Superman#1 Discussion and Spoilers

[Flash Gordon]

No corpse, no death. It's how the Joker stays alive.

Yeah for sure.

I mean the Dominators were also begining a war march on the Earth. A LOT of people were saved by Superman knocking those WARships to kingdom come. Hundreds upon thousands, likely.

I don't know, I think Superman is justified in halting an invasion. Reis made sure to show that the Dominators were wearing their little space suits and floating around, too. It was a really cool bit IMO.

[Johnny Thunders!]

The Martian Manhunter can't keep up with the work level that Superman has. Plus, there was a lot of fire.

"This is a job for Superman!"

[Celgress]

Another solid issue for a title. What a great week for comics.

[Scott Taylor]

Very pleased with this issue.

I enjoyed the the central idea Bendis hangs the issue's story around around: can and should Superman do more? The meat of the issue is mainly a singular conversation, and as a way of introducing a central idea going forward, and giving you a sense of what Superman is currently about, it works fantastically. Using the breaks in conversation to give a new reader the long and short of Superman while also sort of proving MM and Jor-El's point: Superman is reactionary. That's the argument here, and it's done quite well without actually picking a side as correct. It just is what's currently happening. Smart stuff.

Now that I've read the issue, and have listened to the Word Balloon interview, I feel pretty confident in saying HOLY SH!T I THINK BENDIS IS GOING TO START THE UNITED PLANETS!! Johns (and forgive me if it came up before Johns) established that Superman was directly instrumental in forming what is by the 30th century known as The United Planets, and Bendis has been very transparent about his love for the Legion, and his want to funnel some of that world building back into Superman. Plus, this would seem to be fall in line with those mysterious Doomsday Clock links he teased on Word Balloon. I even just learned that the capital of the United Planets is Metropolis. Are we seeing that built today? Earth officially entering the galactic conversation. Nice.

Other than that big chuck, I really enjoyed the Lois and Jon flashbacks. Bendis retroactively sowing the seeds of Jon's leaving only to turn it on its head by the end with a punchline. "Kid, I love you, you're going to school" met by "I know" is hilariously accurate lol The Fortress scene was great, and so was Hal listing off all the craziness that used to be in it, but probably the best bit was Clark writing up a whole article.....but then deleting it because he knows it's just ego is the best.

Put probably the most paramount, crazy importing, holy-crap-people-can-we-talk-about-this subject in the issue was........did...did...Superman just punch out a gorilla (possibly caveman) wearing a space suit on the moon? I'm very okay with this life choice, Superman.

Lol I loved every word of this post.

[kilderkin]

Liked this a lot

Nice moment when kal repays "take" very superman in that response for me

Last double page was a very Bendis moment, the text paced in typical fashion, which I find jarring still

But I liked this

Really like the paper of the book too

[JAK]

He only really used a breathing apparatus as back up (like how Kara's new costume is being described) and it actually worked against him way back in 1989, so he has only used it once or twice since.

The whole "searching for lost family" thing I guess we can sum up as bringing him down to Earth and making him a sympathetic, if mopey, character. I can see why it seems like a grating twist. Searching around like a lovable goofball gets us to relate to him, though, and since he can determine a voyage path 746 millions miles out and has super speed, I don't think it's all that foolish for him to keep trying.

It doesn't strike me as "mopey" though - he's understandably distraught and wanting to *do* something. Mopey would be him spending several pages at home doing nothing but talking about how he can't find them and there's nothing he can do. We get pages of him trying something to find them and realizing he should be back on Earth, and two single pages of parts of his day thinking about moments with them. But he's still determined, and still active. That still strikes me as a different animal than when they were doing it in the 2006-ish or so time.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees the tilt towards the Bronze Age in scope and overall feel. I got that vibe from Bendis' DC Nation story, but at the time I thought it was because of Jose Luis Garcia Lopez' art, but that tilt towards bronze age characterization, scope and just overall tone has so far carried over through MOS into this issue.

While Bendis definitely does factor in the recent run by Tomasi and Jurgens, it seems like in his mind, there is a hard lean towards the seventies and early 80s as the frame of reference from how Bendis is approaching this. The Kandor he referenced in MOS definitely owes more to the pre 1986 Kandor than any of the versions after ( although he did toss in a few easter eggs referencing those other versions.) His characterization of Daily Planet Clark Kent is very much owing more towards bronze age Clark and less the more recent versions. His power levels seem very much Bronze age. The way he writes Kara and Clark's relationship. So on and so forth.

Much in the same way Tomasi's run often times felt like a spiritual successor to the Jeph Loeb/ Joe Kelly era and Jurgens was a spiritual successor to his own 90s era. Bendis probably was a regular Superman reader in the Bronze Age and that is where he seems to gravitate towards as his personal starting point.

