Finally decided to jump on board with Bendis Superman

[Iron_Leopard]

I'm more of a Supergirl fan than a Superman fan. I'm a little behind the times and wanted to go jump back on Supergirl with issue 21. But when I found out it was basically a spin off from "The Man of Steel" I decided to go all in cause I know crossovers will happen like always.

I picked up EVERYTHING yesterday at comic store. The Man of Steel 1-6, Superman 1-3 and Supergirl 21 and 22. I just finished The Man of Steel.

Loved it! Well until I got to last page that told me the story also continues in Action Comucs 1001. But WHY??? So now I got to go get that issue too? I was going to be content with just picking up Superman and Supergirl. Now I got to get Action Comics also? Can I skip please? Especially since I'm here mostly for Supergirl?

Is it really needed? I mean damn.

Since I haven't followed Superman in a while I have a few questions.

1. Jon Kent? When, why, and how did this happen?

2. HOW AND WHY THE IS JOR EL STILL ALIVE??????????????

Please answer these important questions.

[Superlad93]

- Bendis has been doing a very good job at keep the books separated even though they both spin out of Man of Steel. So, yeah you can just do Supergirl and Superman. But I'd actually recommend Action because it's quite good, and it's where Lois' story is.

- Do you not know who Jon is or how he came to be? Or is your question more specific? If it's the former then all you need to know is that Lois and Clark had a natural child. He's the new Superboy. He's friends with Damian. He's getting his powers (currently has flight, strength, speed, durability, freeze breath, x-ray vision, telescopic vision, solar flare, and heat vision, and may have new powers on the way). He's cool. If you're reading Superman then you'll be getting more of Jon's story from Man of Steel in the coming issues

- Jor-El came back in the Oz Effect storyline from the last creative teams. You don't really have to read it. You just need to know that he was plucked from just before the planet blew up by an "unknown" force (we have a pretty good idea of who).

Hope that helps. Happy reading!

[HeroVladimir93]

The Bendis era is much better than some Internet folks give it credit for. I fully support your choice and hope you have fun with Bendis' upcoming stories.

[Vordan]

Glad you’re enjoying it. Despite worries that Bendis would ignore the previous writers, as you’ve found out, he actually builds pretty strongly on what Tomasi and Jurgens did. Jon Kent’s story is told in Lois and Clark by Jurgens. It’s a good read that I enjoyed. Jor-El is handled in the Oz Effect arc during Jurgens Action Comics. I didn’t really enjoy that arc and you already know the big reveal. Tomasi’s Superman run and his Super Sons run help flesh out Jon as well as explain the “evil future” Jon talks about in “The Man of Steel”.

[Ascended]

As Superlad said, no, you don't need to read Action as well as Superman. Hell, once you get caught up on why the stuff in Supergirl is happening, you don't really need to read either of the main Superman titles. Have we even seen Kara in the Super-books since Man of Steel ended? Maybe a cameo?

You should read Superman and Action both because they're pretty gods damned good comics though. Or at least, I think they are. YMMV of course.

As for your questions; Jon is Clark and Lois' kid. He's got the basic Kryptonian powers, with a few extra question marks thrown in there because of his hybrid biology. There's a whole big retcon in how he came about and why he's ten years old instead of a newborn but I don't feel like you need to follow the whole sordid tale from "son of Superman from a previous, dead continuity" to "son of Superman from current main continuity" at all, and honestly you're probably better off not looking into that hole. Jon Kent is Clark and Lois' son, and his titles "Super Sons" and current mini "Adventures of the Super Sons" are both awesome. If you like Kara Zor-El at her more whimsical and fun, you'll enjoy the adventures of Jon Kent.

Jor-El being alive is more reality-screwing shenanigans best left ignored. Someone pulled him out of time, he got his head screwed with a whole lot and was a villain for a few minutes, and now he's supposedly free from evil's influence and wants to be involved with his family. We'll see how that whole mess plays out.

[Iron_Leopard]

The Bendis era is much better than some Internet folks give it credit for. I fully support your choice and hope you have fun with Bendis' upcoming stories.

