Bullet Points:  Raging Bullets online DC Comics TPB/HC reviews 
 

Superman:  Man of Steel miniseries 
 

Reviewed by 
 

Matthew G. Guy 
 

July 27, 2006 
 

The hero that started it all was a man in tights seeking to save humanity from all forms of evil by fighting for Truth, Justice & the American Way.  That is Superman and that makes him a hero we all look up to, unless you like Marvel Comics more and that hero is Captain America for those on the other side of the comic aisle.  For me personally, the first three Superman Christopher Reeve movies lead me into buying more DC Comics as a kid.  First it was Detective Comics the ones w/ Green Arrow, various mini series, like Super Powers comics, and then I started reading Superman number 1 (the Bryne 1987 reboot).  It was at the local pharmacy, I read it and I was hooked each week wanting one or 2 comics from DC at a very low price of 75 cents as long as I did my chores around the house I got comics plain and simple.  My sister read Archie comics & me it was Superman & Batman.  It wasn’t until I was 24 years old, (I am 28 now) until knowing the existence of the Byrne mini series when looking on Ebay and picking up the entire miniseries in single issue form for nine dollars.  I still have yet to pick up the trade, but I will one day soon.  So the review will be from the original issues back in 1986.   
 

  So let us begin with an in-depth look at Man of Steel miniseries.  It is a six issue miniseries that retells the origin of Superman in modern day following the events of Crisis of Infinite Earths.  The writer, penciller, and cover artist for the series is John Byrne; the inker is Dick Giordano; colorist is Tom Ziuko; the letterer is John Costanza; and editor of the series is Andrew Helfer.  This series produced 7 issues, one is a collector’s issue of number one of this series and six regular issues.  Each issue of this series came out every two weeks.  This series also had prequels, World of Krypton, World of Smallville & World of Metropolis miniseries that happen after this series was completed starting in 1987; each World of series had four issues for a total of twelve issues that add more to this series. Following this miniseries, John Byrne did various duties including writing, penciling, inking, and/or cover art work on Action Comics for 17 straight issues, Adventures of Superman for 9 issues, Superman for 22 straight issues and Superman annuals until 1988.   
 

The first issue opens up Jor-el & Lara sending their child; Kal-el to Earth, in an area called Kansas and was sent in a spaceship moments before his home world of Krypton exploded.    Fast forward to about eighteen years later, we see Clark winning the last football game of the season for Smallville High.  Something that differs greatly from Superman:  The Movie.  But following the game, Jonathan Kent shows his son the spaceship he arrived on earth from.  He explains in flashback all the major events of his parents’ life and how he became a part of their lives.  And he tells Clark that as a American citizen he has responsibilities now.  Martha Kent makes a scrapbook of all Clarks rescues, including one of Mysterious Superman Saves Space Plane, from seeing Superman Returns I believe Singer got the idea from this comic when he put it into his movie in my opinion.  After the rescue he first meets Lois Lane for the first time.  But the stress of being a hero is getting to Clark and he needs to do something different.  Clark needs a disguise, and reinvents himself into two personas, Clark Kent in glasses, Clark in tights, better known as Superman.  In this series, Clark’s adoptive parents are alive that differs from pre-Crisis continuity where they are dead.  The issue on the inside front & back covers has a Meanwhile section from Dick Giordano and an essay from John Byrne.    
 

The next issue opens with Perry White telling Lois Lane to find out more about Superman.  We also see a cameo of Lex Luthor in this issue as well as he fails to get Lois’ attention.  Lois decides to chase the man in tights in a helicopter around the city. Superman true to form stops a robbery and a holdup at a liquor store that is very similar to Superman’s first night in Metropolis in the Superman: The Movie.  Lois chases Superman around town for a week and misses him by moments each time.  When she decides to stage an accident, yet Superman does save her.  She tells him to stay, after returning her to her apartment safely.  With a in-depth interview that is also similar from the 1978 movie.  Then he tells her that he knew about the aqualung in the car and flies off.  And Clark Kent enters the Daily Planet, gets a job and out scoops Lois on a Superman story.  The issue also has a Meanwhile section from Mr. Giordano on the inside back cover. 
 

