Superman#2 Discussion and Spoilers

[Sam]

Thank you. This has been my thinking as well. You had a child think that Superman started the fires. All is not what it seems. I'll wait and see how this plays out.

Ummmm, that plot point was already resolved in Action Comics. No child thinks Superman started the fires.

[Sam]

Edit: Stupid Double Post.

[Denirac]

I was definitely underwhelmed by this issue- However... I would like to see Bendis do more with Nuclear Man, get him some solar power to recover from Rogal Zar- He'll be fine

[Sacred Knight]

I'm with the general consensus here on this one, probably the first issue I've read that I felt mostly underwhelmed. Its due to the decompression for me; nothing happens. And since we're at monthly again, I tend to be less forgiving on that now. Characterization-wise for Superman it was great, but I expect that now since he's proven he gets Superman's voice long before now. I just needed more in the way of plot progression. His Barry is off, but has been since the beginning, he's definitely going full DCEU with him. The Bendis-speak is there but honestly it just doesn't bother me. I can see it now, but it honestly doesn't stand out as anything really that unique in all my years of reading comics. So yeah, for me its mostly the story moving forward that I didn't really feel in this issue.

[Miles To Go]

The Bendis-speak is there but honestly it just doesn't bother me. I can see it now, but it honestly doesn't stand out as anything really that unique in all my years of reading comics.

It's less about it being unique, and more that it gets very annoying if subjected to it long-term

[Rakzo]

Bendis must have something against Barry because he writes him as one of the most obnoxious characters in existence, he's basically a little kid who has just become a superhero, at points he even sounds like Bart Allen.

Other than that, not bad. Good characterization for Clark, good escalation, nice pacing. Rogol Zaar is getting a bit tiring and seems like Bendis is playing his classic favoritism towards him but hey, at least it gave us a fun fight with Nuclear Man! (Shame he died though).

Reis' art was fantastic. Decent aside from some problems.

[sunofdarkchild]

Mixed feelings. Not much progression and too much comedy filler, but dang that internal monologue might be one of the best written Superman content I've read in forever. Even as someone who likes Bendis more often than not I wasn't expecting anything as good as that monologue.

[Sacred Knight]

I think its far less that he has anything against Barry as opposed to him just basing him completely off of Ezra Miller's take.

It's less about it being unique, and more that it gets very annoying if subjected to it long-term

Eh, to each their own but I don't find it any more or less jarring than some other styles I have been privy to. When I say unique I was speaking more to the feeling I get in its reputation around certain circles that there's something uniquely irritating about its structure compared to other styles. But I just don't see it. Robinson for instance has a defining style of his that can get irritating too long-term and that you just have to deal with if you want to read his stories. But there's nothing spectacularly more annoying about Bendis' style imo.

[13th Superman]

Ummmm, that plot point was already resolved in Action Comics. No child thinks Superman started the fires.

I know. What I mean by that is to let something play out first. If there's no resolution then everyone is well within their right to rant.

[Miles To Go]

Robinson for instance has a defining style of his that can get irritating too long-term.

I will say Robinson's run convinced me to take a break from WW for the first time since Rebirth started.

[Chubistian]

I too was confused with the Barry thing. He is definitely affected by the change to the Phantom Zone, but that final phrase about not being sure left me confused, since without it, his hair being red can pass as a mistake made by the colorist. How Flash talked reminded me of Ezra’s Barry and the Timmverse Wally. About the issue itself, nothing to add. Too little happened, but characterization was good and the art splendid. I wasn’t bothered by Nuclear Man’s apparition being so short, it was a nice cameo nonetheless from a character I didn’t think I would see in canon, though I wouldn’t have mind if he never appeared either

[Chubistian]

I too was confused with the Barry thing. He is definitely affected by the change to the Phantom Zone, but that final phrase about not being sure left me confused, since without it, his hair being red can pass as a mistake made by the colorist. How Flash talked reminded me of Ezra’s Barry and the Timmverse Wally. About the issue itself, nothing to add. Too little happened, but characterization was good and the art splendid. I wasn’t bothered by Nuclear Man’s apparition being so short, it was a nice cameo nonetheless from a character I didn’t think I would see in canon, though I wouldn’t have mind if he never appeared either

[Superlad93]

I'm super interested in that flashback to the war between Thanigar and Tamaran. Interestingly enough, looking back at Man of Steel #1, both leaders of the two worlds are part of the circle. I wonder if this is how the leader of Tamaran was forcefully inducted into it, or if they were both already part of the circle at the time? This 100% seems to be before the Krypton incident given how Zaar looks. These are totally the crumbs of the exploration of the DC cosmology Bendis is so hyped about getting into.

And now that I actually look at the title of this year long arc, "The Unity Saga," I'm even more sure that this is all going to culminate in the early beginnings and establishment of the United Planets (with its Metropolis embassy). I mean, outside of the "unity" in part of the name, we also have "saga" that sort of reminds me of super famous Legion story, The Great Darkness Saga.

And thinking about it more, Clark's pitch perfect thought monolog at the start of the issue about how Earth works even--especially--in crisis, reads very much like a counter argument to MM's proposition last issue. And Clark having to treat today as the exception seems to actually play closer to MM's point. Earth is good in a crisis of nature or its own making, for the most part, but this is something on a galactic level focused on Earth.

I wonder if there's going to be blow back from this on Earth? Like, is this the inciting incident (along with Zaar's terrorism)? Plus, the absence of a GL during this. Bit more under the hood than I first thought.

[RepHope]

The good:
-Clark's monologue was great, that right there was peak Superman
-Reis' art is godlike as always
-I like Rogal and want to know more about him

The bad:
-Bendis' Barry is awful. I seriously hope he doesn't get the Flash any time soon.
-Bendis' decompression would work better if this was twice monthly. The fact that it's monthly is bad because Bendis moves very, VERY slowly
-More toilet humor? Really? Come on Bendis

I think the opening scene with Rogal would've worked better if he'd initially been dismissed as a nobody, and then he messed them up good, showing us why he's a threat. I knew Nuclear Man was going to die but it was still hilarious to see him. I liked this issue, but I can tell you that if Bendis doesn't rapidly start to ramp things up sales are going to start falling. I don't know if he's going to last on the Superman book for more than a year, which I'm kind of mixed about. His Action Comics run looks to be much more interesting of the two.

[Sacred Knight]

Yeah, I forgot about that toilet humor part. Make no mistake it doesn't offend me by any stretch of the imagination but....its so out of place with these characters. He's not going there with Superman himself, thank god, and other than that to this point he's written a very good Batman from what we've seen, but that line was way weird.