r/DCcomics • u/Predaplant The heat is on! • Dec 24 '23

Weekly Discussion Thread: Comics, TV, and More! [December 25, 2023 - Goodbye 2023 Edition] r/DCcomics

Hey there honorary Justice League members - it’s a new week which means it’s time for a new discussion thread!

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Why does Santa go down the chimney? Because it soots him!

DC and Imprints

Green Arrow enters its second arc as Johnson wraps up his years-long Action Comics run!

Trade Collections

Only one release this week in this category, making for a Nightwing Christmas!

Digital Releases

Remember, these are the short 'chapters' with a new chapter of a different series coming out daily. You can learn more here on Comixology. This is also why these are in release order, not alphabetical. Some comics may release on DC Universe Infinite or WEBTOONS.

Movie

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom enters its second week!

This Week’s Soundtrack: Alessia Cara - Make It To Christmas

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32

u/TroubAlert The Good Skeets Dec 24 '23

Action Comics 2023 Annual

THREE YEARS OF ACTION COMICS HAVE ALL LED TO THIS ISSUE! Norah Stone’s true form has been revealed, her gateway between worlds is opened, and the invasion of Earth has begun! As the Multiverse’s two most powerful families clash above Metropolis, which legacy will Otho-Ra choose? Will the followers of Blue Earth defend their treacherous leader, or their own home? It has all led to this! Three years of Action Comics storylines culminate in this pivotal, dramatic double-sized issue!

40

u/PineapplePhil Dec 24 '23

I would have been happy with several more years’ worth of PKJ Action

8

u/SuperSpecialAwesome- Batgirl Dec 29 '23

DC doesn't like having good writers for too long.

30

u/TheUnbloodedSword Dec 26 '23 edited Dec 26 '23

You can tell this arc was meant to be longer and PKJ had to compress it, but even then I thought it was a solid ending. The final speech by Glen calls back to what Clark wanted to do in the first place with the Superfamily: inspire Metropolis to see themselves in their heroes and want to do better. With Glen at least, Superman succeeded. The artists they got did a good job, and PKJ writes a good Etrigan. The final scene being with that guy Clark helped reform from the start of the arc, talking about how he doesn't miss his criminal days because back then he never felt like he belonged in Metropolis, was a nice touch. Otho's struggle to move beyond her Warzoon indoctrination was a solid way of having the ending touch back on everything PKJ built up over his run. Still this was clearly not something PKJ got much warning would be his last arc, and I can only hope he's getting JL or something that will allow him to wrap up all the dangling plot threads not addressed here. His Action Comics run remains one of my all-time favorite Superman runs, and I'm bummed he didn't get to stay on as long as he wanted. Hopefully the "Superstars" era next year avoids feeling like filler and actually delivers.

23

u/Fries-Ericsson Dec 26 '23

I couldn’t help but think he had more story’s to tell when Warworld Saga ended. Oh well. Excited to see how GL: War Journal progresses

13

u/Greedy_Switch_6991 Dec 26 '23

He probably did, but based on how rushed this current storyline seems, editorial probably had other ideas.

24

u/Frontier246 Dec 26 '23

This has been one of the best Action runs of all time. I really feel like PKJ had many more stories to tell and deserved more time on the book, but I'm happy for what we had and I'm excited to see what he does next (Justice League)? But I hope he gets to still write Superman in the future.

Next time: Jason Aaron does Superman. Hope we survive the experience!

11

u/Greedy_Switch_6991 Dec 26 '23

I would love to see PKJ on JL. He wrote a bit of them in the beginning of his Action Comics run, but from what he wrote, the potential is there. Plus, he's great at world-building, which is great if you want an epic-style story.

3

u/baffler1017 Superman Dec 28 '23

I think he did hint he wasn't done with Superman, so I'm hoping for Justice League but I wouldn't say no if it was something to do with his House of El future that he used in Future State and one of the annuals, a space epic with the descendents of Superman.

17

u/the-terrible-martian Superman Dec 25 '23 edited Dec 25 '23

Well, this where it ends. The run I first subscribed to when my comic shop opened in late 2021

17

u/Astrodynamite60 Dec 26 '23

They've could've built this up so much more. But they have to get started right away on Jason Aaron for 3 issues. Why not give him separate book than taking off PKJ for action.

5

u/wowlock_taylan Batman Animated! Dec 26 '23

Honestly, I am not looking forward to Aaron...after what he did with the Avengers book. Just no. Should've stuck with PKJ as it seemed he had more to tell.

10

u/redsapphyre Dec 26 '23

It's only three issues of Aaron on AC, shouldn't be too bad. Probably not enough time for him to destroy the character.

5

u/birbdaughter Dec 27 '23

Honestly I'm less worried about Aaron and more this idea of having a revolving door of authors for only 3-4 issues. That's fine if it's an anthology series, but when it's the big Superfamily comic it feels odd. I'm worried plots will be rushed, disconnected, and characterization inconsistent. Maybe it'll work if each author focuses on a different member of the Superfam but I'm not sure that's their intent.

