From a base of 6? Does that mean 6 is the best or the worst? A 6 point scale? Are you saying you prefer a 6 point system? Daddy T, you are an enigma wrapped in a cosmic cube wearing Supergirl's headband.

nah... if a book is just "meh" - good enough to get me to read the next one usually, but with nothing to complain about or nothing really good either, it gets a 6. there are various ways to get points added or removed. "confusing" gets -1, "great art" gets plus 1, etc. this book was pretty average with nothing to really move me except that between the mildly interesting story and Krypto, it got one extra point.

So sad that you have to create an account to hate on a comic and a writer. You only review superman and action comics since Bendis join, I pity you

It's not that short.

Yet I can write entire essays on how the current volumes of Superman and Action Comics are absolute garbage. And yeah, I’ve felt compelled to continually review the Superman family comics since bendis took over because they went from legitimately good stories to absolute trash. If they were not as bad as they are and a complete affront to Superman himself, I would not do this. But as long as people keep rating this barely passable garbage as 7+/10 I’ll keep stating what I believe.

And Super17 you forget I also thought the Man of Steel mini-series was a massive stain on Superman’s legacy after it’s historic issue #1000

Well damn, I like garbage. Who knew? Are you, possibly, able to elaborate why this is bad? I'm curious.

bendis can't maintain consistency in the characterization of his own original character, rogol zaar, possibly the most generic "alien warlord" type there is. He blatantly ignores established continuity and has characters act in ways that make absolutely no sense given their previous portrayals in other, and even concurrent, books; look at how Barry Allen appears in this title, you'd think he's the biggest idiot there ever was. To me his humor never hits its mark, it's always cringey.

He effectively took away one of the facets of Superman that lead to the biggest growth in his character in the previous volume, his family, for no reason. The way he did so makes absolutely no sense, because the last time Superman actually saw his father, who he let his family leave with, they were enemies. They never reconciled, yet he ignored that. He portrayed Jon Kent in a way that is basically the opposite of how he's shown in Super Sons, a book exponentially better than this one.

An example taken directly from this issue, he has no idea how Superman's powers work. The way he used his solar flare here is not in line with the actual idea of how it functions. He also basically has Superman forget how the initial conflict with rogol zaar was resolved. It's part of his M.O. of ignoring everything established about a character just to tell whatever story he wants, no matter how asinine it is.

There's plenty wrong with the writing, and no matter how good the art may be it cannot compensate. For every great splash page showing what may be a great action sequence, you have panels filled with senseless dialogue that just takes away all the momentum it can build up.

With Flash, I agree, he does come off as a bit of dumbass. Not so much in this issue though. Rogol Zaar I think is consistent. Big, angry alien hell-bent on killing Kryptonians. Generic? Maybe, but I think it's executed well. As for ignoring established continuity. It's a bit hard to tell nowadays what's in and what's not in continuity, but I don't recall any deviation from continuity made by Bendis.

rogol zaar is anything but consistent, he's initially shown as a being wanting to "safeguard the universe", then he's willing to kill an entire planet and billions of inhabitants to get to 3 kryptonians. He's supposed to want to eradicate kryptions, then he strikes a deal with one of their biggest criminals who's part of the race himself.

Everything to do with Jor-El here is a massive deviation of continuity. His lack of an understanding regarding Superman's powers can easily fit into that as well. Jon choosing to leave his parents for a grandfather who last time he encountered him was an ENEMY of his father, is downright stupid.

Heroes who have faced multiple multiversal threats losing their damn minds and not being able to maintain any shred of composure? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

As for the Superfamily, that angle is more touched on in Action Comics. But I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because it's clear that he is trying to build towards something. We still don't know what happened on that trip with Jor-El. Maybe Robin's attitude rubbed off a bit on Jon and he decided to stay in space with Jor? Maybe that's why Lois wasn't very keen on meeting with Clark? One thing is for sure. Super-dad made me like Superman.

For that trip to even make sense, there would have to be a reconciliation with Jor-El. That never happened. That makes the whole premise of his family leaving with him be ludicrous. Jon choosing to leave his family, when it goes against the very values he was instilled in, is as I said, dumb as hell. The previous volume with Gleason and Tomasi was fantastic. This is a far cry from it and from the "Super-dad" you just stated you like. This is terrible writing.

If there is something bendis can write it's street-level heroes with very limited history and characterization so he can mold them as he chooses. But the most storied Superhero in all Western comics, that is the worst fit for him to manage.

