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tshepiso's review
3.0
This deluxe edition of the Superman Rebirth series was a bit of a letdown. The two major stories here, Multipicy and Black Dawn, were weak and unengaging compared to previous volumes. Plus I had a few problems with the way this series was collected. In general, while the deluxe edition contained a few great one-shots I overall didn’t have the best time reading it.
The first story in the volume, Multiplicity sees Supermen across the multiverse being hunted and "processed" by alien creatures called Gatherers. Our Superman joins Justice Incarnate, an inter-dimensional Justice League, to stop the crusade. I struggled to connect to Multiplicity because the supporting cast in this story was two-dimensional. No time was spent developing the members of Justice Incarnate so I had no attachment to them. This made the emotional moments the story attempted in its climax ring hollow. I was intrigued by Kong Kenan, the Chinese Superman, and might check out his solo series in the future, but overall this story had no impact on me.
The second major story in the deluxe edition was Black Dawn. This acts as a culmination of the undercurrent of mystery in the Superfamily’s hometown, Hamilton. The town is revealed to be host to an alien race working for the villain Manchester Black who wants to recruit Superboy to do evil. I found the plot of this story messy. While it is the culmination of questions we’ve had about the mysteries in Hamilton the rushed pacing and helter-skelter storytelling made it unsatisfying. I also found Manchester Black’s evilize Superboy plot tired. I've never found evil Superman stories interesting and many of the beats hit here felt like retreads of things I've seen before. Not even the wholesome Superfamily and Super Sons moments made this story anything more than meh.
Aside from the lacklustre stories I also take umbrage at the way this edition was collected. Between Multipicy and Black Dawn, an arc called Superman Reborn takes place. This arc takes place across both the Action Comics and Superman series but when putting this deluxe edition together only the issues in the Superman run were included. This made for an incredibly confusing read and I don’t understand why the people putting this collection together thought that was a good idea.
However, despite some pitfalls, there were some fantastic moments in this collection. This volume contains two of my favourite one-shots in the series as a whole. Firstly, Superman Annual #1. This story sees Swamp Thing hunt down the man of steel to discover why his connection to the sun drying out the planet. Jorge Jimenez’s pencilling with Alejandro Sanchez’s colours made this one of the most beautiful comics I’ve ever read. While this story was ultimately just a fight between Superman and Swamp Thing Tomasi and Gleeson weaved in introspection, character development and lore that made the story as a whole a fantastic read. I also loved the Clark and Jon-centric story Brain vs. Brawn. It was a touching story about a father and son trying to understand each other. Seeing flashbacks to Clark’s childhood and him learning to be a good father and mentor to Jon was a great end to an ultimately disappointing collection.
The first story in the volume, Multiplicity sees Supermen across the multiverse being hunted and "processed" by alien creatures called Gatherers. Our Superman joins Justice Incarnate, an inter-dimensional Justice League, to stop the crusade. I struggled to connect to Multiplicity because the supporting cast in this story was two-dimensional. No time was spent developing the members of Justice Incarnate so I had no attachment to them. This made the emotional moments the story attempted in its climax ring hollow. I was intrigued by Kong Kenan, the Chinese Superman, and might check out his solo series in the future, but overall this story had no impact on me.
The second major story in the deluxe edition was Black Dawn. This acts as a culmination of the undercurrent of mystery in the Superfamily’s hometown, Hamilton. The town is revealed to be host to an alien race working for the villain Manchester Black who wants to recruit Superboy to do evil. I found the plot of this story messy. While it is the culmination of questions we’ve had about the mysteries in Hamilton the rushed pacing and helter-skelter storytelling made it unsatisfying. I also found Manchester Black’s evilize Superboy plot tired. I've never found evil Superman stories interesting and many of the beats hit here felt like retreads of things I've seen before. Not even the wholesome Superfamily and Super Sons moments made this story anything more than meh.
Aside from the lacklustre stories I also take umbrage at the way this edition was collected. Between Multipicy and Black Dawn, an arc called Superman Reborn takes place. This arc takes place across both the Action Comics and Superman series but when putting this deluxe edition together only the issues in the Superman run were included. This made for an incredibly confusing read and I don’t understand why the people putting this collection together thought that was a good idea.
However, despite some pitfalls, there were some fantastic moments in this collection. This volume contains two of my favourite one-shots in the series as a whole. Firstly, Superman Annual #1. This story sees Swamp Thing hunt down the man of steel to discover why his connection to the sun drying out the planet. Jorge Jimenez’s pencilling with Alejandro Sanchez’s colours made this one of the most beautiful comics I’ve ever read. While this story was ultimately just a fight between Superman and Swamp Thing Tomasi and Gleeson weaved in introspection, character development and lore that made the story as a whole a fantastic read. I also loved the Clark and Jon-centric story Brain vs. Brawn. It was a touching story about a father and son trying to understand each other. Seeing flashbacks to Clark’s childhood and him learning to be a good father and mentor to Jon was a great end to an ultimately disappointing collection.
michael_reads's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
In this volume, Superman enters the multiverse and uncovers the secrets of his home Hamilton. Clark’s and Jon’s relationship is fleshed out more, which has been the highlight of Tomasi's this run so far.
miedvied's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
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