The Man of Steel is getting a new status quo this winter kicking off DC's 2023-long Dawn of DC editorial initiative, but the reunited writer-artist creative team of the Eisner Award-nominated Deathstroke series Christopher Priest and Carlo Pagulayan (with Jason Paz) will explore an even newer Superman status quo in Superman: Lost. A 10-issue limited series that DC is calling a blockbuster and part of the character's 85th-anniversary celebration, Superman: Lost launches in March.
The "self-contained" series (which seems to mean it takes place outside current-day DC continuity) tells the story of a Superman who has been lost in space for 20 years of his time, but returns to Earth just minutes after he left as far as Lois Lane and Batman are concerned, and how his "odyssey of solitude" impacts his relationship with Lois.
"After Superman is called away on a routine Justice League mission, Lois Lane awakens to find a complete stranger standing in her living room," reads DC's description of the series.
"Nothing and no one seem familiar to him anymore, and the timeless bond between them has been severed...or has it? Can love conquer all?"
As a six-page preview DC released (below) indicates, while Superman does appear flustered by his return home, he doesn't appear to be a "complete stranger" and does remember Lois and understand his and her predicament.
Astute Superman readers may also notice there doesn't seem to be a mention of Jon, Lois and Clark's son in main Superman continuity, in the scene.
"Superman: Lost has been several years in the making and it's been incredibly difficult for me to keep quiet about this," says Priest. "I am absolutely delighted to be reunited with my Deathstroke team as we explore the emotional toll a tragic loss exacts. A man of steel, from an alien species, is ultimately the most human among us. And finding his way home is only the beginning."
DC has let members of the press read the first three issues, and while we can't provide spoilers, we can tell you the opening chapters mainly deal with Superman's strange 20-year journey in deep space and are interspersed with brief scenes of him struggling to return to life on Earth, a part of the story that appears will be emphasized in later issues.
Superman: Lost #1, with a cover and a foil variant by Pagulayan and Paz and variant covers by Joe Quesada and Lee Weeks, goes on sale March 14.
Look for DC's full March 2023 solicitations later in December.
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