Damon Cagnolatti Comic Reviews

There have been plenty of persistent disconnects throughout Bendis' tenure as the Scribe of Steel, some of which carry-over into the new Action Comics, DC's flagship title. However, the narrative flow of this issue is much tighter and more coherent. Readers and fans are introduced to a new chapter in Superman's on-going Action Comics saga.

Tomasi's farewell special is an excellent capstone to an engaging run that retrofitted Superman's character as a hero, husband, and father. Tomasi's final tale makes good on DC's promise to fans with the launch of Rebirth to bring back character-driven stories, hero legacy, and a sense of excitement to comics.

Each new pillar works to move Superman in a new direction. But in trying to portray the emotional struggle of a man who's away from his family, Bendis' Superman comes across as more emotionally distracted than iconic.

Bendis is Bendis'ing like never before! Although this is only the first issue, it seems to already be off to a choppy start.

Ryan Sook's artwork is amazing! With the exception of MOS #2, Jason Fabook, Ivan Reis, and Alex Sinclair have sustained my interest in Bendis' overall reworking of the Superman mythos.

So far, I've just not been a fan of this version of Bendis' storytelling. It has everything to do with the non-linear plot jumps combined with time skips before the story has established a stable situation. Sure, I can appreciate a refreshing new approach to storytelling; however, without narrative build-up and necessary exposition, I felt like a pinball bouncing around through the first few issues of this arc.

I still feel like the plot is being rushed overall. It seems that now would have been the perfect time to dive into Zaar's motives and background. However, what we get is a really cool continuation of the battle started in the previous issue. I don't think I'm invested in the character they've built so far. I find myself wondering after each issue, 'why is he doing all this?"

In short, this mini-series has too many bells and whistles for me, while the narrative itself was stripped down to its bare dry bones. It did just enough to introduce a few new characters and a dope villain.