Brian Michael Bendis has already established his tone and style while writing Superman in the Man of Steel miniseries and Superman #1. Now he is taking Superman back to the streets of Metropolis for more personal, close-knit stories in Action Comics. In an interview with NewsaRama, Bendis sat down to talk about this approach to the character.
When asked about the differences between the new Superman comics, Bendis was quick to praise Pat Gleason, artist for Action Comics, saying,
“I think why a lot of people have gravitated to his work on Superman so much is that he just fills the page with him. It just looks like Superman has to be on that page. It’s quite beautiful.”
Bendis also talked about how much room Metropolis has to grow from different people in it to the city itself. He is especially excited about the first story he’s telling, saying,
“So what we’re doing in Action Comics is telling a story about this invisible mafia that’s been running right under Superman’s nose without him ever knowing it.
And how they did that, and why they did it, and why they did it in Metropolis with Superman here – all of that is a story that’s going to unfold right away, including brand new characters and some classic characters.”
This is definitely going to be a more grounded, street-level book than Superman, which Bendis hopes will remind readers of the Golden Age of Action Comics when Superman used to fight mobster and everyday crooks.
Bendis was also happy to announce that there will be a lot of supporting characters, old and new, involved in Action Comics, especially one of my favorites: The Question, saying:
“The Question is the most requested character since I got to DC. So the Question shows up very early on in our Action Comics run.”
Bendis is definitely interested in showing more to Superman than just his powers. Clark Kent is a big, purposeful, part of the identity that comes along with who Superman is, and Bendis has a lot to say about it. Sometimes the only way to stop a crime or save the day is good old fashioned journalism.
Bendis was also excited to announce that his second arc will feature the likes of Checkmate, Spyral, and Leviathan.
Most importantly, Superman is not a solo act anymore, he is part of a family. The super-family is one of the things Bendis is most excited to write, saying:
“Yeah, we’ll have some very fun Mr. and Mrs. Smith type adventures with the two of them that I’m very excited about. And you know, they were living a normal family life, but they’re not a normal family. There’s nothing normal about them. They have a child with special needs. They have a family with special needs.
I really want to explore the family dynamic, and you know, how much they love each other. It’s like, OK, we love each other. That’s a given. So let’s figure this out. And that’s a lot of fun to write.”
What do you think about Bendis’s take on Action Comics? Let us know in the comments!
