Superman will be telling the world that he and Clark Kent are one and the same in the upcoming comic book story line titled “The Truth”.
The Washington Post has published an interview with writer Brian Michael Bendis in which he discusses the story, what it means for Clark Kent, and whether there’s any trickery behind the reveal. Here’s part of the interview…
“There’s no Kryptonite. There’s no Mister Mxyzptlk. There’s no magic amulet. No Bizarro,” Bendis said emphatically. “It’s a hero who gave a lot and needs a little something for himself.”
“Superman #17”, which goes on sale Wednesday, November 13, will see the story start to take shape, and fans are already concerned about what this means for Clark Kent.
“I get why people would immediately think … that Clark Kent just goes away,” Bendis said, adding, “Clark Kent is a huge part of who [Superman] is. It’s who he grew up as. He’s not giving it up. He’s sharing it with people. He’s saying ‘this is who I truthfully am. This is how I’m good at both jobs, and I want you to know that so we have a more honest relationship.'”
Subsequent issues will deal with how the revelation affects Clark’s colleagues, other superheroes, and the villains as well.
“How it affects business. How it affects the Daily Planet. How it affects how he gets stories. How [will] people perceive his stories? Does he have to give his Pulitzer back? All of these things are going to be addressed very quickly,” Bendis assured.
Read the full article at The Washington Post website.
This characterization of Superman makes no sense.
Bendis needs to focus up and finish off storylines quicker before he starts tackling something as controversial as this. I’m all for exploration of character but his run has been all over the place and I kept up as long as I could before I finally lost interest. I lost interest in the jor-oz conclusion, the rogaal Zaar conclusion, the red mist and event leviathan never held much of my interest either. I’m not a bendis hater at all and think he’s talented in many respects, but again, he’s been all over the place with Superman which diluted the stories… Read more »
Always easier to destroy than to create. Why bother telling great stories with the character when you can just gut the premise and pat yourself on the back for being modern and edgy.
“This is how I’m good at both jobs, and I want you to know that so we have a more honest relationship.’”
Bendis has to be fooling himself or his audience if he thinks this can possibly hold. How can Clark Kent remain a reporter with this revelation? Who aside of his closest friends and family is going to look at him as anything but Superman. . .or a fraud?
Storylines like this need a theme, a reason for being, and so far, it seems that Bendis is doing it because he wants to do it.
And/or because DIdio wants him to do it.
This is dumb. One of the things that we love most about superman is how he is in disguise as Clark Kent and himself as superman. They always try to move away from this. We WANT clark investigating to find out what’s wrong so superman can come in to save the local child slavery ring. Superman saving is a given. How he does it and keeps the identity secret is the best part. Instead we are moving to a “clark is never here and its always the end of the freaking universe and superman must fight someone more powerful than… Read more »
Like Younis said in the latest episode of the S Files, it’s just another story. Eventually, things will more or less go back to normal. Until I’ve read the upcoming issues of this arc, I’ll hold off on judging the story.
Who cares? Someone will just put things back to the status quo again anyway (like it should be.)
Probably but how long? A year? 3? 5? If it were for an issue or a 2 parter it might be one thing but this clearly gonna be one of those event type things they’re gonna stretch out and Bendis isn’t known for being brisk in the first place.Why should anybody slog through this in the meantime waiting for them to get back around to presenting the character we came to see.
Wow the dialog and art is one of the worst I’ve seen in a long time
I honestly thought it was fan made for a moment and was used as a comical reenactment of what will appear in the comic.
That 4th panel’s implication encapsulates the entire stupidity of this move. And clearly shows Bendis doesn’t comprehend the point of secret identities. “I’m going to shoot myself in the foot, and when I do…everyone I know will be wounded. Badly. I don’t know where exactly everyone will suddenly start bleeding from, but they will. Myself, I won’t be hurt that much cause lol main character. But everyone else is screwed.” – Clark “Ok, Clark. Sounds great. It’s your decision. We support you.” -No One Ever. And yes, this will be just a flash in the pan before there’s a universal… Read more »
Maybe at some point there will be an issue that solves these problems where Clark wakes up and says to Lois, “What a weird dream. I dreamt that Jon aged five or six years, my Kryptonian father was alive and evil, and I decided to give up my secret identity.
Lois-“That’s weird. Well it’s just dream.”
That’s how I would fix it.
Totally fine with that Spidey. Like I said in another thread I don’t even need a explanation just put the secret identity back and let this whole thing fall down a deep dark hole in Hypertime.
Or you could just have one panel with Johnny DC sweeping these comics into a dustpan while looking at the camera and saying “Sorry for the technical delay folks. We now rejoin the adventures of Superman already in progress.”
The dustpan could work.
The timing of this, makes me think it is tied in with the end of Doomsday Clock (coming soon to a comic book store near you). I am guessing that Dr. Manhattan may be the key to returning all back to the norm. Bendis did say that there was no Mxyzpitlk, but the good Doctor was NOT mentioned. I think if Jor-el was saved from the destruction of Krypton by DM (which is my theory) it would be not out of the question to believe that DM might return everything back to the normal canon and COULD (but admittedly, not… Read more »
one can only hope
Oh, one more thing. Before we send Bendis back to Marvel, howzabout we wait and see how this thing turns out. It just might turn out to be a pretty good yarn…
…or a stinker…
…I’m hopin’ for the former.
That art, wow…yikes.