World Without A Superman?

[UPDATE: It seems I was righter than I knew when I initially wrote this post. Check here.]

OK, let's get this out of the way first...this is really stupid, and insane, and is just a glorified conspiracy theory. And I don't really believe it.

But.

Once I get one of these thought in my head, I just can't get it out. So I'm going to try to think this through here, publicly. Doubtless this will result in great humiliation. But there you go.

So what's the bug up my butt today? The...unusual...way DC has dealt with the Superman franchise lately. Now, everything I'm about to mention has a perfectly logical and reasonable explanation. But taken all together, you can't help but think that there's a reason the DC Universe has become a world without Superman...

First is the way they yanked the plug on the next Superman movie, and announced a new "creative guide" without announcing any actual writers or directors. Now, this is nothing new, as DC/Warner has played the start and stop game with most of the potential movie versions of their franchises for a few years now. Still, given Warner's announcement that they were going to do a tentpole DC hero movie every summer, it's hard to figure why Superman is suddenly at the back of the line, behind Green Lantern and Flash and...

And then there is Geoff Johns, who was touted as eagerly looking forward to collaborating with James Robinson on the Superman titles, and writing the Superboy series for Adventure Comics. Then, suddenly, not so much--after Johns finishes the Secret Origin Of Superman series, it looks as there won't be any Supers, Man or Boy, on his docket. Again, nothing strange about that--Johns' new responsibilities meant less writing for him, right? And suddenly no continuing series for Superboy...but he'll be in Teen Titans or something, right?

And Superman is absent from the Justice League...but then again so are a lot of the big guns just now. So no biggie, right?

And Superman had nothing more than a glorified cameo in Blackest Night, and looks to be completely absent from Brightest Day. Well, that doesn't mean anything, does it? Supes did feature very prominently in Final Crisis and Trinity, after all, and he can't be the star of everything, can he?

Then we have over a year when Superman doesn't appear in Action Comics or in the eponymous Superman. Which is kind of crazy. Sure, it's a good opportunity to play up the other residents of Metropolis and all during Superman's absence. But contrast with Batman--we've actually had an INCREASE in the number of Batman titles during Bruce Wayne's "death," and they all actually star Batman--sure, it's a different Batman, but they're still marketing the character, not hiding him, like they are with Superman!!

And yes, Superman is appearing in a series, but note that his name in the logo is noticeably smaller than the title World Of New Krypton, and for most of the series he doesn't even appear in the Big S costume. And his big "crossover" is entirely self-contained in his own books...no real contact with the rest of DC's heroes.

And when that's over? The Guggenheim Cornell run on Action looks like it will be entirely about Lex Luthor on a "greatest hits tour" around the DC Universe...the solicits for the first two stories don't even mention Superman. (Maybe that's why Guggenheim left...because he found out that he couldn't use Superman??). Still, Superman will return to being about Superman, even if it is written by JMS.

Perfectly acceptable and reasonable answers to each point. But when you pull back, at look at the whole picture, my twisted brain sees another picture.

Because to me, it sure looks like DC is trying to marginalize Superman in their universe, to get us used to the Big Red S not being a part of everyday goings on in the DC Universe.

Why? Again, I emphasize that I have absolutely no insider knowledge whatsoever, not to mention that I'm no lawyer.

But you know what I think? I think that DC/Warner is fairly certain that they're going to lose big in the lawsuit, and they're not going to be able to license him back. And they're trying to wean the DC Universe off of him; to get the fans ready for the day when he's gone. That's why we're getting Action Comics without Superman, and events without Superman, and a "new world order" in the DCU that doesn't include Superman, and the Superman movie way on the back burner behind other, far less well-known heroes, and big writers bailing on chances to write him, and...

Hey, I could be wrong. More than likely, I am wrong. But really, what other explanation makes sense of the way DC has pushed Superman away from the rest of the DCU for the past year?

And if I'm right? Get ready to see a lot less Kal-El in the near future...