As far as Action Comics goes, it's not any better than this book, is equally crap. Maybe even more nonsensical than this one if issue #1003 is any indication of the quality of its story.

Just about the only main universe book with Superman being released right now worth a damn is Justice League. The key difference between that book and Superman & Action Comics, bendis has no hand in it.

Well, I will refrain from any judgments right now, since we don't know everything about this whole ordeal with Jor-El. In Man of Steel there were only tidbits of info and in AC it's just getting some spotlight. So I'll wait.

I won't, the idea behind is frankly beyond dumb, and it ignores clear storylines that just happened in the past volume. It asks for far more suspension of disbelief that it merits. Everyone acts out-of-character, sometimes in the most nonsensical of ways, and whatever "intrigue" the story is supposed to build is just lost through that. The art is great though, too bad the writing cannot measure up.

Noted, RBL. I agree that this issue was not perfect, but I still enjoyed it. Totally respect your opinion though. Serious question: Do you like any current comics? If so, which ones?

Justice League, Aquaman, Detective Comics, and Green Arrow are a few I consider good. The Flash is for the most part solid, Hal Jordan & the GL Corps was pretty good, sucks it ended. Probably the Wild Storm is what I’m enjoying the most. JL Dark, Odyssey and Hawkman have promise. Stuck to DC with this list.

Nightwing tended to be good, but the Vire story arc was weak and issue 50 should never have existed, but depending on how long they draw that cheapness out how bad it will be.

Right on, Wild Storm is friggin' great! Nice selections, man!

Thanks, man. Nice to see someone else appreciates that book, it's really good mix of espionage, sci-fi action. Would really like to see a few more titles in that line, but so far it's going strong.

I agree with your analysis RBL and actually I just dropped both Superman and AC from my pull list.

Sorry man, but you are really reaching here.

it's just my opinion

Clearly.

do you feel better now?

About what?

I have an issue with the back and forth with KGBeast and Batman...while it seems like an evening has passed for KGBeast, it may be months passing for Batman. Without the setup of the scenes with Black Tiger and then Kanto it all feels out of whack and odd.

how is he reaching? this is another failure of the writer to actually write a coherent story. seriously, what did Kanto have to do with anything? I wish I could enjoy this sort of poorly developed crap like some of you guys do but I just can't.

exactly. those (Bronze Tiger/Kanto) scenes were just randomly jammed into the comic for no reason at all. ...they didn't flow with their juxtaposition with the KGBeast scenes whatsoever.

For me, he is reaching. Scenes with Tiger or Kanto weren't random or something. Bats identified the shooter as KGBeast. From earlier issues, we know that Bats knows Tiger so he went to ask him. Turner told him that Beast killed every person he trained with except one. Turns one its Kanto. Makes sense, its hard to kill a new god. Kanto tells Bats about Beast's father. So Bats heads to Russia, where after dealing with some government agencies (big splash page) he learns where the father lives.

So I see a simple chain of events that is easy to follow unless you really don't want to.

you're pretty much just trying to make sense of something that simply makes NO sense. those scenarios King threw Batman have no context, explanation, or time frame. ...you're imagining this comic to be better written than it actually is.

Exactly. And sense when did Kanto train or work with KG Beast or Bronze Tiger?

Kanto was badly shoehorned in there. felt like King was going out of his way to be funny and ironic. .... (flop)

It's just my opinion.

clearly

Egon, to me the events timing is off. Kgbeast has a drink with his father and the way king frames it batman goes to asia (maybe), apokolips (maybe) then to russia, works though red tape and walks through siberia. Without timing cues it feels like its supposed to be real time. Plus the father thing is forced...his father doesnt seem to have seen his son sonce the 80s when he lost his arm to batman, but heads there now to cover his tracks? There are no tracks!!! He hasnt seen him in decades!

Are you guys having fun or seriously pissed off about about a Batman comic? Asking for a friend.

so this "friend" of yours... do they normally spend their time worrying about what strangers on the internet think?

Seeing a character that you grew up reading being written so poorly is somewhat upsetting.

the ironic thing is, i felt the new52 batman series started really strong then took a nosedive in quality. i was really happy snyder's run was ending and we'd hopefully get a better writer. this current run of batman is much worse. at least snyder genuinely seems like a batman fan. i get the impression tom king has never read a batman story before in his life.

I think there was an easy point A to B. But it just doesn't make sense in that context. How long was Batman on this trail? King just sort of skips over almost all of the detective parts because I guess he doesn't want to write about it. He just wants to get to the next big moment without any of the connections in between.

