It’s a Bird. It’s a Plane. It’s Bendis Taking Over in “Superman: Man of Steel #1”

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis / Artists: Ivan Reis, Jay Fabok / DC Comics Bendis is here. After debuting his take on Superman in Action Comics #1000, Bendis has taken charge of the Man of Steel. Here is our first glimpse into the new status quo, the six week mini-series that will take us into a soft reboot of the Superman’s main line and a continuation of Action Comics. The issue starts out with an interesting spread and a monologue from Rogol Zaar. In his very lengthy speech, Rogol Zaar makes some interesting parallels between old-school Krypton and the current-day America of rampant colonizers dependent on exploration and exploitation that ultimately doom the civilizations they interact with in the name of progress. Yet, as sensible as Rogol Zaar’s anger is, his solution is rampant genocide so this all balances out.

We then quickly transition to Superman doing his typical go-around in Metropolis. It should be stated right now that Reis’ Superman artwork is drop-dead gorgeous, red trunks and all. This is as classic and as iconic a take on the character as you could ask for, and every detail from the signature curl to knowing smirk is present. And Bendis, to his credit, keeps pace with the script. Superman’s compassion and superpowers are front and center. But Man of Steel #1 also has to deal with Rogol Zaar and Clark Kent’s side of things. The few glimpses we get are just teases of the rest of the arc. This issue, like most #1, does a good job at setting the tone and starts…