​Superman #2

Comic review by Paul Fiander

Written by Patrick Gleason & Peter J. Tomasi
Pencils Patrick Gleason
Inks Mick Gray
Colored by John Kalisz
Published by DC Comics

Superman was a bit of a hard sell for me, I never quite got the god like thing. The Man of Steel is fine as part of an ensemble but as solo character he felt a little too predictable. Personally I like Clark stories or when Superman is challenged through things other than losing his powers. Even though it’s only two issues old I’m truly getting onboard for this new Superman and it’s easy to describe why. It’s all about John.

Clark is now a family man and his relationship with his son is front and centre of this issue. From them flying off together to a very strong piece of fatherly protection we are seeing a side of the character that has been missing. This could be just that the writing speaks to me a father of two but I seriously think it’s more than that, Superman has found his humanity. Now this does not mean his goodness because as we all know humans are not always the nicest species to be around. Instead I’m more looking at the negative side as well, this comes across towards the end of the issue where we see a moment of aggression that is not warranted. The one panel drawn superbly by Patrick Gleason as he uses the sizeable jaw of Superman for a real moment.

Of course this is not the only highlight in terms of art, we get to see a wonderful enemy in the early stages as well as a perfect father son image later in the book. Gleason’s partnership with Tomassi labels them both as storytellers and in some ways I like this approach to the description of creators. Though it does make it hard to credit particular creators with the job they are doing on the book. Nonetheless the collaborative effort is paying dividends already.

The father/son story although the biggest draw for me is not the only story being laid out within this series. We get some interesting developments as to the mysterious force that is looking for Kel-El within the issue but by no means are they answers. Again the groundwork going forward is being laid so it’s time to wait expectantly for the next issue to drop as I will be reading it as soon as it does.

One side note the Justice League Rebirth issue is a nice window into the New Superman and is well worth reading. I do just wish though it came out before the release of this series.

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