MAN OF STEEL (2018) Event mini-series Discussion thread (SPOILERS)

[Miles To Go]

I may have missed something, but I don't recall Bendis saying specifically that the Lois and Jon stuff would last a year, just that the overall storyline that began in MOS #1 would have ramifications that will be built up over the year.
That may include Lois and Jon and that situation, but so far he's not really said anything concrete other than he loves writing them.

It's possible I might have misread it, he said something to the extent of "over the course of the year, they'll be twists and turns, but we'll prove to everyone we care about the family"

[The Dying Detective]

It's possible I might have misread it, he said something to the extent of "over the course of the year, they'll be twists and turns, but we'll prove to everyone we care about the family"

It's vague but it's possible in context interpretation may mean that once Man of Steel ends there maybe new challenges waiting for the Kent family allowing Bendis room to write the new dynamic that he wants to write. Though admittedly Tomasi was already writing a similar not an ordinary family dynamic just more simple as they mainly had to deal with the weirdness that comes from their ties together will link them to trouble.

[RepHope]

I really like For Tomorrow, it hits all the big moments a Superman epic should have. But seriously for the life of me, I barely remember the original villains from For Tomorrow or Snyder's Superman mini?!? The Johns run I am talking about is from his short run with New 52 Superman. I can picture him more clearly than Snyder or Azzarello's bad guys.

I think Bendis will have and does have a pretty solid take on Superman/Clark Kent. For me, Bendis has 3 flat out classic books: Ultimate Spiderman, Powers, and his Daredevil run. With Powers, the main character is a Superman type, (well every Superhero in history actually, Powers is great!).

I like the sweep of the issue, there was a big rescue, time at the planet, a mystery, Krypton stuff. It feels like Bendis is jazzed to play in the Superman sand box.

Johns was Ulysseus. He was decent in that he had the hook of his planet dying because of Supes, and we know he’s still canon.

[Robotman]

No, it's never been a thing before... but it makes perfect sense. It might not even be true, but any criminals would probably say these things to other criminals just to be "safe" - especially if they're trying to hide out, which is what Firefly was trying to do.

I didn't see anything, either, but you could very well be right!

I don't think Krypton exploded all *that* long ago, because Superman would be a lot older than he is, if that's the case. As for Rogol, I think that his problems with Krypton that we've seen so far are likely just the start. He may have a run-in with Zod that's dictated by (or not refused by) the High Council / Council of Elders against him personally that leaves him to set things in motion that destroy Krypton - or at the very least lead him to swear (in front of Jor-El, somehow) that he'll "kill every Kryptonian in existence for this!!" - that kinda thing.

Criminals having to watch what they say is nothing new. The mafia basically invented a new language when discussing their crimes because they knew the feds may be listening in. I loved the dichotomy of Superman doing an omniscient godlike feat by listening in on the whole city but at the same time trying to remember the name of a Iggy Pop/siouxsie and the Banshees song. What Superman was doing was kinda scary in a “Big Brother” sort of way but Bendis handled it really well.

[Dataweaver]

As I haven't read the entire thread, it's possible someone may have already mentioned this. But I'll mention it anyway, in case no one else has.

I think the villain is Hitler. Not literally, of course; but also not in the “generic reference to evil” sense. If Bendis is presenting Superman as figuratively Jewish, then this villain is a genocidal anti-semite who committed the unspeakable atrocity of nearly wiping out an entire people because he hated and feared them.

[titansupes]

As I haven't read the entire thread, it's possible someone may have already mentioned this. But I'll mention it anyway, in case no one else has.

I think the villain is Hitler. Not literally, of course; but also not in the “generic reference to evil” sense. If Bendis is presenting Superman as figuratively Jewish, then this villain is a genocidal anti-semite who committed the unspeakable atrocity of nearly wiping out an entire people because he hated and feared them.

