I started reading Spider-Man comics way back in 2015 with the ANAD Marvel relaunch. Comparing all Spider-Man comics from that point up until now, this is the first Spider-Man comic I found to be terrible. I really wanted to give this book a chance but holy moly the writing in this was garbage to me. It's a shame that Pichelli's art would be wasted in this story (be real here SHE was the main draw for this series) but the coloring also didn't do any favors. Justin Ponsor was THE colorist for Pichelli's artwork. Now that he's gone, I don't think any one can reach his level of coloring to Pichelli's artwork for a long time.

Overall, this is a story I will not invest my time and money in anymore. Thankfully (SPOILERS) this is an alternate universe story so it's not like I'm going to loose sleep over this. I gave the Abrams a chance and they blew it with the first issue. more

Tl;dr I did not think it would be possible for bendis’ writing to get worse on this book, he proved me wrong. Please save yourself the physical pain it will cause on your eyes and do not read it, buying it would be far too much and contribute to one of the worst books out there.

On to the actual contents now, so know spoilers will follow:

Issue ends on another “big twist/reveal”, because apparently bendis cannot continue a story without one. This is itself a showcase of a his lackluster writing in this book. About the “reveal” itself it’s basically “Man who was a villain is stated to be bad”. I stare blankly into space because it’s the only way I can react at something so blatantly obvious from even Man of Steel. There was no reconciliation had between Superman and Jor-El or anything to indicate that after their last encounter he was not a villain.

From what little we get to see from the journey the Superman Family took we now know Lois left her son in space with his “grandfather” after a single mission deciding she was not needed. Because I presume that ensuring Jon would not be influenced into following in the footsteps of Mr. Oz and continuing to instill in him the proper values and ethics of the person his parents want him to be is unnecessary in the face of just having superpowers. Great parenting shown here, thanks bendis.

Going by that we’re meant to believe Jon is not an impressionable young man who needs no further guidance by his parents and is trusted to know what to do in case his grandfather, who was last seen as a villain, asks him to do something that goes against his values. But while I shudder to think of what Jon will reveal happened in the following “years” of his trip, as of now we are just left with a considerably older Superboy who was aged just to allow the writer to explore how parents would feel if they missed out on raising their child. He chose to sacrifice the development of a character for the chance to explore an idea; he will undoubtedly waste this opportunity and reverse before anyone else can actually work with it.

It hurt to see Lobo make a short cameo, because he’s one more character to add to the list of those bendis has gotten wrong, but surprisingly what he says is the best advice Jon has gotten in this title. Seeing alien people worship Superman was ridiculous, because he actually strives to not be seen as someone who should be worshipped/relied on to that degree and while Superman has indeed assisted other planets in times of need the impact he’s had on the galaxy is far lesser than that of the GL Corps who has been outright shunned by the citizens of certain planets.

The dialogue itself is poorly written, cringeworthy in more than one ocassion (Jon laughling at was is not even arguably a joke Jor-El makes comes to mind), and I can’t help but say he does not get a single character “right” in the entire issue.

This is the worst issue in the run so far and it decidedly looks like it will not improve. Save yourself the hassle and avoid this title until a new creative team comes on board. more

I sure made a good call to expect nothing from the appearance of the Crime Syndicate last issue, because that’s what was delivered!
This issue was pointless, had little substance, as much filler as the “Knightmares” arc happening on Batman.
Do not purchase this issue, in fact I daresay don’t even read it, it’s not worth the time:

The best part of the issue is Superman’s dream/hallucination of a Kryptonian future. This occurs with no rhyme or reason, a “tease” of an upcoming storyline which fails to generate any interest due to the sheer senselessness of it all; Jon apparently takes quite some damage in this future losing an arm and an eye, that sure is a happy future. Cue first facepalm. Presumably the Legion of Superheroes attacks the Kryptonian gathering, which makes me fear for that team’s future at the hands of bendis.

The interactions between the Superman Family are very off and not consistent with how they acted in previous issues, which proves even more irksome when couple with cringeworthy dialogue such as Superman now not having to sleep or having anger issues he takes out on things. Again, I am perplexed that people actually believe this writer can portray Superman well. I have yet to see that.

The big fight with the Crime Syndicate teased last issue? It doesn’t happen, the team barely even appears. Ultraman is shown taking Superboy to a secluded volcano and keeping him prisoner there, using him as someone to vent to for some reason.
Suffice to say, that is not what people expected and considerably underwhelming since they reduce what should be an evil Superman to, in Jon’s words, a “messed up and totes uncool ‘jersey’ version of dad”. It takes bad villain monologuing to another level.

To note, Jor-El is thrown aside from the start so there goes anything involving him. Cool.

Most people expected an answer for why the Crime Syndicate is even present, Earth-3 having been destroyed and the Syndicate being killed in the Prime Earth. Well, this is a pre-New 52 version somehow, doubtful we’ll get an answer for it, so I am disappointed as I expected something like this be the case. The lack of involvement of the rest of that team is a major missed opportunity. The ending where Superwoman confronts Jon, that will lead to nothing equal to my interest in the next issue. This title continues to be a severely lacking comic book. more

This issue only works if can shut your brain down to read it. The overarching “story” continues to be asinine and senseless and certain events it depicts are so ridiculous it can’t be taken seriously.

generic alien continues to be a third-rate villain with motivations that cannot be kept consistent, while the turn of events regarding the encounter shown in the issue are just pure idiocy.

There is a moment early on in the fight where Superman mentions he wants to use it as a “training moment” for his son. It almost reads as if the aging was done purely to deliver such a line, pointless “development” for sake of “clever quips”.

The art while the strongest factor present in this title since issue #1, has some panels which are simply terrible. So even this does not hold up for the entirety of the book.

I would not recommend anyone read this issue, much less purchase it and want to emphasize that despite the solicits this issue is NOT important or significant. It’s just bad. more

I expected the "grand finale" of the Unity Saga to be something unsatisfying and ultimately mediocre, but I had no idea it was going to be the single stupidest finale I've read recently.

There are a lot of problems with it, not the least of which is the end of "Jor-El"'s arc. I mean, he's disposed of as easily as if there was no importance to him. I mean, after all he was only the catalyst for the entire story so far; there are no words that properly express how dumb this all was.

"generic alien" (rogol-zaar) was confirmed to be nothing more than a discount doomsday, with a few extra taken off the top because it's damaged. Good riddance. Pointless villain that the writer could never even get right.

As far as the "Unity Day" event, it is still preposterous than galactic civilizations far more advanced than Earth never thought up of such an organization. Dumber still that "representatives" from the future came to witness the event and expect nothing to change.
I mean, Krona only wanted to witness the birth of creation and nothing happened from that right?
Again, this is stupidity of the highest caliber, but I guess to the makes it was worth it for that Unity Day page.

Zod and Superman's agreement to work together while cool and all, is very hard to believe, but I guess we're not considering any past actions or portrayals. bendis is known for wrecking continuity and here he just takes it up to 11. It's hard to believe Zod is discussing founding a New Krypton when he ALREADY DID THIS.

This was a 1/10 story in its entirety. No one should bother reading something so bad. more