SDCC 2015: Max Landis on Superman Mini-Series and More Superman News

The panel kicked off with comic book legend Neal Adams announcing his plans for COMING OF THE SUPERMEN, scheduled for November. In this six-issue limited series, fans can expect the same sense of wonder that Bat-fans encountered with his BATMAN: ODYSSEY miniseries. This story pits Superman against the evil Darkseid and his son, brutal Kalibak. But this time he has help from an unlikely place: Three national heroes from the city of Kandor (now known as New Krypton) who see Superman as a legend. Even Superman’s arch-enemy Lex Luthor is forced to ally himself with these heroes to prevent Darkseid from laying waste to the universe.

Hollywood screenwriter and Eisner-nominee Max Landis (CHRONICLE) followed up with the announcement of November’s SUPERMAN: AMERICAN ALIEN, a seven part collection of stories from the life of Clark Kent. Ranging from heartwarming and simple to gritty and two-fisted and even humorous, each story captures a pivotal moment in Clark’s development into the archetypical hero he’s become. Landis will be joined by seven of the industry’s greatest artists:

Ryan Sook will provide the cover art, with artists JOCK (BATMAN, GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE), Nick Dragotta, Tommy Lee Edwards (MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, THE QUESTION), Joelle Jones, Jae Lee (BATMAN/SUPERMAN), Francis Manapul (DETECTIVE COMICS) and Jonathan Case (BATMAN ’66) providing interior art.

Award-winning graphic novelist and new SUPERMAN writer Gene Yang and ACTION COMICS co-writer Greg Pak updated fans on Superman, recapping the events from “TRUTH” and giving fans a look into what’s happening next in “JUSTICE,” where a newly de-powered Superman continues to deal with the consequences of his now public secret identity and a Metropolis police department making things increasingly difficult for folks in his neighborhood.

Fans also heard the latest on Superman’s opposite number BIZARRO, courtesy of writer Heath Corson. He provided a sneak peek at what’s next for the mismatched duo of Bizarro and Jimmy Olsen as they continue on the craziest road trip in the DC Universe!

Pass on both.

I will trade wait if the reviews are good.

Hope Max Landis can write good superman story. Will be interested to see how he write Darkseid

I am interested, but skeptical.

The mini series sounds good :)

Those 2 images do not fill me with confidence.

I'm sure this will be great.

I'll give them a try.

Great, they give Landis and Adams the reins to a Superman mini series rather than writers a little more competent and skilled? Smart business practices from DC on their Superman line, real encouraging -_-

It depends who is interested also.

HAH Max Lanids writing Superman. THis will be interesting

~MiB

@lvenger: Maybe the Lois and Clark book will be more to your liking?

Finally a decent artist

interested in coming of the supermen

I'm in.

@squalleon: Why? Landis thinks he's the hero sent to save Superman, and his Atomic Skull origin wasn't half-bad, so I'm willing to give his Superman a shot.

As far as Adams is concerned, he seemed inspired when it came to writing Superman so I'll give him a shot.

I really liked Landis's Adventures of Superman story, so I'll definitely be picking up his mini series.

Odyssey was completely insane. If Neal Adams' mini series is that, but with Superman, I'll probably end up reading with this rapturous, confused look on my face the whole time.

I really enjoyed Landis' Superman Death and Return pitch and you could tell that he's very passionate about Supes and his mythology when he was going over it so I'm really looking forward to his miniseries

OMG YES

I love Max Landis <3

They all sound potentially epic ... hopefully, they won't disappoint ... I've been happy with most of the Truth saga so far.

American Alien sounds like it could be brilliant ... tho I'm a bit wary of multiple artists being used as it often becomes a bit jarring... then again, if it's done well, it can be very effective ... we'll see

I am excited for Coming of the Supermen ... but a bit nervous too ... I've heard mixed reviews re: Batman Odyssey

That bloody Clark is 2 edgey 4 me

Max Landis loves superman.(Fact- Despite what he says in the death and return of superman video)

@eddiehunter said:

The fourth point proves it. Thanks for sharing this @eddiehunter .

I love his point of view. It's one i share. I'm all in with Superman: Alien American, the hope now is that it's really good. Fingers crossed.

The series by Neal Adams seems interesting. Very happy he's using Kirby characters to challenge Superman. It could be a fun series but i'm not sure about it.

Batman Odyssey was terrible.

Landis' Adventures of Superman two parter was a parody of Superman, the thing Landis always does(haven't you read it?). His videos on Superman is something I don't like.And I think that fact that he thinks he is here to save Superman, can only make it worse. As for the Atomic Skull, I never saw something extraordinary in tha 5 page origin. Plus him making this a Clark story, has me worried that this is just a super-hero tale Chronicle type but with a slapped Superman in it for sales.

Hope for the best but prepare for the worst and considering Landis hasn't done anything for me to guarrantee quality, I won't spend my money blindly

As for Adams, his latest works were awful.

DMC: Devil May Superman

@eddiehunter: After seeing this feeling a little more optimistic.

Either I'm not getting the point because it's not as obvious as you may think or something's simply not adding up there. :P

Lol Clark mugshot made me laugh

American Aliens could be fun!

Bizarro definitely is fun!

Can't wait to see what will happen in that crazy old western ghost town in next issue.

As someone who read all of Batman Odyssey I urge you to stay away from what Neal Adams writes D:

@squalleon: that's the beauty of Landis, no? If he turns out to be good, we get a good Superman story.

