Is the current Superman by Bendis book any good?

[The Whovian]

Especially the second arc with the LOSH in it?

[Vordan]

Hahahaha oh boy you’ve kicked the hornet’s nest. Ok so how attached were you to Rebirth? Did you love the Superfamily status quo? If so, Bendis is the start of a new era where there’s some pretty dramatic change ups in the family dynamics and status quo. I personally am enjoying Bendis, but I would say it’s been uneven. I liked his Action Comics up until the Event Leviathan tie-ins where it started to decline, we’ll see if the upcoming arc House of Kent improves things. For Superman proper, Reis has been killing it on art and I generally enjoyed the Unity Saga story, but it grew too long in the tooth and Rogal Zaar is a boring villain. It got a lot better imo once Superman revealed his secret ID. Right now I’d say it was better than Action. The Legion only shows up for two issues, mainly to recruit Jon Kent, so if they’re who you’re really interested in, I would suggest trying out the LOSH book proper.

[Gaius]

Bendis writes Superman himself fairly good in my eyes and I've liked some of his stories but he's made some creative decisions I strongly disagree with: aging up Jon being the main one and how Lois came off when it came to letting Jon go into space with Jor-El but then secretly coming back.

[The Whovian]

Hahahaha oh boy you’ve kicked the hornet’s nest. Ok so how attached were you to Rebirth? Did you love the Superfamily status quo? If so, Bendis is the start of a new era where there’s some pretty dramatic change ups in the family dynamics and status quo. I personally am enjoying Bendis, but I would say it’s been uneven. I liked his Action Comics up until the Event Leviathan tie-ins where it started to decline, we’ll see if the upcoming arc House of Kent improves things. For Superman proper, Reis has been killing it on art and I generally enjoyed the Unity Saga story, but it grew too long in the tooth and Rogal Zaar is a boring villain. It got a lot better imo once Superman revealed his secret ID. Right now I’d say it was better than Action. The Legion only shows up for two issues, mainly to recruit Jon Kent, so if they’re who you’re really interested in, I would suggest trying out the LOSH book proper.

Bendis writes Superman himself fairly good in my eyes and I've liked some of his stories but he's made some creative decisions I strongly disagree with: aging up Jon being the main one and how Lois came off when it came to letting Jon go into space with Jor-El but then secretly coming back.

I loved the Rebirth books, especially Superman with the family dynamic. I didn't pick up Bendis' new series and by the time I thought about doing it, I heard what he had done to Jon and hated it. That being said, I just saw where the Legion were in the second arc and I'm a big fan of them, so I thought I might pick up the second volume, especially because I'm a huge Reis fan. Then I thought if I'm going to buy that volume, I may as well buy the first volume so I know what's going on. That's why I wondered if it was any good.

So knowing I love Reis' art, the Legion and the family dynamic from Rebirth, would you recommend it?

[Man_of_Tomorrow]

Pick the Man of Steel mini, if you like it, you will probably like Bendis run too.

I think Superman was solid in its first year but really got a lot better after the first arc and post ID reveal it is great. Action had an amazing first arc but kinda flattered when it tied to DC events like Year of the Villian. But I have high hopes for the House of Kent arc that will feature Superman, Jon and Conner.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

nope
10 char

[Gaius]

I loved the Rebirth books, especially Superman with the family dynamic. I didn't pick up Bendis' new series and by the time I thought about doing it, I heard what he had done to Jon and hated it. That being said, I just saw where the Legion were in the second arc and I'm a big fan of them, so I thought I might pick up the second volume, especially because I'm a huge Reis fan. Then I thought if I'm going to buy that volume, I may as well buy the first volume so I know what's going on. That's why I wondered if it was any good.

So knowing I love Reis' art, the Legion and the family dynamic from Rebirth, would you recommend it?

I’d give it a soft recommend. I don’t like it as much the Rebirth era but there’s enough good in there for me to continue with it for now.

Agree with you on Reis’ art, he’s quickly become one of my favorite Superman artists.

[Jackalope89]

If you read Rebirth and enjoyed the Super Family and Jon...
It might be best to skip it and ave yourself the anger. Otherwise, give it a go.

[Blue22]

We could make a drinking game out of the "Is Bendis' Superman good?" threads that pop up XD

To answer the question of the OP....well I've answered it some many times already so I'll give you the short version.

For me: No. Not even just for the Jon stuff (though that was a big contributor, I won't lie). I'm just not a fan of Bendis' writing style. It works for some stories, namely Young Justice and X-Men (even if both of those series weren't very...good). But I don't think it's the right fit for Superman and it's even worse in Legion. Legion's only saving grace for me is it's PHENOMENAL art.

For anyone else: I've noticed general consensus seems to be that while Bendis **** up Jon, Lois, and Jor-El, his Superman is anywhere between good and "good enough". I can't really chime in on that since I only became a fan of Supes with the Rebirth run. But aside from some poor parenting decisions and an equally poor decision to forgo his secret identity, I don't see anything...inherently wrong with Bendis' Superman. He seems like a very by the books Supes to me. So I guess the character, himself, is fine. I just don't enjoy his stories anymore.

So if you're a fan of Superman but don't give much of a damn about his supporting cast, then I guess this is a good book to check out. It'd be a lot like King's Batman run in that regard. Either way, It's always best to at least give something a chance....Even if said chance leads to heartbreak.

[The Whovian]

Thanks everyone. I think I'm going to give it a try. If I don't like them, I can always pass them on to someone else.

[Steven Caldwell]

I am going to try and make a honest unbiased assessment here.
If you like to pay 3.99 for stories that are very drawn out, very little happens each issue, the characters act different from how they have during the last 80 years, and endings that are rarely satisfying and apparently out of continuity from the other DC Books, then Bendis is the way to go.
I liked Rebirth.

[Vordan]

I am going to try and make a honest unbiased assessment here.
If you like to pay 3.99 for stories that are very drawn out, very little happens each issue, the characters act different from how they have during the last 80 years, and endings that are rarely satisfying and apparently out of continuity from the other DC Books, then Bendis is the way to go.
I liked Rebirth.

This is going to come as a shock but Post Crisis Superman with his living Ma and Pa Kent and good ol’ farmboy outlook? Totally different from Pre Crisis Superman whose Kents were dead by the time he became Superman. Bendis reminds me a lot of the Bronze Age Superman stories, so while his Superman is tonally different from Superdad, he still fits perfectly well into Supes characterization over his 80+ year history. Although given how widely Superman has varied, a lot of Superman incarnations don’t share anything except the name.

[Flash Gordon]

It's hands down the best quality the Superman titles have been since Morrison and Lobdell, but that's not really saying much (Superman has been bottom of the barrel for some time). I do think Bendis *gets* Superman's voice in a way that a lot do not, though- and he works with great artists.

As a big LoSH fan, I'm not thrilled about the direction of that title.

[objectivewatcher2013]

The Kents being back was a Geoff John's Doomsday Clock move. The Bendis run has been awful because he's writing the wrong book. He should be writing Supergirl. That's what his writing style works best. His Superman run has been a huge mess.

[TheSuperMule]

Not. Good. Ivan Reis work on Superman is saving this run.