It’s finally here: the beginning of DC’s Rebirth. We’ve already seen the Rebirth one-shot written by Geoff Johns set the stage for the universe to come, but with “Superman: Rebirth” #1 we get a look at how that rebirth will directly affect DC’s Big Blue Boy Scout in June and beyond. With a Superman who has lost his world and is stranded on one that finds itself without a Superman, Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason and Doug Mahnke chart the map that will lead the DC Universe to a new era of Super-comics.
Written by Peter J. Tomasi & Patrick Gleason
Illustrated by Doug Mahnke
The world needs a Man of Steel, but can Superman protect the world while raising a super-son with his wife, Lois Lane?IT BEGINS: Now it’s Clark’s turn to be Pa Kent and teach his son what it means to be super, but who is hunting Superman’s son—and why?
“Dying is easy. Being reborn is hard.”
I think one of the things that makes Rebirth so commendable as a publishing initiative is that it goes against the grain of DC’s track record of trying to sweep the bad comics under the rug. We have a multiverse that’s unwieldy and makes no sense and is actively confusing readers? Let’s make “Crisis On Infinite Earths” and then pretend it never existed! People are getting confused again because writers are trying to infuse pre-“Crisis” elements into the comics and it’s breaking the laws of reality? Let’s make “Infinite Crisis” and, well, you know where I’m going with this. Even the New 52 was a (mostly) clean reboot because, at a certain point, DC’s main response to life was when the going gets tough let’s just reboot all our comics. With Rebirth, DC are finally taking a stand, admitting their mistakes with parts of the New 52 and looking to fix them. Hence this issue where the Superman from before “Flashpoint” explains his life story to the New 52 Lana Lang.
Now, I want to be upfront here: I like this issue a lot. It has a fun dynamic between the characters, use the continuity of the universe well and explains the intricate history of two different versions of the DC Universe well enough that someone with no real knowledge of either should be able to follow it. Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised that the Rebirth issues are essentially extended versions of those eight page preview issues we got prior to the DCYou titles, but something about this issue felt little slight. Tomasi, Gleason and Mahnke are all great storytellers and are all bringing their a-game here, but the fact that this issue works as part epilogue to the New 52 Superman and part prelude to the Rebirth Superman and part recap of pre-“Flashpoint” Superman’s life means there’s not much in terms of new storytelling here.
The main thrust of this issue is that pre-“Flashpoint” Superman (who shall henceforth be referred as Superdad because I refuse to type all that out every time) and Lana Lang both want to graverob Superman’s remains. Lana wants to respect Clark’s final wishes and Superdad wants to bring him back to life. That’s a strong premise and brings maybe the most interesting character in the New 52 Superman comics into the fold in order to push Superdad back into the limelight of being Superman, but this issue ends up feeling mostly like housekeeping. Things need to be cleared up like explaining how New 52 Superman can’t come back to life, why Superdad has been in hiding since he showed up the New 52 (although I don’t think wearing a giant silver “s” on your black bodysuit constitutes being in hiding) and giving us a reason for why he’ll putting on the red cape again, but we never really get that moment.
It almost feels like the best moments of Superdad becoming Superman once again – that moment when he’s finally revealed in the full costume – is being held back for the actual “Superman” #1 which keeps this issue from having that one moment that really sells the concept. There’s no spike, no pop that really garners the hype for having a new Superman and that’s maybe the biggest letdown of this issue, honestly. It’s a fine issue, but that’s really all it is… fine. There’s nothing here that couldn’t have been folded into “Superman” #1. It doesn’t quite work as a send-off to New 52 Superman because that’s mostly glossed over in favour of focusing on Superdad. It doesn’t quite work as Superdad’s introduction as the new Superman because it ends right before that moment can happen. All it really is is a recap of Superdad’s fight with Doomsday.
Continued belowI guess this is to capture the zeitgeist of Batman V. Superman going over that storyline once again, but a lot of this issue is taken up by a retelling of the “Death Of Superman” storyline. Now, this actually works because this retelling is drawn by Doug Mahnke and it looks fantastic. The fight looks brutal and devastating and while we only get one panel of Superman’s actual death, it’s hard not to feel the loss of that fight as Mahnke draws Lois Lane cradling Superman’s dying body in her arms. It’s a reminder of the poignancy of that story buried under the nonsense that came after… right up until a mullet-adorned Superman shows up in the next page. It was a funny moment for me and really put the context of having a Superman who remembers everything prior to “Flashpoint” living in a world where none of that happened into perspective.
The sad thing is that Doug Mahnke is pretty under-utilised other than the recap of the Doomsday fight. Most of this comic is Lana and Superdad standing around in various locations talking which forces Mahnke’s art to become a series of shot-reverse-shot panels. While I’m a fan of Mahnke’s work and his pencils are incredibly crisp here, his forte as an artist is not in conveying nuanced emotion through facial expressions which is what this script required. Other than those seven pages where Mahnke is allowed to let loose with the Doomsday fight, the artwork feels really reigned in and honestly a little bland. Even the colours from Wil Quintana get toned down outside of the Doomsday fight – where he gets to really highlight the vibrant blues and reds of Superman’s cape against the grey skin and green shorts of Doomsday and the fire and explosions surrounding them – with the only colour that really pops being Lana’s red hair.
Like I said up top, I did actually enjoy this issue. However, I have to question just what this issue accomplished. I keep coming back to the idea that this issue feels like housekeeping. It tidied up a couple loose ends – well, one loose end – before looking to the future, but it never felt like it was necessarily bridging the gap between Superman’s death and Superdad becoming Superman. It’s a strange interlude that doesn’t really go anywhere, doesn’t really affect anything and spends a fair bit of time simply retelling a story that we all already know. And yet I enjoyed it. Perhaps it’s because the writing from Tomasi and Gleason was affable and they have a good grasp on both Superdad and Lana Lang and were able to play off that forming relationship despite their very different histories with alternate versions of one another. Perhaps it was seeing a double page splash of Superman wearing the red trunks drawn by Doug Mahnke did it.
I was already pretty interested in Superman’s part in Rebirth before going into this issue and I think the only way to capture how little this issue has going on is that it did not effect that interest at all, one way or another. It just kind of… happened.
Final Verdict: 6.9 – It’s not a bad issue, it’s not a great issue. It’s just an issue. Check it out if you like Superman, I guess.
