Comic Review: The Man of Steel #2

The Man of Steel #2

DC Comics

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Jason Fabok

I have a confession :

My name is Derek Heid and I love Brian Michael Bendis.

I really do. I think his’s dialogue is genuinely good most of the time, he can really develop a character like nobody’s business, and he’s really really funny most of the time. Yeah, some things he’s done aren’t great, but with the amount of output, the man has they can’t all be winners…BUT MOST THINGS HE’S DONE ARE BIG OL’ WINNERS TO ME, DAMNIT!

But I digress, this isn’t a love letter to Bendis (I’ll never publish that) this is a review of the 2nd issue of his weekly miniseries “The Man of Steel” featuring Superman, of course. This issue is picking up a little after the end of the last issue, with a white light-bathed Clark, Lois Lane, and their son Jon. There are murmurs around the paper as to the mystery as to where Lois could possibly be, and of course, everyone has their opinions. Meanwhile, Superman is off patrolling the world and has an incredibly easy time dealing with The Tinkerer (the banter between Supes and The Tinkerer is actually pretty hysterical. It’s Bendis in top form). Green Lantern swoops by to provide an assist and to check in on Superman to find out what could have happened to his family, which makes Superman very uncomfortable and he get’s the hell out of dodge. He freaks out and crashes into the moon. We see a brief flashback to the last moment we saw Lois and Jon, and get a quick (still ambiguous) view of what happened to them. I’m going to stop doing a beat by beat review now, so you have something to enjoy if you haven’t read it yet. But, there is an especially emotional moment of Perry White talking about how the fate of the Daily Planet is up in the air (beautifully drawn by one of the artists on this issue the great Steve Rude) that hit me in an unexpected way.

I do have to say, I absolutely adore the Superfamily, and I would sorely disappointed with Bendis if that dynamic is dissipated. He would have a field day writing for that family, and he knows it. Please don’t change the status-quo on this, at least not yet. But besides me being terrified of the fate of a fictional family, Bendis has not disappointed me in the slightest. This issues had some fun diversions, was heavy on plot, and gave us a couple more things to worry about in both Clark and Supermans lives, all while being drenched in fun snappy dialogue I seem to eat up like a sugared cereal. It also needs to be said that the three artists on this issue (Doc Shaner, Steve Rude, and Jay Fabook) were all wonderful, Steve Rude’s pages standing out the most, though. Rude’s classic, the kinetic style fits with Superman almost too well. I hope we get to see him be the main artist for a Superman book soon.

I think Bendis has crafted a great issue. Hopefully, it pays off with something wonderful and beneficial to the Kents. Also, Bendis: don’t you dare harm a hair on their heads, okay?