King never wants too. He has yet to write Batman as a detective. I assume that means he just doesn’t know how

King was mismatched for Batman since the beginning. ...DiDio just shoved him on the title because everyone was going on and on about how good 'Vision' was, and knew it'd stir up the comic gossip column.

I love how there is always a comment chain of ridiculous proportions every Batman issue.

it usually starts with a series of protesting comments, then a back and forth of critical response. the protests usually always begin with Æther or egon244. .....i'm wondering if they are actually just the same person using different profiles?

Of course we are.

i KNEW it !!!

A negative Tom King comic review just isn't complete without someone taking offense and coming to his defense.

Nothing was jarring, it was simply a freaking montage, nothing out of the ordinary... like you know montages are supposed to only show the stories central banquet scenes right? This is tried and true story writing, nothing experimental at all. It was literally a linear montage of energy building scenes, yes batmans scenes were happening over some amount of time, while KGBeasts was a single scene in the "now", cut up and told to us in between the montage scenes... common storytelling practice

Kanto was a blast to see, King is clearly trying to get the cast of New God characters more involved with the DC world. The ending to Mr. Miracle #11 points to this, plus Mr. Miracle and Big Barda were on the cover of Heroes in Crisis #1. Plus Kanto is a type of "God", a twisted bastard who I wouldn't be surprised was aware/influenced someone as sick as KGBeasts father. This just makes me want more New Gods in Batman.

(in the words if Æther) "i love tom king, blah blah blah" "he's so great blah blah blah" "best writer ever blah blah blah" "no one else is allowed a differing opinion blah blah blah"

Are you Tom King? Because there is no way someone with any sort of functioning intellect could try to pawn this bullshit off as some form of literary brilliance otherwise.

he's Tom King's kid brother 'Sparky'. ....Sparky always wanted to be a writer, but was actually worse at it than Tom. ...so now he just patrols the forums defending his brother's work.

Look at that imagination on Myconius, go figure you've created an obvious straw man... saying I think "no one else should be allowed a different opinion? LOL btw Alan Moore is my fav writer. You done kicking that strawman in the nuts now? As for you Talon1load, ad hominem attack literally mean nothing, we could call each other stupid back and forth all day and get nowhere. Srly plz

I was having a shitty day and used the forum to vent my frustrations. Shouldn’t have done that. Sorry. King still sucks though. Lol

there's nothing straw about you, Sparky. ...you're an honest to goodness disturbed individual. ...sure Alan Moore. whatever. ...hey. i can pick random names of famouse writers out of a hat too. Ernest Hemingway. . . . see? easy peasy. . . . . now put your fingers back in your ears and go back to worshiping Tom King. and you DON'T like people to have different opions. if you did then we wouldn't be having this silly debate every 2 weeks. YOU always comment on my reviews. i don't debate on yours.

Myconius do you not see how disturbed you are because I have a different opinion? I don't care if you hate or love King, I only care for the reasons you've come to settle on your decisions. You repeated leave me unconvinced, again insults are very weak. At the end of the day, I like talking about it because it makes me think about it more, and I feel I gain better understanding. All our debates have only left me more of a fan, so thank Myconius, I am honestly not bitter or angry with you at all.

"btw Alan Moore is my fav writer." ...sure. i can see you're very passionate about Alan Moore since you've never once reviewed a single one of his comics and are constantly going on and on about Tom King. ...also, why do you choose to gravitate towards the critical reviews? why don't you go comment on the positive reviews?

okay, something has been bothering me since this came out. The Detective work Batman does takes him to Asia and then to Kanto (wherever he is) to find out that Beast father is alive. The problem is, Batman knows KGBeast's real name in the continuity (he uses it multiple times in the 10 Days of the Beast story that this story references), but Tom King doesn't even have the father living under an assumed name. I think it makes more sense to find out the father through Batcomputer work

where is the Kanto/training connection when the KGBeast was trained by the Soviet Union to be a weapon?

In fact, Kanto just says Beast's father is alive and Batman goes from there knowing the name already (since it's not said). The only thing that he found out from detective work is father is alive. I would think the first thing Bats would do is look up any living relatives to go question them.

DC Stuff - more valid points bringing up King's insufficient ability to write a quality Batman story.

