DC Comics reviews for the week of 7/4/18

Man of Steel #6

Brian Michael Bendis wraps his initial Superman arc with a long awaited answer to one of Man of Steel’s lingering questions: Where’s Lois and Jon?

Focusing on Superman’s family was a smarter route as Bendis wasn’t going to suddenly accomplish in 22 pages what he’d failed to in 110 previous pages — making Rogol Zaar important. He had an interesting look, but he never managed to come off more than a low-rent Doomsday wannabe who couldn’t kill Superman. It’s telling that the culmination of Man of Steel devotes most of the issue to Clark, Lois, Jon and Jor-El with the Superman/Rogol Zaar battle in the backdrop.

For all the concerns that Bendis was going to immediately trash everything fans had come to love about the Rebirth Superman, that definitely wasn’t the case. Man of Steel turned out not to be this big sweeping reboot, but rather a mini-series to introduce Bendis on Superman. Bendis showed incredible respect to the creative teams that came before him actually incorporating major plot points as the springboard to a key moment in MOS. The best writers take what’s been done and use that to drive their story and Bendis certainly did in this case.

This issue also shined from the artwork of Jason Fabok. Up until this issue, Fabok contributed 3-4 pages an issue. With the full issue this time, Fabok shows why he’s one of DC’s best talents. Each page looks phenomenal and he managed to make Zaar look more formidable than we’ve seen in previous outings. Alex Sinclair’s colors remain on another level with deep, rich colors that give a premium, high quality look to the artwork. Man of Steel definitely had some of the best art this year and Bendis had an all-star roster of top talent.

I was worried Bendis would ruin a great thing with Superman, but Man of Steel proved he’s a strong fit for the character. If this mini-series was any indication, Superman is in good hands and readers are in line for some great stories.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10