Superman: Heroes #1 – Brian Michael Bendis, Greg Rucka, Matt Fraction, Writers; Kevin Maguire, Mike Perkins, Steve Lieber, Mike Norton, Scott Godlewski, Artists; Paul Mounts, Gabe Eltaeb, Andy Troy, Nathan Fairbairn, Colorists
Ratings:
Ray – 9/10
Ray: The other jumbo-sized anthology this week dedicated to the side stories of a massive event, Superman: Heroes #1 looks at Superman’s decision to reveal his identity from the perspective of those closest to him.
Pairing Bendis with Greg Rucka and Matt Fraction (but not Jody Houser, because Supergirl is still Jokerized), Superman: Heroes #1 proves once again that Bendis is finding his groove on Superman and it’s turning into something wonderful. Almost every vignette in this issue hits the mark, starting with a powerful segment dealing with a young Clark Kent confiding in his parents after a bad day at school. It’s good to see the Kents back, although we still haven’t seen them in the present day.
Bendis does a great job with the immediate fallout from the identity reveal, as he talks to his fellow heroes and gets their perspective. The two-page spread of comments from his fellow heroes is extremely Bendis-y, but also one of the best uses of this format in a while.
The other segments are more small character moments, but just as effective. Batman and Wonder Woman share their thoughts, with Batman revealing some raw emotional nerves about the fact that he’ll never get this. Lois and Clark start exploring the countless people reaching out to Clark now that he has an address. It was fun seeing Superman be rather insecure about whether Jimmy holds a grudge of any kind in the Fraction-Lieber segment, but my personal favorite had to be Clark paying a visit to his toughest old high-school teacher and giving him a speech about how he inspired him – only to get a rather ego-puncturing acknowledgement of how the teacher always knew he wasn’t a cheater.
The ending reveals exactly what’s in the box Luthor left for Lois and the implication for many people closest to them. It’s a great last-page twist that will lead directly into the Villains one-shot. This issue is an excellent spotlight on exactly what makes Superman’s world tick, and another win in this lineup’s column.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
