Superman Rebirth #1 sets the tone for the rest of the Rebirth titles. Being that Batman is my favorite hero I gravitated toward that book first. If you’ve taken a moment to read my thoughts on that book, you know that I was really unimpressed by it. Superman Rebirth on the other hand has all the components that I expected from these one-shot titles and eventually lead you into their respective number ones. Tomasi and Gleason do a fantastic job at blending different aspects of New 52 Superman, Convergence and some of Superman’s legacy into one book and eventually struck my curiosity going forward.
Superman as we know is dead. The Superman we see here is from the pre-“Flashpoint†timeline. The reason why he is here now in this universe is because this Clark, Lois and their baby Jonathan escaped their timeline during the Convergence event and ended up being transported to the modern DC universe but nine years back (confused yet?). There he has been living in the shadows until now. For more on this feel free to check out the mini-series event Superman: The Adventures of Lois and Clark. Also you may want to reference Convergence. Lana Lang and Superman do what they can to try and bring back Superman from the dead, including traveling to his Fortress of Solitude to see if he has an artifact called a Regeneration Matrix that pre-“Flashpoint†Superman used to regenerate. Superman takes some time to describe to this Lois the encounter that lead to his death, his run in with Doomsday. At that time we are taken back to that time and walked though Superman’s feelings throughout the battle. Soon after we learn that New 52 Superman does not have a Regeneration Matrix and once in for all showing us that he is “dead†dead. With that they bury his remains at the Kent farm and pre-“Flashpoint†Superman proclaims “the only thing tomorrow is missing… is Supermanâ€.
Really great issue putting together the pieces of a very confusing puzzle. I liked the fact that they try to bring him back the obvious way and are unsuccessful. But Superman’s sense of hope is very evident throughout theissue and when hope for bringing that Superman back falls, he then begins hoping that he could be the Superman of tomorrow. That sounds like Superman right? I like that they take a moment to pay homage to one of the greatest Superman stories of all time Death of Superman. Giving some long time reader’s nostalgia as well as new readers a jumping on point being that a fight between Doomsday and Superman is fresh in their memory from the Batman V Superman film. I am very interested as to what happens next. Does he come out as the “new†Superman? Or does he pretend to be the current Superman back from the dead? Overall this book does a great job at getting you ready for what is to come in both Superman and Action Comics. For the first time in a while I am looking forward to the new Superman books. I get the feeling that we are going to get a classic Superman, more mature and experienced that both old and new readers can enjoy and comprehend who is this Kryptonian and what he is all about.
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi & Patrick Gleason
Artist: Doug Mahnke
Inker: Jaime Mendoza
Colorist: Wil Quintana
