Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Superman Related Clark leaves the Daily Planet (comicverse)

http://m.usatoday.com/article/news/1648921

First he finds a new woman and now a new job.

Mid-life crisis?

I'm trying to be agnostic about him quitting the Planet on (seemingly) his principles. What I'm more upset about is LOIS not doing the same. Does she believe she has the ability to do what he cannot (as a producer)? I did notice something in the promo/teaser pages though. In one of the pages associated with this spoiler Clark has a scar on the back of his left shoulder. There's been 5 years here between Action comics up to #16 and Superman #1 so I'm curious to see what this means. Anyone remember the Death of Superman?

I don't bother reading comics anymore. I won't spend a cent with this craziness of DC. After they took away Clark's wedding and his parents, his job is not a big thing. DC seems to be on a mission to destroy everything that Clark Kent has ever been.

I'm sure this crazy rebooting won't last. Sooner or later they will have to come to their senses and straighten things up. I will not read comics until this alt-reality is dead and buried.

I read an opinion in SuperHeroHype Forum and I agree:

This is just one more mistake in the long downhill. DC didn't get anything right with this relaunch.

PS.: Please, what senior reporter wears like that to work? He seems a high school student.

Andreia

Ultra Woman, buy the Smallville book! It's actually very good and it helps support a pairing we much rather prefer.

Here's the source link for Clark quitting (along with 8 pages of spoilers.) USA Today article "Clark Kent makes a major life change in new \'Superman\'"

Is it just me or does the New 52 remind you guys of really bad FanFic? We write better plotlines on this website. :rolleyes: Especially the way that writer is gushing about his upcoming plotlines. Give me a break.

Clark being turned into an internet blogger is about as "being current" as him being turned into a TV reporter. It isn't going to work. He needs to be involved with real people, like Lois, Perry, and Jimmy to stay grounded. The reason Superman is iconic is not because of the suit, or that he's an alien with a heart of gold, but because he's Clark Kent, a man with flaws just trying to make his adopted homeworld a better place, while still having a life of his own. Not to forget, that he's in love with a firey go-getter Lois Lane (aka NOT a desk jockey). Clearly, DC writers need to visit a real working newspaper and discover what it is journalists do again.

Another story on this

http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/10/22/clark-kent-daily-planet-quitting/

I think it's crazy, but there was a spell in the seventies where he was a TV newsman instead of print journalist so it isn't totally unprecedented.

Diana? No Lois??? No Planet??

This Clark sounds like less Kal-El and more like one of his lesser relatives--maybe Tow-El or Barr-El. It could also be an insidious plot to discredit him by someone from the shadier side of the family like Prow-El or Grow-El.

Supposedly he's going to battle another Nor or Zod like Kryptonian by the name of "H'el". Gee, couldn't come up with a better metaphor for "Hell" could one? :rolleyes: You know for a supposedly destroyed planet from which Kal was supposed to the "last son" there sure are a lot of survivors. (And all from the El family too, huh?)

Hey, come on. We can't completely rag on DC for this. I love to take a character that I know and love as inspiration and then take him apart, take away everything that defines the character in any way, shape or form (marriage, girlfriend, job, style sense... ) and then restructure him completely until he's barely recognizable as the original character was. Thing is, I don't have the audacity to call it 'Superman' and get paid money for it... What's next, powers?! "Nah, we don't like the fact that he has x-ray AND laser eye vision, so we'll cut the lasers and let him use the x-ray vision for nefarious purposes." :rolleyes: When is DC going to realize that this reboot idea was a complete bust and bring in someone who actually has some sort of feeling that resembles respect toward the character??? Geez. This is awful-- and getting worse by the minute! (Though, I'm not going to lie, the "American way" reference was amusing. ) I understand to some extent that they're trying to make Clark Kent more of a character, but Clark was never just a "working stiff"! He was an important part of the Daily Planet staff, even to the point where he briefly took over as editor!

And I don't even want to get into all my other rants on anti-Diana or bringing Lois and Clark together again. This is just all bad.

/end rant/

I read somewhere that Clark was turning into Drudge. I feel that's very uncreative, considering I wrote Lois turning into Drudge like, five years ago! The "My series" (esp. My Big Goodbye and Our Little Dilemma). It does seem more like something Lois would do. True, it cuts them off from the traditional supporting cast but I was working with the alt-universe so Perry and Jimmy were already gone.

Oh well, I never read comics so I guess I can just continue that habit. Fanfic is much better; a thousand different "continuities" to play with and choose from.

PJ

Apparently I was wrong about Clark's stint as a news anchorman - it was for 15 years, from 1971 to 1986, they returned him to the Daily Planet in the big Crisis shake-up that amongst other things resulted in the Superman relaunch that inspired Lois and Clark.

Let's hope that this time it takes less that 15 years!

I'm not mistaken, I thought he was pulling double-duty (as both a newscaster AND a Newpaper reporter) during that time. I'll probably double-check my personal comic from that time and let you know if I'm correct or incorrect.

I didn't follow the comics much during that period so it's entirely possible you're right.

I think it's true. I remember some of the old comics my uncle passed on to me from that time, and there, Clark was both a print reporter and a news anchor.