If he turns out to be bad--Landis' ego takes a hit.

=D

Either way it's a win.

I wouldn't call it beauty....oh well. At least I hope for something enjoyable.

I like what he said in this pic:

@eddiehunter said:

But words are always easy :P

The Clark Kent mug shot just reminded me of the Devil May Cry reboot from a few years ago.

Cautious, but I'll still give it a read.

NEVER JUST CLOWNS!

Might give it a shot....

Ok, I don't know about the mug shot. I thought it was some sort of weird word play I didn't understand.

Edit:

Here we go... thanks to google... I can see what you mean, now! :P

@squalleon: Landis is a tool, no doubt, but I enjoyed his Atomic Skull origin.

It made a Superman villain more intimidating.

You know me, man: I'll give anyone a chance besides Frank Miller.

Even Scott Snyder can interest me in another Superman story.

He is, as a poster on another forum greatly expressed, a "professional trash talker", he is more than a tool, he is a tool with an ego.

As I said before, I didn't saw anything intimidating or great on his 5 page origin. It just exists for me :P

I wonder if Frank will surprise and deliver a good Superman story since the original title for TDK3 was Superman vs the master race.

I think Scott was unfortunate. He had a bad partner and he was promised an ongoing and had to re-write the story for a mini-series. People give him more hate than he deserves.

@squalleon: Atomic Skull's origin showed how he lost his humanity and became a monster.

You're right though: nothing fantastic.

Frank Miller isn't interested in writing a Superman that isn't prop. I wouldn't hold my breath on Superman.

As far as Snyder is concerned: his Superman is just flat out boring. He has 0 personality. It might just be Snyder's voice that makes me not find him engaging, but he isn't working for me.

Ιt was a 5 page, silent story, how good could it be :P

He did want to reboot Superman in the 80s and the intentions weren't much different from what Byrne did, although I don't know how different he would be character-wise.Also he did provide art in one of my favorite Superman stories (the legend of earth prime).

Come on, how does he have zero personality. In issue one you see his thoughts and fears, his doubts. It doesn't have to be over the top like what Pak does to have a personality. I think you are a bit prejudiced when it comes to Snyder because of Batman.

@squalleon: The imagery, which the writer helps shape, was well done and told the story without the need for words.

Yeah, but that was before he realized that he could sell books by just making Superman a tool that Batman punches.

No, his Superman is boring, bro. If all I cared about was Batman then I wouldn't be this outspoken about my lack of interest in him. I don't like Timm being the central figure for DC in a cinematic universe because I think Timm is too much of a Batman fan-boy, but I defend Timm's Superman in JL more than anyone on this site, probably.

Pak is a Batman fan-boy who goes out of his way to show Batman beating Superman, but Pak is one of my faves.

Snyder's Superman is boring.

I don't disagree, but it was still five pages and you can't tell much in that five pages that can mindblow me. Or at least Landis couldn't :P

Well, it was after TDKR :P

Oh, well, agree to disagree, I believe Snyder's first two issues of Unchained are some of the best of the New 52 Supes. The Superman saving people scenes are spectacularly well done.

I liked Pak when he first entered AC but now I am hugely disappointed with him. He and I fundamentally disagree in what makes Superman, Superman. He sees Superman as a good man in a costume, completely ignoring the archetypal, mythic aspect of the character or sometimes his established personality and lore. Horrorville's end for example is the epitome of what I hate about Pak's run, Superman winning the day with pessimism? While Johns issue 39 was exactly how I feel Superman is, when he said to Jimmy "why do you think I hear only the bad stuff", the sheer optimism of "the man of tomorrow" won the issue for me.

Seems interesting. I'll give it a shot.

If it proves to be worth reading then I'll follow it till the end. If not... Well, it will save me time to read something else.

Looks super to me.

Landis is a douchebag but I'll read it anyway because I enjoy alternate universe versions of Superman.

Thank you he is such a Dbag I really don't want to give him any part of my money or help in any way, shape, or form. You would think after the way he publicly trashed MOS he wouldn't be able to get work at DC. But, who knows maybe DC is either stupid or has short memories.

@squalleon:

Fair enough.

I stand by what I said--TDKSA and ASB&R = 2000s productions. When Miller realized he just had to write a bad Superman to cash out.

Pak's Superman deals with his internal struggle, things that humanize him, while Geoff wrote a one shot. While it was good, it's nothing new. The concept had been done before, which is not what Pak I'd trying to do(retread on past concepts).

N52 fans like reading about the man who wears the cape and the burdens he has to overcome. PC Superman fans want to read about his sainthood.

Pak's Superman is the definitive Superman,and we love it.

Το be fair, those stories featured an awful Batman too :P

Pak has been doing retreads since issue one of his run. He returned Superman to Morrison's first arc status quo, ignoring the 5 year time skip, while ignoring even parts of the character like his optimism. He is overhumanizing Superman or I guess you could say he is humanizing if with humanizing you mean the character never evolves while he is acting OOC just to show how "human" he is. Yeah, great stuff, tsk.

You are wrong and I don't care to disprove you at this point. I know one thing about you, you will never change your opinions on Batman, Lois and Pre-52 Superman fans. And I don't care for lost battles.

The awful sales(even with gimmicks he only reached a 44k) and low praise from people outside the New 52 fandom show otherwise.

And statements like "definitive" Superman are laughable.