Scan barcode
A review by bloodykanary
Superman, Volume 2: The Unity Saga: The House of El by Brian Michael Bendis
1.0
For context, I am more of a Gotham kind of reader, I was catching up on that side of the DCU and started with the Man of Steel mini-series, which I liked, and also read the Superman and Action Comics collected editions (I had already read Action Comics vol. 1). Up until that Superman volume, I did like what I was reading, not "this is great"-liked, but enough that it was my second read of Action Comics vol. 1, and I was fine with it. I did smelled a bit of entitlement with all these huge changes in Superman's life and around him (I also knew about the reveal that happens later), the tackling of so many other tangentially related titles, the new characters, all under the same pen... I didn't go in 100% neutral, I'll tell you that, but overall I did like those first books.
This one, in my opinion, brings to light what sucks in the other books of the series. Plus some specific stuff.
- First, I began to be a bit disappointed about the change in Krypton's fate. I believe that it's still very relevant to have a planet explode after its leaders failed to listen to the warnings. I don't see how what's in this book makes the story better more contemporary or whatever the plan was (I guess the plan was "let Bendis do his thing").
- Then I thought the Jon story was a let down, because I thought he'd seen more. Either the ellipsis isn't clear enough, or this was a waste of an opportunity, in my opinion. A few fights in space being glossed over is fine, but an abusive grandpa and then years of being kept prisoner are not experience, it's trauma. It's both too much and not enough for the end result. It's too intense for how fine he seems, with no hints of any problems, it's too intense a past to give him just to make him a bit more mature and show he can hold his own ; and it's not nearly enough as experience in the galaxy, exploring the universe, learning what it is to be who he is in space, learning about new cultures and civilizations and so on (and that problem might be tied to my next point). We can't feel the years of this story at all.
- Then there was that tipping point for me, where I couldn't say I liked the book anymore. This still inexperienced Jon with little more perspective in politics than the one he could have gotten on Earth, SOMEHOW, is the first one to come up with the idea to have a shared council/coalition of planets, based on the Earth's United Nations, called United Planets.
I'm sorry but no.
This kind of thinking is at best American arrogance, at worst colonialism-friendly.
Earth is supposed to be relatively primitive in this universe, and not just technology-wise. Why would no one have thought of such a thing. So this comes off as Earth (white American) people coming in & thinking their way, without compromise or adaptation, is completely new to these people, and also the best and only way to solve the problem. In my original thread about this book, I said it made me uncomfortable, but no, I was actually angry enough to be unable to read for a moment, and it made me try and reach out to see if someone I knew had read this and what were their thoughts. Uncomfortable is how I felt about the first point. It's a tipping point because I
- And then the Legion arrived and I would have looked at the camera Halpert-style. Who thought it was a good idea to make them come to a historical date to say "Good job!!"? I mean, I laughed, but not because it was funny, and I'm guessing the funny part was that they were 4 minutes later? It would have been ridiculous either way. I know there are different "schools of thought" regarding time travel and interfering, but still, this feels very stupid and does not show the Legion in a good light, even knowing they're not supposed to be too serious a team in terms of tone.
- this should have been a previous point in my journey reading this, but let's make it a global thing. The Jor-El storyline feels... clumsy, especially at the end. Jon says he's crazy early in the book, but there is no build-up to anything like it. He appears ruthless and toxic and misguided, but the way Jon said it like he'd completely lost his mind? That led to nothing, in my opinion. Kal has a conversation with Jor-El where he responds saying how his secret thing is in no way comparable to the Justice League but at this point, I couldn't really see why, and then Kal and the reader get an explanation about how Jor-El was connected to Rogol Zaar, *after* Jor-El is sentenced, by Adam Strange, who is a side character is this story. So this part really felt rushed in a "shit, I forgot to talk about that" way.
So overall, it became a frustrating read. There were interesting threads, but obviously I didn't find the execution satisfying to read. So. Great inspiration for fanfic, I guess.
This one, in my opinion, brings to light what sucks in the other books of the series. Plus some specific stuff.
- First, I began to be a bit disappointed about the change in Krypton's fate. I believe that it's still very relevant to have a planet explode after its leaders failed to listen to the warnings. I don't see how what's in this book makes the story better more contemporary or whatever the plan was (I guess the plan was "let Bendis do his thing").
- Then I thought the Jon story was a let down, because I thought he'd seen more. Either the ellipsis isn't clear enough, or this was a waste of an opportunity, in my opinion. A few fights in space being glossed over is fine, but an abusive grandpa and then years of being kept prisoner are not experience, it's trauma. It's both too much and not enough for the end result. It's too intense for how fine he seems, with no hints of any problems, it's too intense a past to give him just to make him a bit more mature and show he can hold his own ; and it's not nearly enough as experience in the galaxy, exploring the universe, learning what it is to be who he is in space, learning about new cultures and civilizations and so on (and that problem might be tied to my next point). We can't feel the years of this story at all.
- Then there was that tipping point for me, where I couldn't say I liked the book anymore. This still inexperienced Jon with little more perspective in politics than the one he could have gotten on Earth, SOMEHOW, is the first one to come up with the idea to have a shared council/coalition of planets, based on the Earth's United Nations, called United Planets.
I'm sorry but no.
This kind of thinking is at best American arrogance, at worst colonialism-friendly.
Earth is supposed to be relatively primitive in this universe, and not just technology-wise. Why would no one have thought of such a thing. So this comes off as Earth (white American) people coming in & thinking their way, without compromise or adaptation, is completely new to these people, and also the best and only way to solve the problem. In my original thread about this book, I said it made me uncomfortable, but no, I was actually angry enough to be unable to read for a moment, and it made me try and reach out to see if someone I knew had read this and what were their thoughts. Uncomfortable is how I felt about the first point. It's a tipping point because I
- And then the Legion arrived and I would have looked at the camera Halpert-style. Who thought it was a good idea to make them come to a historical date to say "Good job!!"? I mean, I laughed, but not because it was funny, and I'm guessing the funny part was that they were 4 minutes later? It would have been ridiculous either way. I know there are different "schools of thought" regarding time travel and interfering, but still, this feels very stupid and does not show the Legion in a good light, even knowing they're not supposed to be too serious a team in terms of tone.
- this should have been a previous point in my journey reading this, but let's make it a global thing. The Jor-El storyline feels... clumsy, especially at the end. Jon says he's crazy early in the book, but there is no build-up to anything like it. He appears ruthless and toxic and misguided, but the way Jon said it like he'd completely lost his mind? That led to nothing, in my opinion. Kal has a conversation with Jor-El where he responds saying how his secret thing is in no way comparable to the Justice League but at this point, I couldn't really see why, and then Kal and the reader get an explanation about how Jor-El was connected to Rogol Zaar, *after* Jor-El is sentenced, by Adam Strange, who is a side character is this story. So this part really felt rushed in a "shit, I forgot to talk about that" way.
So overall, it became a frustrating read. There were interesting threads, but obviously I didn't find the execution satisfying to read. So. Great inspiration for fanfic, I guess.