Let me begin by saying that while I love Superman, I do love Batman as well, and reading other Dan Jurgens stories too. As a matter of fact, there are Batman stories that are some of the best comic books ever, Year One in particular.
Sorry to anyone that might offend. Superman is still better though!
Hopefully that doesn’t ding my street cred too much. With that said, I just finished reading Dan Jurgens’ and Mike Perkins’ Bat-Man: First Knight story, a very interesting book which piqued my curiosity and really got me thinking.
I love Dan as a writer and really enjoyed his and Mike Perkins’ brief but fantastic run on Green Lanterns a few years ago, which served as a bit of an epilogue to his Superman Rebirth run. The story is great and Perkins’ moody art is terrific for space battles and character moments. I HIGHLY recommend that if you haven’t checked it out.
When I heard Dan and Mike would be working on another project together, I was all over it. After reading the three-issue DC Black Label book, which is firmly placed in the 1930s and the earliest issues of Golden Age Batman, I started looking up interviews with Dan to learn more about how everything came about and if there was more planned.
I stumbled across the above interview, which was cool, but what got me really excited was Dan announcing that he is working on an upcoming Superman project in 2025!!
AWESOME!!!
In the interview, Dan makes it clear that, as planned right now, it is going to be a standalone 1-shot project. The way I see it, that could likely be one of two things:
1) Another anniversary special for something from past years of his career, or
2) A Superman Rebirth one-shot.
The Possibilities
If the former, I’ll pick it up but I’m not terribly excited. As far as I know Dan has done three anniversary specials in recent years, one of which was pretty good (The Death of Superman 30th), one that was passable (Return of Superman 30th), and the most recent one which was lousy (Zero Hour 30th).
It’s hard to revisit the past with new content as nostalgia alone can’t carry it every time. As Hollywood can no doubt tell us, sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn’t at all and we’re left wishing the sequel/special project was never made. The last thing we want is to taint something we’ve loved for a long time.
If the latter, however, I am TREMENDOUSLY excited!! I don’t have to say anymore about how much I loved Superman Rebirth, especially Dan’s stuff, as that path has been well tread on this site. I’m thrilled that a new Lois and Clark mini was put out earlier this year, which ended on a cliffhanger and seems to have left a lot more room for stories.
When I saw Dan Jurgens at a signing in the Bay Area last August, I asked about upcoming Rebirth content and he said it was unlikely since, according to his words, ever since Jon Kent was aged up, Rebirth stories are a “sales killer” (hence why the last story was released as backups in Action Comics, instead of its own book).
The gift of Bendis keeps on giving…
All that said, I hope people at DC still realize there is an audience for Kent family stories- as I hear positive comments about Rebirth everywhere- and wouldn’t be opposed to a graphic novel or something that continues that story in some form one day. I was super disappointed to hear Jurgens say what he did, and for a while was pretty bummed about Rebirth’s prospects, so even with no details as of yet, this bit of news is most welcome!
A Rebirth special makes a lot of sense sales-wise and I’m hoping is DC’s sales department agrees. I would be a very, very happy camper, especially if Lee Weeks, Patch Zircher or Will Conrad were involved.
Then again, it could be something totally new, which makes sense as well, and we’ll all just have to be content with leaving the story where it is, for now.
I hope you guys check out Bat-Man as it’s worth reading, and feel free to check out the interview if you’re so inclined.
I hope 2025 is a good year! Enjoy!
Niko's Superman Page 