Comic Review: DC Rebirth Superman Volume 1

Superman, the pre-Flashpoint version of him, returned to the current DC Universe with Convergence and Rebirth, bringing with him Lois Lane, a son named Jonathan, and, over on Action Comics, longtime Superman-writer Dan Jurgens.

But there is a second title for the Man of Steel, and Superman may be the better of the two, particularly as it relates to Superman and Lois Lane as parents.  The first volume, subtitled Son of Superman, covers this concept.

It may help immensely that the main creative team is writer Peter J Tomasi and artist/co-writer Patrick Gleason.  That pair had a fairly well-received run on Batman and Robin that dealt with, among other things, Bruce Wayne being a parent to his young son Damien.  In every way possible, I think it is safe to say that Clark and Jon Kent have a very different sort of relationship as very different characters from the darker Waynes, not the least of which due to the fact that, unlike Damien, Jon has a mother hanging around in the form of Lois Lane.  Living on a farm under the alias of the “Smith” family, Clark, Lois, and Jon are settling in to give Jon the kind of bucolic childhood Clark had with the advantage that Clark at least knows a bit of what Jon is going through with the onset of inconsistent superpowers and Jon’s need to control them before more tragedies occur like when Jon tries to rescue the family cat from a hawk.

What follows is something that in tone reminded me a little of All-Star Superman.  Superman, Lois, and Jon head off to the Fortress of Solitude, have an encounter with the Eradicator, there’s talk of the Phantom Zone, and Krypto the Super-Dog is hanging around.  From there, it’s every Kent against the Eradicator (yes, including Lois), and when everything is finished, Clark can strike a very Superman-ish pose and the world can cheer.  Plus, you know, there’s a new Superboy in town.

Accompanying the volume, by the way, is the Zero Issue that Jimmy covered before.  That was a decent enough interlude, more an explanation that the New 52 Superman isn’t coming back, but the biggest minor surprise for me was something of an Easter Egg.  An interlude at Bibbo’s bar features Bibbo arm wrestling a one-handed doofus with a single hand.  Who is he?  Hacken, one of the few surviving cast members of Garth Ennis and John McCrea’s Hitman series.  Interesting choice…

At any rate, I’m giving this one nine out of ten lunar Batcaves.