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

[Sacred Knight]

It was great. Yes I get the "Bendis-speak" now, but as I anticipated, it didn't bug me much, because I've read comics long enough that I've dealt with other writers with their own unique voices before. Its no big deal to me. But the art was lovely, it set up three intriguing plot lines, introduced another new character, and had Superman doing super things (how he put out the first was vintage, and him explaining it was shades of Jurgens' heyday). There was nothing I disliked.

Oh....LOIS HAS BLACK HAIR AGAIN. In fact when Melody was revealed to be a redhead, I told myself that I bet Lois would be back in black. No doubt my theory of the marriage and child somehow being blocked from Metropolis' memory is probably not true, considering Clark has their pic right out in the open. But nonetheless I like the way they're doing this, a couple panels at the end of each issue showing just what is going on. My guess still is that Jor-El is Johnny on the spot with Rogol on his way. Speaking of, Rogol is definitely looking like a fallen hero-type character, considering how much respect he's shown by the Circle.

[The Dying Detective]

BTW some Bendis comments today.

http://comicbook.com/dc/2018/05/30/b...fications-fro/

"That is a very important image for the DC Universe going forward," Bendis told ComicBook.com. "It's called The Circle, and what they've done over the years, and what Rogol's history with them is and how it connects to the uber history of the DC Universe, will play out going forward in Superman #1. It's this massive Superman epic that takes us our whole first year."

"Literally, by the end of the first year of Superman, the entire galactic mass of the DC universe is going to be shifted from what happened, and Superman is going to be right in the center of it," Bendis teased. "It's a very big story, and it touches the Green Lantern story, it touches Hawkworld, it touches every single corner of the DC universe, including parts we'll just be introducing."

So it looks like this is what Bendis was talking about when he said this https://twitter.com/BRIANMBENDIS/sta...59182608695296

"Big weekend! wrestled the first HUGE script for a big NEW @DCComics project. it took months. new characters, old characters. new worlds being built. old worlds being revisited for the first time in forever."

Sounds like Superman is getting a DC wide within this first year.

Hmm the last big stories Bendis did House of M and Civil War II weren't good for a lot reasons that make fans want to leap in and tear him apart but ambition is always attractive and this sounds way bigger than House of M and Civil War II so let's see how it goes over then shall because I find this very attractive.

[Sacred Knight]

Finally Superman gets to be the center of something DC-wide again. I don't NEED for that to be, I'd be perfectly content with Superman just being Superman in his own corner. But for so long its either been Batman or The Flash when DC does do these things. So its refreshing.

[JAK]

So far Rogol Zaar seems to be a revamp of Amalak (in the same way Nimrod was a revamp of Terra-Man). Nothing wrong with that - I love Amalak - but that's not I was referring to.
The most interesting point is that if Krypton is exactly what Bendis suggests it to be, it was basically an alien version of what the United States have been accused to be for decades - an imperialist nation which preyed upon the resources of weaker countries. This does not make Kryptonians inherently evil - maybe they just ignored the problems they created. And this sounds very allegoric to me. It reminds me of George Romero: in some of his later movies, he created an allegoric version of America which ignored the problems (the zombies) they created, and where rich people weren't interested in what blue-collar workers did.

This puts Superman in an interesting position from an ethical point of view, because: A- Rogol Zaar could be partly right in his claims and B- Superman could see some analogies between Krypton and the country which adopted him. And this could be an interesting moral challenge about Superman's place in the world.

We'll wait and see, but this run could be more political than everyone expected it to be - in a good, not heavy-handed way.

Yep, I caught all this, too. I've often seen Post-Crisis Krypton as very much an allegory and cautionary tale for Earth and the U.S., and this looks to be that on a whole other level.

[Kirby Krackle]

Rogal Zaar's design is slightly different from the one which appeared in AC 1000.

His face is half-burned now, sure. But in AC 1000 he also had sharped teeth and a snake-like mug.
The design in MOS 1 is the one which originally appeared on Ivan Reis' sketch covers and was later changed for the final version. Maybe they changed it back again.


http://insidepulse.com/wp-content/up...9406271628.jpg
http://insidepulse.com/wp-content/up...9403465584.jpg

The burned and scarred look could be his PRESENT self. The parts with him all took place in the past.

[Kuwagaton]

Rogal Zaar's design is slightly different from the one which appeared in AC 1000.

His face is half-burned now, sure. But in AC 1000 he also had sharped teeth and a snake-like mug.
The design in MOS 1 is the one which originally appeared on Ivan Reis' sketch covers and was later changed for the final version. Maybe they changed it back again.


http://insidepulse.com/wp-content/up...9406271628.jpg
http://insidepulse.com/wp-content/up...9403465584.jpg

Thanks for bringing that up. Very subtle switch over, in time I guess it will be forgotten. Before the fish-face, I actually thought he would be like The Cleric.