Yeah. Why are a lot of people being so hard on what hes doing?

His direction can't be any "out there" more than anyone else Superman run.

Like I said some one thought bring Jor El back was a good idea.

[Vordan]

Yeah. Why are a lot of people being so hard on what hes doing?

His direction can't be any "out there" more than anyone else Superman run.

Like I said some one thought bring Jor El back was a good idea.

His arrival meant the end of Tomasi on Superman and Jurgens on Action. Jurgens Action run was mediocre to me so I didn’t really care that much that it ended, but I was sad to see Tomasi go. I thought he overall did a good job, aside from Vol. 5 which was full of atrocious filler. But the finale arc for Tomasi was fantastic, so that made seeing him go hard.

Some of the hyperbole about Bendis was utter nonsense. You had people saying he was going to retcon Jon out, break up the marriage, replace Clark with a black OC, etc. But Bendis did himself no favors with his final Marvel work. His Iron Man run was awful from start to finish and failed to deliver on any of his promises. The big IM 600 issue sucked plain and simple. His Miles Morales series ended with a whimper where all of Miles problems get solved off-panel. Granted Bendis was deathly ill and had just dodged dying but his work beforehand had not been up to par for years now. I dare say his current Superman work so far has been the most enjoyable writing from him in a long time, occasionally terrible bits of dialogue aside.

[Miles To Go]

Bendis is causin fans some concern with his comments at NYCC about a "little bit of a reset" to the Lois/Clark relationship. People don't know what to expect from Lois and Clark once they reunite this month. Bendis has said he intends to put a positive spin on it, but there's been some fan theories over the drama he's potentially causing that has us worried.

[Sacred Knight]

The Bendis era is much better than some Internet folks give it credit for. I fully support your choice and hope you have fun with Bendis' upcoming stories.

Honestly I think it is more and more getting the credit it deserves. I'm seeing more and more praise and less and less criticism as the story goes on. Main criticism is really with the pacing in Superman, other than that both titles are reviewed pretty well and those wary of Bendis are admitting the change of scenery has worked out to this point, if not still wary about if certain Marvel tropes might rear up later on. At this point the only ones actually ragging on it big time would be the hardcore Bendis haters.

Though if what I think is going to happen with the family situation does happen I can imagine a renewed divide based on a lot more of substance than just "Bendis is the comics devil".

[Last Son of Krypton]

The word "reset" make me think of Dan DiDio hitting his favourite button behind the scenes.

[Miles To Go]

Honestly I think it is more and more getting the credit it deserves. I'm seeing more and more praise and less and less criticism as the story goes on. Main criticism is really with the pacing in Superman, other than that both titles are reviewed pretty well and those wary of Bendis are admitting the change of scenery has worked out to this point, if not still wary about if certain Marvel tropes might rear up later on. At this point the only ones actually ragging on it big time would be the hardcore Bendis haters.

In short, /co/, abandon hope all ye who enter there

[rosawater]

Yeah. Why are a lot of people being so hard on what hes doing?

His direction can't be any "out there" more than anyone else Superman run.

Like I said some one thought bring Jor El back was a good idea.

Speaking for myself, I'm bored. Bored of the plot line and completely uninterested in both of his villains.

[DragonPiece]

Speaking for myself, I'm bored. Bored of the plot line and completely uninterested in both of his villains.

Rogal Zaar storyline in Superman is definitely dragging, but I am really interested in the mystery with the red cloud in action comics at least.

[Sacred Knight]

Red Cloud is intriguing me a lot. Rogol Zaar isn't anything special but I still am considering he might end up being the muscle that had been directed by someone bigger. That's just completely independent speculation based on nothing given to us in the actual book yet, but at the same time is a common trope hence the consideration.

[rosawater]

Rogal Zaar storyline in Superman is definitely dragging, but I am really interested in the mystery with the red cloud in action comics at least.

She does seem like she has the most potential. And I do see that some people strongly prefer her and Action, but for some reason I just can't get interested in her or the story line. However I do think that when Superman finally confronts her or when her identity is revealed things could become interesting to me. At least I hope it does.