ABSOLUTE CUTIES PROMOTE ABSOLUTE POWER ABSOLUTELY

A new one-shot with a large chunk written by moi is out now!

Baby’s latest launch, seen out in the wild!

Ah, event tie-ins… not typically the place you go in and try to say something deep and meaningful about the toys you’re allowed to play with, but why would I do anything easily?

This week marks the release of Absolute Power: Super Son, written by moi and Nicole Maines. The leads of this story are Jon Kent (Superman’s son who has recently been “de-borged” of Brainiac Queen’s evil mojo), Dreamer (a Naltarian superhero who is assumed dead after being used as a pawn by Amanda Waller), and Jay Nakamura (a truth-seeking Softboy whose mother is dead thanks to Waller using Dreamer).

WE ARE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FINAL PARTS OF A COMPANY-WIDE EVENT, CAN YOU TELL?

That didn’t stop Nicole and I from putting our whole hearts and wild imaginations into the story. We were given 42 story pages and two fantastic artists (John Timms- the original artist on Tom Taylor’s Jon Kent Son of Kal-El series) and Travis Mercer (a baddie who can draw the heck out of anything) to show the emotional impact this event has on a bunch of supremely traumatized characters. While this proved challenging given that as far as anyone can tell, Dreamer is DEAD, we used the powers of dreams to lean into that. The space between one’s perception of real, silliness, and subconscious persuasion is a fantastic playground for storytelling!

So, yes, this is definitely a tie-in that’s meant to bridge what happens to Jon Kent AFTER he gets de-borged and BEFORE he goes to the final fight. It’s also a truly intimate peek into his relationships with two important fears, as well as a pizza-eating Galaxy on a surfboard (dreams, baby!).

Cuties seen celebrating the release of their book at the DC offices

I also have to admit that I can’t take credit for calling Nicole and I Absolute Cuties, that goes to DC Editor Kristy Quinn. We sadly did not get to see her when we stopped by the DC offices yesterday, but she (along with all the hardworking crew at DC) is absolutely loved <3 We did a talk with Tini Howard, Andrea Shea, and Benjamin LeClear, and let me tell you: I walked away listening to everyone talk about storytelling and their approaches a refreshed man. It was a reminder to have SERIOUS FUN. What we’re doing is serious work, and dramatic things have to happen to nuanced characters… but you got to start from the place where you’re thinking about what would be fun for you as a creator to read. Working with Nicole on getting these characters to heartbreaking places WAS FUN, and I certainly hope I get another opportunity to mess with them some more.

That’s it, that’s the magical lesson of this substack: Have serious fun.

Oh, and go buy Absolute Power: Super Son #1 now! It’s in stores, and there are a grip of signed copies at Collector’s Paradise North Hollywood!