DC New52 Backups

[David]

By Wil Moss (Action Comics Associate Editor) via DC's blog:

1) BACKUPS ARE COMING

Starting with #4 (on sale 12/7), ACTION COMICS will now include eight-page backups written by Grant Morrison’s hand-picked choice, Sholly Fisch (writer of THE ALL NEW BATMAN THE BRAVE & THE BOLD). Each one will tie in directly with the 20-page lead story. What’s the backup of #4 about? Well, that brings us to our next “thing you need to know”…

2) STEEL IS MAKING HIS “NEW 52” DEBUT

The lead story in ACTION #4 by Grant Morrison and Rags Morales features the debut of the “New 52” Steel! Last we saw of John Henry Irons, in ACTION #2, he had quit his military job in protest over Lex Luthor torturing Superman under General Lane’s command. Now, as the Terminauts lay siege to Metropolis, it’s time for John Henry to put his money where his mouth is and go help Superman defend the city. The backup in #4 ties into the main story by depicting a critical fight between Steel and the brand new Metall-0!

3) BRAD WALKER AND CHRISCROSS TO DRAW BACKUPS

Brad Walker (HEROES FOR HIRE) is drawing the backup in #4. The backups of #5 — spotlighting Ma & Pa Kent — and #6 will be drawn by ChrisCross (SUPERMAN/BATMAN). The backup of #7 sees Brad Walker return to the art, and then #8 — the conclusion of the first storyarc — is one big issue-long epic by Grant Morrison and Rags Morales!

As a bonus, check out this first look at Steel’s armor by Brad Walker (based off a design by Rags Morales)! Much in the same way that Superman is wearing jeans and a T-shirt in this current arc, at this point Steel’s armor is in its “prototype” phase. Look for the final design somewhere down the line, but in the meantime, get ready for one heck of a throwdown!

[David]

Walker kicked ass on Heroes For Hire (wonder who, if anyone, will be inking him) and ChrisCross is the man, but will this be enough to bring me back to Action Comics?

And yay for actually calling them backups.

[darrell]

I like the people picked for the back ups. They are all talented people but I dont want too many four dollar books.

[Doug!]

So far there are only two (that I know of).  If they both have decent back-up features then it's all right with me.

[DGoodhart]

I'm already loving Action Comics and so these back-ups are just icing on the cake... I have to admit though, after these stories run their course, I wouldn't mind seeing a non-Superman related character taking over the spot.  I absolutely love back-up stories in comics!  I've got many, many fine memories of various back-up features over the years and sometimes, I was drawn to those even more than the main feature...

[Night (Travis) Nurse]

Is the price going up to 3.99? That's a shame.

Travis

[glwarm76]

I love backups that expand on plot threads from the main series and/or focus on characters that wouldn't support their own ongoing series. The backups in Action and JL should effectively achieve both. Backups definitely take the sting out of the $3.99 pricepoint and I prefer them to the other methods publishers "attempt" to add value: digital download or creative process notes. A backup is the only method that actually adds value to my comics. In a perfect world DC would add more pages to the Morrison story instead of adding a backup, but a backup is the only sensible way keep Morales on a mostly monthly schedule and for the title to still ship on time with only a few fill in months.

[David]

Is the price going up to 3.99?

"Going up"?

[glwarm76]

Is the price going up to 3.99? That's a shame.

Travis

Since the relaunch, Action Comics has been $3.99

[Bobgar Ornelas]

And yay for actually calling them backups.

backups? is that the new snazzy market term for secondary features now? Kids these days...

[PozrDu]

It seems fitting that since Morrison is retooling Superman from
what is essentially the original Golden Age Action Comics 1st appearance
that Action Comics have more than one story
since Action Comics #1 1938 was also an anthology book.

...& I agree that I'd rather pay the extra buck for more story
over sketches, "making-ofs" & Who's Who in the New 52 entries.

[Dave Wyndorf]

Walker kicked ass on Heroes For Hire (wonder who, if anyone, will be inking him) and ChrisCross is the man, but will this be enough to bring me back to Action Comics?

And yay for actually calling them backups.

The same Brad Walker that did some Guardians Of The Galaxy, yes? I love his work. There's a little Dave Stevens vibe goin' on in his faces. Me likee.

[David]

The same Brad Walker that did some Guardians Of The Galaxy, yes? I love his work. There's a little Dave Stevens vibe goin' on in his faces. Me likee.

 

[Hassan T]

I like the people picked for the back ups. They are all talented people but I dont want too many four dollar books.

Out of DC's new 52, only four of them are $3.99. Men of War and All Star Western have always had extra pages, either in the main story or in a form of a back-up. DC is going to have a back-up in both Action and JL, December for Action and January for JL.

I don't mind backups as long as they are somehow related to the main story. The best co-feature backups that DC had last year were the Commissioner Gordon and Jimmy Olsen stories in Detective and Action. The Gordon stories were directly related to the main story, while the Jimmy Olsen stories were not directly related, it did feature someone that was part of the Superman family. As opposed to the Metal Men back-up in Doom Patrol, which was very good, but had nothing to do with Doom Patrol.

[Hassan T]

Originally Joshua Hale Fialkov was supposed to the writer of the backups but apparently, Grant Morrison didn't
approve of the direction that Fialkov wanted to go in.

@JoshFialkov
Joshua Hale Fialkov
Thanks to everyone for the words of support about the Steel backups. Grant had a different direction in mind then what Matt and I did.

At least, it was creator driven and not editorial driven. It sounds like DC is letting Grant control Action Comics.

[Dave Wyndorf]

I totally missed the fact that he was drawing the HFH series. Bad me. Thanks, David!

[PozrDu]

I don't mind backups as long as they are somehow related to the main story. The best co-feature backups that DC had last year were the Commissioner Gordon and Jimmy Olsen stories in Detective and Action. The Gordon stories were directly related to the main story, while the Jimmy Olsen stories were not directly related, it did feature someone that was part of the Superman family. As opposed to the Metal Men back-up in Doom Patrol, which was very good, but had nothing to do with Doom Patrol.

I don't have a problem with this as long as it's good.
Metal Men (Doom Patrol) & The Question (Detective w/ Batwoman)
Were highlights of those $3.99 co-feature runs.

[DGoodhart]

I don't have a problem with this as long as it's good.
Metal Men (Doom Patrol) & The Question (Detective w/ Batwoman)
Were highlights of those $3.99 co-feature runs.

Totally agree... and I'll add Jeff Lemire's Atom in Adventure and Robinson's Captain Atom in Action to that mix as well 9at least I really enjoyed them).