In this issue, Batman meets Superman for the first time in Gotham City following Crisis.  Things have definitely changed between the two, pre-Crisis they were friends but after Crisis Batman and Superman see each other methods of fighting crime in Metropolis and Gotham City are against the other superheroes’ beliefs.  Batman is chasing down a villainess named Magpie.  Batman tells Superman in flashback about how this case started.  After the flashback, Superman hears her voice and so the chase begins in earnest to end her crime spree in Gotham.  When Batman and Superman team up together to foil Magpie’s plan, but she escapes in the end.  Superman gets a sample of the gas used in her escape.  It provides the right clue for Batman to lead to Magpie’s hideout and her capture from Batman and Superman ending her crime spree in Gotham.  In closing, the two heroes talk more about how different they are from each other and respectfully disagree on the other heroes’ methods in fighting crime while going their separate ways.  On the inside back cover an ad for Batman Year One, the first Bulletpoints review topic. 
 

In this issue, we see Lois Lane at Clark’s apartment to pick him up to go to Lex’s yacht.  She is early and Clark has not even shaved yet.  She starts to tell him off about again how he out scooped him in his first story at the Daily Planet an article on Superman.  The events from issue 2 and issue 4 about eighteen months has passed.  Lois still holds a grudge against Clark for this.  She takes a tour of the apartment seeing Clark and his football memorabilia from high school and a picture of his parents.  Clark excuses himself to go change for the party, shaves using heat vision and a curved piece of metal from the spaceship that brought him to earth and gets dressed.  They leave via helicopter to Lex’s yacht.  We see Lex for the first time, balding with red hair.  In this revision of Lex’s origin, Lex is now a businessman, not a mad scientist as in pre-Crisis comics would suggest.  Lex gives Clark some praise from his Superman story.  Clark even rejects the idea of putting him name in for an award, saying getting a job at the Daily Planet was reward enough, showing his modesty, a true trait for Clark.  When Lex & Lois are alone, Lois finds out the dress she is wearing from Lex is not a loan, but a gift instead.  She refuses it and instead takes it off uses Clark’s jacket to dress herself with instead of being in debt to Lex for anything, to keep her journalistic integrity intact.  As Clark & Lois leave, they are stopped by rebels and take the yacht guest hostage.  Clark gets involved to remove himself from the scene and change into Superman.  But with Lois’ background as an Army brat, does well in fighting off some of the rebels herself before Superman arrives on the boat.  But Superman ends the conflict peacefully.  Lex offers to give Superman 25 thousand dollars and to be a part of his security detail, but he refuses saying his services are free.  When it is revealed that Lex knew of the rebels plot to take the ship, the mayor who is onboard, deputizes Superman has a special deputy and orders to arrest Lex.  Lex is in jail and the hatred between rivals as begun.  Three days later, Superman saves a lady from a train who is about to give birth and in super speed gets her to the hospital promptly.  In closing, Superman notices his face is being photographed and vibrates his face to avoid a clear picture from being taken.  Lex and Superman meet up again, Lex warns Superman he will pay for choosing to be against him. 
 

