THE MAN OF STEEL
Brian transplant
Brian Bendis rips his shirt open and leaps up, up and away to DC…
RELEASED OUT NOW! Publisher dC Comics Writer Brian Michael Bendis Artists Various
In the world of comic publishing, there are major coups – and then there’s Brian Michael Bendis moving from Marvel to DC. One of the most influential Marvel creators, Bendis was an integral part of the House of Ideas for the last 18 years, overseeing some of their biggest titles like Avengers and Ultimate Spider-Man, but now he’s made the leap to DC Comics and been given the keys to the most influential superhero of all.
The resulting new era in Superman’s history will be told via Bendis helming both the main Superman title and Action Comics, but it starts with this weekly six-issue miniseries featuring a plethora of superstar artists.
The Man Of Steel takes its title from the legendary 1986 miniseries (by another Marvel “defector”, John Byrne) that completely rebooted Superman’s origin, although Bendis isn’t doing anything as revolutionary here. Instead, we’re remaining in the current DC continuity, where Clark Kent is married to Lois Lane and has a young son named Jon, although Bendis is also throwing some significant new elements into the mix. As well as introducing a selection of intriguing street-level Metropolis inhabitants, he’s also given us an intimidating villain: Rogal Zar is a genocidal alien who may have been responsible for the destruction of Krypton, and when he arrives on Earth intent on exterminating the last remaining Kryptonian survivors, everything in Superman’s life is soon under threat.
The four issues that were available for review show that Bendis is as skilled as ever at slick superhero action, and isn’t afraid of mixing up the chronology of the story, setting up a whole bunch of mysteries that are obviously going to take a while to pay off (most notably, the current whereabouts of both Lois and Jon). The decision to go with multiple artists (sometimes changing in the middle of an issue) means the series’ visual identity isn’t always smooth, but we still get wellexecuted action sequences and
Bendis isn’t afraid to mix up the chronology of the story
moments of humour, especially from Ryan Sook in issue three.
Most importantly, Bendis delivers rousing action as well as proving he has a strong handle on the character of Clark Kent and the general tone of Superman comics. The bright and colourful optimism that the character is best known for is here in abundance, but there’s also sharp dialogue and some nicely played humour, along with a strong sense of threat and a genuine emotional impact when it counts. Bendis may be leaving plenty of question marks over where his take on Superman is heading, but right now the future of the Last Son of Krypton looks to be in very good hands.
Thanks to a fan challenge, Bendis will soon introduce Nuclear Man from Superman IV into the DC Universe.