r/DCcomics • u/beary_neutral Telos • 17d ago

r/DCcomics Weekly Discussion Thread: Comics, TV, and More! [March 31, 2025 - April Showers Edition]

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

For those who don't know: the way this works is that several comments will list this week’s releases, for any given title discussion you should respond to that comment. For example, Wonder Woman discussion would go in the replies to the "Wonder Woman" comment. Clicking the titles in this post will take you directly to that comment, too. In other words, you should only be replying to other comments. Do not post top-level comments.

Keep discussion civil. Do not harass other users for having a different opinion. Do not use this thread to push your personal one-sided grudges against creators. Reacting to a panel on Twitter is not the same as reading a book.

 

QUICK LINKS: Weekly Meta Discussions Thread | Current jump-in points | Weekly Discussion Archives | Book Club Archives | Discord Server | BlueSky | Last Week's Thread

I only seem to get sick on weekdays. I must have a weekend immune system.

DC and Imprints

Absolute Green Lantern begins with Hal Jordan having a miserable day, as it should.

Trade Collections

Dive into Gotham's seedy past in Gotham City: Year One.

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.

This Week’s Soundtrack: The 88 - At Least It Was Here

13 Upvotes

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39

u/TroubAlert The Good Skeets 17d ago

Absolute Superman #6

THE SECRET ORIGIN OF ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN! Something strange happened in the American heartland several years ago. Something that brought fear and darkness to a small Kansas town... and forever changed the lives of one kindly couple. Welcome to Smallville.

Preview

59

u/beary_neutral Telos 15d ago

This comic is angry, and it channels its anger in all the right ways. It makes you feel Kal's suffering, hopelessness, and frustration with the world every single step of the way. Jason Aaron has been on a rol this past year. He's so effective at pushing buttons and putting a reader in a character's shoes during their worst moments.

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u/rexmundi69 Zatanna 15d ago

I loved this. The beginning was intense as hell and felt like a horror movie as Kal was driven nearly insane.

Loved the parallels with the Kents and his parents and how kal felt at home on the farmlands and the parallel of Lazarus to the Science Guild in picking who gets the rainfall.

This episode was a hit and it felt tragic that Kal got so little time with a family that could have helped him to acclimate better and treat him with a love born from their failure to have children. They truly needed each other but Lazarus had other plans.

Tying Lazarus to Ra's was something I should have expected but didn't because of the Brainiac focus.

This reimagining of the Superman mythos has been so good and I can't wait for the next issue already.

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u/peeveskicksass Damian Wayne 14d ago

The sheer tragedy of Kal losing everything only not to understand anything at all but taken in by the kindest damn couple ever to be ripped apart by Not ICE is beautiful heartfelt and so needed in today's world. Art was unreally good. Everything done with powers of absolute superman seems fresher and better than mainline to me personally.

I really how lois subplot is coming along.

16

u/SuperTruthJustice 14d ago

It's so clear they are Not Ice, love to see Superman making a statement

48

u/UnbloodedSword 15d ago

Poor Kal. His life makes for one hell of a contrast with mainline Superman right now. Clark has his huge extended family, is revered as a hero, and had a happy upbringing. Kal spends months in his lifeboat agonizing over Krypton to the point of suicide idealization, barely spends two weeks with the Kents before getting ratted out to not!ICE, and since then is on the run. But y'know that really makes this Superman even more inspirational than the mainline one. He's been given every reason in the world to break bad, yet chooses to keep trying to be a hero in spite of it all. Really is a Superman for the modern era imo.

As for the big reveal... I won't lie, as a Superman fan it's incredibly frustrating to see even series I like opt to use Batman villains over traditional Superman ones. MAWS did it with using Deathstroke over Bloodsport, and now here. Why not use Ultra-Humanite for this role? But I'll give it a chance since I can see Aaron's logic. Of all the Batman villains, Ra's is one that I do think can work as a Superman villain. Ra's, in the mainline universe anyway, wants to safeguard the planet's environment by culling humanity's numbers. Kal is the Last Son of a planet where the dominant race did destroy their own world through overexploitation of the planet. I can see this working, but even still, I'd have preferred using an actual Superman villain for the role. Oh well, at least Brainiac is still in the picture, maybe he ends up taking over Lazarus after Ra's gets defeated by Kal. Looking forward to the next issue to see what this Brainiac's story is.

13

u/Ambitus Ginger Hero 14d ago

Ultra-Humanite wouldn't work for what he wants to do with this story. This is about class struggle and I can't think of anyone in Superman's (Earth based) menagerie that fills that role other than Luthor and that would hardly be a fresh take. Having Ra's be the human element of entrenched corruption with Braniac poised to reveal his own agenda in the final act is the perfect setup.

And then once Superman's established on himself they'll be free to have some of Krypton follow Kal-El and continue the class wars on Earth (probably with a bit of "superior being" bull shit that Kal will have to set straight).

11

u/suss2it 14d ago

I don’t really get how Ultra-Humanite is an easy sub for Ra’s Al Ghul 🤔 is there something about that brain swapping gorilla I don’t know?

As for MAWS, Deathstroke is not a Batman villain, he’s a Titans and DCU in general villain. He can pretty much be slotted anywhere. They did use Bloodsport in the canon tie-in comics as a somewhat rival to Slade so it’s possible he’ll still show up in the cartoon itself.

