Scott Lobdell On CBR

This post seems a bit ridiculous in the aftermath of Andy Diggle's announcement and my rant about it. But here it is.

About a week ago, Scott Lobdell did a sort of wrap-up interview on CBR, discussing the end of H'El on Earth and the future of the Superman title. Here is that link: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=44216  It is well worth reading in its entirety as Lobdell touches on a lot of things.

I think I have bashed H'El on Earth enough here and I am eager to put it in my rear view mirror. In particular, and no big surprise, I am eager for Supergirl to move away from the way she was portrayed there. Maybe this is the darkness before the dawn. Maybe Supergirl will be a more heroic, friendlier, character moving forward. And surprisingly, Lobdell actually hints at that a bit here. Here are some blurbs I thought were worth commenting on.

CBR News: Scott, "H'el On Earth" just wrapped up, and "Superman" #17 teased some dark days coming for Superman, with Supergirl in dire straits from Kryptonite poisoning. How will Supergirl's self-sacrifice impact Kal in upcoming issues?

Scott Lobdell: I think the whole ordeal is going to bring them closer together -- remember, up until this moment they really hadn't shared many experiences. (Even being orphans from Krypton manifested itself in two entirely different ways: Kara having lost her friends and family and the only world she ever knew, and Kal never having known friends and family or that world first hand.) So while things that happened with H'el were certainly traumatic, it may all wind up being for the better if Kara and Kal can wring a relationship out of it.
Regarding the Kryptonite poisoning and its effects on Kara, I understand that will be dealt with over in her book. The only thing I wanted to stress in the hand-off was that New 52 Kryptonite should be horrific, and its effects should be lingering for Kara who actually held it in her hand for a few moments, to her heart. Gone at the days when Lex would open a box and Superman would fall to one knee and then Lex would pop it closed and Superman would exclaim, "Phew!" Kryptonite should be scary every time it shows up!

At first it sounded like DC wanted to keep these two as separate as possible. In fact it seemed they wanted them to be angrily estranged from each other.

Now we hear that the trauma of H'El, that her nearly dying will somehow bring them together. That makes sense emotionally. Sometimes it is dramatic events in life that bring people back together. Maybe after this near-galactic death episode and Supergirl dying from K-poisoning will make the cousins realize that family needs to stick together.

Hmmm ... Kryptonite poisoning being drained from Supergirl and she then has a better personality ... I have read that somewhere before. I am amazed at how in interested in seeing this new Kryptonite It sounds like a big deal in the DCnU.

CBR: One of the images Kenneth Rocafort drew is pretty reminiscent of the iconic cover from "Crisis on Infinite Earths" #7. Was this a direct parallel you hoped to draw with this issue?

SL:No, I am afraid you are fishing, my friend. I suppose Kenneth could have drawn the page with Superman tossing Supergirl over his shoulder fireman carry style-- but, the howls? I could hear them already! No -- he was just cradling his wounded cousin in his arms.

I totally commented on that here!

I will begrudgingly agree with him on one point. If Supergirl was slung over Superman's shoulder like a bag of flour I would be typing some fiery adjectives right now.

I guess there is simply no avoiding the memory of Crisis #7.

CBR: In the coming months, it looks like you're digging into a number of aspects of Superman, including a look at Clark Kent's life as a reporter away from The Daily Planet. After the action-packed "H'el On Earth," has it been easy to transition to the more mundane aspects of Superman's life?

SL:Interesting you would phrase it that way -- to a Superman (and I have to guess here, as I am not one), saving the world and the entire solar system might actually be the "mundane aspect" of his life.
But, no, I love Clark and I love Cat and Lois and Perry and Jimmy and even Morgan Edge (a little) -- I think the longer a Superman story goes without dealing with Clark and his real life adventures, the less interesting the story is most likely going to be. I know what is planned for Clark in the coming months, and I'm never surprised when I get a note from editorial telling me I'm spending too much time with Clark and not enough time on Superman. 

There isn't much more about Supergirl in the article but those were enough. Could there be some thin ray of light shining through the black clouds of H'El on Earth?

There is a comment on Clark Kent, or the lack of Clark Kent in the book. I have bashed the early presentation of Clark here as well. Reading Lois' texts, acting like a jerk, etc.

I think there has been far too little of Clark and Lois in the New 52 to begin with. I am of two minds of seeing more Clark. I want more Clark. But I want it to be a good presentation of him. Like many things, Lobdell sounds excited about Clark and all the supporting cast. But I need to see Lobdell do these characters justice. I guess I need to hope here as well.

Anyways, a Supergirl/Superman familial relationship might be around the corner. That makes me happy.