Superman and Lex meet up again, this time in Lex’s office.  Superman holds up battle armor that is very similar to the Super Powers version of Lex.  When Superman confronts him on about the battle armor, Lex denies everything about the suit, saying it was stolen and that the person who took it was fired from LexCorp.  Superman doesn’t have any direct proof that Lex was involved but this series of events widens the battle between good and evil even further between the two.  Lex hatches a plan to clone Superman.  However, with Superman having alien DNA the attempts to clone fails to form a prefect clone, but instead creates a Superman that is different from the true man of steel.  Lucy Lane is introduced into the series.  While talking to Lois we learn that Lucy is blind from the events of a year ago.  A Superman arrives to help aid an ambulance to the hospital, but he looks different somehow.  Lucy decides to commit suicide by jumping from Lois’ apartment window.  But the fake Superman rescues her from her grim fate and returns her back to the apartment safety.  Clark/Superman encounters the bizarre version of himself at the Daily Planet.  The two fight a long fought battle between two titans over the city of Metropolis.  Lois is captured by the fake Superman and is taken back to her apartment with Lucy still there.  Superman finds out that the being is a clone of him in android form.  Superman decides a full head contact is the best course of action in stopping the monster.  The direct approach works and has an side effect, the dust from the android is the right chemical to restore Lucy’s sight.  On the inside back cover is an ad for DC Annuals and Specials in 1986.   
 

The series conclusion, leads Superman back to his roots, back to Smallville.  Superman changes into his civilian identity, Clark Kent meeting Ma & Pa Kent at the bus stop.  The three have chit chat about the news of the happenings in Smallville.  Ma & Pa Kent inquire about Lois Lane.  Clark confesses he really likes her a lot.  He is hoping to do something about his feelings for Lois soon.  After trying to sleep at home, he can’t.  So he decides to find some food in the kitchen.  When out of nowhere, the ghost of Jor-El appears and touches Clark.  He is flashbacked to Krypton however the event is very brief.  He awakens in the field where he sees Lana Lang.  Clark questions her thinking she left Smallville.  She tells Clark via another flashback that Clark changed her life.  Ten years ago, when Clark picks her up for a date, Lana thinks that Clark is going to ask her to marry him.  Instead, he reveals his secret to her.  The two travel the world.  He tells her that he must leave Smallville to fulfill his destiny; this crushes Lana’s heart.  She tells Clark that she thought about telling his secret but decides not to, because she knows he was doing the right thing.  Upon hearing this news, he is very sorry for hurting her, he thought of her as a close friend, brother-sister in nature.  This news gives Clark much to think about, as Lana put it “Superman belongs to the world, not me” in relation to his feelings for Lois.  Soon after that, Jor-El reappears trying to impart knowledge to Clark about his true heritage.  After Pa Kent strikes the ghost with his shovel, Clark learns it was a hologram.  Clark flies up as Superman to clear his head where he understands his origin in full, about his real parents’ fate, Krypton, and where he as Clark Kent/Superman fits in relation on this Earth.  Superman is indeed a hero, but not without problems and questions that are sure to follow him into the three new series, Superman, Action Comics & Adventures of Superman.  
 

The impact of this series has lasted for about 20 years.  It is just as powerful in story and art then as it today.  It is just plain and simple wrapping up a complex tale that leads into three Superman titles into Infinite Crisis.  Birthright maxi series retells the Byrne story with flashy art, but little in the way of a lasting story.  For me personally, Birthright doesn’t deliver the goods as this series did.  As a child of the 1980’s, Man of Steel will be the classic tale that outshines Birthright’s retelling to leave a lasting legacy of an American icon, Superman to anyone who picks it up.        
 
 

Here Is How The Bullet Fired (For Me) 
 

      Raging Bullets Writing Rating: 9.9 (a strong series that still holds up to this day and introduces the man of steel to a new generation of comics fans) 
 

      Raging Bullets Art Rating: 9.3 (Superman’s likeness is taken from Christopher Reeve in his art, simple art design does weaken the series a bit, but over all very good 
 

      Raging Bullet Cover Art: 9.5 (Both covers of issue number 1 are outstand, the other five are only better than average cover art) 
 

      Raging Bullet Overall Rating: 9.6 (a must read for any Superman fan, period) 
 

      If You Like This Try:  Man of Steel trades 2-4 with trade number 5 out in November trading the beginning issues from the Byrne era of Superman)   
 

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Copyright 2006 Raging Bullets & Matthew Guy