Superman#11 Discussion and Spoilers

[Miles To Go]

Zarr and Jax-Ur approach Zod and offer to give him answers about Krypton in exchange for tips on how to escape the Phantom Zone. We flash forward to Clark and Jon finding Jor-El's ship under attack by war vessels belonging to the Thangarians, the Kunds, and the Trillium Collective. According to Jor-El, this is an assassination attempt disguised as a military battle. Clark spots Rogal Zarr, who seemingly retreats. Jon offers to help Jor-El prepare the ship for a jump, Jor-El tells him he returned him to Earth for a reason and to stay safe. Jon tells Jor-El to bite him, but is then ambushed by Zod. Clark is distracted by the armies attacking the ship and Zarr himself. Suddenly, Kara and Krypto arrive

[Rakzo]

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...

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I still don't have any strong feeling about Rogol Zarr one way or the other. I'm hoping his backstory gets filled in soon because he remains a giant hulking blank slate so far.

While Ivan Reis remains one of the very best artists working in superhero comics, and Bendis continues showing what makes Superman so special in his tactics during the battle.

[Journey]

This weeks issue was kind of meh I don't really feel much happened. Sure a few fights but nothing to really move the plot along. I'm kind of over the Jor-El arc.

[qwertyuiop1998]

The story worst problem: Rogal Zarr, He is one of most uninteresting Superman's Villains I ever seen, I even want replace his part with Ultraman in this story arc
Apart from him, The rest story still ok.

[Yoda]

It was reminiscent of the better issues of the first arc. Reis' art is gorgeous and I really liked how Bendis wrote Clark in this issue, shows a tactical and intelligent battle designed to save lives and break up the conflict.

The Zod and Rogal Zaar scene in the beginning was also interesting, with Zaar seeming to think he could convince Zod of all people that Krypton deserved to be destroyed and Jax Ur kinda appearing to go along with it. The Zod and Jon scene in the middle of the battle makes it pretty obvious that he's not really working with Zaar. Zod doesn't attack Jon (Jon hauled off and clocked him when he appeared behind him) but then Zod just stops him and seems to let him go like he wants to speak to him. I think Zod and likely Jax Ur are going to betray Zaar at some point.

Kara appearing on the flying rock is no less ridiculous looking here than it was in Supergirl last week. But I'll take a little ridiculous with my Superman books.

Good issue overall, would have been great if we got a little more information out of the Jor El scenes. I'm guessing next issue or so we'll get the typical Bendis information dump with Jor El telling Clark, Jon and Kara what is going on.

[Superlad93]

Read it pretty fast first time around and wasn't really feeling it. However an following second pass made me change my mind. Made me appreciate how celebratory this issue was of Superman, and how the bedrock of this issue was Clark wanting to be the very best version of himself in front of his son. The whole issue was basically Ma Kent's "make this into a moment." But it had a double edge to it because on top of the general pressure of stopping this large scale battle and understanding the situation, Clark is also putting himself under the pressure of his son watching.

Favorite parts:

* "oh you guys are in superspeed" being a casual thing for Clark, Jor, and Jon.

* The Zod and Jon interaction

* Super diplomacy

* And Jon having a giant goofy grin on his face for most of the issue as he watches his pops put in work.

I just kind of wish we'd slow down a bit. I know the info dump is coming (likely similar to Naomi issue 5), but I could do with a breather, and just an issue or two of character interactions. Don't get me wrong, I'm buying into the frantic nature of situation, but if we could get a calm-before-the-storm issue or two that would be great.

Also, I'm thinking during Jor-El's travels through time and space looking for Jon, he likely ran into Zaar in the past, and that's how they know each other.

________________

I also still think Zaar is half kryptonian. I even still think he's Clark's half brother. But I'm now thinking he was conceived during Jor-El's time travel adventures and deal making where Jor-El was at his most emotionally vulnerable alone. Maybe he wanted to create another miraculous half-breed like Jon?

At the start of the issue Zaar says "a whole army of Jor-El's greatest nightmares all escaped from his own nightmare world come to punish his entire for what he has done." If this were Game of Thrones he'd be "Rogol Zaar, The Bastard of House El" lol But

[Flash Gordon]

I'll prolly just trade wait the rest of this.

I love Ivan Reis so it's a natural buy for me, but very little is happening issue to issue and there's so much other stuff out there to read. I am interested, but I'll grab the collected editions.

[Celgress]

Another disappointing issue for me. I might drop the book soon. Oh, and Rogol is a hella boring one-dimensional character.

[JustJelly]

Favorite Issue of Superman so far (Action Comics is the superior book for sure though). I’m okay with the decompression at this point and unlike the first arc where I wasn’t sure where things were headed I actually like the idea of a big cosmic centered Superman book as a contrast with a smaller scale one (even though I like Action more)

[Kuwagaton]

I liked it a lot. Supergirl #30 should have been published second because the identical endings maintain the surprise better that way, but super cool nonetheless.

Clark was really great and I think Bendis has a rarely seen, excellent understanding of him and his powers. While some people get caught up on how he compares to Flash, Superman does all of those other things and it isn't easy to make it fit. The idea that Kryptonian level speedsters can tap into superspeed to make the static storytelling of comics seem natural was elegantly handled.

It's a shame that it depends so heavily on the incredible art, because I think the pacing of the months he can't do a full issue hurts the overall story. Save him for full issues like this one and it's incredible.

[Vordan]

Loved Reis’ art here, my God was that spread where Clark and Jon take on all three armies gorgeous or what? I liked Kal, Jor, and Jon talking at super speed. I’m very curious to see what Zod’s Role in all of this will be, and I’m looking forward to Kara teaming up with the rest of House El.

That said I agree with the complaints about Rogal. It’s time Bendis either gave us a strong reason to care or moves on. I’m way more interested in what Zod and Jax are up to right now.

[K. Jones]

Thought Reis was gorgeous here. Zod had ulterior motives for sure. I think W.R.A.I.T.H. might be more interesting than Zarr, as far as concept and motivation, though in a less good storyline. Fun. Still not as good as Action.

[Nick Miller]

What is Supergirl holding there on the last page?

I’m loving the epic art. Another solid issue.

[Kuwagaton]

She's riding a huge chunk of rock that has Zaar's stuck in it.

I'm really not as hard on him as some. I like the opening scene with Zod because how it lines up with Zod being so alpha in Revenge. Zaar is kind of hilarious in how he treats him, especially because it works. For some reason "hey I just served you and have another fresh can, stay down" never works when it really should. There are levels to antagonism.

Jor is a weak one though. Like you see what Bendis wants him to be but the writing doesn't bring it across. He's pretty much Toby from the Office with how they treat him.