Comic Review: The Man of Steel #1

The Man of Steel #1

DC Comics

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Ivan Reis

BENDIS IS COMING.

I stare at the two-page ad, not sure if what I feel is hope or horror.

BENDIS IS COMING.

This guy? This guy?

BENDIS IS COMING.

I mean, they can’t be serious. This guy sucks. He sucks!

BENDIS…..

…Doesn’t he?

……IS HERE.

The Man of Steel #1 is out!! The biggest item of contention here is obviously the writer, so we’ll start with the part everyone’s going to be able to agree on: the art!

Until very recently, Ivan Reis was my favorite artist at DC, and he still holds my number 1 spot as penciller (my favorite artist is Manapul, who handles the entirety of the process himself). So it comes as no surprise to me that the art is consistently excellent throughout. Reis’ detailed hatching and simple, confident panel layouts are just as strong as ever. Superman comics don’t need to be avant-garde when it comes to the art. What Superman demands is an artist who can handle the classics and handle them well, and Reis certainly qualifies. Prado’s inks, seen on Reis’ pencils for a long time, execute Reis’ thin linework perfectly. Prado’s use of shadow is also excellent, keeping characters very light on shadow except for sequences where the shadow has thematic use, such as when Supes investigates a fire or when the new big bad is brooding in his cave. Alex Sinclair handles the colors, keeping gradations smooth and avoiding the “highlighter face syndrome” seen in so many digitally-colored comics. His texturing on walls and such is also extremely proficient. Panels 2 and 3 on page 11, where Supes breathes in some fire, really show Sinclair’s stuff. If I had to nitpick, I could say that there’s something about Reis’ rendition of Supes’ chin that doesn’t work for me all the time. At certain angles it juts out just a little more than I, in my infinite wisdom, think it ought to. But that’s just me. The art is done by a studied and practiced team that knows how to work together, and it shows. It’s goddamn beautiful.

The story in brief is: Superman does super things and seemingly flirts with a deputy fire chief. In the distant past, a rather disgruntled dude has a grudge against Krypton for reasons that I’m fairly certain conflict with canon. And at the end, we fade to white and there’s an insinuation that something happens to Lois and Jon. That’s as quick a synopsis as I can give.

Let’s talk about Bendis for a moment. Anyone who’s tied into the comic book community is doubtlessly aware of Bendis’ reputation – he’s ruined more than one book, and even though he’s known to have done good work those days are generally agreed to be behind him. “Bendis-speak” is a term coined to describe his usual style of having characters speak in repetition with each other, a technique clearly intended to mimic real speech patterns but one that doesn’t always work well on the printed page. In general, he’s mocked in a friendly, if passionate, sort of way. I was willing to give Bendis a chance. I was willing to give him the opportunity to start fresh at DC, more for the fact that I wanted a good Superman comic than for any real faith in the man. And I’m glad that I did. Man of Steel #1 reveals a very different Bendis than the one I’m used to, and one with a surprising grasp on the character. The issue shows Superman dealing primarily with ground-level situations, and what catches my attention is the gentle charm that Bendis imbues the character with. He’s got some one-liners here and there, such as when he tells a swearing child “language, please,” but I can’t help but feel like the Superman I’m seeing is a ground-level Superman. He catches a couple Gotham crooks. He saves folks from a fire. It’s simple. And simplicity is a huge strength here.

Then we’ve got the setup for the real plot, which involves a dude named Rogol Zarr getting mad about Krypton creating an interplanetary trade empire. Here’s where this plot begins to break down: an established piece of Krypton’s history is extreme isolationism. Near its end of days, space travel was entirely outlawed – that’s why Supes is the only one who got off the planet! Jor-El broke the law to build that one tiny rocket. Don’t you think that if leaving the planet was legal then at least one other person would have believed Jor-El? Or that Jor-El would have already had his own dang rocket?? So this premise of a Kryptonian trading empire is, as near as I can tell, completely against canon. However, there is still one way Bendis could save the story from breaking canon, and that’s by setting it long before the end times. I could see this strategy being the one he employs, and I personally think it would make a lot more sense. But only time will tell, and Bendis is known to have ignored canon in the past. I hope he makes the right decision here. Anyway, Zarr wants to stop Krypton from making its trade empire and exploiting other peoples to the point where the whole system goes kablooey, so he goes to this interplanetary council thing and makes a plea for them to just completely eradicate Krypton. They say no, and he gets mad about it. So far, I’m indifferent to the character. He might as well be a Mongul knockoff. He seems to have principles, and I think that Zarr might be able to develop as a villain in future issues, but at the moment I simply don’t know enough about him or his motivations to make a final call. Give me more backstory, Bendis! Don’t screw this up!

But there’s some blemishes on this otherwise strong starting point, namely Bendis’ threats to Superman’s family life. A firewoman flirts with Superman. He doesn’t flirt back, but the way Bendis framed it gives me uncomfortably love-interest-y vibes. I do not like that. I do not want that. Later on, Clark makes an odd face when looking at a picture of his family. I do not like that. I do not want that. When Clark is interacting with his family, all seems to be well, but the ending clearly implies that something bad happens to them. My guess is that they get erased from the timeline and then Clark shacks up with firelady until they come back. And here’s the thing: If Bendis breaks up the Superfamily for a limited time and then brings it all back like it was, then that’s fine. I’m far from a defender of status quo in comics, but the superfamily simply hasn’t been around long enough for a change to be necessary or wise at the moment. I can live with a temporary change that exists within a single storyline, but if Bendis makes Supes trade out a Pulitzer-prize-winning badass like Lois for a firefighting Mary Jane knockoff permanently then he’ll have proved every naysayer right. Be better than that, Bendis. You had our curiosity, you’ve got my attention, and the ball is in your court.

The Man of Steel #1 is finally out, and so dawns a new age of Superman – for better or worse. It’s a very strong first issue, and though some elements speak of potential future instability I’m still legitimately excited and interested to read the next one. If you were one of the people who refused to pick it up because it’s Bendis, I recommend you give it a chance.