It's funny... to me, this seems like a mix. I definitely see Bronze Age, but I also see very early Triangle-Era in there, as well. This feels as much like a true amalgamation of versions as we've had, which is great. Hope it continues!

[Kuwagaton]

That would be mopey by regular people standards, but I think superhero comics are different. It's very possible that many regular people or in different fictions will end a day/chapter thinking about being ineffective or defeated, but that's not really a normal comic structure (normal, but that ending to Action #583 has been in vogue lately). 2006 was... Johns/Busiek ? Simone? I know people associate Bendis and Rucka as street guys, but their superhero output is quite different in experience. I think that was a good writer on the wrong title as an isolated incident. YMMV I guess. But I'm not really picking on Superman here for being kinda sad about his family being gone indefinitely, just saying he is. I like it as long as Bendis keeps his hand firmly on the valve.

[Superlad93]

Lol I loved every word of this post.

Lol my awful grammatical errors and all

Hopefully that's the idea - it's a bit too "King Of The World, Part 2" potentially, otherwise.. but I don't see them going near that.

I'm thinking that's part of the conflict, right? There's a slippery slope Clark could go down that's only a hair's breath away of benevolently helping the Earth comfortably enter the galactic community.

I actually went back and read some of Bendis' older but recent Marvel work, and do you know what the prevailing theme that seemed to pop its head in regularly? Futurism. At one point or another Bendis characters are wrapped up in the idea of looking towards tomorrow on a macro scale. Over in Jessica Jones issue #17 (2016) Jessica is basically given absolute power in the form of control over Purple Man's actions for the foreseeable future. Her very first thought is to change the world, make heroes as the are now obsolete, and turn them into futurist. Basically make a utopia where her child can grow up safe and happy. Then we had Civil War 2 where Cap Marvel went all Minority Report on everyone. It the dark side of futurism, and it actually had Tony Stark, the futurist opposing the idea. Then over in Guardians of the Galaxy we had Tony going out into space and pontificating over how to keep space threats away from Earth.

Then in an interview for Superman he said Yes and no. And some of these things I was hitting on in Guardians of the Galaxy as well, that we live in a world of such deep science fiction becoming science fact. And I’m talking about the world we live in, the real world, that the DC and Marvel universes are a reflection of. That we do live in a science fiction world that we imagine that has become science fact. And if that continues along the line we have to be prepared. I love futurists and futurist thinking, looking at a problem that doesn’t exist yet and solving it before it even becomes a problem. I like proactive heroism. The heroes so often are putting out fires or solving crimes that have already happened. I like the idea of creating a world where crime might not be such a great idea.

You can already see hints of what Bendis is going for in MOS. Criminals and super villains have either left Metropolis out right, or they have to sight up watch what they say in the city. Plus you have Clark wondering if the fires in the city are actually a systemic issue.

The trick, as it always is with this sort of thing, is finding a balance for yourself (Clark) and for the world. And Clark shows that he's not comfortable in taking things to the extreme, but he's recognizing that he could probably do more.

Bendis mentions his Guardians run specifically, and I think it's worth it to mention that Guardians featured 1) a complicated father/son relationship that played out on a macro scale 2) a council discussing the interference of a world (Earth) and 3) Earth having to be ready to deal with all this stuff

It just so happens that Bendis has landed at the company where he's writing the character who's nickname is "Man of Tomorrow," is best friends a future super team directly inspired by him (also happens to be his favorite team), is known in DC lore as the most important figure in intergalactic history, and is directly credited with the interrogation of Earth into the galactic community.

He's even said that in his version of Metropolis, people come from all around the world and all walks of life to the city because it's where the most famous immigrant in the world calls home. Incidentally, Metropolis is also capital of the United Planets.

[The World]

So I'm caught up. Surprised this run is creating a schism amongst people as it's basically more or less in line with what Tomasi/Jurgens were doing but with Jor-El as something akin to Endora from Bewitched and Lois in space.

[JAK]

I'm thinking that's part of the conflict, right? There's a slippery slope Clark could go down that's only a hair's breath away of benevolently helping the Earth comfortably enter the galactic community.

Oh, totally - I'm just saying that, while the idea will be part of the conflict, I doubt it'll execute the same way.

And the rest of your post are full of fantastic points. Love it!

[Jackalope89]

First issue in and I'm still very disheartened with Bendis' approach to the Superman mythos. Sure, there were some nice moments like Superman dealing with the Dominator armada, the creation of the new Fortress and Clark zipping off mid conversation to stop global catastrophes all rendered gorgeously by Ivan Reis but they were counterbalanced by an uneven and messy plot. J'onn's horribly out of character suggestion for Superman to lead the human race into the stars was all kinds of wrong (which is undermined by the DEO and other groups in the DCU being in contact with alien races) J'onn has never been portrayed as wanting to upheave humanity's political and societal structures in favour of a galactic community so that scene not only came out of nowhere, it carried a hint of politicised writing. Very generic language was used of course but it could still come off the wrong way.

