WTF? According to DC, Superman Is Batman's Brother?

I was alerted to this bit of weirdness by Michael Nixon on Twitter. This is from DC's official page for Superman...

Superman has super-everything—strength, speed, flight, invulnerability, X-ray, heat vision…and a world-famous brother. What the world doesn’t know is that Clark’s mother, Martha, once changed her name from Wayne to Kent. Martha was the real target for the mob hit the night that her husband Thomas Wayne was murdered. While in the ambulance it was discovered that she was still alive, and the doctors were able to save her. She signed over guardianship of their son Bruce to the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth, in hopes that Bruce would be protected, and she was put into the Witness Protection Program and sent to Smallville, Kansas—a quiet town where nothing ever happens.

There Martha met and married the local farmer Jonathan Kent. With a new inability to carry a child due to the bullet wound, Martha and Jonathan were unable to have the baby they so longed for. However, their prayers were answered when out of the sky, a rocket landed in a nearby field as the couple was driving by. There was a small baby in the rocket who they adopted and gave the name Clark, and who would grow up to be Superman!

This new information is backed up on Batman's page as well...

Millionaire Bruce Wayne was just a kid when he watched his parents get gunned down during a mugging in Gotham City. The crime would define his life, as he dedicated himself to becoming the world’s greatest weapon against crime—the Batman. What the world doesn’t know is that Bruce’s mother, Martha Wayne, was the real target for the mob hit the night that Bruce’s parents were murdered. While in the ambulance it was discovered that she was still alive, and the doctors were able to save her. She signed over guardianship of Bruce to the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth, in hopes that the young boy would be protected, and she was put into the Witness Protection Program and sent to Smallville, Kansas—a quiet town where nothing ever happens.

There Martha met and married a nice young man named Jonathan Kent. With a new inability to carry a child due to the bullet wound, Martha and Jonathan were unable to have the baby they so longed for. However, their prayers were answered when out of the sky, a rocket landed in a nearby field as the couple was driving by. There was a small baby in the rocket who they adopted and gave the name Clark Kent, and who would grow up to be Superman!

Um...WHAT? Is this an April Fool's joke that DC forgot to take down or is this New 52 canon? If it's a joke, and DC takes it down (ED NOTE: They did - the very same day this made the rounds), I've saved the screens for posterity below...

Captured on 4/2/2013

Captured on 4/2/2013.

The DC New 52 Timeline of Departures, Firings, and Bridge-Burnings

I'm writing this piece because I wanted someone else to do it and no one else had (that I know of). I wanted a living document of the events that seem to be unraveling one of the oldest and greatest comic book publishers. I love DC Comics, though I fear you'd never know it looking at this website. I've expressed my disappointment with the company many times here, and unlike a lot of fans, my complaints aren't about them wiping the slate clean with the New 52, but about the public appearance of a hostile, poisonous working environment for comic book creators. I'm really hoping the ship rights itself. I'm hoping that I can stop updating this list because DC's creators are happy and the books are healthy.

As it is, this list will be updated as major changes continue to happen. I tried to limit the list to big events (some of them strictly to give context) or surprising and sudden changes. I am not listing the kind of typical writer or artist changes that occur when a book has been given a chance to sell or when the creators want to move on because their arc is finished. If there are any major events I've forgotten, let me know in the comments section and I might add it to the piece.

(To be fair, and to show that this isn't the way things typically run at a major comic company, Marvel has announced and then canceled one book in the past year before its first issue. Thanos, to be written by Joe Keatinge, was sidelined when Marvel changed their mind on the project, post-Avengers film.)

DC Comics logos, through the years, courtesy of DesignBuddy.com.

9/2009 - DC Entertainment is formed. Diane Nelson is name President of the newly labeled company, which includes DC Comics, but also all DC-related multi-media ventures and licensing. Nelson's background is not in comics but in brand management. The timing of DC's restructuring is of note, as it comes just a couple of weeks after Disney's $4 billion buyout of Marvel.

2/18/2010 - Dan DiDio and Jim Lee are promoted, sharing the title Co-Publisher. DiDio was DC Executive Editor (basically Editor-In-Chief, since the position didn't exist during DiDio's tenure) and Lee was Editorial Director of his own WildStorm imprint, which moved from Image to DC Comics in 1998. Writer Geoff Johns was promoted to Chief Creative Officer, a position created to allow someone from within DC the opportunity to oversee and exercise some measure of creative control over DC products like films, television, and video games.

