Bendis Is Wrong For Superman

Sorry, but for what should be obvious reasons discussing the section of The Death & Life Of Superman where we get into the “moving on” is something I’m not ready to do when we’re about to bury my uncle. Instead I come to rant, or rather to show someone else’s rant and do a little ranting of my own.

I knew it was going to happen. I knew Brian Michael Bendis was going to screw up Superman. Because while Bendis is admittedly a really good writer he only does so when he gets to play with his own continuity, like Ultimate Spider-Man. Put him in the main continuity and he tends to mess everything up because he’s only interested in the story he’s going to tell, not in the characters being used in the story. Here’s a review of Superman #1 by Just Some Guy (note, there will be swearing in this video) that showcases everything Bendis got wrong. And no, I don’t need to see the issue for myself because unless he’s lying about the events the point still fits.

This isn’t a question of whether or not the story is good. That I would have to read the comic for. The question is how well did Bendis make a SUPERMAN story, not a good story. If you think there isn’t a difference then you must be new around here because I think I’ve beaten that horse before and admittedly probably will again. As a Superman story I have a lot of problems with what I just read.

Let’s get the major issue out of the way: taking Lois and Jon out of the story. Yes, there have been writers who have been trying to get rid of the Supermarriage just like the did the Spider-Marriage. Literally, as in they wanted to use Mxyzptlk the same way did Marvel did with Mephisto. (Look up “Superman 2000”.) Bendis seems to have pulled the trigger, and kicked out Lois Lane to boot. I really wanted to see more of Clark, Lois, and Jon, and to see Jon’s journey as Superboy. But too bad, Bendis doesn’t want to use that characters and he’s writing both Superman comics now so you get nothing! Thus he sends Jon AND Lois away to another dimension with Jor-El, and while Bendis isn’t responsible for evil grandpa (that’s tied in to that Mr. Oz nonsense) he’s still using evil grandpa and making him right somehow.

Then there’s J’onn’s conversation with Superman, which makes me think he’d be happier in the Injustice universe, where Superman does rule. With an iron fist. After…

This is why I don’t really care about this supposed He-Man crossover I’ve barely heard about. I didn’t want to see him fighting good Superman and I don’t want evil Superman existing so I couldn’t care less about reading it. Like JSG said, J’onn isn’t a conqueror, so I’m guessing Bendis watched a lot of 50s sci-fi or War Of The Worlds and just assumed all Martians do is want to conquer Earth and stuff.

As dumb as putting the Fortress Of Solitude in the middle of the ocean is, Bermuda Triangle or not, I never liked the crystal fortress idea Richard Donner came up with. I never want to see it again! The best version is the DCAU version and that should be the concept future DC writers go with.

After seeing this I am so hoping this turns out to be a dream/nightmare or someone messing with Kal-El’s head because whether or not it’s written well it’s a crap adaptation that tosses away so much good that’s happened since this Superman replaced Superman 52. I knew this was going to end badly and apparently it’s starting badly too.