Superman #1
DC Comics
Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Art by: Ivan Reis
Ink by: Joe Prado
Colors by: Alex Sinclair
Letters by: Josh Reed
Superman tries to find a way to his family who have been taken on by his father Jor-El, across the galaxy. While dealing with the loss of his wife and son, he must also rebuild the Fortress of Solitude, after it was destroyed by Rogol Zaar.
I admit when I heard Lois Lane and Jonathan Kent were being written out of the Superman series I was a little worried. As excited as everyone was to see Brian Michael Bendis take on the man of steel, Clark’s family is now an integral part of his character, and losing them would surely hurt. But so far, this first issue only highlighted the importance of their return. The run is off to a solid start and the three different plot points we’ve been presented with are really interesting.
Clark’s only form of communication with his family has been destroyed by Rogol Zaar, so starting the issue with Superman searching the galaxy for them really drove home Clark’s desperation to reunite with his loved ones. They weren’t just shrugged off, which I was happy to see and hope it continues. The Justice League cameos were handled incredibly well except for one, which I’ll get to in the negatives. I love the voice Bendis has given Superman, it calls back to the character we all grew up loving. The Rebirth relaunch brought some of that feeling back but Bendis has him down pitch perfect.
Ivan Reis is a superstar so it should come as no surprise to anyone that he did an amazing job with this issue. He had sizable runs on Aquaman and Justice League so I’m hoping he sticks around for a bit. Some of my favorite pages were when Superman would continue to interrupt a conversation he was having to go save people, leading to iconic images of his heroics. Alex Sinclair returned to do colors, not only keeping it continuity between the Man of Steel mini and this series but also doing an incredible job all around. Loved the artwork quite a bit.
Though Clark’s voice has been perfection, Jonathan and Martian Manhunter felt totally off. Jon simply has a new personality, it’s very entertaining to read but this Superboy doesn’t sync up with the one who teams up with Robin in Super Sons. He’s more confident and quick to talk back to his father. He was a sweet kid who truly felt like the son of Superman, but he has felt a little bratty in these issues written by Bendis. The Martian Manhunter sequence had some great heroic sequences, but J’onn begging Clark take on a leadership role came out of nowhere. I suspect there is more at play here like maybe it was more a test, but it was still an awkward talk between two friends. The reason for meeting in itself was odd, yet everyone moves on like normal.
This issue had some weird moments, some of which may be explained in later issues, but it was also a lot of fun. The ending was a great cliffhanger, but I was already sold on everything going on. There is so much to enjoy here, but more importantly, it has brought excitement back to the Superman series. Something that I feel has been missing for years now.