9/21/2010 - DC splits their offices between New York City and Burbank, CA. Lee is a West Coaster anyway, and this allows the company to have more direct physical contact with Warner Brothers' TV and film.

9/27/2010 - Bob Harras is named DC Comics' Editor-In-Chief. Harras held the EIC position at Marvel Comics from 1995-2000.

12/16/2010 - Nick Spencer is the first notable casualty in DC's new "fired before the first issue hits" practice, when he's announced as the new writer for Supergirl, then replaced on his very first issue by "co-writer" James Peaty.

8/31/2011 - The New 52 launches with 52 new monthly titles starting with all-new #1 issues, wiping the slate (mostly) clean and hoping to entice new readers with easy reading entry points.

9/16/2011 - Writer John Rozum quits Static Shock. due to disagreements with editor Harvey Richards and artist Scott McDaniel. The series is eventually canceled after just eight issues.

9/19/2011 - J.T. Krul is replaced on Green Arrow the same month as its first issue is released.

9/30/2011 - Writer-artist George Perez announces his departure from the flagship Superman book the same month its first issue is released. Perez completes his first arc, but is the first to dish on behind-the-scenes problems, "Unfortunately when you are writing major characters, you sometimes have to make a lot of compromises, and I was made certain promises, and unfortunately, not through any fault of Dan DiDio, he was no longer the last word, I mean a lot of people were now making decisions; they were constantly going against each other, contradicting, again in mid-story."

10/12/2011 - Editorial conflicts and strong differences of opinion with co-writer and artist Ethan Van Sciver cause writer Gail Simone to step away from Fury of Firestorm.

11/14/2011 - Ron Marz leaves Voodoo after his script to issue #5 is tossed out by editors. The series is canceled after ten issues.

1/19/2012 - DC Entertainment shows off their new logo. This fan wonders why the new logo didn't debut with the New 52 re-branding.

Cover to Before Watchmen: Comedian, art by Jim Lee. DC Comics.

2/1/2012 - DC officially announces Before Watchmen, directly against the wishes of series creator Alan Moore. Rights to the Watchmen property were to revert to Moore and co-creator David Gibbons a certain number of years after the series was out of print, but DC has kept the book in print since its release (and for good reason - it's a perennial best-seller). Though Moore swore off DC in the late 1980s, some creative entanglements with DC continued, with work on V for Vendetta and titles under the WildStorm line. With Before Watchman, Moore fans realize any chance of reconciliation is permanently off the table.

4/20/2012 - Vertigo writer Chris Roberson (iZombie, Fairest) leaves DC and publicly burns bridges with the company. "Sorry. In a better world, characters like the Legion would be owned by a more ethical company, but sadly not in this one. The short version is, I don’t agree with the way they treat other creators and their general business practices."

8/23/2012 - Rob Liefeld leaves all of his DC duties - writing and drawing Deathstroke and writing Grifter and Savage Hawkman. He cites major conflicts with editor Brian Smith, and says of his time at DC, "Reasons are the same as everyone's that you hear. I lasted a few months longer than I thought possible. Massive indecision, last minute and I mean LAST minute changes that alter everything. Editor pissing contests... No thanks. Last week my editor said, 'Early on we had a lot of indie talent that weren't used to re-writes and changes. [That] made it hard.' Uh, no, it's you."

12/3/2012 - Long-time editor Karen Berger steps down from Vertigo, DC's "mature readers" publishing imprint.

12/9/2013 - Writer Gail Simone is unceremoniously dumped from Batgirl, a book with solid sales and a strong fanbase, with no apparent explanation, through an email from editorial.

Cover to Batgirl #1, art by Adam Hughes. DC Comics.

12/21/2013 - Gail Simone is re-hired on Batgirl after massive fan outcry.

1/14/2013 - Robert Venditti, the announced writer of the all-new Constantine book, is replaced by Ray Fawkes before his first issue hits the stands.

1/14/2013 - Jim Zubkavich, hired to write Birds of Prey, is removed from the book and replaced by Christy Marx before his first issue hits the stands. Nick Spencer, who had a similar experience on Supergirl in 2010, finally speaks out, "Seeing lots of ‘that’s how it is in this business,’ stuff in regards to the day’s news. It really isn’t, and it certainly shouldn’t be. To be a little more direct: the way DC treats a lot of their freelancers is absolutely abhorrent. When it happened to me on Supergirl, I didn’t say much, because I didn’t want to dwell on the negative. But when you see it happen to so many good people, and the damage it does to their careers, their incomes, etc…It’s just not okay. I don’t understand the need for it, and I wish it were otherwise. I love DC, love the characters, and I know I did some of my best work there. And I’m very happy for my friends who have been successful there. But I would tell any creator - especially newer, younger ones - to be extremely careful in doing business there."

