For the most part, I have been very impressed with Brian Michael Bendis' The Man of Steel mini-series. Bendis seems to have a good understanding of who Superman is and what he represents. He has a handle of Superman's voice. Supergirl, the staff at the Planet, the arson subplot and new firefighter Melody Moore, and the members of the JLA have all sounded the way I expect them to. It is the character moments that have shined the most, as well as the all-star cast of artists on the book. But this stuff seems to be more on the periphery of the book.
What I hasn't really grabbed me so far are the two major plots going through the series. We have the threat of Rogol Zaar, someone we still don't know enough about to dig deep into his hate. And we have the Lois/Jon disappearance storyline, something I have tried to defend as we have been shown more and more snippets of what actually happened.
This week The Man of Steel #5 came out and, for me, it is the weakest issue of the series so far. Unfortunately, it is because the two plots I have struggled with, Zaar and Lois, are really under the spotlight here. And things are said and are done that don't make much sense for the characters or the stories. They are glaring. I can't easily swallow them for the sake of plot progression.
It is a shame because the other things continue to shine. This issue we get to see the JLA and how much they care about Superman. And this is a very good Supergirl issue with 3 moments that just shine. One of these moments is destined for a the Top Ten moments of 2018, I am sure of it.
And the art by Adam Hughes is incredible as well. There is vivid colorization. The punches are powerful. The expressive work is top notch. The art just sings.
But these high points just don't easily smooth over the low points of the plot.
On to the book.
As always, we start out with a circular themed splash page, this time of Kandorians looking up at Zaar looking down at them through the neck of the bottle. It is a vivid and frightening image. I love the perspective here, low enough to get some Kandorians in there.
As a motif of issue openings, this one has been very good. I already have anticipated the next issue's. But more on that later.
But more importantly, every time we have seen Superman use the flare, he comes out of it completely helpless and depowered. Here, there isn't even a mention of it. We start out with Superman flying Zaar to the moon for a brawl. By not picking up that last image from last issue and by changing the parameters of the flare (something I had hoped had gone away), I was immediately pulled a bit out of the proceedings. I was asking myself 'was it a flare?' 'Why does he have powers?' 'Did it hurt Zaar?'
One thing I did like was hearing Superman's thoughts during the fight, especially how he has become a historian of Krypton and has never heard of Rogol Zaar. His being a student of his home planet sounded very Silver Age to me, in a good way.
Again, Hughes shines here with nice 'camera work' during the fight and punctuating some exchanges by coloring the whole panel red.
As has been the case, Zaar ends up defeating Superman, knocking him out amid the rubble on the moon.
As Superman slips into unconsciousness, we get another flashback to the Oz/Lois/Jon scene. And this scene is the one I have the most problems with, in the whole series let alone this issue. Because the characterization of the players here seems way way off.
First off, to have Jor-El be disparaging of both Lois and Jon is pretty awful. Calling Jon a half-breed is terrible, akin to mongrel. Why would Superman just sit there? He has already fought his father.
And the 'should have killed' Lois line is pretty terrible. Aren't we all sick of hearing this. Remember that Clark got powers in his teens. Remember a baby in utero isn't exposed to yellow sun rays. Lastly, remember, Jon was conceived and born on the Convergence World where everyone was powerless (although Reborn probably rewrote this). Still do we need this?
Now after everything we have read, Jon's hero worship of his father, his love of family, the Oz Effect story arc, this seems way way out of character for Jon. This makes no sense.
My only hope is this is some feint. That Jon wants to help his father capture Oz and the best way is to get close.
Otherwise this makes no sense. And if very frustrating. I have given this plot some leeway. But this might be the last straw.
Jon knows that Jor-El is terrible. He has seen it, this just one panel from The Oz Effect.
So why would he leave his beloved family to go with Oz?
I just can't move past this.
A very weary Lana ... I mean Melody Moore ... keeps staring at the sites of the fires to see if that make a pattern. None pop out although if I squint maybe it looks like a butterfly or maybe a bat?
I do like how palpable Moore's fatigue is. She looks ready to collapse as she rushes out to combat the latest blaze.
She is still in Metropolis (perhaps to help Superman fight Zaar?). With Superman missing, she aids in fighting the latest fire (on Gardner and Fox, I love comic legends names slipped into books). I love that the kids she is saving are cheering her on. I love that she meets Melody who tells her that Superman was last seen down on Sekowsky. (Of course Mike Sekowsky wrote and drew the 'new Supergirl' adventures in the latter half of her Adventure Comics run.)
The Justice League shows up trying to help Supergirl find Superman and hear all about Zaar.
It is then that Supergirl hears the dust-up on the moon. She flies off and finds her battered cousin buried in the dust.
In a absolutely perfect image, we see the reverse of the Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 cover, Supergirl cradling her cousin's body.
Trust me. All long time Supergirl fans screamed a little bit when they saw this. Just historically spectacular.
But then I thought a little longer ...
If Zaar wants to cleanse the universe of Kryptonians, and he has beaten Superman so much that Kal is unconscious on the moon, why not finish the job and kill Superman? Honestly, it makes no sense. We have seen Zaar be a physical equal to Superman. If he hates Kryptonians this much, he would never leave Superman alive.
I just can't move past this either.
On Earth, Superman is nursed back to health by the JLA. He fills them in, specifically showing them an image he saw on Zaar, a circle with a line through it.
Everyone take a close look.
Next issue's opening page will be of Zaar's world, cracked in half like an egg, energy spilling out of it, recreating this picture.
Trust me.
One thing that has been a constant in this has been Kara's reaction to Zaar, unbridled rage.
Here she keeps it hidden, seething on the inside. Again, this is a perfect opportunity for someone to lean into her history as a Red Lantern, how she learned from that time and has focused those feelings into something positive. I hope it happens.
I love the image though, an almost vacant looking Kara, perhaps trying so hard to hide her anger that she is dead-panning. It makes sense that she would be the one more emotionally distraught by the loss of Kandor and its treasures.
I like this.
Maybe he did blow up Krypton.
That said, if he lost his planet and is angered by the spilling of innocent blood than he shouldn't want to kill humans. He has had the opportunity to kill the Kryptonians he wants to but hasn't. I don't know if I can truly understand Zaar.
Of course, this opens up Superman to give the 'you have become that which you hate' speech to Zaar. After all, he will have become a world-killer like the very Kryptonians he says he hates.
So some solid Supergirl moments, a decent internal monologue by Superman, and a good scene with Melody Moore stand out as positives. But Zaar's befuddling killing plans and a Lois/Jon scene that had me perplexed dragged this down a bit.
What did you think?
Overall grade: C+
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