Superman #23: What is the Deal with Superman?

Brian Michael Bendis is widely known, for better or worse, for his dialogue. The volume of dialogue, the structure of it, the overall tone of how characters speak to other characters– these are hallmarks of a Bendis book. This issue of Superman was the most Bendis-y issue of the series we’ve seen to date. It lands positive for me but I can absolutely see where it will be a definite problem for many readers. That is the unfortunate truth of being a writer of Bendis’ position and status.

The book runs on two distinct narrative tracks, one of which being the rise of a new magical adversary called Xanadoth who has a connection to Dr. Fate. Certainly worth noting with Superman’s famous weakness to magic but this portion of the story took a backseat to the conversation between Superman and Dr. Fate. Seeking the doctor’s expertise at the behest of his loved ones, Fate establishes that no magical influence is responsible for Clark’s reveal in “The Truth” arc. In the process of getting to know each other, though, Bendis uses the two characters to unpack and contextualize the entirety of Bendis’ run, weaving in and our of the various events to paint a picture that isn’t readily obvious but couldn’t be more clear upon further examination.

What Bendis has done here, in essence, is take a great many life altering events (the arrival and loss of his birth father, the aging up of Jon, Jon’s journey to the future, the revelation and response, etc) and weave them into a new weakness for Superman– trauma. Certainly Clark has experienced trauma at the hands of other writers before but I cannot for the life of me recall another story that put this trauma and the effects of it front and center like this issue does. How it plays a role going forward is anybody’s guess but for now, in this instant and in this single issue, it is a shining example of how you can put a new spin on an old character and have it not feel cheap and surface level.