Bendis' characterisation of Hal, Barry and J'onn were awful which makes me dread the idea of a Bendis written Justice League. Jon's complaints about school were also heavily OOC as Jon has talked to the teachers, socialised well and studied after hours in both the Lois & Clark mini series and Super Sons. Not surprised Bendis continues to make the Super Family look awkward. Also, I'm surprised no one's complaining about Superman moping around in the early pages, when Post Crisis/Pre 52 Superman got criticised for being too mopey during the New Krypton/Grounded phase. Overall a pretty meh issue when it comes to Bendis' writing, though I expect The Unity Saga to get worse when he brings up Rogol Zaar again.

Glad I wasn't the only one to notice that. With Supes even commenting in Super Sons, "We like school though," when it was decided that Jon and Damian would go to the same school.

And, I don't like how J'onn was portrayed. At all. For a man that's supposed to be a major telepath and empath, that just felt all sorts of wrong.

And next issue we get more intelligent Doomsday, er, Rogol Zarr, back.

[Red obin]

Just a quick chip in, although the whole conversation with MM sounded off, J'onn's use of 'garbage' felt the most of. I always unintentionally read his voice in a similar manner to JLtAS, and that just didn't work in my opinion.

[Sacred Knight]

Can't speak much on J'onn. Just knowing him as a "good guy" it sounded a little off to me but on the other hand I'm hardly an expert in his character.

But once again I staunchly disagree that there's anything about Jon's characterization that's off. Its perfectly natural to generally like school but sometimes be in a mood where you don't want to go for some reason. And its definitely just a mood. Because in MOS the same writer had Jon make sure to point out he needed to be back for the start of school while preparing for a space adventure. That doesn't sound like a writer writing a kid as genuinely and consistently loathing the experience. But be it because of burn-out, be it a bully, be it a girl/boy, etc, it happens to the best of students at some point. Everyone's been there. I don't get why Jon can't and exaggerate about it in the way a kid can do. My niece is a 4.0 student, always has been great in school and generally enjoys it to boot. She gets that from her father. But there have been plenty of times where she hasn't been in the mood and just didn't want to deal. It happens, and not just for those who loathe school.

[Mantis Dad]

Just read this today. Very good issue; liked it better than Flash number 50 (those are the only 2 DC I read this week). The art, the story, and everything else played well together. I really liked the poster above who thinks this will be the beginning of SM doing his part that leads to the Legion. I miss those old Superboy and the Legion of Super Heroes comics, those were always ones I looked forward to as a kid. My only gripe is the numbering. It is so confusing for someone like me that has been away from more modern comics for a while. I wish that DC would do the "LGY #" thing that Marvel is doing, at least that way I can keep track in my mind of how many issues of SM there has been. I don't know why this is important to me, it just is.

I will be buying the next issue; I look forward to what is in store in the coming arc for our Man of Steel.

[Superlad93]

So, for what it's worth, regarding the "Jon vs school" thing (and I'm surprised that it's actually a "thing" tbh, given that it seems the actual issue is not school but that Jon has a crush, but whatever), I'm wondering if anyone remembers issues 1 and 2 from Superman: Lois and Clark?

Kid 1: Check it out! White's (Jon) in trouble again.

Kid 1: Break another window?

Jon: That was an accident, Roman. I didn't mean to hit the ball that hard.

Jon: I wasn't paying attention in Class.

Kid 1: Always something with you, White (Jon).

..................

Lois: What do you have to say for yourself?

Jon: I was kinda more interested in the Excalibur (space shuttle)

.................

Lois to principle: Thank you principle Dubois. Did you consider letting the kids watch the news as part of class?

..................

Jon to Lois: Before you say anything, I know I was wrong. But, just think about it mom! That ship was coming home after years in space and know one hear a word from 'em! Who knows what mighta happened?

Lois: I understand Jon, but you can't just tune out class that way.

Jon: Real world stuff is way more interesting. I can can work on math any old time.

Jon: But a ship that went all the way to Jupiter--?

Lois: Truth to tell, if I'd had a smartphone at your age, I'd probably have done the same thing.

I mean......

That's literally Jon saying "real world stuff is way more interesting. I can work on math any old time." He used to get into trouble relatively often. So much so that he'd get made fun of for it. He's characterized as inherently being more interested in "real world stuff" rather than school. Doesn't mean he hates school (Bendis' Jon even makes a point to ask Jor-El to bring him back before school starts in issue 5 of MOS)

And funny enough, Lois is less of s scolding mother, and more of an understanding and accommodating one. She even asks the principle if she ever conceded letting the kids watch the news in class.

That's from Dan Jurgens himself, folks. So, I'm not seeing the issue.