The fine folks at DC Comics have provided us with an exclusive preview of “Adventures of Superman” #31, which comes out digitally Monday from DC Comics. We also got a chance to ask a few questions of Jim Krueger (“Justice,” “Earth X”), who wrote this upcoming arc. Check out our chat with Jim, the preview pages, featuring the art of Neil Edwards, and make sure to purchase the issue on Monday!
Written by Jim Krueger
Illustrated by Neil EdwardsAfter learning about the existence of the Last Son of Krypton, a troubled Green Lantern travels from a distant galaxy to meet Superman… and to confess a horrible secret.
“Adventures Of Superman” has prided itself on showcasing continuity-free story with a pre-New 52 Superman. What was your take approaching that kind of Superman story?
Jim Krueger: Well, my approach was to write a story that would appeal to all fans. To anyone who ever loved Superman or loves him now. Since this is not officially new 52 Continuity, it doesn’t have to “fit in” to anything currently going on in the books. But, that said, it does have to “fit in” with what people expect and love about Superman. If it doesn’t, people will reject it, or not consider it a true Superman story. And my goal from the very beginning was to try to tell a story that people would say was one of Superman’s best. I wanted to swing for the fences. And I did. We’ll see if people think it’s a home run. Sorry to use a baseball analogy, but again, that’s Superman. Almost true Americana. And this had to be true to that.
Your story features a Green Lantern seeking out Superman, can you maybe tell us more about that?
JK: I’ve wanted to tell this story for awhile, and I feel like it’s almost essential to the Superman mythos. My guess is that I could say “essential to mythos” and Green Lantern and fans of Superman might even be guessing already. The fact that this story really hasn’t been told is always shocking to me. I will give a piece of the story away right now and say that the Green Lantern in question (a brand new character of the Worlds-Protecting Green Lantern Corps.) wants Superman to kill someone, and the story sort of unfolds out of that.
One thing I’ve noticed in previous “Adventures Of Superman” chapters is writers telling new takes on writing Superman’s first encounters with certain elements in his mythos. Will we see that in your story or is your Superman more established than that?
JK: Nope. Superman knows the Green Lantern and the Corps. well. That said, this is the first time he’s ever met this member. It will be hard, though, for readers to tell if this is a Superman or A Green Lantern story really. It’s very special in the way it involves both.
Seeing as this year is still the 75th anniversary of Superman, what do you think is the quality that kept Superman going for so long?
JK: You could say that it’s the power of flight, the Americana, the Herculian abilities, the monologue at the end of Kill Bill — all of that. But, for me, it’s because for a character that’s been around for now 75 years, there’s so much more to be said about him. So much more to know. Part of it has to do with the choices he makes considering his abilities. While I haven’t gotten to write him much (apart from this and Justice), I have a version of him in my head that I feel like I could write forever. That version, though, is the promise of how much more there is to the story. And that’s why he is always intriguing. I’m sure that’s how all writers feel when they get to write one of his stories. That’s it’s kind of hallowed ground, but more than this, that there are any number of directions to go with him. Give any of us a keyboard and Superman and it’s up, up and away. Superman is imagination without gravity.
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And, finally, in honor of the title, what was your first adventure with Superman?
JK:Are we talking about the first time I wrote Superman? “Justice” #1. If we’re talking about my first experience of Superman? The Fleischer Cartoons, I think. As for comic, I have no idea. I got it at a newstand in a train station in Chicago just before getting on a train on the way to Disneyworld in Florida. Another story entirely, involving hurricanes, tunnels, and angelic choirs and maybe even Superbreadth, but one, I think, that led me to becoming a storyteller.
