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[QUOTE=TheNewFiftyForum;3731220]For what it's worth, Bendis has outright said that he'll be giving Luthor a rest for his first stories, but I guess we'll see. Anyway, I'm still enjoying the arsonist plot, as it's a high stakes mystery that still managed to feel personal to Clark Kent, but Bendis decompressed writing is starting to get to me. The main plot is moving at a snail's pace.[/QUOTE]
Its definitely moving slow, but the entire thing is still basically a prologue and its weekly. Action #1000 being just a peek at the middle of said prologue. So I'm fine with the pace. Once we get back to Action/Superman and it goes monthly again, I would hope the pace changes though, definitely.
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I think it's pretty optimized for re reading. In full, it won't be so dense that going back for a reference will be a chore, but there will be enough conent so that when a subplot explodes you may actually want to. In general, I'm happy that we don't seem to be wasting full pages on splashes without any captions to move the plot forward.
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[QUOTE=HeroVladimir93;3724012]Once again, somebody breaks into the Fortress of Solitude. How many people have done that in these past few years? Vandal Savage, Zod and his Revenge Squad, Tim Drake/Savior, old Lex Luthor and now Rogol Zaar. You'd think Superman would try to develop better security systems. If Arkham Asylum is the easiest place in the DCU to break out of, then the Fortress is the easiest place to break into.
I like how upset and depressed Superman feels about Kandor's destruction. His reaction is that of a person seeing a very valuable family souvenir being destroyed. To make matters worse, Superman knew every Kandorian by name. It's gonna be very difficult to make Rogol a sympathetic character after that stunt.
Again, there is still no answer to where Lois and Jon currently are, but we get to see the silhouette of a mysterious man. Maybe it's Lex, maybe it's Mr. Oz or someone else entirely.
So far, Bendis is doing a good job at building up dramatic tension and every issue I've read leaves me more anxious for the next.[/QUOTE]
I'd say move it to the Moon... but Earth doesn't have a Moon any longer.
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[QUOTE=manofsteel1979;3724337]I don't think all the Kandorians are gone. However it's likely their numbers are greatly diminished. My guess is that we will eventually find out a few made it out via some contingency plan the Kandorians had in place that not even Clark knew of.[/QUOTE]
How quickly would they gain powers once the dome maintaining Kryptonian conditions was shattered? If it's quickly enough, a substantial number could have zipped out as sub-gnat size supersonic fugitives.
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Yeah I can't see all the Kandorians being dead
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My favourite issue yet.
Also the most Bendis issue yet.
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[QUOTE=jackolover;3728047]One of the things I identified about Bendis’ Jewishness is that it could penetrate the Marvel culture, by reflecting the Jewish experience of being vulnerable and powerless in many situations. It showed up in Marvels Bendis era, as a theme of gradual betrayal by society, and shows up in DC with the betrayal of Rogol Zaar with how Supermans invulnerability is being dismantled here.[/QUOTE]
Bendis is far from the first Jew to play a prominent role at DC, you know, or even to address concepts of alienation and political conflict. Kirby's New Gods mythos still provides much of the lifeblood of the contemporary DCU (and DCEU too).
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Issue 4 was quite a thrill. Loads of action and feats...and we get to see the angrier side of Clark which we may have more of next issue given the cliffhanger
As spoiled by Bendis on social media months ago, the visitor is revealed to be Jor-El. Lois has a pretty snappy retort to his arrival ("I could tell you were his father, he doesn't know how to knock either"), Jor-El says he's come for the boy, leading to quite the dumb exchange ("Which boy?" "This boy?" "[U]Me[/U] Boy?"):p
It's also established here that Clark [I]does[/I] have a means of communicating with Jon and Jor-El via the crystals in the fortress..or rather did until Zarr showed up
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It was an okay issue, but there were some problems.
Why did Jor-El act like this was the first time meeting the family? Jon also seemed kind of confused be him. The "son/boy" exchange was very awkward (the whole page really) and felt like a parody of Bendis Speak, which hasn't been a thing in this book until now. Another thing that stuck out to me was that Hal said this was his sector... which hasn't been true for years. It's Simon and Jess. Hal doesn't even have a designated sector. I'm slightly scared Bendis is doing the "meh" to continuity he's become known for.
