DC Teases Flashpoint

[Allyn Gibson]

I missed Allyn's link about the announcement of the post-Flashpoint plans next month...should be interesting whatever they are. No doubt will excite some, and piss off others.

A couple of websites have pointed out that August is wrapping up a lot of story arcs in the DC titles. In the Superman titles, "Reign of Doomsday" wraps in Action and "Grounded" wraps in Superman. (Interestingly, Roberson implied over the weekend on Twitter that he's off Superman very soon.)

And the only book that DC is shipping the last week of August is Flashpoint #5.

Something big is coming, definitely.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ Indeed. I think the internet might break in half from this announcement

 

[Hound of UIster]

There is also a rumor going around that Geoff Johns is leaving GL soon after War of the GLs.

 

[Admiral_Young]

That would be a surprise. Just last year he stated that he had five more years worth of stories to tell. Whatever it is they're announcing, I'm intensely curious about it.

 

[Hound of UIster]

Just last year he stated that he had five more years worth of stories to tell

Thats been his default position for every book he has written.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ That's true. I wonder if we will get a "Multiversity" announcement finally next month as well or wait until Comic con. It was hinted last year that we would finally see this sometime this year. I guess it's been pushed back again.

 

[Myasishchev]

How is that flood pattern supposed to work? How is Switzerland completely inundated when New Orleans still exists?

Also: "Asian Capital" and "Africa--Ape Controlled"? Maybe think about things before you put them on paper, guys.

Ape Controlled as in controlled by Gorilla Grodd

No, I know, Grodd of War. Whatever, waived. But "Asian Capital"? Come on. Where's the point of divergence for Flashpoint? The death of Kublai Khan?

You, uh, don't read the comics much do you?

Not as many as I used to.

I still want to know how Grossglockner is underwater and Florida isn't.

I missed Allyn's link about the announcement of the post-Flashpoint plans next month...should be interesting whatever they are. No doubt will excite some, and piss off others.

One of the rumors makes me so livid I won't even say it loud, for fear of giving its name power.

 

[Mr Light]

I am going to be deeply disappointed when Geoff Johns leaves Green Lantern. I'm still lovin' it!

 

[Admiral_Young]

I've honestly lost interest...it happened towards the end of "Blackest Night" which I found disappointing. I'm usually extremely pleased with his work. Kind of bored with his GL stuff.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

One of the rumors makes me so livid I won't even say it loud, for fear of giving its name power.

I don't know if it was a rumor or just someone's fear, but on one of the boards I trawl, I saw someone mention the possibility of the Clark/Lois relationship going back to the Silver Age status quo.

If that really happens, I will be highly incensed.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ Yeah any of the Superman rumors actually happen, I will be pissed. A friend of mine on another board suggested that this might be DC's way of preparing to lose the rights to the character to the Shusters next year. I could have sworn that law suit was settled.

 

[Hound of UIster]

This rumor is ridiculous and doesn't even pass the bs test. The same goes for the one of Wally being de-aged at the end of Flashpoint and his family vanishing.

 

[Myasishchev]

One of the rumors makes me so livid I won't even say it loud, for fear of giving its name power.

I don't know if it was a rumor or just someone's fear, but on one of the boards I trawl, I saw someone mention the possibility of the Clark/Lois relationship going back to the Silver Age status quo.

If that really happens, I will be highly incensed.

You gave its name power!

This rumor is ridiculous and doesn't even pass the bs test.

Why? They did it with Peter and M.J. and in a turn that makes me ashamed, as far as I know it worked, financially. "When the fans are angry, we're selling comics."

More positively, they'll probably fix Wonder Woman (I think that's still unfixed?), and maybe, if God loves us, Barry Allen will die again.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

This rumor is ridiculous and doesn't even pass the bs test.

Why? They did it with Peter and M.J. and in a turn that makes me ashamed, as far as I know it worked, financially. "When the fans are angry, we're selling comics."

DC considered "undoing" the Clark/Lois marriage once before.

Would DC pull the trigger and do it?

I don't see what DC would gain from splitting Clark and Lois. Yet, they've effectively split them; there hasn't been a meaningful Clark/Lois scene for the better part of two years (first, Superman's off on New Krypton, now Superman's walking the Earth). But at the same time, the idea of Clark and Lois as a couple (even if they're not-yet-married, as in Smallville) is so ingrained in culture that readers are going to expect to see them together.

