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"Ask Matt" Fan Forum Archives
Here are Matt Idelson's answers to questions fans put to him in July-November 2008:
Matt's Answers
666MasterOfPuppets (Email address withheld by request) asks:Hey Matt. I just read an interview in which James Robinson says that they will stress Superman's "humanity" so people can relate to him. I've always thought that Superman isn't there so you can relate to him, but to inspire you, and to take you somewhere else outside the "normal" world, a world where you can see amazing, mind-blowing adventures, and where you can believe that a man can fly. I'm afraid that by "stressing his humanity" the writers turn Superman into just another regular Joe with powers, when the truth is that Superman is so much more than that. He's nowhere near being a human with powers, but an alien "with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men" trying to live among us. Am I alone in this thought? And please, tell me that by "stressing his humanity" the writers aren't going to depower him. Because that would be, in my opinion, a wrong move: Something completely unnecessary if anyone wants to show Superman's "human" side.
Matt: Heya, Master! I can assure you that you've got nothing to fear from either James' comment or the notion that Supes will be in any way powered down. So often it has felt like Superman was portrayed as something akin to a god, often right down to his personality, and James wants to remind people that there's a thinking, feeling soul in that suit, raised by human parents, and living among humanity That's something you'll be very clearly seeing during the current crossover as a gazillion other Kryptonians stop by Earth. One thing you can count on when James is involved though (and I know, 'cause I know what he's got in store), is that the sense of wonder and majesty isn't going to be leaving the book or the character. This is supposed to be about entertaining you folks.
Neal Bailey (neal@supermanhomepage.com) asks:
Hey, Matt! I may be crazy, but it seems like a short while back, Jimmy Olsen learned Superman's secret identity. Well, okay, maybe almost a long while back now. What gives? Why is this just being glossed over. It's HUGE! Jimmy Olsen learning Clark's secret is akin to Lana or Perry learning it, and it was essentially one small arc and then forgotten. Did he forget or something?
Matt: Good question, Neal, and one I seem to get a lot. The basic premise is that when Jimmy lost his powers in COUNTDOWN, he lost all the knowledge he gained as well. I confess my memory on this escapes me (oh, the irony), so I don't know if it was addressed in COUNTDOWN but really subtlety, or if it's just one of those things that slipped through the cracks. Rest assured, Jimmy does NOT know Clark's secret.
Mark Alfred (msuperfan@cox.net) asks:
Can ANYTHING be done to bring back printed, in the comics, letter columns?
Matt: I'd very, very much like to see that happen, Mark, but the DC Nation page will be continuing to run for the foreseeable future. It's something I bring up every now and again in hopes that I might eventually hit the jackpot.
Richard Scott (Alexocks@aol.com) asks:
Matt, is there any chance of making both the Superman and Action Comics titles bi-weekly to get 4 Superman books a month (heck the same applies to Batman and Detective Comics)? After all, we don't want that upstart Amazing Spider-Man hitting issue 1,000 before Action Comics or Detective Comics does!
Matt: Ha! I wish that was my biggest concern, Richard! I'd certainly be drinking a lot less coffee! The way we're looking at the Superman franchise is as just that: a franchise, with expansions that aren't identical to the original. That's why SUPERGIRL has been so firmly brought back into the fold, and we won't be stopping there. To be truthful, I think that's a little more interesting than doubling up on ACTION and SUPES, but I guess time (and you folks) will tell.
Bill Martin (Email address withheld by request) asks:
Hi, Matt: As a long time reader, I remember when it was stated that Superman's muscular powers came from Earth's lesser gravity (as compared to Krypton's). The rays of the yellow sun gave him his various vision powers, hardened his skin to the point of invulnerability, etc. Now it seems as if every power comes from the yellow sun. Is that the case? I'm just having trouble understanding why a being from a heavy gravity planet wouldn't have "super strength" if placed on a world with far less gravity. Can you please explain why Superman loses all of his powers when the sun changes color?
Matt: Howdy, Bill! You are correct that the basis of Superman's powers has been simplified down to all stemming from a yellow sun, and as such, the gravity of the late, great Krypton was pretty similar to ours. That certainly makes Jor-El's decision to send Superman to Earth a lot more logical to me, anyway. (I'm looking forward to the debate that's about to ensue from all this, by the way.)
Since Superman's powers are fully derived from the particular type of solar radiation emitted by our yellow sun, it stands to reason (at least within the spacious confines of comic book science) that solar radiation coming from, say, a red star would be different, since the basic composition of a red star differs from that of a yellow star. That seem solid enough an explanation, or will you be setting the ghost of Carl Sagan on me?
LSV (Email address withheld by request) asks:
How is it that both Kara and Kal-El's parents had the time to build rocket ships for their children, but not enough time to build one big enough so they can leave the planet too? Especially if Jor-El knew about the planet's doom?
Matt: On the face of things, that does seem pretty strange, doesn't it, my monogram-for-a-name friend? But then you have to remember that the pursuit of spaceflight by Kryptonians had been banned for many years, and that after the Council blew off Jor-El, he didn't have a whole lot of time to build a ship for his son (while continuing research on how to stop Krypton's impending doom and finding a planet to send the kid to, too). Zor and Alura didn't get cooking on their ship until after Argo became a floating cruise ship, and then they not only had to build a ship, but also figure out a way for it to reach Earth before Kal's.
Azor (azor_99@hotmail.com) asks:
In a recent SUPERMAN/BATMAN arc there was a pretty significant development in the relationship between Supes and Lana. Is the fallout something that Geoff and James will deal with in your books, or was that basically an imaginary story? And when making such a bold move in that book, do they talk it over with your office at all before going ahead?