Anyway. Not the greatest issue, but the worst of what's been a solid series.
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Very strong and surprisingly dynamic action oriented issue right here. Here are a few points I noticed and liked.
* Zaar's hunter motif not just ending at has clothes and weaponry. Dude's a legit hunter that can out maneuver Superman and Supergirl via "techniques and alien tech" that even Superman hasn't seen before.
* Zaar's tactics basically making it so Clark couldn't use 85.5% of his power to fight an opponent that's powered by the sun.
* So Bendis is really playing with my emotions here with this unprompted Jimmy respect and recognition. I've been hurt too many times before. I don't wanna believe...
* Zaar is powered by the sun too (and possibly his staff). Reminds me of Young Justice's (TV) version of Mongul.
* Loved "okay, let's play Batman." Clark formulating a counter strategy while and deducing his opponent's flaws was great.
* Clark's head wasn't in the game. Even though he was keeping his emotions mostly in check over Kandor, his mind couldn't help but wander to his family, and that cost him. Good stuff. Not incompetent just a guy. Also dug how his thought of Lois and Jon leaked into present day when he told Kara to get behind him.
* Hal literally being a cop but from space is the best. Then Clark actually giving a statement to Hal, the cop, was also great. The inter-splicing of Clark's first person POV with his statement to officer Jordan is great. But the greatest part about that is Clark Kent basically telling a space cop that he was just the victim of a hate crime, and seeing him work through it in his facial expressions.
* Really, really liked the point of the issue being to get Clark to his boiling point, and how that contrasted between him and Kara. Kara was already (very understandably) very worked up at the start because she was there for Krypton, like we all know, so Kandor hit's doubly hard. Zaar was looking or Clark's button, and he finds it when he talks about Lois and Jon. The proceeding effect is Clark, now out of a city, at 100% as illustrated by the beautiful solar flare. Again, the change in expressions are masterful. Still don't agree with the power, but I dug the thematic use here a lot.
* Truth time: I'm very guilty of chuckling at "which boy? This boy? Me boy?" It was such a "I know dude not talkin' bout MY son" moment that I found really endearing.
* I'm also weirdly cool with this whole "aw man, crazy grandpa Jor-El has teleported into the kitchen again" feel that Clark's "this is really inappropriate, father" line suggest. Like, all the tension gets cut because it's just Clark's long lost, not-dead father popping over unannounced. Such is the life of Lois and Clark.
All this art is freakin fire, bro.
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Its the editors job to make those corrections but for some reason they always just let Bendis do whatever he wants.
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[QUOTE=Kirby Krackle;3738058]Why did Jor-El act like this was the first time meeting the family? [/QUOTE]
My only real hang up, but I forgave it because
1) Jurgens and Tomasi have so drastically changed the recognized story, look, and continuity around Jor-El that I feel like it's pretty fair for a new creative team to feel like they have to reintroduce him for a new run.
2) Bendis seems like he's playing Jor-El as a bit of a larger than life coot who speaks in a very heightened manner.
That's basically why I personally let it slide. Not the same for everyone though
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Another quick note: This is also the second time a character in Man of Steel has casually brought up the multiverse like it's just another day in the DCU. Sign me waaaaay the hell up for more of this. Is Bendis toying with the idea of playing with other Earths down the line in this run?
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So two possibilities happen, Clark lets Jon go with Jor-El, Lois is angry at him and leaves him or/and quits working at the Daily Planet so as not to be around him, or quits the Planet for the same reason and stays home giving him the cold shoulder.
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That would explain why Clark really lost it when Zarr asked if he'd procreated, he's remembering what he had with Lois and the thought of never having that love again.
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[QUOTE=Miles To Go;3738091]So two possibilities happen, Clark lets Jon go with Jor-El, Lois is angry at him and leaves him or/and quits working at the Daily Planet so as not to be around him, or quits the Planet for the same reason and stays home giving him the cold shoulder.
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That would explain why Clark really lost it when Zarr asked if he'd procreated, he's remembering what he had with Lois and the thought of never having that love again.[/QUOTE]
Except the panels Bendis showed that Clark was reluctant to let Jon go with Jor-El it can't be anything like that.
