When picking out the Rebirth titles that I was most looking forward to, Superman was not high on my list. Mainly because he is not one of my favorite characters and thus I have not read too many of his story arcs. But to my surprise, Superman Rebirth, Action Comics Rebirth and now Superman #1 are some of my favorites out of all the titles the have come out so far. I thought this book was going to stay focused with the events we saw in Action Comics, but instead it turned its attention to Superman’s son Jonathan.

   Early in this issue as Superman is saving livestock from their burning barn and Jonathan says “But they didn’t have toworry. My dad is Superman”, I knew that this book was going to have a different tone and focus. You really feel for Jonathan who because he can’t control his powers, accidentally kills his cat Goldie as he is trying to save it from a Hawk. Later that night after being defensive with his parents, Jonathan catches his dad (Superman) talking with Batman and Wonder Woman on their front yard. It seems that they are talking about the safety of his family. Soon he is discovered and the conversation ends. The issue concludes with Superman telling Jonathan that they are going somewhere and he needs to go “quietly and quickly”.

   This is a great start to the Superman run. We are used to seeing him face off against Lex Luthor, Darkseid, Doomsday and other powerful beings. But now we get a chance to see him in “dad action”. How would Superman raise a child with his same abilities? It seems that keeping them hidden although keeping them safe is also frustrating Jonathan. But we can see in the book, especially in the beginning, how much he admires his dad. The fact that he fried his cat while trying to save it really shows his inexperience with his powers, something that no doubt Superman needs to address. I would like to think that this story is going to lead us to Jonathan & Damien’s solo title that is coming out soon. This is appealing more to me by the minute as I learn more about Jonathan. Now the question lingers, where is Superman taking him? I get the feeling that Wonder Woman and Batman convinced him that he needs to start training Jonathan in order to keep him safe. Overall this was a solid start and I am looking forward to the second issue. The art at some points did get a bit rough for me especially in the faces, but not enough for me really to complain much. I hope everyone was able to get their copies as this title as well as some of the other ones is going into a second print run. So far I feel that Rebirth has been handled well, especially if it has me reading Superman.

Publisher: DC Comics

Writers: Peter J. Tomasi & Patrick Gleason

Artwork: Mick Gray

Colors: John Kalisz