Geoff Johns Killed a Man
Posted at 12:31 PM Oct 13, 2008
The victim: Pa Kent, adopted father of Superman. The weapon: a heart attack. The location: Action Comics #870. Yes, the elder Kent kicked the bucket in current DC continuity last week, the last of the living Pa's (John Schneider died a few seasons ago in Smallville, Pa Kent died in one of the Donner Superman movies, I refuse to look up which one, and the comics' Pa actually died once before, and was brought back after Crisis on Infinite Earths). Some fans are happy to see a problem Superman can't solve, while some fans are pissed that it's just going to make Superman mopey. Most fans are pissed because the mainstream press got the news before the comic came out, thus spoiling the hell out of the issue (for instance, I got the news from the Baltimore Sun).
I'm willing to give Johns the benefit of the doubt here, frankly. I used to think Green Lantern was about the goofiest superhero concept on the market—there was a squirrel Green Lantern named Chip who was literally run over by a car, for fuck's sake—but Johns' whole color-spectrum of Lanterns sounds like a very neat concept that genuinely makes GL's mythos cool and a bit of sense. Also, I once met Johns, got drunk, and began slurringly taking about the flaws of Hal and Tomar Re and Chip, and he was patient and gracious and did not tell me I was a raving jackass, which I was obviously being. So Johns is a good guy to boot. If he killed Pa Kent, I assume it's in service of a good story on the way.
Comments
How much of it is Johns' grand design, and how much of it is editorial mandate? This smells of Time-Warner pushing DC to get Superman's comics status quo in line with the established TV/movie history. But this may all be moot after Final Crisis anyway.
Posted 10/13/2008 at 10:16:16 AMKilling Pa Kent is a joke at this point. DC continuity is going to get rebooted again after Final Crisis, so much like Lucas rushing out the lucrative Star Wars DVDs before the format became bargain-bin territory, John is killing off Pa Kent now to get in before the reboot.
Posted 10/13/2008 at 11:07:59 AMPa Kent just died? I didn't even know he was still alive!
Posted 10/13/2008 at 11:09:05 AMPa Kent just died? I didn't even know he was still alive!
Of course, DC could always bring back Pa Kent. All it takes is Clark to make a deal with the Devil, give up his marriage to Lois and all memories of it, and Pa Kent will be hale and hearty.
Posted 10/13/2008 at 11:11:03 AMso, basically:
pa kent is alive->pa kent has a heart attack-> one of the Crises shuffles the universe around->pa kent is alive
Posted 10/13/2008 at 11:11:33 AMOf course, DC could always bring back Pa Kent. All it takes is Clark to make a deal with the Devil, give up his marriage to Lois and all memories of it, and Pa Kent will be hale and hearty.
that's just too funny.
Posted 10/13/2008 at 11:57:21 AMAhh, back when using a hairbrush to punish your children was socially acceptable...
Posted 10/13/2008 at 12:09:49 PMLooks at the bottom right hand corner.
Posted 10/13/2008 at 12:54:28 PMSuperbaby?!? There was a Superbaby???
Yeah, be thankful there wasn't a Superfetus.
Posted 10/13/2008 at 01:42:46 PMyou realy couldn't remember that it was SUPERMAN THE MOVIE that Pa Kent died in...really?
Posted 10/13/2008 at 04:36:41 PMHe died of boredom after reading one of his adopted sons comics.
Posted 10/13/2008 at 11:28:31 PM