That said, I'm far from unhappy with what DC did with its relaunch.

"Far from Unhappy"? So, you LIKE the New 52s?

The first 6 Superman weren't too bad if you could overlook Jonathan (Lois's bf.) I liked the hints of the idea that Lois might know that Clark=Superman (according to the author after they took him off the book that was intentional.) Sadly they've gone out of their way to dissuade readers that's the case. I honestly thing it would have been more interesting and would have been something they hadn't yet done (had her in the know from early on and not told him.)

I wanted to read issue 13 before I commented. I've now read it and I'm pretty ambivalent about it.

First off, let me say that overall I've not been too impressed with 'The New 52'. There have been some hits, like Aquaman, but for the most part a lot of it is just change for the sake of change. Or more accurately, for the sake of increased sales.

Comic companies have no problem making wholesale changes in their universes when faced with lagging sales; and make no mistake, DC has been getting its butt kicked by Marvel for several years now. We've seen several crises, the dead rising, and a rainbow of Lanterns inhabiting DC's universe over the last few years. Why? Good old fashion commerce. They need to increase sales.

Also, don't think that Marvel has been standing pat with their own characters. Their most successful storyline lately has been the X-men vs. the Avengers event. They also will mix it up in an effort to increase sales. I haven't read Marvel comics in a number of years; but why is Spiderman,the ultimate loner, an Avenger? And Peter Parker and Mary Jane are no longer married either. (For some reason, comic book writers don't do married couples well... might have something to do with the notion that their audience is mainly adolescent males... which is not true)

When asked about DCs 'imaginary' stories concept several years back, Dan Jurgens (writer/artist of Superman during the popular run of the early nineties) responed with ... "They're all imaginary. We write fiction."

And that's the bottom line. It's all fiction, and any long-lived fictional franchise will evolve and change over the years. Not always for the better (which is a matter of opinion).

Bringing the dicussion back to the point; Superman (you were wondering if I was going to do that, right?). One only has to look back over the years to see that our favorite Man of Steel and his supporting cast has undergone a multitude of changes in the nearly nearly 75 years they've been around. The Superman of the 1940's is different from the Superman of the Silver age. The Superman of those days is different from the Superman of what I consider the 'golden era' of Superman the late 80's reboot through the mid 90's. The Superman of that time is different from what they are trying to do now.

Time goes on and so does the prespective of the powers that be that control our favorite characters.

Let's face it, newspapers across the country have been on a downward spiral for years and their revalancy in a digital world has been reduced significantly. There are fewer papers than there used to be and those that still exist are half of what they used to be. So it is only natural that in an effort to 'bring Superman into a more current world' working at a newspaper is an obvious target. It's been mentioned that Clark was a news anchor for several years in the seventies. That was an effort to 'modernize' him back then. It was a move I never understood, because how do you slip away from 'on camera' to handle a crisis.

Clark's parents have been dead, alive, one dead one alive, and dead again. Currently it's been decided to not have his parental support system in place in an effort to further isolate Superman. In this latest incarnation I'm getting the impression that our man grew up as Clark, but feels himself more Superman than Clark. In issue 13 it opens with him spending five days in a secret lab testing his powers. Five days away from his 'real life'?

Lois is not the fearce, dedicated investigative reporter, she's a TV News producer. It's another attempt to bring the characters into the 21st century; but in my opinion, it demeans her is some respects. She's not out there finding the truth, she merely decides what 'truths' to put on the air. Of course, this does allow for the eventual, and repeated, clash of values between Morgan Edge and herself.

Speaking of Lois, we come across my biggest disappointment with the reboot. Generally, in fiction, the guy and the girl getting together, getting married, and living happily ever after is the climax of the story. Not much fiction is written about the daily 'happily ever after'. It's always about 'the journey'. But for me, I waited decades for Lois and Clark/Superman to get together and I'm not thrilled about the prospect of 'the dance' starting all over again.

As for Jimmy... who cares.

It may have looked like I endorse what DC has done with the 'New 52'... I don't, but I do understand their motivation. I just don't think (from my perspective) that they've done a very good job with it.

Specifically with Superman, I don't like that Clark Kent reminds me too much of Peter Parker. I don't like the fact that the Lois and Clark/Superman relationship is at ground zero again. I'm sixty years old, I don't need my Clark Kent/Superman to be 'youthful' and going through all the learning of life's lessons again. But then, as I was told by a DC editor many years ago... I'm not the audience they are going for.

Too bad. I'm an adult with some disposable income to spend on comics, and I buy a lot fewer comics now than I did years ago.

To be sure, Lois and Clark fandom has numerous stories that deviate from the accepted canon more radically than this current comicverse. The big difference being, that after the fan story is read, the reality resets and waits for the next writer's take.

In the comics change is inevitable, and someone will eventually come along and decide to 'bring back a more traditional take on Superman'. But it's going to take a while.

Tank (who thinks this little paen is longer than some of his stories)

From what I have heard, the new 52 is serving to alienate many loyal readers, who are the backbone of any fandom.

In Marvel comics the character Storm was transfromed from a gentle kind woman into a super powered version of Grace Jones.

Thankfully, it did not last.

Neither will this.