The most hyped Superman event of the year has begun, last issue new writer Brian Michael Bendis displayed an apt understanding of the Last Son of Krypton, while subtly tweaking the status quo, one question remains, WHERE ARE JON AND LOIS?!
Title: Man of Steel #2 (2018)
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Art: Doc Shaner, Steve Rude, Jay Fabok
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Letters: Steve Rude
Publisher: DC Comics
What You Need to Know:
Everyone knows Superman, I won’t explain him here. This is the second issue of Bendis’ Superman run, as of now we know that Rogol Zaar requested to destroy Krypton and was unanimously denied, and proceeded anyway. Also noteworthy is a string of arson across Metropolis, which no one has been able to determine the source of. Interestingly besides one short scene, Jon and Lois have been strangely absent. Curious.
What You Need to Know:
We open on a scene we’ve experienced a thousand times in a hundred ways, the destruction of Krypton, afterward a Guardian of the Universe speaks to a galactic ruler, who lays the blame squarely at the feet of the immortals who had the ability to stop Zaar. The Guardian tells him that if he truly believes Zaar has gone rogue and wiped out an entire species, it clearly isn’t the immortals he should be worried about. After the ruler leaves the Guardian visits Rogol Zaar’s cave and finds him absent, mainly speaking to himself he says he hoped Zaar died with Krypton, and all of his secrets died with him, intriguing!
We cut to present day and the Daily Planet. Robinson Goode, the new city desk reporter (Lois’ old job) asking around about Lois Lane’s whereabouts (her and everybody else!) The gossip columnist uses an interesting phrase when describing Clark, “estranged husband.” (whaaa?) The columnist says the rumor on the street is that Lois got a huge book deal and bailed on Clark with Jon. (unlikely)
We cut away from the sewing circle to find Superman slugging a 200-foot tall robot, he repeatedly asks for the occupant to speak to him, eventually, the occupant does throw a bit of a hissy fit, revealing himself as Winslow Schott, the Toyman! (the original Toyman, interestingly) Following a cameo from a certain ring-slinger, Superman speeds off, giving us another possible glimpse of what happened to Lois and Jon!
Elsewhere, Rogol Zaar visits a bar and finds something unexpected, a drink named after the last son of the civilization he eradicated, Krypton is no longer dead!
What Just Happened?
I’m loving this miniseries so far, I will say this issue felt a bit less dynamic than the first, but mid mini issues often suffer in order to set up later issues so I figure it will likely pay off in the later issues. It was nice to see a campy classic villain like Toyman, also interesting that for the second issue in a row a villain tries something different to attempt to evade Superman.
I really enjoyed the Toyman in general, but was especially excited to see that 3 Toymen were actually represented in this issue despite the golden age one being the actual villain, the second Toyman from the late silver age (I have his first appearance) was a jack in the box, and Bruce Timm’s design from Superman the animated series was a doll on a shelf.
Rating: 8/10
Final Thought: All in all, I thought this issue was good fun, and the art was killer. Definitely decent fun and a good start for new fans, but also full of small details to keep longtime fans interested. Feels like a nice campy bronze age tale at times, although slightly modernized.
If anyone ever wants to contact me, look me up in my groups for the love of comic books and New Fans, Old Comics, I also have several comic pages dedicated to my various true loves, Batman, Superman, Sword and Sorcery, Indie Comics, Spider-man, Marvel, Oldie Goldies, and Hats! (Long story on that last one haha) or on Twitter @johnbatusijack
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