Written by: Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason
Art by: Doug Mahnke
Publisher: DC Comics
DC Rebirth is here! To kick things off we’ve got big hitters coming out swinging this week with Batman, and Superman. The big question here is does the actual content of Rebirth measure up to the promise that was laid out last week by that glorious special that may be the greatest thing to happen to DC these past few years? Let’s begin with the series that has probably had the largest change as part of Rebirth.
For those not in the know, in the events leading up to Rebirth it was revealed that the Superman from Pre-Flashpoint DC made it into the New 52 with his wife Lois and their son. Over the past years he has been dealing with the emergencies that the New 52 Kal-el could not. With the Superman of the New 52 now dead, it’s up to the Pre-Flashpoint hero to resume his role.
This issue serves as a pretty great jumping on point for new or returning readers in that it sets the scene well and delivers the character’s background with ease. The main problem? That’s all that happens. This does seem to be DC taking advantage of their new bi-monthly release schedule for the main titles as this decreased interim between issues will allow for a slower pace of story telling, which I hope will work out in the long term but to judge now would be too hasty.
The reason behind my problem with the lack of story drive seen here is that for readers who have kept up with the goings on in the DC universe (at least enough to know that this older Kal-el existed) I dare say that they could have given this issue a miss and start with Action comics next week without missing any real substance. I digress however, as one of the central tenants of Rebirth is to serve as a jumping on point for readers who did not follow the New 52 or are new to DC and the book serves this purpose rather well.
The only two characters that we meet throughout this issue are Superman and Lana Lang. Their interaction is… interesting to say the least. I like how although Superman is certain that his New 52 counterpart will rise again, which makes sense seeing as both he and many of his peers have overcome death on multiple occasions, Lana is certain that he is gone for good and is trying to carry out his wishes to be buried in Kansas. This brings about a fantastic back and forth between the two which makes Superman look more like he’s in denial about New 52’s passing more than anything as he claims he can bring Clark back with the use of Kryptonian artifacts.
In this lies the true aim of the book, to convince us that ‘NO, New 52 Superman is actually dead. pre-52 Superman is the new one.’ The Pre-Flashpoint Superman seems to mirror the view of fans who would argue that no comic death is held for long and would point to The Death of Superman as an example of this, which is actually used for good effect here. By the end of the book it really does look like Pre-Flashpoint Superman is here to stay as the resident Man of Steel from now on, but is this a good thing?
I for one am excited to see a Superman that has grown and developed away from just the Clark Kent, Investigative Reporter as he has developed a family with his universe’s Lois Lane and even has a son. As someone who’s favorite scenes in Superman stories are often those between Clark and his folks, when the very human core of his character shines the brightest, I’m over the moon that this new series will star a much more family-driven protagonist and can’t wait to see his future interactions with his son as he passes on the teachings learnt from Johnathan Kent.
We see some possible foreshadowing in that Clark does hides details from Lana about his family and private life, an act I found surprising considering the what Lana means to Clark, irrespective of universe of origin. Lana does show some skepticism towards him due to his unwillingness to share all details and I will be interested to see if this will come up again as the series goes on.
The art of the book is pretty solid and I find myself stretching to reach for any sort of complaint about it. The faces do sometimes waver in how… human, they look with some overly prominent cheekbones some awkward looking eyes (don’t tell me Supes isn’t wearing mascara in that last panel) that just push them a little into the uncanny valley.
In the end Superman Rebirth does a fantastic job summing up all you need to know for both new and returning readers, although those that have stayed in the know in recent times may want to give it a miss. Rebirth already seems to be delivering on its promises of bringing DC continuity back to the fore, with a returning, married Superman carrying on the legacy of the fallen. I eagerly await next week’s release of Action Comics with our favorite Machiavellian foe, Lex Luthor, taking on the cape as his own version of Man of Steel and the continuing chronicle of Superman the week after.
