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The Man of Steel #1
Publisher: DC
Story: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Ivan Reis
Inks: Joe Prado
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Letters: Cory Petit

A new six-issue weekly series that serves to redefine Superman in the DC Rebirth era, Man of Steel #1 doesn’t change the character so much as help to firmly establish who Superman (and Clark Kent) are, after the upheaval that’s occurred by the merging of the New 52 and the post-crisis versions of the character.

The cover of this first issue is an odd choice, suited more for an issue of Justice League than for the first issue of fan-favorite (but controversial) writer Brian Michael Bendis’ take on the character. Thankfully, the actual story of this issue doesn’t try to do too much. It relies on Bendis’ sometimes overly wordy exposition, but in this case it’s a good thing. The story in this first issue is slowly paced, but serves to help set-up both the main villain, a brand new character (glimpsed in Action Comics #1000), as well as some new “regular people” in Metropolis.

Both of those story elements are important for this issue, given that the villain, Rogol Zaar, was poorly defined in Action Comics #1000 and came across as an almost Doomsday-lite, one-note villain. In this issue, Bendis begins to unveil Zaar’s back-story and it’s much more intriguing than as presented in his debut issue, even if it is slightly derivative of a variety of “Krypton destroyers” that have been introduced over the years of Superman’s existence. Most interesting for Zaar’s backstory is the existence of a group of powerful super cosmic beings, including disgraced Guardian of the Universe Appa Ali Apsa and the inventor of zeta-beam technology, Sardath. Rogol Zaar appeals to this group, called the Circle, for permission to take action against Krypton, so it’s an interesting twist that someone as powerful and willful as Rogol Zaar as depicted in Action Comics #1000 actually has a group to which he answers.

On a completely different note, away from the huge cosmic interactions of this group, Bendis brings the reader back down to earth by beginning to add more detail to the city of Metropolis and its non-superpowered residents. Clark is firmly back entrenched at the Daily Planet, and interacts with all of the old Planet employees (with one notable exception, discussed below), and the layout of the Planet crew also includes a new, mysterious character introduced in DC Nation Special #0, even though she doesn’t do  anything in this particular issue. The story also introduces yet another new character from Metropolis, deputy fire chief Melody Moore, who works with Superman to help put out an apartment building fire started by arson. She’s clearly more than a little smitten by meeting Superman, which could just be Bendis’ way of showing Superman’s effect on the average person, but more likely is leading toward something bigger in terms of story and character development for the series.

In terms of Superman’s character, Bendis has a good handle on what makes Kal-El, and Clark Kent, tick. Scenes depict Superman questioning villains but specifically telling them “I don’t do that” when begged by C-list villain Killer Moth not to drop him. He shows a sense of humor when mentioning that when Batman drops villains from a height, “…it’s funny when he does it.” And, ever the reporter and investigator by nature, he questions the villains on why they are no longer too scared to set foot in Metropolis. Bendis also includes a great scene during the apartment fire during which Superman rescues a young girl who is trapped, and after she curses, he calmly and polite reminders her, “Language, please.” Small touches like this, while they are not full of action, serve to set the stage for Bendis’ take on the character.

The main thing missing from this depiction of Superman is his family, namely, his wife Lois Lane and son, Jon. Bendis hasn’t written them out of existence or tried to change Superman’s origins and backstory by deciding that they weren’t married. Rather, their absence is a mystery hinted at by a photograph of them on Clark’s desk at the Daily Planet, and during the cliff-hanger scene at the end that sets up the next issue.

The majority of the art, with the exception of two pages, is handled by Ivan Reis and inked by Joe Prado, and it’s extremely well-done. The two-page spread the follows the first page, depicting the heads of the Circle in a dark, moody setting as huge floating heads speaking with the tiny form of Rogol Zaar serves to show just how small Zaar is in the grand scheme of the Circle, while the next spread, only a couple of pages later, brings Superman to larger than life status by showing him flying through the city, carrying the small, insignificant characters of Killer Moth and Heatwave. Colorist Alex Sinclair makes the scene pop even more by using a bright color palette for Superman rather than the darker, murkier tones that DC so often likes to rely on in their modern comics.

Jason Fabok illustrates two pages toward the end of the issue, and while the change in styles is so subtle and doesn’t hurt the flow of the story, it’s indicative of potential future problems with the art on this weekly series given that the main creative team weren’t able to complete the issue without help.

Man of Steel #1 is a strong issue to add to the Superman canon, and if future issues in the weekly series can maintain the art standards and continue to focus on Superman’s character and what makes him the paragon DC’s superhero population, with enough mystery and character development, it will definitely bring the reader back for more.

Martin Thomas
martin@comicattack.net