Matt: Good questions, Azor. To answer the first, SUPES/BATS is not set in real continuity, so the events in that title don't impact what's going on over here, even though that book does reflect the current status of characters from the in-continuity Superman titles. Nonetheless, they do talk things over with us in advance quiet often, if only to ensure that we're not duplicating each other (though I like to think it's driven by mutual admiration--okay, so I'm an eternal optimist).
Freddie Crespo (Email address withheld by request) asks:
Hi, thanks for your time here as always. On SUPERMAN/BATMAN #49, just before LANA pushed the button that settled all the Kryptonite dust around the world, she said that the Earth will be uninhabitable to all Kryptonian including all of Superman cousins (plural) and clone... now when she said CLONE, is this any indication of a certain character's return or just a mistake?
Matt: Well, like I said, Freddie, SUPES/BATS is not in continuity (or else Kal and his 100,000 new friends would be in serious trouble!), but at the same time, it does reflect current events of the DCU, so that clone comment just might be a hint of things to come down the road. I ain't telling.
Pardeep Singh (pupssingh@googlemail.com) asks:
Hello from England Matt! I have a question about Superman's current power level compared to Wonder Woman's. In ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #642, she admitted that he was the most powerful in every way. Is this still true now in the current Superman and Wonder Woman comics, especially with the arrival of the new writer, Gail Simone? Is Superman still the most powerful? Or are they of equal or near-equal power levels?
Matt: Howdy, Pardeep! I took your suggestion and consulted Gail (among others) on this topic, just to make sure I have my facts straight. Yes, Superman is more powerful than WW, but, in Gail's words, only by a "smidge." And as she said to me, whether you get crushed by an 800-pound banana or a 799-pound banana, there's not a whole lot of difference there, now is there?
Richard (Email address withheld by request) asks:
Hello, Matt: Recently, there has been some controversy on various comic websites regarding Superman being tagged by characters who, seemingly, have no superspeed -- like Konvikt, Darkseid, Subjekt, etc. If they actually do not have superspeed, in my opinion, it is poor writing to have them keep pace with Superman -- unless Superman is, bluntly, dumb enough not to use all the resources he has to end conflicts quickly and a safely as possible. Which would be dumb writing, too.
Matt: Boy, you can say that again, Richard. That WOULD be dumb writing. I assume by "superspeed" you mean they can run as fast as Superman could, right? Okay, maybe they can't, but that doesn't mean their reaction time isn't on par with Supes'. Let's face it, if all the great villains of the DCU had the same powers as Superman, it'd be pretty boring. But if, say, Subjekt can reach out and grab Superman before our hero can react, but he couldn't beat Supes in a potato sack race, that's okay, at least in my book. Your thoughts?
Brad (Email address withheld by request) asks:
Thanks Matt for taking the time to read and answer our questions. This may seem trivial but, when Lex Luthor was president, he figured out that Clark and Superman were the same. Does he still know this or has this knowledge been erased by retcons?
Matt: The latter, Brad. I think we lose too much potentially good stories and delicious interaction if Lex knows Clark's identity. Plus, then we have to come up with the stupidest reasons to explain why Lex doesn't just blab it to the world in order to quell the debate over, well, why doesn't Lex just blab it to the world? Unless a story comes along that makes Lex knowing the secret absolutely essential, his ignorance will be our bliss.
Carey Lester (track13d@yahoo.com) asks:
Any chance you will be taking over Superman/Batman so that the stories will feel more in continuity. It would be great to have a Superbook every week again like back in the 90's. A sugestion for scheduling would be Action Comics, Supergirl, Superman, then Superman/Batman. Keep up the great work!
Matt: Thanks for the idea, Carey! SUPES/BATS won't be joining the fold, but that's okay. What they're doing in that title is working, and there's no reason to mess with it. Besides, with what's coming down the pike, I've got more work than I can handle!
Captain Kal (Email address withheld by request) asks:
After being delighted with the Brainiac/Kandor story Geoff Johns is crafting, I was severely disappointed and appalled by what he's doing with Legion of Three Worlds. Excuse me, but isn't that back-asswards to say the Legion's charter members taught Superman about Truth, Justice, and the American Way? Thematically and real-world chronologically, Superman is the Big Granddaddy of the comics industry. All other super-heroes learned it from him. And what happened to the role of the Kents in fostering those good old values in Clark Kent growing up? Naah, according to Johns, Ma and Pa just fed and clothed the kid but had nada to do with teaching him any actual values.
Matt: I think you may have misconstrued things a little bit, Cap. No one honors the original defining presence of the DC characters like Geoff does. His respect for Ma and Pa is extraordinary, in how he writes them, talks about them... What Geoff's doing is merely expanding on the wonderful elements from Supes' earliest days, like Ma and Pa, and of course, the Legion. He's looking to add to the mythos, not change it.
Martin Alejandro Salinas (Email address withheld by request) asks:
Now that the Brainiac arc is over, I was wondering what happen with the many versions of Brainiac that we saw at the end of Action Comics 850?
Matt: Martin, that's something I'd like to address as soon as possible (though definitely not soon). Part of that imagery in ACTION was to hint at the fact that the many Brainiacs we'd seen in the past were but preludes to the real McCoy strutting around naked in "New Krypton," but there's definitely more to the story than that.
Glad to have you back Matt!
Matt: I've at last emerged from the ninth circle of Hell (contrary to Steve's wishes), and with the "New Krypton" crossover now up-and-running, I can resume the honor of answering any questions you may have about the Superman titles on a monthly basis. No, really.
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