1/16/2013 - Superman Family Adventures duo Art Baltazar and Franco discover that their book has been canceled when that month's Previews catalog lists the latest solicitation as the book's final issue.

1/25/2013 - Keith Giffen leaves Legion of Superheroes after just two issues. The pairing of artist Giffen with writer Paul Levitz was to be a re-united "dream team" for Legion fans, since both creators brought the book to critical and sales heights in the 1980s.

Cover to Insurgent #1. DeSanto & Farmer/DC Comics.

3/13/2013 - Insurgent, a creator-owned 6-issue sci-fi mini-series (from screenwriter Todd Farmer), is axed after three issues (especially stinging considering the series was shelved for nearly three years due to the DC purchase of Wildstorm). Sales were low, but cancellation of a mini-series is almost unheard of, as publishers will typically ride out the low sales knowing that they have no obligation to continue the arc past its already-established finite number. Some explanation for the first issue's low sales might be blamed on the fact that the title appeared under the "DC Kids" section of the Previews retailer order form despite being made for adults.

3/20/2013 - Josh Fialkov quits both Green Lantern Corps and Red Lanterns before his first issues hit the stands. Rumors swirl that editorial wanted to kill off the Green Lantern John Stewart, but if it was ever planned (DC denies it), the company has decided against it...for now.

3/20/2013 - Andy Diggle, who was to take over the reigns on Action Comics after Grant Morrison's departure, leaves the book before his first issue hits the stands, citing "professional differences." DC announces Tony S. Daniel as his replacement, but...

3/22/2013 - Tony S. Daniel leaves Action Comics the same week he gets the new writing assignment.

3/26/2013 - Bleeding Cool notices that writer Mike Johnson, already scheduled to leave Supergirl, bows out much earlier than expected, with his name still on the cover of a book he was supposed to write and didn't.

3/29/2013 - Bruce Timm, Supervising Producer of WB Animation and the man behind every DC animated project since Batman: The Animated Series debuted in 1992, steps down, disinterested in the increasingly popular direct comic-to-film adaptations that the company produces. In this fan's eyes, Timm's contribution as a "welcome wagon" to the entire DC Universe can not be overstated. He kept DC characters on TV for 20 years in lively, well-made shows and is responsible for a whole generation of DC fans.

4/9/2013 - DC replaces Mico Suayan as artist on Red Hood and the Outlaws after the gruesome cover to #19 leaks to Bleeding Cool. Unchanged credits on the book reveal that the decision may have been a last minute one.

5/17/2013 - Long-time DC writer James Robinson leaves Earth 2 and DC Comics. The move comes as a surprise as Robinson's enthusiasm for the book and long-term plans for the Earth 2 version of Batman had been heavily publicized. "I'm no longer working at DC Comics," Robinson tweeted.

Some Thoughts on 'Injustice' #3 aka the One Where Superman Punches Lois Lane to Death

Injustice: Gods Among Us, the comic book tie-in to the upcoming video game with the same name, was first brought to my attention on the Word Balloon podcast, where, in all honesty, it sounded pretty good. Host John Siuntres is an old-school DC fan, so when he gets ebullient about a DC Superhero story, my ears perk up. Writer Tom Taylor was the guest and Taylor sounded genuinely excited about the amount of leeway he'd been given, to play with the biggest stars of the DCU outside of regular continuity. In retrospect, this freedom was probably a bad idea.

Chris Sims, who does great work over at Comics Alliance, drew my attention to the comic in a different way, through the masochistic joy he gets in finding the worst of the worst comic books. He took a look at the first few issues of Injustice, and declared it "the dumbest comic you'll read all year." He mentioned a few specific plot points, most of them idiotic, and the most offensive of these bits takes place in issue #3 - a comic that finds Superman punching his pregnant wife so hard that it kills her and sends her flying into space. Sure, he's hallucinating that Lois Lane is Doomsday, but the event still happens. Sims has a pretty thorough critical breakdown of the series, so I'm not going to do that here, but I am going to pound the stump, pull up a soapbox, and cry in the streets to anyone who will listen that DC Comics allowing Superman to punch Lois Lane and his unborn child to death is easily one of the stupidest things that the company has ever allowed in its long, long history.

