Superman -Volume 1: Son of Superman (2017)

Writers – Peter J Tomasi and Patrick Gleason

Artists – Patrick Gleason, Doug Mahnke, Jorge Jimenez, Mick Gray, and Jaime Mendoza

March has been a busy month for me. I took a short trip to my hometown and New Jersey to attend the Monster Mania convention. Sadly, I haven’t made it to any of the TO Comic Book Club discussions. If I can’t make it to one of the Tuesday night sessions, I make a note of the books they read so I can read them on my own. There are some comics and graphic novels that are too good to skip or miss out on altogether.

I paid more attention to the Action Comics portion of DC Rebirth because Superman and Lex Luthor had to begrudgingly work together to keep Metropolis safe and that dynamic piqued my interest. In Superman, the pre-Flashpoint Clark and Lois raise their son, Jon, on a farm in Hamilton County. The “Smith” Family are trying to maintain secrecy in a universe not their own and their quaint life will soon be upended when a threat from Krypton’s past rears its ugly head on Earth.

Although the Superman Rebirth one-shot at the beginning of this volume helps fill the reader in on Pre-Flashpoint Superman’s previous adventures and history, I recommend reading Superman: Lois and Clark and Superman: The Final Days of Superman to get the full breadth on the Kent family and their whereabouts before diving into this volume. This might help those not familiar with the Man of Steel. These trades are not required reading but it would be a helpful suggestion.

The family dynamic between Clark, Lois, and Jon is heartwarming and it’s nice to see Lois and Clark doing what they can to protect Jon, while at the same time, helping him control and use his powers responsibly and guiding him through the rough and tumble world he will eventually become a part of sooner rather than later. We see the consequences of Jon using his powers when he is advised not to use them and how it affects him. We also see Superman taking Jon on life-or-death missions to show him how the younger Kent can learn to handle himself in fight or flight situations. Ma and Pa Kent would be proud of Clark and how he is raising his son and how the lessons Clark learned at a young age can be imparted on Jon.

It’s nice to see Tomasi and Mahnke back together on a title and it’s even better to see them on a book outside of Batman, where they both had great success previously. Rising star artist Jorge Jimenez got his start with Earth 2: Society and this volume of Superman before getting promoted to Batman in 2021. There’s just something about Jimenez’s art style that pops, flashes, and dazzles the eyes of the reader.

I recently finished the first season of Superman and Lois last month and I must say that this volume pairs well with the show. I think it was a missed opportunity to giveaway one of these comics as a freebie at comic shops to coincide with the release of season two of the hit CW show. 

The DC Rebirth era of Action Comics and Superman helped reinvigorate my love and admiration for the Last Son of Krypton. I tried to stay close and connected with these two titles when Brian Michael Bendis took over writing duties but alas, I ended up losing interest shortly thereafter. I’ll probably go back and read the rest of these Rebirth volumes before catching up on Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s run on Action Comics.

If you need a pick me up or a dose of positivity in your life, I recommend reading DC Rebirth Superman Volume 1. This really helped put a smile on my face after a rough couple of weeks at work. Seeing Lois and Superman and Jon growing close together in the face of overwhelming odds and adversity was very uplifting to me. I’m sure it will have the same effect on you as well. You just have to give this a read and believe that a man can fly.