Depending on how it was handled, I think I might actually be okay with Clark and Lois not-married. I know I wouldn't be happy if, somehow, Lois didn't know who Clark was in his other life, though. If you think back to something like the Doomsday saga, Lois knowing that Superman is more to her than just Superman brought more emotional power to the storytelling. To the world, they'd lost Superman. But she'd lost something more -- her best friend, her confidante, her lover. And unlike everyone else, who could share their grief at the loss of Superman, she couldn't share her grief at the loss of Clark.

I don't know. I really don't know.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I do tend to think one of the biggest changes after Flashpoint will be that the Clark and Lois marriage never happened. The reinstatement of the Clark/Lois/Superman love triangle might be favorable to some and totally unnecessary for others...

 

[Misfit Toy]

I do tend to think one of the biggest changes after Flashpoint will be that the Clark and Lois marriage never happened. The reinstatement of the Clark/Lois/Superman love triangle might be favorable to some and totally unnecessary for others...

It would do a tremendous disservice to the character of Lois Lane - relegating her back to nigh-moron status - when she should be viewed as Clark's greatest strength.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I do tend to think one of the biggest changes after Flashpoint will be that the Clark and Lois marriage never happened. The reinstatement of the Clark/Lois/Superman love triangle might be favorable to some and totally unnecessary for others...

It would do a tremendous disservice to the character of Lois Lane - relegating her back to nigh-moron status - when she should be viewed as Clark's greatest strength.

She really isn't used that way now. Lois and Clark have been apart more than they've been together. At times she seems little more like an occasional booty call even, IMO...

 

[Misfit Toy]

I do tend to think one of the biggest changes after Flashpoint will be that the Clark and Lois marriage never happened. The reinstatement of the Clark/Lois/Superman love triangle might be favorable to some and totally unnecessary for others...

It would do a tremendous disservice to the character of Lois Lane - relegating her back to nigh-moron status - when she should be viewed as Clark's greatest strength.

She really isn't used that way now. Lois and Clark have been apart more than they've been together. At times she seems little more like an occasional booty call even, IMO...

You're right, but at least they're not treating her like she's stupid (yet).

 

[JoeZhang]

It's really irrelevant in the current scheme of things - except for the occasionally bit of lipservice to the idea of Clark Kent, it's all costumes pretty much all of the time.

 

[Myasishchev]

This rumor is ridiculous and doesn't even pass the bs test.

Why? They did it with Peter and M.J. and in a turn that makes me ashamed, as far as I know it worked, financially. "When the fans are angry, we're selling comics."

DC considered "undoing" the Clark/Lois marriage once before.

Yeah, honestly, Grant Morrison may worship Superman, but going by what he's done with him when he's had total free rein, he also must have some sort of grudge against him.

Spoiler: for people who have somehow failed to read All-Star Supes

No sex and he gets to spend a million years alone inside the sun. What a happy ending?

Also, it's sorta funny that the Morrison/Waid/Miller/Peyer pitch is, essentially, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? And the Mxy stuff has parallels to One More Day that are pretty striking. I'll give them this, I think it would've been a better story than OMD, which was a round robin of everyone from Dr. Strange to his own aborted baby telling Parker he was a jerk.

It also would've been hilarious if they'd still went ahead and done Identity Crisis later. Superman screaming at Zatanna for not mentioning that she could mindwipe people with minimal side effects would be kind of funny, anyway.

Would DC pull the trigger and do it?

I don't see what DC would gain from splitting Clark and Lois. Yet, they've effectively split them; there hasn't been a meaningful Clark/Lois scene for the better part of two years (first, Superman's off on New Krypton, now Superman's walking the Earth). But at the same time, the idea of Clark and Lois as a couple (even if they're not-yet-married, as in Smallville) is so ingrained in culture that readers are going to expect to see them together.

Depending on how it was handled, I think I might actually be okay with Clark and Lois not-married. I know I wouldn't be happy if, somehow, Lois didn't know who Clark was in his other life, though. If you think back to something like the Doomsday saga, Lois knowing that Superman is more to her than just Superman brought more emotional power to the storytelling. To the world, they'd lost Superman. But she'd lost something more -- her best friend, her confidante, her lover. And unlike everyone else, who could share their grief at the loss of Superman, she couldn't share her grief at the loss of Clark.

I don't know. I really don't know.

It wouldn't work for me, I know that. The one silver lining I can see is that at least they probably won't have him make a deal with the devil to bring back Ma Kent.

It's really irrelevant in the current scheme of things - except for the occasionally bit of lipservice to the idea of Clark Kent, it's all costumes pretty much all of the time.

It seems like it. I remember when there would be whole issues of the Justice League devoted to a date or goofy dreams or a casino opening. Those were the days.