Rogol Zaar... well, I get it that he has a basic look high concept story, but I wouldn't say generic. There is such a strong 50/50 (like him being correct or delusional, or lying instead of being just fervent) that while someone can be totally right about him, they could also be just as wrong. For now I'm just glad that he isn't generic enough to speak like an "eat your bones" alien meathead guy.

But nonetheless I like the way they're doing this, a couple panels at the end of each issue showing just what is going on. My guess still is that Jor-El is Johnny on the spot with Rogol on his way. Speaking of, Rogol is definitely looking like a fallen hero-type character, considering how much respect he's shown by the Circle.

It's interesting considering the Guardians, who spoke to him, tend to act like buttheads to people. Even Superman on a few occasions. And whether they're right or not, Rogol is not caring at all about going against all those cosmic dudes' rulings. He must be pretty tough if he's that confident. Must be, if while Superman is busy out there air conditioning young children, he's like Roberto from Futurama.

[Myskin]

The burned and scarred look could be his PRESENT self. The parts with him all took place in the past.

I agree. What I meant is that, even if the scars maybe come from an incident while fighting kryptonians (or something along those lines), the snake-like mug and the fangs just belong to a slightly different look.

[KC]

I think this was a good start. The writing was distinctly Bendis, but it was the good Bendis.

I actually like how Rogol Zaar was introduced in this story. He felt like a sympathetic villain who will have a good reason for crossing with Superman, which is what I want from a villain.

[Kirby Krackle]

I agree. What I meant is that, even if the scars maybe come from an incident while fighting kryptonians (or something along those lines), the snake-like mug and the fangs just belong to a slightly different look.

Ooooh. Yeah, good catch. I didn't notice that either.

[Sacred Knight]

I'm hoping that the arson plot isn't Backdraft though and we find out Melody is actually the arsonist. Superman needs some more true blue friends in Metropolis.

On the other hand though, it wouldn't entirely surprise me to paint Melody as good, and Robinson as rather abrasive and untrustworthy only to show to pull a switcheroo in that regard.

[RepHope]

I'm hoping that the arson plot isn't Backdraft though and we find out Melody is actually the arsonist. Superman needs some more true blue friends in Metropolis.

On the other hand though, it wouldn't entirely surprise me to paint Melody as good, and Robinson as rather abrasive and untrustworthy only to show to pull a switcheroo in that regard.

I’m hoping Maggie Sawyer and the MSCU show up. The Metropolis Police Department is extremely undercharacterized, I couldn’t even tell you who the current Metropolis Police Commissioner is. I hope Turpin and Bibo show up as well, it’s been too long since we got to see Metropolis citizens play a role in Superman stories.

[Superlad93]

For anyone wondering, the song Superman couldn't remember was Siouxsie And The Banshees - The Passenger. Bendis confirmation https://twitter.com/BRIANMBENDIS/sta...31713918844928

He says it'd be playing at the end credits of the comic. That seems suggestive of something interesting given the ending.

[Sam]

My guess is that Jon's growth spurt is to give Bendis an excuse to redesign his costume. My fear though is that Bendis might be aging up Jon, which would suck, since he works so well as a ten-year old and we have enough teenage superheroes as it is, but I'm thinking it's probably just a reason to give him a makeover.

[Denirac]

Wow. So far two pages in and people seem to be unanimously positive. I'm curious if those who were weary of Bendis and this run have read this issue and what they think.

This Bendis reminds me more of the guy who wrote Ultimate Spiderman all those years ago.

As someone who is Very Weary of Bendis, I read this twice, and then came back and read it again later to see what my thoughts were with a fresh mindset.

I’ll give him credit. Its great so far and I can tell he really loves the character but I’m still very weary of the name Bendis.

[JasonTodd428]

Wow. So far two pages in and people seem to be unanimously positive. I'm curious if those who were weary of Bendis and this run have read this issue and what they think.

This Bendis reminds me more of the guy who wrote Ultimate Spiderman all those years ago.

As one who is weary of Bendis and this run I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the issue. IF Bendis can manage this type of quality writing for all of his run then I'll be a very happy camper. I'm still weary mind you (one good issue doesn't cancel out all the bad he did at Marvel though it is a step in the right direction) but this was a very decent start and this issue was much less clunky than his other two shorter stories were, which was something I was very happy to see. Now I'm just going to see where this goes.

(Also in case anyone is interested I bought this issue sooner than intended because of the positive things people were saying in this post about it.)