Brian Bendis' Superman - An Overview

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artists: Patrick Gleason, John Romita JR, 

Ivan Reis and many more

Rating: 6 of 8

Brian Bendis' Superman

An Overview

Brian Michael Bendis. Those are three of the most divisive words in comics and for very good reason. While some might deride him for Iceman's sexuality retcon, or for what he did with Superboy's age, others might praise him for some stellar runs at Marvel (Daredevil, Alias, Ultimate Spider-Man) and for creating characters like Miles Morales and Jessica Jones. Whatever you say about him, one thing's for sure - he certainly knows how to make an impression.

Intriguingly, despite his penchant for street level heroes, when he moved to DC, instead of taking on someone like Batman or Green Arrow, he went for a more surprising - and perhaps more challenging - superhero: Superman. Taking on the Man of Steel provides a series of challenges, like how do you write a compelling story when the lead's got so many powers, or when he's just so kind?

Even though you want the story to be thrilling, you don't want it to come at the expense of the character, or their cast. It's a tricky balancing act and, for the most part, Bendis pulls it off pretty well. He does a superb job with The Daily Planet throughout both Superman and Action Comics, even including their competitor, The Daily Star, in later issues of Superman. No matter which one it is, he just knows how to write a newspaper office, which makes sense, considering his time writing The Daily Bugle in Ultimate Spider-Man. He even introduces some new characters - Trish Q and Robinson Goode - there and, though neither are quite as compelling as the usual cast, they mostly work well. 

Early into the run, Superman has to confront the literally toxic super villain, Red Cloud, someone who can suffocate even Kryptonian superheroes like him. Though the character could've been a lot more compelling with a few changes, she nevertheless has a lot of appeal. As a more gaseous villain, she can suffocate you with her own body and, in this form, she's a lot harder to defeat. How can even Superman defeat smoke? 

One of the more controversial changes Bendis made was definitely aging up Lois and Clark's son, Jon (Superboy). For many, this change just didn't work, as they preferred Jon at his younger, more exuberant age, especially with the chalk and cheese dynamic he had with Batman's son, Damian (Robin). I'm not sure if it added much to his character, though he might not have been able to join the 31st Century's Legion of Super-Heroes if not for it. Given the nature of comics, it's unlikely to stay this way, though he won't be changed back anytime soon.

One of the challenges with the age change, though, is making sure that, in a scene with his Dad, you can easily differentiate the two. I definitely think Romita JR struggled with this in the team's final Action arc, so I hope upcoming artists do a better job with it. It didn't take Bendis long to make big changes to the character's mythos as, even way back in Action #1000, he revealed a darker twist to Krypton's destruction. Though it still suffers the same fate, it does change it's context, for better or worse. It does, sadly, mar a classic character we long thought to be doing their best for their planet, so that's definitely one problem I have with it.

There's a number of good things to say about his run, but one is definitely his unique handling of just how the underworld manages to keep operating, despite being in the same city as one of the greatest superheroes. The Invisible Mafia are definitely one of the writer's better creations and a seamless addition to the larger Superman mythos. 

It's thanks to both them and the Red Cloud that the end of his run on Action feels more conclusive.  Throughout it and other titles, the group's a constant thorn in the Man of Steel's side, so when we finally reach the end of his run, it feels like it had been building towards something and now, we get to see the endgame. Unfortunately, Superman doesn't have that and ends with a 'threat' introduced in the final arc, so because of this - and just how it ended - it doesn't really feel like a satisfying conclusion. 

Finally, it'd be remiss of me to end this without mentioning one of the biggest parts of his time on the character: Superman revealing his identity to the world. It's one of the most drastic things you could do with a superhero, especially given just how important keeping their identity secret tends to be. But, in doing so, he managed to really subvert my expectations. Though I expected life to get a lot more dangerous for the hero, he turned this on it's head by having life largely go on as it did, though not without new challenges.

Is this a big misstep on Bendis' part, or is he, like Superman, showing faith in the best parts of humanity? This, ultimately, could mean he was a perfect choice for the character. Although he didn't always put out the best stories, - Chaos, the overly long Unity Saga, Metropolis Doom - one thing he nearly always got right was character. He understood Superman and who he was as a person and because of it, his run was all the better for it.