And somewhere, some editor (Jim Chadwick, editor of Injustice?) is wringing his hands with glee, thinking, "This is exactly why we allowed it! We want to get people talking about comics!" Well, that's all fine and good, but how about we do it without resorting to the most pure fictional symbol of Truth, Justice, and the American Way slugging a woman in the gut so hard that she leaves the Earth's atmosphere? There's a lot of discussion about sexism in comics and video games, and hooray - DC gets to be a part of that discussion now, on the totally wrong side of it, by promoting their upcoming video game with a story that, and I can not understate this, hinges on Superman beating a woman to death.

The death of another Robin just got a bunch of press, but for whatever reason, this Lois Lane death isn't getting talked about. I understand that it's "just" a video game comic, and therefore has no bearing on the "real" DC Universe, but we're still talking about a comic book product that DC published starring their flagship characters, and geared specifically toward non-comic readers. They are asking for an audience outside of their usual buyers, and with Injustice specifically, they seem to be courting the video game audience by giving them what they think that audience wants, namely extreme moments of shock value violence. They want to show the Mortal Kombat crowd how awesome and dark Superman can be by having him be a woman-punching baby-killer.

First of all, this is insulting to video game fans because the assumption is they're all immature, bloodthirsty, and desensitized. It's insulting to comic book readers because - while it's all fine and good to tell a story outside of continuity - there are certain things you just don't do with the characters. I would say that Superman beating women to death, hallucination or not, is so beyond what people expect of Superman in an all-ages comic that all may be lost with DC's new editorial regime. If there's one thing they should care about, it's the sanctity of their individual properties. If they don't care about that, then they really shouldn't be safeguarding these characters. Thirdly, and it's the point I shouldn't have to make, it's especially troubling to female readers. There's a conversation going on right now about the marginalization of female geeks that can not be ignored. Injustice #3 does its best to ignore that conversation, and reinforces DC as an ignorant company that doesn't understand why decisions like this would offend anyone. It's an all-around stupid creative decision, and they should be called out for it. If DC can't even comprehend why Superman beating ladies to death is wrong, then it's time for a complete housecleaning at the top of the creative chain.

Podcasts: 'Joker at the Door' on 5by5's Comic Shack

Batman was in the news this week (thanks to Batman Inc. #8), so Moises Chuillan had me on 5by5's Comic Shack podcast to discuss our all-time favorite Batman storylines and jumping-on points. You can check out the full list of books we cover on this page, and listen to the show over on 5by5.

You can subscribe to Comic Shack via iTunes.

Reviews: DC Comics Launches 'Justice League of America' #1 and 'Vibe' #1

I am averse to stories about heroes creating contingency plans to take out other heroes. Alan Moore asked, "Who watches the Watchmen?" way back in 1986, and every few years since then we get a new book or arc that tries to answer that question. In this case, it's the new Justice League (of America!), created as a "just in case" measure should Superman just go buck wild one day and start burning humans to death with his heat vision eyes.

The fundamental problem of stories like this is that the heroes are never loose-cannon characters. Nobody expects the Flash to just snap, suddenly committing high-speed crimes, or for Batman to start killing off street thugs. Because of that, there is next-to-no dramatic tension in this concept. Not only that, we're too accustomed to the outcome when it does happen. Either the main team will disobey a government order and the secondary team will be sent after them, only to discover that they agree with the primary team, or the main team will find out that the secondary team was created to police them, and paranoia and fisticuffs result, until everyone realizes it was all a big misunderstanding. It's tired.

I'm conflicted about this first issue of Justice League of America, beyond its central premise, and that's due to it being a first issue in which nothing happens except a book-length conversation between Amanda Waller and Steve Trevor. There is no Justice League of America in Justice League of America; just a handful of moments in which various character dossiers are tossed onto a table and discussed at length. Writer Geoff Johns has a really good handle on the dialogue and characterization, but I soured on the first issue the more that I thought about it. Here's a book in which nothing happens except for the set-up of a premise I dislike, spinning off from a comic I personally found to be one of the worst of the New 52 (Justice League).

On the surface though, it's very nice. The banter between Waller and Trevor is snappy and informative, and David Finch is trying something slightly different here as an artist, with work that's less busy, less cross-hatched, than his other gigs. But is it all a slick diversion for a fundamentally weak first issue or is it that the book is actually good and I'm rebelling against its own basic premise? The fact that I can't answer question this is the reason I'l be back for issue 2.