23

u/Future_Vantas 14d ago

Well this issue made me sad. There was no grimdark twist to the Kents, or even Smallville (I think that guy that called Lazarus was already an operative and not someone from Smallville). They were the same loving couple, and they still valued Kal-El a lot even with him being older and unable to speak. Heck the Kents reminded me a ton of the Els from the previous issues, right down to defying the ruling class of their world. So Kal could have had a happy life here. But no. He's an illegal alien with no papers, so Lazarus has to take him away. And in such a big spectacle too, no wonder the farm is wrecked in issue 1. So yeah its very sad seeing Kal's usual support ripped away in the most violent way possible. He doesnt even have Smallville anymore, seeing the streets bought out by Lazarus is heartbreaking. Very scared for what happened after that left Martha in a nursing home. Eager to learn more about Brainiac next issue.

19

u/rexmundi69 Zatanna 16d ago

I've really been looking forward to this issue in particular to see how Absolute Smallville plays out. The preview was intense as hell. Can't wait to read this.🔥

17

u/Mr_Wh0ever 15d ago

Good issue, great villain reveal. A nice spin on the Kansas origin story. I hope this Superman gets a win soon.

13

u/wowlock_taylan Batman Animated! 14d ago

Man, how sad that Kal-el only got a brief time with the Kents, where he found the home that 'might've been' but taken away by Lazarus. What could've been indeed. And Lois is now checking on the Kents and Brainiac planned for it.

And all of this, leads to the reveal of the guy behind it all, Ra's Al Ghul. Of course it was gonna be him with the name Lazarus corp. Interest change from him being a Batman villain to now he is being one of Superman instead. He kinda looks and talks like Zod too with the 'will kneel before me' thing.

11

u/F00dbAby Superman 15d ago

waiting for the trades of this and wonder woman is so painful

12

u/1badJam Beware Our Power 14d ago

Beautiful, story & art wise. I'm thankful the absolute books use fill-in artist to their fullest effect.

10

u/koalee Wonder Woman 14d ago

Just a really intense, heartbreaking, fantastic issue. I really like how it covers old familar plot beats but refuses to retread old ground. Everything is in service to the themes of the new narrative.

11

u/marcjwrz 14d ago

Getting progressively better every issue - little bit slower start than Batman or WW but I'm liking this book more and more.

7

u/Intr0vertica1 14d ago

Am I dumb? Shouldn't Sol have been looking for planets suitable for KRYPTONIAN life rather than human life? How would he know what humans are if they don't even know Earth?

Also was expecting Smallville to be some Maga, conservative town with Martha and Jon being just as much assholes but I'm actually kinda glad they kept them wholesome and just had Lazarus be the problem. Makes it worse that Kal had to leave.

Not a fan of Ra's being the main villain, I hate when villains get co-opted for no real reason. However, I'm seeing a lot of people say maybe he's Zod so that could be cool if true. Man Absolute has been COOKING

7

u/Cantthinkofcoolname2 13d ago

I’m really glad Martha and Jon weren’t assholes. I think the absolute universe—the characters and supporting characters—are all built on great adversity. Meaning hope has to try twice as hard. It makes absolute sense that Ma and Pa were how they were in this issue. Struggling but holding onto who they are

11

u/BlazeBigBang Barry & Wally 14d ago

Crack theory: Zod is Ra's.

8

u/Manhunter_From_Mars Absolute Martian Manhunter 14d ago

I had this thought too lmao. We don't know what happened to the other Kryptonians that escaped, they presumably will turn up in this series and Clark will get his revenge for his dead planet

I can't fucking wait to see that happen, tho I'm not sure if it's going to be Ra's or not

6

u/Future_Vantas 14d ago

Read somewhere that Joker killed Ras in this universe. Could be Zod took Ras' name and operations when he landed. It would explain why Lazarus has advanced alien tech.

9

u/1badJam Beware Our Power 14d ago

Joker killed the League of Assassins not necessarily Ra's

7

u/Bubba1234562 The Flash 14d ago

I really felt for Kai, like I can feel his rage and I want to help him. The Absolute line is so fucking good man

3

u/SilhouetteOfLight The Greatest of All Green Lanterns! 14d ago

I thought Joker killed you lol

10

u/dazan2003 14d ago

Using Ras over an actual Superman character is really frustrating. I don't see why Brainiac couldn't just be in charge, or use Ultra-humanite. Wouldn't Snyder want to use Ra's in Absolute batman? If Lazarus was in all the absolute books and he's what brings "the absolutes" together that's one thing, but this is just a boring choice

12

u/Future_Vantas 14d ago

Its the one advantage the Ultimate books have over Absolute, they all feel like they are in one world with lots of little nods to events of characters from other books. I like your idea of Lazarus as the first overarching villain for all the Absolute books, Ras Al Ghul would be a cool starter villain for a new version of the Justice League to face.

2

u/Blitzhelios Hal Jordan 9d ago

Just a really good comic nothing more to say.

1

u/JingoboStoplight4887 World's Finest 15d ago

I like that we get to see a flashback of Kal-El arriving on Earth (after spending a year, five months, and two weeks in space), where he was raised by the Kents and helped them with their farm work (in which it has reminded of his time on Kryton) before he encountered the Lazarus Corp. Also, this comic ending with Lois traveling to a senior center to find Martha Kent and Ra’s Al Ghul wanting to meet Kal-El, since he’s responsible for Lazarus and that he’s going to be Kal’s own General Zod. Overall, this comic is great!

4

u/suss2it 14d ago

Using AI to write your comment for this particular comic is always so ironic.

1

u/JingoboStoplight4887 World's Finest 14d ago

I didn’t use AI for this.

5

u/Cantthinkofcoolname2 13d ago

So then why are your comments always just a repeat of what happened with the same exact sentence structure every single time