Comic Info
Comic Name: Superman Rebirth/Superman (Volume 4)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi/Patrick Gleason
Artist: Patrick Gleason/Doug Mahnke/Jorge Jimenez/Mick Gray/Jamie Mendoza
# of Issues: 7
Release Date: 2017
Superman (4) #1 Variant
Reprints Superman Rebirth #1 and Superman (4) #1-6 (August 2016-November 2016). Superman is dead…but the pre-Flashpoint Superman is alive! Having remained hidden for years with Lois and his son Jon, Superman finds himself forced back into the role of Earth’s hero. Superman must determine what to do about Jon and his growing powers, and the return of the Eradicator means Jon’s human side might be threatened as a means to protect Krypton’s legacy.
Written by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason, Superman Volume 1: Son of Superman is the DC Comics Rebirth title. The title began to be released bi-weekly and tied in with other Superman-Family titles like Action Comics and Superwoman. The collection features art by Gleason, Doug Mahnke, Jorge Jimenez, Mick Gray, and Jamie Mendoza. The issues were also collected in Superman: Rebirth Deluxe Edition—Book 1.
While the New 52 gave a much needed boost to Batman, Superman never seemed to really “fly” in the New 52. Here, Superman gets the boost and it is a welcomed feeling to have the pre-Flashpoint Superman back…but the story also hints at future problems.
Superman Returns was a really average if not below average movie, and one of the reasons that it was a so-so film was that they decided to introduce a “super-son” that just felt cheesy and hokey. Here, Tomasi introduces Jon Kent (who first appeared in Convergence: Superman), and there is a threat that the new Superboy could be as bad as the Superman Returns kid.
Superman (4) #6
The first collection largely focuses on the relationship between Lois, Clark, and Jon and starts to develop Jon’s status as a new Superboy, but it is done in an a very kid concept version of becoming a superhero. Everything that Superman has gone through has you questioning if this is how he would handle having a son with powers…and I don’t know that he’d be smiling and introducing Superboy to Batman and Wonder Woman.
I can accept that this happens in comics, but it doesn’t feel like a legitimate or logical story but more of a childhood fantasy. This gets into the whole “who is the target of comic books?” I think as a kid I’d like reading about Jon and his new adventures as Superboy…but as an adult it feels groanworthy at points.
Despite some concerns, the story is a nice shot in the arm to the Superman mythos (at least for now). I don’t know how long I can hold with it and take the very saccharine story. I hope that the story begins to develop more substance. Superman 1: Son of Superman is followed by Superman 2: Trials of the Super Son.
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