Tales from the $3.99 Bin! - The Man of Steel (the Bendis Version)

Before I get to “The Truth”, I wanted to start at the beginning with Brian Michael Bendis’s run with Superman. I just found out yesterday that his run on Action and Superman will be ending. A lot is going on at DC these days, and this is just another one. I’ll have to read both Action Comics and Superman again, but his run is okay. I know it’s considered to be mixed with some folk, and I can’t blame them. It’s Bendis, after all.

BMB started his time with DC Comics with 2018’s The Man of Steel. Not only did he bring back the trunks (you can find my opinion here), he also brought in a new enemy to face the Man of Tomorrow. Bendis was joined with a variety of artists for these six issues. We had Ivan Reis, Jason Fabok, Doc Shaner, Steve Rude, Ryan Sook, Kevin Maguire, and Adam Hughes doing artwork. Ivan Reis also did all six awesome covers.

Ivan Reis is one of the best artists out there.

The Man of Steel pretty much sets up everything for Bendis’ run with the character. We start out with Superman doing his thing in Metropolis. Lois and Jon are mysteriously gone, and we don’t learn until the end what’s happened to them. A series of arsons have wrecked Metropolis. It’s unknown what’s started them, and it even stumps Superman and Batman (he guest stars for a bit). As for Clark’s mild-mannered life, folk are wondering where Lois has gone. The Daily Planet has even been bought out by some mysterious person. Also, a new reporter named Robinson Goode is trying to get Lois’s job.

Things come to a head when Rogol Zaar, an alien who has hatred for Krypton, learns about Superman. He heads to Earth and finds the Fortress. Superman hears this and rushes off. He and  Supergirl end up finding the Fortress damaged… and the bottle city of Kandor destroyed. Angered and determined, Clark and Kara search for Rogol Zaar, and face off against him in Metropolis. It’s a vicious fight that leaves both Supers down for the count. Superman then faces off against Zaar and takes it to the Moon. Again, Zaar beats Superman into submission and even says that he’s the one who destroyed Krypton.

You know it's bad when you got Superman in tears.

Kara and the Justice League find him and nurse him back to health. After some time, Clark realizes that Zaar isn’t just going to kill them, he’s also going to wipe out the Earth itself. Superman finds Zaar at the Earth’s core with a device that’ll blow it up. With the help of Kara, he’s able to save the Earth and get Zaar trapped in the Phantom Zone. In the end, Clark, Kara, and the League hold a memorial for the fallen Kandorians. We find out that Lois and Jon went into space with Jor-El (the evil, Dr. Manhattan-ized version). We also get an idea that the arsons in Metropolis might be Superman’s fault.

OPINION

So, what did I think of Bendis’s first go-around with Kal-El of Krypton? While it’s not great, I did think it was pretty good. The thing that works the most with this story (and with the run in general) is Superman himself. In my opinion, Bendis gets who Superman is. He’s a protector, a friend, a journalist, a husband, and a father. We end up seeing all of that on display here, and it is good. We see him get put through the wringer physically and emotionally.

I also liked how Bendis handled the Daily Planet. If there’s one thing that carries over here, it’s how well the Daily Planet and Clark’s co-workers are handled here. I also liked the new characters he introduces here. He even handles other heroes like the Justice League and Supergirl pretty well. While I’m not the biggest fan of what happens to Lois and Jon (Superboy) here, I did think those scenes were good. If only “Evil Jor-El” wasn’t around, but I can’t blame Bendis for that (stares at Geoff Johns).

This new, evil Jor-El gives the A.I Jor-El from Smallville a run for his money.

The artwork  is pretty much good all around. We get good stuff in each issue. It’d be tough to say who was the best. I’d probably say that the MVPs here were Ivan Reis and Jason Fabok, two of my favorite current artists in comics. While I’m not too happy to see the trunks return, I liked what they’ve done with the suit. I like how Reis does the trunks by making them stylized. The action rocked from beginning to end. I also thought the emotional moments were handled pretty well. I have no issues with the artwork as a whole.

This page of Perry stressing over the Planet was pretty cool.

As for things I don’t like, I did think Rogol Zaar was a little lame. “Ooo! We got a new threat that’s destroyed Krypton!” We’ve seen this before, and it’s been handled a little better. We don’t get much motive behind Zaar… though I could be dragging what happens to the character in the Superman books later. As I said above, I wasn’t too much of a fan of what happens to Lois and Jon here especially since it gets weirder after this. Finally, some of the dialogue could be a bit off. Bendis is like this in general, but I think it hit differently because he’s now writing Superman, not a created character of his.

Hal being blown off by Clark... quite nice. Take that, Johns!

Other than the issues (and some nitpicks) I had, I did think that this was a nice story in the end. It started off an interesting time for Superman. It also ended that nice Rebirth run, which is why I think most folk weren’t happy about Bendis coming to Superman. I’m kinda one of them, but his run wasn’t too bad. I don’t know what I’ll say about the next post though. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.