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A review by tshepiso
Superman Reborn by Patrick Gleason, Peter J. Tomasi, Dan Jurgens
2.0
Superman: Reborn was probably the most confusing comic book experience I've had to date. It deals with the continuity of Superman's storylines and seems to be an attempt at "fixing" continuity broken by the transition from the New-52 era of comics to the Rebirth one. It's also the resolution to an ongoing mystery in the Action Comics series.
Superman: Reborn was probably never going to work for me because I haven't read New-52 Superman comics or Action Comics so I had no context for the foundations of this story. I spent most of this story vaguely confused by what was going on and unfortunately, there weren't editors' notes to help people like me understand what exactly was going on.
Independent of the context I was missing I didn't find the overall plot of the story bad. There was a genuine tension and suspense to it that could have been successful if I understood what was going on. A great example of a story about fixing continuity that didn't alienate me as a reader was Superman (2016) Annual #1. That story addresses the transition from New-52 to Rebirth in a beautiful and exciting one-shot while still giving newbie readers like being something to grasp on to rather than throwing us into the deep end. So a story like this could have worked if there had been any effort to make it understandable independently.
Superman: Reborn is the perfect example of why comics are so difficult for newer readers to jump into. With constant continuity resets and an expectation by corporations for readers to be up to date with every ongoing line, comics have become more and more of an insurmountable hurdle to get into. While I have been reading this Superman series without context for the most part without any difficulty I do find instances like this frustrating.
Superman: Reborn was probably never going to work for me because I haven't read New-52 Superman comics or Action Comics so I had no context for the foundations of this story. I spent most of this story vaguely confused by what was going on and unfortunately, there weren't editors' notes to help people like me understand what exactly was going on.
Independent of the context I was missing I didn't find the overall plot of the story bad. There was a genuine tension and suspense to it that could have been successful if I understood what was going on. A great example of a story about fixing continuity that didn't alienate me as a reader was Superman (2016) Annual #1. That story addresses the transition from New-52 to Rebirth in a beautiful and exciting one-shot while still giving newbie readers like being something to grasp on to rather than throwing us into the deep end. So a story like this could have worked if there had been any effort to make it understandable independently.
Superman: Reborn is the perfect example of why comics are so difficult for newer readers to jump into. With constant continuity resets and an expectation by corporations for readers to be up to date with every ongoing line, comics have become more and more of an insurmountable hurdle to get into. While I have been reading this Superman series without context for the most part without any difficulty I do find instances like this frustrating.