I've been thinking this since Bendis's very first interview, when he was talking about Superman's Jewish roots and hinted at the whole "a new villain destroyed Krypton" thing. If he pulls it off really well, it would make that less generic/more palatable to me (I much prefer Krypton dying due to natural causes/the Science Council's arrogance and complacency. Maybe there's a way to still work the latter in, if the SC doesn't take Rogol's threat seriously in spite of Jor-El's warnings).

[bat39]

Had been off the Superman books for a while. Came in for #1000 and am mostly staying for the MOS mini at least.

This issue feels like a distinctly Bendis story, albeit well-adapted to Superman's world. We have a bit of a non-linear narrative, a mystery, the hero interacting with civilian characters etc. all of which feel like any number of Bendis' Marvel works, particularly Daredevil. At the same time, this is distinctly a Superman story, dealing with Kryptonian history, Superman performing amazing feats to save the day, Clark at the Daily Planet, Clark with Lois and Job, and so on.

Rogol Zarr is a far more intriguing character here than in the 'prologue' in #1000. He seems to be some kind of war hero or hero of yesteryear. It'd be interesting to see Superman take on someone who basically was a 'superhero' of sorts and considers himself the hero fighting Kryptonian 'supervillains'.

On the whole, a great start to the story and a fresh new perspective on the character.

[kilderkin]

Can't say I like the proposed change in the krypton destruction back story

Not sure about the idea of Lois and John being off the board but that is still unclear so who knows yet

Loved the art

Liked the voice for each character

loved the idea of superman listening for trigger words

Thought it was a solid if not fantastic start, how Bendis changes backstory and status quo will dictate if I stay with him as writer or not, I saw this as a good time to leave the superman books which I have loved since rebirth,

I love Bendis writing his own creations but more often than not I think he's rather harmful to things he takes over, imo

I'm on board for now, some of the parallels to real world things hadn't occurred to me and I'm not normally keen on that being too present in my hero fiction irrelevant to what it is , but that's early days

decent start, I'll stick with it for now but this mini will convince me to drop or not depending on the family status quo and backstory changes suggested

[Krypto's Fleas]

Anyone taking bets that Rogol Zaar was somehow behind Doomsday?

[DragonPiece]

Anyone taking bets that Rogol Zaar was somehow behind Doomsday?

I know some of us considered that when the man of steel 5 cover with superman being killed by doomsday was revealed. Would have to be a lot of retcons from Jurgen's origins of the character.

[Krypto's Fleas]

I know some of us considered that when the man of steel 5 cover with superman being killed by doomsday was revealed. Would have to be a lot of retcons from Jurgen's origins of the character.

Remind me again how Doomsday was somehow buried deep in the earth?

[Sacred Knight]

Anyone taking bets that Rogol Zaar was somehow behind Doomsday?

I've been thinking this from the start. The mere fact he hasn't struck until now suggests that after Krypton's destruction he is punished and incarcerated by the Circle, of which he's only recently been released/escaped. The idea that since he couldn't do it himself earlier, that he somehow arranged for Doomsday to finish the job for him would make some sense.

[jackolover]

Remind me again how Doomsday was somehow buried deep in the earth?

Apparently Doomsday was found out in space by some race, tied up and flung away. Doomsday was supposed to have hit Earth only a few days or weeks before the Doomsday Event. Doomsday punched his way out of his bindings, then punched his way out of his deep Earth tomb to escape.

[jackolover]

Anyone taking bets that Rogol Zaar was somehow behind Doomsday?

Not me. The story goes that a Kryptonian scientist experimented on a Kryptonian baby over years and the experiment went bad. The scientist was shocked that his test subject went wild, and the scientist was killed. It didn’t seem like Doomsday was supposed to kill Kryptonians, just that a cruel scientist created his worst nightmare.

But it does tell you there were more evil Kryptonians than General Zod, and that was a shock considering the inert Kryptonians seemed more dumb than evil for letting themselves die in the face overwhelming evidence the place was going to be destroyed.

[Sacred Knight]

Bear in mind, the suggestion he had something to do with Doomsday would of course necessitate a retconning to some degree.