to work with Kurt's series, one would imagine, or ask Mark Verheiden to touch upon SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL. And as an editor, one would imagine that telling Grant Morrison to hurry the hell up would be career suicide. So I guess what I'm saying is that I don't envy you in this situation, but at the same time, as a consumer and a liason for consumers, people are really, really tired of late books, skipped books, books that aren't timely, and the subsequent degredation that has on a coherent universe. Can you address that, please? Fifteen words. I'm kidding. Really, I hope this doesn't sound rude, but it's a question that NOBODY will give a straight answer to in this business, and if you can, I assure you, you'll win everyone who reads this column over.

Matt: Hey, Neal! Hopefully answering this will make up for my stiffing you on the e-mail you sent. And if not, then you know where to find me. Anyway, I certainly can't comment on SUPERMAN/BATMAN or ALL-STAR SUPERMAN. Since I don't edit those books, I'm really not privy to what the circumstances are behind why and when they do or don't come out. I can comment on SUPERMAN and ACTION, however.
First off, we think you can have a shared-universe feeling, and Geoff and Kurt are coordinating the books to do just that. Not the week-to-week continuity of the old "triangle-numbering days" -- though we're willing to do that from time to time with projects like "Up, Up and Away," which did run back-and-forth through both books. But you will see connections as time rolls forward -- just as Kurt's "Back in Action" story set up Geoff's and Richard Donner's "Last Son" arc, we'll see "Last Son" have an effect on SUPERMAN, and events in SUPERMAN have an effect on ACTION. In fact, the mystery of the Third Kryptonian, introduced in ACTION, will come to a head in SUPERMAN next summer, and set things up for dramatic and explosive developments in both books -- and even in SUPERGIRL -- next fall and winter.
As for the schedule, as you correctly note, we face great pressure to go with "name" artists on books like SUPERMAN and ACTION since they're such important books. The reason these guys are considered "names" in the first place is because of the incredible quality of their work. But to achieve that level of quality takes longer than the four-week schedule can maintain, leading to the question, should we schedule fill-ins or miss shipping? Geoff suggested the very happy medium for ACTION of our doing an annual in January '07. We knew we wanted to break the "Last Son" story at the midpoint, so January was the month. Rather than doing a fill-in story, we decided to make something of an event out of the situation. The stories and features in the annual will be very, very cool, informative, some even giving info or at least hints of some of the things to come. And because we planned it in advance, we were able to get some pretty awesome talent on the book: Art Adams, Joe Kubert, Eric Wight, Gary Frank, Phil Jimenez, Rags Morales, and Tony Daniel. Let's just say we didn't scrimp on this one. Carlos is equally great as Adam in the art department, and we planned a break for Carlos with issue #659. #658 brings us to the halfway point of the "Camelot Falls" story, so like with ACTION, the midway point seemed like the logical break point. Unfortunately, a personal situation arose which precluded our getting things done in a timely manner, just one of those situations you can't plan for or predict, so our schedule has gotten a little wonky, and we've had to resolve things as best we can a little more on the fly. As such, we haven't been riding quite as smoothly, though I expect that will be resolved soon.
It's always very difficult striking a balance between asking people to be creative in their work and maintaining a monthly schedule. When the equation has constants in it, such as "Joe Artist takes X weeks to draw a book", you can plan in advance and do something especially cool like the ACTION annual. When variables creep in like they did with SUPERMAN, you're just sort of forced to ride it out as best you can. It'd be easy for us to just have inventory stories in the drawer that are so non-time and non-continuity-specific that we can drop 'em in anywhere, but I'd rather save those for true emergencies (such as "Adam fell off his Big Wheel and broke both his wrists"). At the end of the day, I guess the real question is: would you prefer 12 on-time issues a year, regardless of who does them, or would you rather have the occasional pre-planned, (hopefully) high quality one-off story (like we're doing with SUPERMAN #659 and #660), or a new product to take the book's place in a given month (like the annual)? I'm guessing readers will break up into three groups on this one, with each group preferring one of the options.
Personally, I hate having books go late. Partly it's a sense of professionalism, partly it's 'cause I grew up reading comics and hated going home from the store each Friday (ahh, back when books came out on Fridays -- good times) empty handed. I'm hoping we've found a way to fix things and make everyone happy for all of 2007, but we'll see -- real life has this annoying way of intruding on plans.



Thanks for answering our questions so thoroughly.

Matt: Well, I don't know how thorough I was, Steve, but I have two months of non-answers to make up to you and the visitors to the site. Hopefully this will satisfy everyone until the next batch is due!



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