Superman#11 Discussion and Spoilers

[ArthurCurry]

Jesus Christ, is Rogol one of the most uninteresting Superman antagonists in years and the fact that Bendis is trying so hard to sell him as "the next big Superman villain" is inexplicable. We have wasted way too many issues on his derivative ass and he plays such an important role in the plot that affects the whole read.

The plot has a little, little progression but is still rather decompressed. The characterization for Clark is decent but Jon might as well not be in the story at all since he's basically a non-entity and him being older apparently doesn't have a clear purpose.

Art was good. I wouldn't say this is bad buuuuuut...

Completely agree. Bendis' Superman has been awful. I strongly suspect a lot of positive internet reviews that constantly defend every issue are from people who DESPISED nuclear family Super-Dad w/ young Jon and are willing to defend anything that moves farther away from that portrayal, regardless of how bad it is.

[Miles To Go]

I strongly suspect a lot of positive internet reviews that constantly defend every issue are from people who DESPISED nuclear family Super-Dad w/ young Jon and are willing to defend anything that moves farther away from that portrayal, regardless of how bad it is.

Most comics that are reviewed positively on certain sites is due more to access media privileges than any real professional objectivity.

That being said, the likes of Yoda and Superlad I beleive are big fans of the nuclear family set up and they do like Bendis. I'm more 50/50. There's things I don't agree with, I miss the Superfamily, don't think Lois should be living independently from her husband over an extended period unless she has writer's block, but I don't get angry when reading the book compared to other titles that DC put out like Williamson's Flash or King's Batman

[Yoda]

Most comics that are reviewed positively on certain sites is due more to access media privileges than any real professional objectivity.

That being said, the likes of Yoda and Superlad I beleive are big fans of the nuclear family set up and they do like Bendis. I'm more 50/50. There's things I don't agree with, I miss the Superfamily, don't think Lois should be living independently from her husband over an extended period unless she has writer's block, but I don't get angry when reading the book compared to other titles that DC put out like Williamson's Flash or King's Batman

Yeah, I am liking a lot of what I see with Bendis' take and I was a really big fan of Tomasi/Gleason and Jurgen's runs. Brought me back to buying Superman books monthly. Love Super Sons, it's the book that brought my own son into comics. I think those books definitely had some issues though, particularly after the first year. And as a really big Lois Lane fan I wasn't ecstatic with the way she was handled in Superman. So getting Lois Lane badass reporter back is an improvement for me.

And I do still have issues with Bendis' execution. I feel like he's rushing through things, particularly Lois' shift and Jon's time away. Both of those elements work for me as ideas, but the execution didn't develop it enough. I think Lois in the recent issues of Action Comics has been a real improvement over her portrayal in Action Comics 1004. I get a very Erica Durance/Smallville Lois vibe off of her that if it continues on this trajectory into Event Leviathan I'll be pretty happy. Plus, a Lois Lane series by Greg Rucka goes a long way with me. I liked this recent issue a lot, but I was pretty critical of the last. I thought on the whole, Jon's time away was wasted.

[ArthurCurry]

Most comics that are reviewed positively on certain sites is due more to access media privileges than any real professional objectivity.

I'd agree with that too.

That being said, the likes of Yoda and Superlad I beleive are big fans of the nuclear family set up and they do like Bendis. I'm more 50/50. There's things I don't agree with, I miss the Superfamily, don't think Lois should be living independently from her husband over an extended period unless she has writer's block, but I don't get angry when reading the book compared to other titles that DC put out like Williamson's Flash or King's Batman

I'm not referencing anyone in this thread specifically so hopefully no one takes it that way.

[Celgress]

Most comics that are reviewed positively on certain sites is due more to access media privileges than any real professional objectivity...

Sadly, I think you are likely correct.

[Yoda]

There are smaller review sites, like GeekDad, Weird Science, and others that do still have pretty objective takes on these books. I like GeekDad quite a bit for reviews, and for example they had a really negative review of HiC 8 last month and have been back and forth on Bendis' Superman and Action Comics.

[Miles To Go]

There are smaller review sites, like GeekDad, Weird Science, and others that do still have pretty objective takes on these books. I like GeekDad quite a bit for reviews, and for example they had a really negative review of HiC 8 last month and have been back and forth on Bendis' Superman and Action Comics.

I'll also be fair to Newsarama, they were a bit cautious in their recent review for Year One also

[Yoda]

I'll also be fair to Newsarama, they were a bit cautious in their recent review for Year One also

Yeah, that stood out to me as well. If I remember correctly they have had some tough reviews of HiC and Bendis' Superman books also. Their interviews and promotional stuff is the usual PR style, but their reviews do tend to have pretty objective takes.

