Superman is going to speak his truth - so says a new promo DC Comics has released, in order to announce the next big development in Superman comics. That development will be Superman finally revealing his secret to the world: that Clark Kent and Superman are one and the same. It's a move that DC has explored before in both 1991 (Superman revealing his secret to Lois Lane) and 2015 (Lois revealing Superman's secret to the world via a newspaper article), but comic book retcons later reversed the latter reveal, returning Superman to a life of dual identities. However, Superman writer Brian Michael Bendis is about to put an end to that era. Here's what Bendis revealed about the milestone reveal taking place in Superman #18 on December 11th, during an interview with the New York Times. "On some level, this is what DC brought me here for. I didn’t want to stir things up right away. I had to earn my place." Some fans are understandably skeptical about this move, as comic book publishers are fairly notorious for introducing major status quo changes in order to drum up publicity and sales around property, only to eventually drop those big changes entirely, and revert back to the original state of affairs.
However, Bendis promises that this won't be the usual temporary switch tactic comics are known for: "I don’t do fake-out stories," Bendis said. "I did a story where Daredevil was outed — a different kind of outing — but that was his reality for 15 years... We wanted to do this because behind it is 1,000 brand-new Superman stories that have never been told." Bendis goes on to say that the change will also bring Superman to "the best version of himself," and that he and other DC writers Matt Fraction and Greg Rucka are already laying down hundreds of pages of story for this new era of Superman storyelling. January will also feature a two special issues of Superman that will show just how major this change is to the character and the larger DC Universe. "Everybody who’s ever been in contact with him is going to have a completely different perspective and reaction to this," says Bendis. "Some heroes are going to be thrilled, some heroes are going to be livid, some villains are going to change their ways." The final tease is how Superman revealing he is Clark Kent will affect the latter's employment status as a professional journalist. According to Bendis: "Excellent question," Bendis said. "And I promise you that is the first thing that Greg Rucka stormed up to me with when we started working on this."
However, Bendis promises that this won't be the usual temporary switch tactic comics are known for: "I don’t do fake-out stories," Bendis said. "I did a story where Daredevil was outed — a different kind of outing — but that was his reality for 15 years... We wanted to do this because behind it is 1,000 brand-new Superman stories that have never been told." Bendis goes on to say that the change will also bring Superman to "the best version of himself," and that he and other DC writers Matt Fraction and Greg Rucka are already laying down hundreds of pages of story for this new era of Superman storyelling. January will also feature a two special issues of Superman that will show just how major this change is to the character and the larger DC Universe. "Everybody who’s ever been in contact with him is going to have a completely different perspective and reaction to this," says Bendis. "Some heroes are going to be thrilled, some heroes are going to be livid, some villains are going to change their ways." The final tease is how Superman revealing he is Clark Kent will affect the latter's employment status as a professional journalist. According to Bendis: "Excellent question," Bendis said. "And I promise you that is the first thing that Greg Rucka stormed up to me with when we started working on this."
