Book Review: The Man of Steel by Brian Michael Bendis et al.

The Man of Steel written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Jim Lee and a dozen other creators

In my review of Superman for All Seasons, I said that new writers of classic comic book heroes either have gone epic or gone back to origin stories to come up with a new and/or different story. In this book, Brian Michael Bendis has done both. The book introduces a new and powerful villain who is enough of a match for both Superman and Supergirl. Rogol Zaar is a semi-deformed monster whose mission is to "cleanse" the universe of the Kryptonians. Readers find out pretty quickly that the destruction of Superman's home world, Krypton, was not a natural disaster. And now the disaster-making Zaar has come to Earth to finish his work.

Meanwhile, Clark Kent is dealing with issues. His wife Lois Lane and son Jonathan are missing. That story is told very slowly with many repetitive flashbacks (this story did come out in monthly comics, so I guess that's the excuse). The ultimate revelation of what has happened to his wife and son is very unsatisfying and implausible on many levels and in many ways. Also, there seems to be some hostile takeover coming for The Daily Planet (where Clark and Lois work), which is also underdeveloped by the end of the book (this story continues in monthly comics, so I guess that's the excuse).

I enjoyed the epic and personal conflict with Rogol Zaar and how the two Supers dealt with him and his actions. That part of the story brought up some new ideas and interesting twists. The Lois/Jonathan drama also had some interesting ideas in it (the kid is really worried about alternate universe versions of himself where he's super-bad) but the resolution is flat and unconvincing.

Mildly recommended--it's both really good and really bad. At least Bendis threw in a good amount of humor.