Joshua Williamson Narrows Focus on Superman and His Super-Relationships

Multiverse of Color sat down with DC Comics writer, Joshua Williamson, last month at San Diego Comic-Con 2024. He has been on strong run, working on numerous popular DC heroes for the last few years. We talked to him last year about how much he was taking on at the time and this year we talked about him stepping back from some titles, while focusing on Superman’s new era and the new All In initiative.

Interview edited for clarity.

DC’s Newest Era and Superman Growth

Multiverse of Color: When we were here last year I mentioned how you were taking on and doing so much and it feels like you’re now taking that momentum and putting it into Superman and this All In phase. Can you tell me a little bit more about the initiative? It’s not a reboot.

Joshua Williamson: Not a relaunch. Part of the point was, if you look at the fact that I’m still on Superman, Chip [Zdarsky] is still on Batman, Tom [King] is still on Wonder Woman; the same creative teams are basically there. Part of that was on purpose. We didn’t want to change things up too much. I left Batman and Robin, I left Green Arrow, that was also about me. You were saying, last year, I was doing a lot, a lot, a lot [emphasis: ours].  I definitely was feeling that burnout. Where do I cut back and where do I refocus? Well, we were going at All In, so I can refocus and just put everything into Superman for a while. That’s really where my head is. Like we said in the video, initiatives create opportunities. That’s how I felt. I was thinking more about that for other people. I was very excited for other people in the initiative. What is Phillip [Kennedy Johnson] going to do with Batman and Robin, what is Chris Condon going to do on Green Arrow; it was more about that. 

Looking at everything in the Bat-line changing around; it was more about giving people an opportunity for a fresh start. But also, I didn’t want to change these teams, because they did have momentum. So let’s have everybody have a fresh moment to do something they’ve always wanted to do. You get to go to these creators and ask what have you always wanted to do on this book and have that conversation. Scott always likes to say, “take a big swing.” For me, it was Superman. I did look at it almost like I’m going into this as a new number one. How do I shape this new story? There was a passage of time between the event, that’s a bit of a spoiler, actually. There’s been a passage of time between Superman #18-19. What happened in that passage of time? I was able to relook at the book, and also Dan Mora was coming on, so I’m really going to treat this as if it was a number one, not just a number 19. We rethink the book, in a way. We’re gonna keep some of this stuff. The other things I really continued were certain subplots, but I had to really re-think it and look at it differently. 

MOC: As a seasoned veteran, it’s cool to hear you talk about giving other creators opportunities. What are you most excited about outside of your books?

Williamson: I’m very excited. I love Green Arrow. I felt it was my Little Engine That Could, where it was six issues, then it was 12 issues. Well, first, it was a one-shot. Now, it’s ongoing. Even the fact that I can leave it, I mean, leaving it doesn’t mean the book’s ending. I’m really excited for Chris Condon. I said “Here are my wishes for that book,” and that aligned with what he wanted to do. Because it’s still important to me. And obviously, Damian I’m gonna miss my little baby boy, but I’m happy that someone like Phillip is able to come in there and do that. Also, the closest to me are those two. I’m really excited about those. There’s a lot of other books that are coming in.

MOC: You mentioned that you decided,  how did you decide which books to give up?

Williamson: It’s always my choice. I try to navigate through a book, it’s always been my decision. I remember, in Chicago 2020, when I sat down with the editor at the time on Flash, and I was like, “So I’m gonna leave Flash in this issue,” and they were like “What? What’s happening?” I feel like I did it. I’m okay. That’s the end of the story. That’s how I felt even with Green Arrow. There was a part of me that wanted to leave Green Arrow with [issue] 12 because I felt that was the end of that story. But I’ve also set these pieces, so I’m gonna finalize those pieces for Green Arrow. This is the right time and also Batman and Robin was the same thing. I was burnt out. I mean, I’ve been pretty honest about this. Batman and Robin was hard because of writing Damian. I wrote that last issue a while ago, in the last year, it was emotional for me. I’m not gonna lie, it was hard. I don’t want the work to suffer. I was starting to feel like that was coming up on me, I can feel it in my bones. I had to figure something out here. I just gradually would email them, it wasn’t at the same time, I announced them at the same time. But I would say this is what I’m thinking, but also it was the right timing, because I saw that October was going to be this moment, so I think this is a good moment for me to step away.

MOC: Dan Mora on Superman. He’s kind of the fandom’s Jesus, he can draw anyone, can we talk about him a little more?

Williamson:  Yeah, he’s genius. His storytelling is great. I wanted to work with him for a long time. I actually wanted him to draw Flash, way back when we were doing another one of our new, fresh starts for Flash and there was a moment where I wanted him to do it. He does covers for it and it didn’t work out. So I’ve always wanted to work with him and I’ve kind of worked around him. He and I have talked, he sends designs for stuff, we’ve sort of worked with each other. Then I had dinner with him in New York and I pitched him what I was thinking for Superman. As I was pitching it to him, I was asking a question, what do you want? He was like, I don’t know, what do you want? That’s what I want. I was like, great, he’s said, I want to draw that. I’m really excited. Obviously to the Superwoman design and the other stuff that’s coming. It’s really cool. I’m very excited to work with him. I know he’s gonna super kill it; the stuff I’ve already seen from him. Obviously he’s like, one of the best.

