Peter J. Tomasi

Superman and the Eradicator have an epic fight on and around the moon in Superman #6, by Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, and Mick Gray. Superboy --- that is, Superman's son Jonathon Kent -- is also on hand, although he wisely gets out of the Eradicator's way, and Lois Lane is there too, but this is the Lois that's Superman's wife and Jon's mom, not the one who became Superwoman. Mind you, she does have some Batman armor that enables her to survive in space. There's a lot going on here, clearly.

This week, in Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, and Doug Mahnke's Superman #5, Superman finally decided that the best thing to do about the Eradicator would be to take the fight outside of Metropolis, so he took it to the one place that he knows he has the advantage. In case you missed it, this week saw Superman and Lois Lane fighting the Eradicator in the Batcave. No, the other Batcave. The one on the moon.

When it comes to the Superman books, we are living in an age of terrifying uncertainty. Like, seriously, I have read every single Superman comic that has come out since DC's latest relaunch, and right about the time the Eradicator showed up to fight Post-Crisis Superman because New 52 Superman was dead, I had to admit that I had no idea how we got here. But with all that uncertainty comes a thrill of excitement, and this week, Superman #4 gave us not one, but two surprising returns, courtesy of Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason. The first one is actually not all that unexpected: It's Bibbo Bibbowski,the lottery-winning former heavyweight champ best known for being Superman's #1 fan. Considering that he was a staple of Superman's supporting cast in the '90s, his appearance isn't exactly shocking. The guy he's arm-wrestling, though? That one's a surprise.

It’s been noted by more than a few people that the current storyline running through the Superman family of books strongly represents the classic “Reign of the Supermen” event from the mid-'90s, where four new Supermen rose up to attempt to fill the absence left by The Man of Steel following his death fighting the monster Doomsday. Currently, we have Lex Luthor, Kenan Kong, Lois Lane and the original Pre-Flashpoint Superman, plus his son Jonathan, all now operating under the Superman banner, as well as Supergirl, Steel and the Cyborg Superman. DC isn’t done there though, as this week’s Superman #2 by Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray and John Kalisz saw the return of another would-be Superman straight from the '90s.

In the mid-eighties, DC Comics tried a bizarre experiment known as the DC Challenge, a story told by twelve different creative teams over twelve comics, with the catch being that each issue would end on a cliffhanger that the next team would have to get themselves out of. Announced at Emerald City Comic Con, DC is reviving the series in the form of Kamandi Challenge, thirteen creative teams over twelve issues telling one complete story with the classic Jack Kirby character, Kamandi: The Last Boy On Earth. The original DC Challenge featured the likes of Elliot S! Maggin, Mike W. Barr, Dave Gibbons, Gene Colan and so many more legendary creators. and featured the additional caveat that they could use any DC Comics characters, except ones they were currently working with elsewhere. The series culminated in a jam-packed final issue which was divided among six of the previous creative teams.

In the first issue of Alan Moore, Joe Bennett and Keith Giffen's run on Supreme, there's a line about how superhero universes always tend to get really in those last few months right before the universe corrects itself with the latest revision to continuity. With DC's big Rebirth event just over the horizon, that's something that's been on my mind a lot lately, partially because of the inevitable feeling that we're stuck in a holding pattern, and partly because it feels like a pretty accurate description of what's been going on in the pages of Superman. In this week's Superman #51, Peter J. Tomasi and Mikel Janin are bringing the Man of Steel face-to-face with his mortality with the first part of "The Final Days of Superman." That in itself isn't that weird - Superman's been in mortal peril at least twice a month for the past few decades - but the way they're going about it but that has just enough strangeness on every level to be downright fascinating.

DC Comics hosted a special livestream event at WonderCon in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon to unveil the creative teams behind its DC Rebirth event, which relaunches the entire DC Universe line with new issue #1s and multiple double-shipping titles. The relaunch will set the future course of DC Comics at a time when fans are wondering whether the company will embrace a new and diversifying audience or double down on serving a shrinking core audience. The event was introduced by DC All Access host Tiffany Smith, with DC co-publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio and chief creative officer and Rebirth chief architect Geoff Johns introducing and interviewing the creative teams as they joined them on stage at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

So here's what we know about the upcoming "Super League" crossover that's running through Action Comics, Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman/Superman in April and May: Ever since Convergence, the pre-New 52 Superman (you know, the John Byrne/Dan Jurgens Superman who was rebooted, killed, brought back as four guys, turned electrical, brought back as two guys, and married Lois Lane?) has been running around the current DC Universe, completely separate from the current Superman. Now, they're finally going to meet in a crossover that sees Superman forming his own team and traveling across the world with Batman and Wonder Woman on the trail of a missing Supergirl, with a brand new villain pulling the strings.

This week, Chris and Matt talk about how Robin Rises Omega #1 by Peter Tomasi and Andy Kubert should be great, but falls short, possibly because it's a victim of its own marketing. Then, we talk about how Life With Archie #36 by Paul Kupperberg and Pat & Tim Kennedy is really enjoyable despite some weird tics. Then, we discuss the cool new sci-fi anthology, 2299, edited by Dylan Todd.

If the preview images for DC Comics' new Robin Rises: Omega one-shot, which hits stores July 16, indicate what it looks like they're indicating, then Damian Wayne's comic-book death will have lasted just a bit less than 17 months. The writer of the book, Peter J. Tomasi, wouldn't tell Hero Complex exactly which Robin is returning, but since almost every other Robin seems to be alive, well, and doi