Howard Porter

I've mentioned it before on the site and elsewhere, but I'm of the mind that the core Superman titles --- Action Comics by Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder, and Superman by Gene Luen Yang, John Romita Jr. and Howard Porter --- are better now than they have been in a very long time. They're engaging, they're fun and innovative, and they have a sense of cohesion that Superman as a character often lacks. But every time I say that, I'm always a little surprised that there are so many people who disagree. Don't get me wrong --- no story is going to appeal to everyone, but for me, these are some of the most fun stories out there. Then again, that might just be because there's a story where Superman joined a pro wrestling federation for forgotten gods, and that's kind of everything I want out of comic books happening at once.

Listen, I gotta tell you about this dream I had last night. It was so weird 00- DC comics had launched a line of comics based on Hanna-Barbera cartoons, but they were doing these completely bonkers takes on all of them. Like, Scooby-Doo was set in the apocalypse and Scooby had a techno-monocle that allowed him to communicate through emojis, and Wacky Races was mashed up with Mad Max: Fury Road, and they even got one of the designers from the movie for it, and there was a big crossover with Space Ghost and Jonny Quest. And the weirdest thing of all was that the Flintstones were just the Flintstones, but drawn by Amanda Conner. Bizarre, right? Wait a second... I'm just catching up on the news, and --- holy cats. It wasn't a dream. DC Comics is actually doing a Hanna-Barbera line with post-apocalyptic Wacky Races and emoji-monocle Scooby-Doo. This is actually happening.

I've said it before, but I honestly don't remember a time when the core Superman books were all as good as they are right now. The long-running story of Superman losing his powers and running around punching out crime in jeans and a t-shirt has been a fantastic breath of fresh air for the character, and it's resulting in some pretty amazing stories. And now, as if the pro wrestling storyline wasn't enough, Gene Luen Yang (recently named the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature) and Howard Porter are taking Superman to the presidential debates in Superman #48. Check out a preview!

Q: What are the best Die Hard tributes or knockoffs in comics? -- @chudleycannons A: Considering how common it is for action movies to try to re-create the feeling of Die Hard, you'd probably be surprised at how little that actually happens in comics. I mean, it makes sense that it would be that way --- despite starting out life as a novel with the amazing title of Nothing Lasts Forever, Die Hard is pretty inextricably tied to being an action movie, and it's difficult to recreate what makes it work so well in another medium. The closest thing we'd have to that in comics is the massive number of characters that were created as homages or knockoffs of Superman. But if you're looking for a story that operates on those same principles --- a single hero trapped in a confined space, dealing with limited resources and overwhelming odds --- then there are definitely a few stories that fit the bill.

Q: Do you think Darkseid deserves to be considered the ultimate bad guy of the DC Universe? What are his achievements? -- @Lionel_Leal A: I don't want to turn this into "Ask Chris About Jack Kirby's Fourth World" --- as opposed to my usual strategy of spending an entire week talking about the moral significance of Batman's utility belt or whatever --- but over the last few years, Darkseid has been a more prominent fixture of the DC Universe than any other time in his forty-year history. I think it probably started with how he was treated on Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League, but just in the past three years we've seen him as the villain that launched the New 52, and the villain who's probably going to show up in a movie about the Justice League at some point. So with all due respect, LL, it's not really a matter of "Darkseid deserves." Darkseid is.

Each weekday, ComicsAlliance brings you a carefully selected variety of links from around the web about comics and comics-related media, including movies, video games, toys, and whatever else might be worth noting. Quite frankly, these are items you may just need to know about to have a productive day. Take a look at today's hand-picked links after the jump.

Were you looking forward to the team behind the classic 1980s Justice League International getting back together for Justice League 3000? Then skip this post if you don't want to have your hopes crushed. On Thursday, artist Kevin Maguire tweeted, "I think I was just fired," and today, DC Comics confirmed it, naming Howard Porter as the book's new artist.

Oh, neat: Creators of the very beloved 1980s superhero comedy title Justice League International, Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire will be the creators behind Justice League 3000, a new DC Comics series launching in the fall. As CBR's Kiel Phegley reports, the book will presumably detail the adventures of Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern and Batman one thousand years in the future.

Like a lot of comics readers, I'm usually of the mind that most things would be a hell of a lot better if they involved superheroes, even the American political system. I mean really, you might be interested in tonight's Presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, but it'd probably be a lot more fun to watch if it was Batman demanding to see Superman's birth certificate and insinuat

In a keen demonstration of knowing its audience, DC Comics confirmed today the final details of its previously announced DC Universe Online Legends, a new biweekly series set in the continuity of the increasingly anticipated massively multiplayer online role-playing game from Sony Online Entertainment...