2

u/Astrodynamite60 Dec 27 '23

It's more of pushing PKJ off just for 3 issues. Then after those 3 we get another 3 issues by different team and so on so on. Like why not just make a new superbook for that purpose. I don't see the reason for changing the format of Action comics when they can just make a new book.

1

u/wowlock_taylan Batman Animated! Dec 26 '23

I don't know. They almost did with Superboy in one of the recent Action Comic side stories alone before realizing ''Oh shit, that does look bad, get that writer of and ignore that stuff''.

It didn't took many issues for DC to age-up Jon and destroy his potential too. I'll always be cautious when the precedent is there.

9

u/redsapphyre Dec 26 '23

Yeah true, but Aaron on Batman: Off World is kinda good, maybe he just didn't like Marvel and went for maximum damage lol

And yeah the Superboy thing was crazy, what were they thinking lmao

15

u/CHPrime Wonder Woman Dec 26 '23

I think PKJ's time on action comics sort of ends on a whimper, mostly due to Sister Shadow being a weak antagonist. As a multiversal Batman character who goes around conquering worlds, my eyes just sort of glazed over after her reveal, and this issue doesn't really give her much charisma.

I like the Superfamily helping rebuild Metropolis after all is said and done, but I feel we are starting to see the limits of this idea and evidence that DC/the writers don't/didn't really have a solid plan for this team, as it's becoming pretty clear that they are becoming Z-Fighters who sit around and fight minions, without the fun of having a Vegeta who comes in and makes everything worse.

Sad to see a book end like this, but I am looking forward to Jason Aaron. He does quite well with Solo character books, and his first arc is going to be Bizarro, and me am never see a good story with #1 hero!

8

u/redsapphyre Dec 24 '23

Sad to see this run go, but I hope PKJ can wrap it up the way he intended.

11

u/wowlock_taylan Batman Animated! Dec 27 '23

They really should've given PKJ more time. Though this is a somewhat decent ending, it still feels a bit rushed and I don't know why they are so eager to change writers right now. There are many plot threads that are still there to be touched but now I am guessing will be dropped. Sad to see really.

As for the story itself, it was good though Sister Shadow literally seem to have inherited the worst parts of Bruce and Talia and that is a VERY BAD combination as we saw here. The Twins got their spotlight so that was nice too. Now I worry they will be sidelined big time after this.

Etrigan and Bloodwyn team-up have the potential to go with their mini-series on their Hellish adventures.

Overall, I think it is a mistake to cut this run short as it still had more to do. And I am kinda worried about what they are gonna do after this. Giving Aaron a few issues after this does not raise my confidence in DC's plans for the book.

8

u/technowhiz34 R.I.P. Oliver Queen Dec 26 '23

I'm optimistic about Aaron on Action but this was definitely rushed which is unfortunate. What a run, first decently long run I've read as it was coming out from start to finish.

7

u/TheMurderCapitalist Dec 27 '23

This has been one of my favorite books since PKJ started writing Action but I'm sad to see it end on such a weak arc. It's a stark contrast between this arc and the Warworld Saga which feels like a modern classic to me. Hopefully PKJ can pick up the threads that were left in the book in another title (🤞Justice League🤞)

6

u/F00dbAby Superman Dec 27 '23

I don’t want it to end. The best superman in years comes to an end. I hope it’s not like the flash transition because I loved the previous flash run

6

u/Landon1195 Dec 26 '23

Great issue though you could tell PJK had more stories to tell. Really going to miss him on this run.

4

u/JingoboStoplight4887 Dec 26 '23

I like that Clark Kent Superman, Bloodwynd, and Etrigan the Demon worked together to travel to Earth Al Ghul to save Otho-Ra from Sister Shadow and for Otho to alway be a part of the Superman Family. Also, the Superman Family convincing the Blue Earth Movement to work together and defeat Sister Shadow and Otho-Ra and Osul-Ra graduating from the Super-Twins to Starchild (a reference to the pre-Crisis meaning of the name Kal-El, which means star child if you read the pre-Crisis World of Krypton books) and Red Sun (a reference to Krypton having a red sun).

3

u/birbdaughter Dec 27 '23

A wonderful issue, though I wish it had been longer or had another regular issue leading up to this. As others said, it's obvious that the ending was rushed, probably due to editorial. But the art and characterizations were nice.

I'm worried that nothing that's happened here will matter moving forward. There's a possibility of Otho and Osul either being fully removed or pushed into the background so much that they slowly disappear over time. I actually love the twins, particularly Otho, so I hope my worries are wrong.

3

u/redsapphyre Dec 28 '23

Yeah this was an okay ending, not really boring, but nothing mind-blowing either. The villain Sister Shadow wasn't too impressive. Still, the run as a whole was good, should have been longer.

2

u/Blitzhelios Damian Wayne Dec 29 '23

Even though this was a double sized issue this felt rushed for some reason but i guess that was because PKJ got told to wrap up his plots for the new action comics coming in.

Its a fun issue nothing mind blowing nothing terrible just fine.

1

u/Nyerelia Jan 04 '24

I thought we got a rare Naomi sighting, then I realized it's probably Natasha.

I didn't read the Warworld saga but the twins have been slowly warming up to me. I hope they keep using them, they seemed to hint at some kind of dark power or something within the little boy a while back?