[Coco Loco]

Yeah, I am liking a lot of what I see with Bendis' take and I was a really big fan of Tomasi/Gleason and Jurgen's runs. Brought me back to buying Superman books monthly. Love Super Sons, it's the book that brought my own son into comics. I think those books definitely had some issues though, particularly after the first year. And as a really big Lois Lane fan I wasn't ecstatic with the way she was handled in Superman. So getting Lois Lane badass reporter back is an improvement for me.

Yea I agree with most of this. It remains to be seen whether aging Jon is a good decision in the long-term but for now I think it’s working pretty well. This issue was cool in that we got to see three generations of Els (sort of) fighting together. I like how Superman and Action feel distinct from one another.

[Ying Ko]

I enjoyed the issue.

Bendis always reads better in trade though.

[Vordan]

Most comics that are reviewed positively on certain sites is due more to access media privileges than any real professional objectivity.

That being said, the likes of Yoda and Superlad I beleive are big fans of the nuclear family set up and they do like Bendis. I'm more 50/50. There's things I don't agree with, I miss the Superfamily, don't think Lois should be living independently from her husband over an extended period unless she has writer's block, but I don't get angry when reading the book compared to other titles that DC put out like Williamson's Flash or King's Batman

King’s Batman is no surprise I’ve often been tempted to drop the book myself, but I’m surprised by the level of vitriol Willamson Flash gets on the Internet. Do you hate it because of the setback in the Barry-Iris relationship? I know you’re a fan of the traditional romantic relationships for heroes. I’ve quite enjoyed everything Willamson has done, and I find people’s complaints about the Forces to be idiotic. Sure they’re stupid but we already crossed over into dumb comic book fun with the Speed Force itself.

[Miles To Go]

King’s Batman is no surprise I’ve often been tempted to drop the book myself, but I’m surprised by the level of vitriol Willamson Flash gets on the Internet. Do you hate it because of the setback in the Barry-Iris relationship? I know you’re a fan of the traditional romantic relationships for heroes. I’ve quite enjoyed everything Willamson has done, and I find people’s complaints about the Forces to be idiotic. Sure they’re stupid but we already crossed over into dumb comic book fun with the Speed Force itself.

I don't mind the forces element (I love the concept of the Negative Speed Force, and that's basically been my headcanon cause for everything out-of-character in Williamson's run, and I think that's also intentional on his end too), but yeah, the drama with Iris is too depressing to read, especially since she remembers things like their marriage. I'm sure they'll reconcile eventually, but I'm just not going to support the book until they do.

I also don't think everything wrong with Williamson's run is altogether his fault. I think the Iris and Barry drama was forced on him by editorial, it's night and day apart from what he was doing with them prior to Heroes In Crisis.

[manofsteel1979]

Count me in the "Liked the superfamily, like Bendis' run with a few reservations." I like quite a bit of what he's doing. I have some niggles (all related to the superfamily and Lois) but it's still leaps beyond what we had during the dark days of the New 52 ( not all of it was bad,but time and distance does not make the heart grow fonder in my case),and a marked improvement over what came in the year or two before the New 52. I've been far happier a Superman reader since REBIRTH/REBORN (hense why I have been more quiet lol) in my opinion Bendis has kept that streak going even if he's taken a different direction in some aspects. I know people who disagree and that's fine,I can only speak for myself.

[Ascended]

I didnt think this was a bad issue, and it definitely had some incredible moments that I really enjoyed, but overall I feel like this was one of the weaker single issues Bendis has done during this run.

All the stuff Superlad mentioned; the super-speed conversation, the tactical way Clark handled the conflict and his diplomacy, Jon's reaction to seeing his dad go to work.....all of that stuff was excellent and I am still impressed at how Bendis employs Clark's powers and finds interesting ways to utilize them. But I feel like I went into this big space battle with very little understanding of why it was happening at all, and left the issue without getting many (if any) answers.

Zaar remains a painfully boring villain. I was willing to give Bendis some time to tease the guy out and reveal whatever hidden layers he's got but my patience is starting to wear thin here. I'm digging the Phantom Zone alliance and I look forward to that cooperation imploding (as it always does with villains) but I'm losing my patience with Zaar. If Bendis doesnt give us some revelations about the guy real soon, I'm not going to care when he does finally uncover any deeper characterization and layers Zaar might have.

I dont read Supergirl either, so her appearance, while welcome, was confusing. I knew she was out in space hunting down stuff about Zaar and I knew she had Krypto with her, but what's the deal with the big rock? I feel like a few panels explaining what she's been up to would've been nice.

Usually I'm not bothered by how decompressed and trade-focused Bendis' writing is. I mean, these days everyone writes that way. But this issue felt like it was spinning its wheels a lot more than usual.

[Celgress]

King’s Batman is no surprise I’ve often been tempted to drop the book myself, but I’m surprised by the level of vitriol Willamson Flash gets on the Internet....

I'm surprised by the level of hate Willamson's Flash run gets myself as I see nothing overtly troubling in it, but I'm not a diehard Flash fan either.