Superman #16 (spoilers)

[Dispenser Of Truth]

Well, that was certainly a goddamn disappointment.

Not that there was absolutely nothing of value in there, not by a longshot - the opening scene is dope, and the bits with Clark and Kenan work. But in spite of that first issue firing on absolutely all cylinders and making me think we were going to get a minor perennial out of this, this ended up basically the worst-case scenario. Filler art (I like Daniel and Mann just fine, but this was not their day), a non-plot, generic heroic dialogue substituting for character, and a total lack of answers to literally any of the multitude of questions raised in the build-up to this (so do we have to read Titans #7 as non-canon now? Because certainly Clark isn't learning anything about time being edited prior to Superman Reborn). What was the point of this, beyond wasting one of the promising Unknown Earths, a truly kickass story concept, and Red Racer, whose fate could be a whole piece unto itself on what a bad idea it was? After 7 issues of suddenly blowing me away, this suddenly sunk back down to the level of the the first 6, except without Gleason and Mahnke propping it up. What a waste.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

I thought it was horrible, and I don't blame Tomasi and Gleason for all of it because I think they've had to do rewrites, but I do blame them for the worst part of this issue.

spoilers:

The death of Red Racer so that they could homage COIE

end of spoilers

The writing was more the typical Tomasi style writing that I feared for this run, instead of the surprisingly solid and sometimes great writing from this book since issue #7 and onwards. The art was rushed, the big fight fell flat, and Prophecy was a completely lackluster antagonist. The ending bit with Clark and Kenan was ok, but Kenan's dialogue lacked the personality present in his series.

And unless I missed something, Post-Crisis Superman didn't discover any new clue as to his identity, unless him being an anomaly is supposed to be it.

This was the worst issue of the book, and I only hope this isn't a sign of things to come with 'Reborn', and its aftermath.

[Sacred Knight]

Honestly a rather underwhelming arc to an idea that sounded really good on paper. I gotta admit, in the end it seems like it was just as much the filler that Men of Steel over in Action was. I thought it'd be more. I mean it wasn't awful, just was...fair, I guess. Ah well. And the substance-less Oz teases have been so overdone to this point that the cliffhanger ending leaves you feeling pretty much nothing.

On the plus side for Kenen and Clark, their first meeting will indeed be rewritten, according to the solicits.

[Patrick Gerard]

Honestly a rather underwhelming arc to an idea that sounded really good on paper. I gotta admit, in the end it seems like it was just as much the filler that Men of Steel over in Action was. I thought it'd be more. I mean it wasn't awful, just was...fair, I guess. Ah well. And the substance-less Oz teases have been so overdone to this point that the cliffhanger ending leaves you feeling pretty much nothing.

On the plus side for Kenen and Clark, their first meeting will indeed be rewritten, according to the solicits.

I could be wrong but my suspicion is that the Tomasi Superman run will remain as part of the new continuity. Hamilton County is referenced after Reborn and most of the continuity Mumbai jumbo has been contained to one shots, annuals, and Action.

I think wherever we're headed, it will maintain the Rebirth issues more or less intact with an alternate explanation for how we arrived at the Smiths of Hamilton County. My guess is something to the effect that Superman Red took over while Lois and Clark went into semi-retirement as the Smiths. Until Red died and Blue stepped back in and Red and Blue re-merged.

I think they've been vague about the continuity in large part because they want the first few Rebirth arcs to remain part of the post-Reborn revisions.

[Rakzo]

This reminded me a lot of Final Crisis. The theme of music being a way to connect the Multiverse was once again implemented here while the multiple Supermen and overall tone also support that idea.

However, it also reminded me of the WORST parts of Final Crisis like the erratic pacing and how the importance of music is hilariously pretentious.

The art was consistent at the very least. This wasn't bad but it wasn't great either, pretty much what I've felt about the whole storyarc.

[Sacred Knight]

I could be wrong but my suspicion is that the Tomasi Superman run will remain as part of the new continuity. Hamilton County is referenced after Reborn and most of the continuity Mumbai jumbo has been contained to one shots, annuals, and Action.

I think wherever we're headed, it will maintain the Rebirth issues more or less intact with an alternate explanation for how we arrived at the Smiths of Hamilton County. My guess is something to the effect that Superman Red took over while Lois and Clark went into semi-retirement as the Smiths. Until Red died and Blue stepped back in and Red and Blue re-merged.

I think they've been vague about the continuity in large part because they want the first few Rebirth arcs to remain part of the post-Reborn revisions.

Oh I agree that the bulk of pre-Reborn Rebirth stuff will remain, otherwise what was the point. Although I do think bits and pieces will be out. For instance, Superman and Lex meeting as strangers as each is not "their" version. That'll no longer be in play so those conversations and motiviations will be out the door. The cape of the dead Superman, that'll be gone as he never died, at least he never died again. But the basic stories told there still work, with small alterations that need not even be referenced. With Kenan maybe it'll a similar small detail that's erased. Or maybe the solicits are just wrong, that's always possible too. But outside details, all the Rebirth stories told thus far can work just fine with a revised history in which this Superman was simply always here and always Superman.

[REAL]

I was excited for this arc and I ended up being disappointed.

It also made me less excited for the crossover.

[Kuwagaton]

I could be wrong but my suspicion is that the Tomasi Superman run will remain as part of the new continuity. Hamilton County is referenced after Reborn and most of the continuity Mumbai jumbo has been contained to one shots, annuals, and Action.

I think wherever we're headed, it will maintain the Rebirth issues more or less intact with an alternate explanation for how we arrived at the Smiths of Hamilton County. My guess is something to the effect that Superman Red took over while Lois and Clark went into semi-retirement as the Smiths. Until Red died and Blue stepped back in and Red and Blue re-merged.

I think they've been vague about the continuity in large part because they want the first few Rebirth arcs to remain part of the post-Reborn revisions.

Yeah, notice there was that blue light that's only been synonymous with the Rebirth Superman.

[RECKLESSbat]

Is the superman on the right nuperman? INJUSTICE superman?
Ska?rmavbild 2017-02-01 kl. 14.04.42.jpg


Also, Cav-el supes
Ska?rmavbild 2017-02-01 kl. 14.03.31.jpg

[Kuwagaton]

Ha! Good catch. I've always wanted to see Cav-el without the photo realism they tend to put on due to association with the movie.

[Prime]

Is the superman on the right nuperman? INJUSTICE superman?
Ska?rmavbild 2017-02-01 kl. 14.04.42.jpg


Also, Cav-el supes
Ska?rmavbild 2017-02-01 kl. 14.03.31.jpg

Looks like he belongs in the multiverse.

[DragonPiece]

Guess, I'm one of the few who enjoyed this. It was only 20 pages, I wasn't expecting some huge story here at the end. Felt it handled the characters well and glad Superman wasn't able to defeat the bad guy alone. Mr. Oz holding quite the collection.

[sustainentropy]

I enjoyed it too, but the fill ins did hurt it a bit. I thought we'd get more of a clue about Supes being a multiversal anomaly.

[Kuwagaton]

The solicits have been increasingly unreliable with the quickly published comics they've been working extremely hard to get out, so I realized going in that this was not the space for the anomaly stuff to really get explored. I'd actually rather see them avoid it until they're ready to lay it all on the table.

[Maxi]

This was a bit dissapointing. I think everyone was expecting a bigger climax for the type of story it was. And the solicitations deceived us once again since Superman learned nothing about the truth of his existence.

The constant change of artists doesn't help either, I feel the best issues are those that Gleason draws by far.