Tag: Brian Michael Bendis

Best of DC: Week of June 12th, 2019

Runner Up: Superman #12 – Brian Michael Bendis, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Oclair Albert, Alex Sinclair and Josh Reed

Reunited and it feels so good.

The House of El has been separated for a long time. Jon went on adventure with his Grandfather and came back as a seventeen year old, though it’s only been three weeks on Earth. Kara went off into space to find out who destroyed Krypton and why and hasn’t been on Earth almost as long as Jon. That just left Superman while Rogol Zaar rotted in the Phantom Zone.

After Jon’s return, the father-son duo go on to rescue Jor-El, who’s in the middle of a war of his own design. Suddenly, Kara and Krypto join the fight, on the way back to Earth after discovering who killed Krypton. The family reunites just as Rogol Zaar, Jax-Ur and General Zod escape the Phantom Zone and go after the House of El.

Ivan Reis plays up this reunion like it’s been years in the making with Superman immediately intercepting Zaar with Kara, Jon and Zod in the background, all fighting in this amazingly drawn battle. Their blues and reds stand out as colors of hope as they fight against the Khunds, Thanagarians, Trilium Collective and the Enemies of El.

Superman fights with intensity, knowing the destruction that Zaar is capable of. When Zaar breaks away to take his ax/staff from Kara, she rocks him with a HARD punch. The impact almost shakes the page. The same things play out in her book, also released this week, but she knows that she has to keep the item away from Zaar, lest his power increases exponentially.

While the battle is going on, Krypto and Jon play around a little bit and this wholesome moment puts a smile on Clark’s face before Zod ambushes him. The two clash and briefly enter super speed before he and the rest of his family make a dash to Jor-El’s ship following Zaar’s retreat and the end of the battle.

The family, excluding Jor-El who looks salty as hell in the next panel, embrace. They go their separate ways soon after as Kara wishes to confront the leader of the Trilium Collective as they’ve been the main roadblock in her book. She takes Jon, leaving Superman and his father time to reconcile as Jor-El leads Superman to the remains of Krypton for a cool cliffhanger.

This book was great. Ivan Reis continues to be a fantastic artist for Superman, drawing on his and the others sheer amount of strength to make things look impactful and cool. His sense of scale makes things seem so much bigger, especially with all of the action going on in the background. With Sinclair’s help, colors are vibrant and give the book all of the life that makes it good, especially on the non-gloss paper.

One thing that I hold in high regard for this story is how it seems to be working towards making General Zod less of a tyrannical villain and more of a tyrannical anti-hero, at least for the moment. In most other cases, seeing Superman would be fight-on-sight because of his hatred for the House of El, but his Kryptonian pride won’t let him compromise the chance to take revenge on Zaar and anyone else responsible for Krypton’s destruction.

This allows him to form something of an alliance with Superman. Coupled with the two or so dream sequences we’ve seen that allude to peace between the two, there’s real hope for a mutual understanding between them. So long as Zod never learns of Jor-El’s involvement in Krypton’s destruction.

Best of DC: Week of May 15th, 2019

Runner Up: Superman #11 – Brian Michael Bendis, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Oclair Albert, Alex Sinclair and Josh Reed

The lives of those in the House of El are unreasonably hectic.

Maybe an hour or so after Jon returns and tells his parents about his time with his Grandfather, he and Superman are thrust into a giant war instigated by the returning Jor-El. Somehow, he’s managed to piss off the Thanagarians, the Khund, the normally peaceful Trilium Collective and they’re all gunning for him.

Ivan Reis absolutely makes this issue with his stunning visuals! The space combat is intense and Superman only makes it even better as he glides through ships with his red after image and beautiful explosions. The ships themselves are amazingly unique and specific to the races they come from. Heck, there’s a lot to be said for the many facial expressions that Superman makes as he “politely” asks each of them to stand down.

While the art was amazing, the story was good too. Finally, coming back to General Zod after about five issues, Rogol Zaar offers him a truce. Zaar promises to tell Zod why he destroyed Krypton if Zod can help him get out of the Phantom Zone. Somehow, because of Jor-El, the monstrous brute escapes. Zod appears as well, looking like he’s about to offer Jon Kent the ASS WHOOPING OF A LIFETIME, but he simply calms the boy as Zaar faces Superman and an unexpected ally appears.

This issue was a lot of fun and definitely helps to begin the pay off of Zod returning from the Phantom Zone and Zaar confronting the House of El in three generations. Superman was hilarious as he merely has to look at people, mildly annoyed, to get most of them to stop. Zaar, however, continues to be a bland brute as we only get teased about his motivations without any real development. I am excited about Zod’s future, however. I really REALLY want him to come out of this almost year long arc as a reluctant ally of Superman and for that, this is a high recommend!