Warning: SPOILERS through Man of Steel #6
In the wake of the final chapter of the Man of Steel, many are wondering if DC Comics made a mistake in assigning the future of Superman comics to Brian Michael Bendis. Rather than presenting a bold new vision for The Man of Tomorrow in both his lead-up to, and takeover of both Superman books, Bendis’ opening act seems to have rehashed numerous elements from earlier stories, while removing several key components of Superman mythology for no reason (beyond shock value).
The comics world was rocked when it was announced that Bendis had signed an exclusive contract with DC Comics, given Bendis’ prominent role at Marvel Comics (imagine Mick Jagger leaving The Rolling Stones to sing for The Beatles). Hopes ran high when it was announced that Bendis would take charge of the Superman line of books with Action Comics #1000. The early advertising for the new line promised big changes and shocking revelations regarding the real reason Superman’s home world of Krypton was destroyed.
Sadly, the reality of “The Coming Of Bendis” has been far from magical in the eyes of many Super-fans, devoted or casual. In Bendis’ new mythology, Krypton was destroyed by Rogol Zaar, an alien with a genocidal hatred for the Kryptonian people. While the idea of a crazed, racist strongman is not a bad start for crafting a villain, Bendis never gave Rogol Zaar any further definition or motivation for his actions.
He did, however, attempt to establish Rogol Zaar as a worth enemy by having him destroy The Bottle City of Kandor. Effectively, there was little difference between Rogol Zaar and Doomsday from The Death of Superman, apart from Rogol Zaar being more articulate and arming himself with an axe.
To make matters worse, this new villain, who was promised to “change everything we thought we knew about Superman” and his history, was defeated in the most anticlimactic way possible. That is, zapped with the Phantom Zone Projector by Supergirl, and sent into Limbo before his motivations could be explained. Apparently the mystery of Rogol Zaar will kick-off a new Supergirl series, where Kara Zor-El will travel the galaxy in search of the truth behind Krypton’s destruction.
All well and good, but it remains a poor excuse for his role in what should be his primary story. Which points to another frequent problem with Bendis’ writing: an unfortunate tendency to drag stories out with ‘filler’ issues, delivering all the important plot elements in a final-chapter information dump. With Man of Steel, Bendis stretched out the mystery behind the sudden disappearance of Lois Lane and Jonathan Kent for several issues, prompting speculation of marital troubles between Clark and Lois.
The final issue ultimately reveals that mother and son are exploring the galaxy with Jor-El, as Superman’s resurrected Kryptonian father attempts to train Jonathan Kent train Superboy to be a better Superman. Again, not a bad idea for a story. But the slow reveal was a cheap and artificial means of building drama or suspense.
There is one final oddity regarding Bendis’ Superman run so far that merits discussion. The Man of Steel miniseries was promoted as an entryway for those who wanted a good place to start reading the Superman comics (specifically, as a buildup to Bendis writing both Action and Superman). Despite this, the plot of Man of Steel was heavily steeped in the continuity of earlier stories, referring to events centering on Superboy in Teen Titans and Super Sons as well. Bendis’ script made little effort to explain these points, or how exactly Jor-El is even alive, and has a less-than-loving relationship with his son.
Despite all of these issues, the biggest problem with Man of Steel is how it cuts out much of the heart of its main character. By eliminating Superman’s family from the title, and minimizing Clark’s role as a journalist to focus on his being Superman and fighting new, stronger villains, Bendis emulates the biggest mistake many writers have made when handling Superman.
To borrow a phase from Kingdom Come, they “made the Super more important than the Man.” And when a writer does that, they aren’t really writing Superman anymore.
More: DC Just Changed Superman’s Kryptonian Origin Story
Man of Steel #6 is now available from DC Comics.
