Superman#2 Discussion and Spoilers

[Miles To Go]

We begin with the flashback to Rogul Zarr leading a Thangarian army against the Tamerians on a planet colonised by them, we then cut to a montage of Superman averting disasters before settling in the present where he links up psychically with the other JL members to assess the situation with the Earth, now stuck in the phantom zone. We see Rogul Zarr confront someone in the Zone...it's Nuclear Man. Zarr easily deals with him, reducing him to a husk.. He spots Superman and decides he needs an army to deal with the Kryptonian. Back at the new fortress, Clark is visited by Barry (who's a redhead like Wally for some reason), Barry says he needs to pee and makes endless quips about the situation before suddenly falling ill. Batman contacts Superman to let him know he is having chest and bowl trouble (no, I'm serious) and Clark thinks to himself that he may never see his family again


I loved the super-feats on display, and I sort of knew the Nuclear Man cameo would amount to nothing but a few cool pages...but Barry was way OOC (Bendis even tries to make up for the continuity snarl by having Barry say "I forgot which Flash he was"), really thought the toilet humour was out-of-place, especially with Batman. Quite liked that there was a psychic hotline to the other JL members, gives the whole situation more scope outside of Supes' involvement.

[Superlad93]

So, first off, Clark's opening anecdote about his conversation with Oliver was about as close to perfect Superman characterization as someone can get. No hyperbole needed.

Anyways, this is the first issue where I found myself thinking that Bendis spends the issue mostly tip toeing. There's nothing bad or offensive--it's actually pretty solid comics--but there's also no major leaps being made. But, I'll admit, this might be chalked up to the fact that we've gone from an event book to two number 1s with big openers over the span of a few consecutive weeks, and now we've gotta come up for air and do some good 'ol fashion bread crumb, long-form plotting so a competent and cohesive narrative arc can form. Only enough, my one initial hand-up about the issue is that the big "whaaaa" shock moments are being left behind in favor of real plotting and mystery, and I'm adjusting lol

Speaking of mystery, "has anyone seen Green Lantern?" is a great question. Sure he could've been (and likely is) off world, but then you gotta remember that one of his job's old bosses was involved in the Zaar/Krypton incident. Him not being there seems like a big clue given how prominent and traditional cop-like Bendis made him in MOS.

[Armor of God]

Mediocre issue, the concept alone has infinite potential but Bendis found a way to make it dull and unimportant because he's more interested in his Rogol Zarr who still remains visually unappealing and a complete blank slate of a character whose not even original.

[Drakeon]

I cant stand how he writes Barry. It came off more like Wally (except super annoying) and they even made him a redhead. Smh.

[Factor]

Was that supposed to be Barry? Terrible characterization and they didn't even get his hair color right. I truly don't know what editors do these days.

I also find it weird Bendis ignored the three minority JL members who aren't WW. No sign of John, Cyborg or Hawkgirl, but Plastic Man and Hawkman are around?

[Kuwagaton]

Yes... I think we all forgot which Flash that is supposed to be, haha.

We've been seeing it here and there, but now we're in full Bendis-speak. Which I think just works against me personally having read so many of his comics. Maybe other people won't notice it as much. But once you read his text in the voice of Woody Allen, you can't unhear it. It's also coupled with decompression, which is weird because it's not like it was light on dialogue or art. It could have been a more substantial read instead of splashes with small scenes apparently light in clues or new ideas. That special guest just made no sense, though I was already sure that this would be the extent of his appearance.