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.

Book Review: Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb et. al.

Batman: Hush written by Jeph Loeb, penciled by Jim Lee, and colored by Scott Williams

Batman faces two great challenges in this graphic novel spanning issues 608 to 619, published in 2003. His first challenge is solving a string of crimes committed by many of his classic villains. All of those villains are acting a bit out of character. Killer Croc kidnaps someone for the ransom, a crime that's way above his IQ. Harley Quinn robs Gothamites at the opera with guns blazing, which isn't really her M.O. either. Could someone be orchestrating everything behind the scenes, and is that someone an old enemy or a new one? There's a figure swathed in bandages that keeps appearing, seemingly the mastermind of what's going on.

His other challenge is his growing relationship with Selena Kyle, a.k.a. Catwoman. Selena has been seeing Bruce Wayne off and on; Catwoman has been on the side of good and been a bit smitten with Batman off and on. He knows Selena is Catwoman but she doesn't know Bruce is Batman. Just how close should he let himself get with her? And is this whole romance another piece in the puzzle orchestrated by the criminal mastermind?

This book does a great job looking at the various villains and allies of Batman in a new light. The book also takes into account a lot of Batman's canonical stories (Barbara Gordon is in her wheelchair as Oracle; Dick Grayson is Nightwing; Jason Todd is dead; Jim Gordon is retired, Lex Luthor is president of the United States) and blends them in as part of the bigger picture of Batman dealing with his life and his history.

I did feel like the identity of the villainous mastermind was a little too obvious throughout the book until the nice twist at the end. A bit of disappointment was turned on its head, making a satisfying conclusion to a great big Batman story arc.