We discussed a variety of other artists like Travis Moore, Daniel Warren Johnson and Jamal Campbell.

Williamson: I miss Jamal. Jamal is coming back for Superman [issues #16-18] right now. I was really glad we got to do three more issues together. Every time they come in, I’m just like that’s so good. 

Tackling Superman’s Relationships

MOC: Let’s talk Superwoman. This is our Lois Lane.

Williamson: This is in-continuity, editor-in-chief of The Daily Planet, Lois. We’re going to explain it. There was a whole thing about it, what it means, and how she got them [her powers]. It’s gonna be a whole thing, not a one-issue thing. That was the thing, when she was Superwoman in Superwoman (2016) #1, she died in that first issue. She had the powers for like a hot second. No, this is a story, there is some stuff that’s coming, it’s fun to write a husband and wife now in this moment. You get to enjoy it, but then Doomsday shows up and that’s a whole other problem. I don’t want to get into spoilers, but there’s something about Superman I’ve always found very fascinating about him and his relationship with people. Because really what the book is about, to me, is Superman’s relationships with people. Superman and Lois. Superman and Jimmy. Superman and Lex.There’s something very interesting about Superman and the relationships that I’ll explore that I haven’t really seen people explore a lot. You’ll see I get into it pretty pretty quickly in issue 19 and 20. There’s something really interesting about Superman that people don’t explore. That’s what I’ll say. 

MOC: We’ve been getting Doomsday teases for almost a year. You’ve been doing Doomsday, Brainiac, with Darkseid coming, Lex. Are you making your way through Superman’s rogues gallery? like that was important. Yeah. So yeah, I assume that was important. Why? Like, is there a reason why you wanted to?

Williamson: That was important to me. I love his villains. Batman always has this amazing rogues gallery. Everyone’s always talking about his gallery. I’m like Superman has a good one too, so we should explore that, add to it. That’s why I started creating new villains. Also I was looking at when [Brian Michael] Bendis was on the book, it was interesting. When Bendis was on Superman, he never played with any of them, he didn’t use Lex, he didn’t use Parasite, he didn’t use Silver Banshee or Livewire, he didn’t do Doomsday. He basically was in create-new-villain mode. That was great. I’m glad he did that. Then when Phillip [Kennedy Johnson] came on to Superman, he was in space. It was all Mongul for two years. 

When I was coming in, that’s why in the first three issues, there’s Lex, Livewire, Parasite. Let’s put them in there. I gotta move quickly and have as many of the villains as I can. That was part of it. When I first got the job, I made a list of every villain, every character, and I was like, “How do I move every character a step forward?” That’s what it was about. So Lobo, he was an antihero. Lobo gets a family right? What does that mean to him? They go on an adventure. Jimmy gets in a relationship with Silver Banshee. Livewire, she gets a new job. She’s working with The Daily Planet now. Parasite working at a SuperCorp. It was Brainiac, embracing the idea of needing a legacy and he’s this hoarder. Now he wants to create something, move him up. That’s what I’m doing with All In. Spoilers: Doomsday will have the same thing. Every character is gonna have some kind of step forward for them that you wouldn’t expect.

We also talked a little bit about Lex Luthor’s journey going forward without his knowledge and what that will mean for the entire Super-family.

Williamson: There’s some fun stuff coming and I’m curious to see how people think of it. Obviously the Lex story is ongoing with Lena, his memory got erased. He’s functioning, but his knowledge was erased. That’s a big story point of what do you do with this version? There’s a scene where he’s talking about what’s going on with Absolute Power. He’s with Lois and Jimmy and Silver Banshee and Mercy. They’re talking about his memory being gone and everything that’s going on, how Amanda Waller is and all this bad stuff.

There’s a moment where Lex says “I wish I was this person. I wish I was this man everyone thinks I am, but I’m not. I wish I could be this Lex. He really sounds like he was an amazing man.” There’s a silent beat. Then the next panel is Jimmy going yeah, anyway [Superman #17]. He doesn’t know, then Amanda Waller attacks. He hasn’t been able to settle in yet. It’s like Lena taking care of her dad. He hasn’t settled in and been like, “Wait a minute. What was Lex Luthor? You’re telling me I was what?” It’s gonna be good. The Lex story is ongoing. It’s not a quick thing. Lex is one of my favorites and that’ll be an important part of the book.

Check out the return of Jamal Campbell and stay tuned for Dan Mora joining in issue #19. DC’s All In initiative kicks off October 2024, with refreshed stories, new creative teams, and an Absolute Universe to dive into.