DC Stuff, damn that's true, maybe a quick Bat-google search would solve the problem. When I read the issue, I just assumed that besides KGBeast's name Bats had nothing else to go on. No info about relatives that are either dead or alive, no know associates. So he went around grasping for straws. Man, I'm pretty sure myconius will now call me stupid or something, he likes to berate other people :)

I wonder if Batman is heading to the house to talk to KGBeast's father or if King will just have him go after Beast and never reference the father. I would love to see what Batman thinks of a guy who kills his own father. Also, if King has Batman leave KGBeast for dead like the original story, I will be upset. They retconned that old story so Batman didn't leave him for dead so King better not have him do it again. Would feel like a step backwards.

now egon244, that cuts deep! . . . . i've NEVER once called you stupid. . . . . maybe self righteous, but NEVER stupid. :-P

DC Stuff - in the next issue, Batman and KGBeast will magically be teleported over to Bat-Burger.

...the KGBeast will Jokerize his fries.

And Campbell will still be a terrible quarterback. Don’t forget that. He’s gotten to mention him constantly.

he should just ditch writing Batman and start his very own series the Campbell & Kite Man Adventures. . . . . have them both go out for Kite-Burgers. Hell Yeah.

Look guys... Knyazev is a COMMON russian name. That would be like investigating everyone named Peterson or Smith in America just because one guy shared that name... fuck sake. Again acting so smart you over look the obvious, you're all blathering on for nothing.

Being KGB family relations wouldn't be public record either. Even if it was... the guy was living totally off grid. He lost 3 planes just trying to get to this guy... dont you think he would only do this if it was his ONLY OPTION. Wake the fuck up.

O and being that it's his only option, doesnt that make it kinda like a trap?

After he found out the father was alive, he tracked him down pretty easily, without being given a name.

YourGreenMuse - yeah. pretty much. . . . the whole search for KGBeast's father felt like it happened just because the plot needed it to happen. . . . and no matter how random the A to B of the search was, it was all just very contrived.

Isnt getting the name supposed to be easy for Batman? The point is, he had to know it would be worth his while. This just so happens to be his one and only lead, it seems to me he would have rather gotten to KGBeast through other means, but he only has this one choice, and it's not a good one. So yeah, it makes total sense that he didnt just jump on his first hunch, or have lots of trouble finding someones name, as most of you would write Batman.

But he still goes on that one lead that is forced through kanto...a connection that is never explained or happened in past continuity. He goes with "his father is alive", something he would have known with a 2 minute search.

Kanto doesnt let him know its worth it, just he is alive. In fact, kgbeast hasn't seen his father in over 25 years so "worth it" isnt really logical.

"btw Alan Moore is my fav writer." - i'm still trying to figure out why you bothered to say that? all you do is go on and on about Tom King.

Nothing like Batman. You just dislike King perhaps?

No, it's pretty much exactly like Batman. Empty dialogue. Lack of weight. And slow pacing.

And added to your pull list. Enjoy?

It's added to my pull list because I'm reading it. Not enjoy.

Why do you plan to read a series that you already dislike? You seem to be reading and disliking Batman as well.

Because I make a habit of reading everything.

And here's yet another example of people thinking they know better. Do any of you realize how pompous you sound when you comment on a review and question why someone is reading it if they dislike it?

You can read whatever you like. I should be more specific. Why would you spend money on something you dislike? This is a question, not a rhetorical statement.

Because despite disliking it, I want to read it to keep up with my friends and with comics, in general.

Ok. You dislike the book, but you like reading the book to keep up with friends and comics in general. I don’t get it, but I get it.

I'm not aching for your approval.

I still approve.

Bravo.

Well said! 👍

This will not and should not connect with the current DCU. See scrapped Vision sequel.

What?

https://www.inverse.com/article/49002-chelsea-cain-marvel-vision-canceled-before-release-is-a-huge-loss

What does that have to do with this series though?

Same writer. The reason this series works is the same reason his Vision series worked: autonomy. When they tried to continue with Vision in the same way that King began, it failed. Doing so with MM would end the same way.

Maybe. I don't know. Just my opinion.

Well, Vision was always in continuity. They changed Vision just to fit it in. And they've progressed from that story, just not with a sequel series.

King has said numerous times this series is 100% in the current continuity

And word is the vision sequel was scrapped because jim zubb has big plans for Viv th at didn't match the sequel

Thanks, DC Stuff. Honestly.

You can buy that, but it is highly unlikely to be the real reason.

Maybe if Jim Zub wasn't already doing stuff with Viv and Vision, like Vision dying and everything, it'd be more unlikely.