Cover from Justice League of America's Vibe #1, by David Finch. DC Comics.

I have to believe that Vibe #1 (or Justice League of America's Vibe #1, as the indicia properly states) was some sort of post-Aquaman bet come to life. Doesn't it seem like someone called Johns' success with underused at DC Comics into question, then saddled him with the task of applying that Midas touch toward Vibe to really put it to the test? "Betcha can't turn Vibe into a hit," some editor said, while Johns gleefully accepted.

In the old DC, Vibe was a goofy break-dancing inner-city Latino teen with the ability to make things vibrate - a fourth-string character and a third-rate Justice Leaguer. Now, he's been re-invented in the New 52 as a kid who stood too close to a teleporting Boom Tube once and gained the power to see things from other dimensions (and also make things vibrate). He's scooped up by A.R.G.U.S. (the New 52 version of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and offered a key position on their all-new aggro Justice League team.

Pete Woods is an artist I've liked, but the storytelling in Vibe #1 isn't always clear. There's an action sequence involving a pinging Mother Box that I re-read three times in a row trying to put together exactly what was happening there. It was an anomaly for Woods, usually an energetic, reliable presence on a lighter superhero book. The first issue looks good, but something got lost from script to screen, so to speak.

Johns is so dedicated to Vibe that he's promised that the character will be an important centerpiece of some very big, very vague upcoming things. That's a good call, sales-wise. Force people to read this D-list character's book, lest they miss out on the first stages of DC's next Earth-shattering cross-over. Vibe #1 isn't bad-bad; if you have a soft spot for middle-of-the-road superhero teen books, this one is slightly more interesting than DC"s recently canned Blue Beetle, but there's a stink of cynicism to it. It's Johns daring you not to read the next character he's going to totally pull a Midas-touched hat trick on (first Green Lantern, then Aquaman, now Vibe!), and doubling down on that effort by making sure it's tied directly into his next sure-fire, can't-miss, best-selling monthly (Justice League of America #1). Look, I know that all comics chase sales; I just don't like feeling sold to. There's a difference.

Why Doesn't Marvel Have a "Wonder Woman" of Their Own?

This post was inspired by two things: Brett White and a grocery bag. Brett White is a writer for Comic Book Resources and Marvel.com as well as the host of the Matt & Brett Love Comics podcast; grocery bags are bags you use to carry groceries. White tweeted a question of whether Black Widow or Carol Danvers (now Captain Marvel) were as identifiable as the X-Men Storm, Rogue or Jean Grey. I responded that I think Black Widow is more a part of the public consciousness than Jean Grey, but White's larger point is that Marvel doesn't seem to have their own Wonder Woman - a female character at the forefront of their company identity.

I carry groceries in this now! Excelsior!

The night before this conversation, I bought a grocery bag. Austin is doing away with plastic bags, so I snagged a reusable one from a display filled with licensed character bags. The Marvel Heroes bag I bought features brightly-colored images of Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Hulk. If I'm going to lug milk and bread around, why not do it in the geekiest possible way?

There's no women on that bag, and I started to wonder - had I ever seen a woman on Marvel's Marvel Heroes licensed merch? Marvel Heroes is the "catch-all" branding Marvel uses for electric toothbrushes and bubble gum, typically featuring a quartet of heroes (the ones I mentioned above and usually Iron Man) posing against a non-descript blue background. If this were a "DC Heroes" bag featuring three characters, the probability of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman would've been pretty high.

In the 70s, Marvel made an effort to include Spider-Woman in a lot of their licensing, but since then, no female superhero has had that kind of profile. Storm is a fantastic candidate, due to her iconic look and general recognizability, but the character I saw pop-up the most often on Marvel Heroes licensing through a Google search (and not that often, really) was Black Cat (and on a different topic, is the unusual choice of Black Cat a way to add sex appeal to merchandise aimed at boys? That's disturbing, if so).

If Marvel wants their own Wonder Woman, they've got to put a face front-and-center in the world of licensing, and they've got to do it consistently. Pick a flagship female character (or two) and make sure they always show up on everything, every nightlight, pajama set, and party hat, right alongside Spider-Man and Wolverine. DC works hard to make sure that Wonder Woman is a viable licensing draw, so what's keeping Marvel from creating their own?