Written by: Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason
Art by: Doug Manhke
Publisher: DC Comics
Superman just took Rebirth to the next level.
Everything that was happening in the Superman books up to this point comes to a head as we find out who was behind everything. And it is brilliant. What Tomasi and Gleason have weaved is probably one of the coolest ways to tie old Superman stories to this new world that was created.
Superman #23 brings old and new together, and in doing so adds another layer to the Rebirth universe. Doug Manhke continues his spectacular work, keeping that Twilight Zone feel of the previous issue around. It still exudes style and horror, especially with the Superboy pages, but it is way more streamlined way of telling a story. Manhke has been working on Superman for a long time now, so there is no doubt that if there was one person that could take the Big Blue in interesting and different direction when Gleason steps away for few issues, he would be the number one choice.
Superman as a title succeeds tremendously where the New 52 counterpart was failing in that it really knows what Superman readers want. It keeps it familiar enough not to alienate those fans, but it also knows it needs to turn some things on its head. Clark as a family man is one of the best dynamics Gleason and Tomasi could have come up with for this title, as it makes him more reletable than other super heroes. That I believe was always the biggest challenge for Superman; he was a “God” and people were tuning in to see how he would beat his foes month to month. What we get here is the true sense that Superman is fighting for something really personal, and it really works.
Overall Superman is the book to pick up and again proving to the world why he was the superhero that started it all.