Superman #13 Review

Coming Clean

Written By: Brian Michael Bendis

Art By: Brandon Peterson, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Alex Sinclair, Dave Sharpe

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 10, 2019

Jor-El, friend or foe?  That's still the question as we continue are adventure into the Superman titles.  Previously, we saw Jor-El being attacked by not only Rogol Zaar and his Kryptonian allies, but by Thanagarians, Khunds, and the Trillium Collective, but up until this point, we had no idea why any of these groups, besides for Zaar and his hatred for Kryptonians, were after Jor-El in the first place.  Let's take a trip down memory lane this issue and see if anything can become any clearer for us.  Let's check it out.

For this issue of Superman we look at the final days of Krypton, where you see a lot of what you've already known from the Superman mythos, with Jor-El pleading to the Science Council to evacuate the planet from its immediate destruction.  Only now though, we're weaving The Circle into it and Jor-El's inclusion in that group.  It's weird though because we spend the majority of the issue dealing with this aspect and Jor-El going to his secret group for help and while you can tell there was some bad blood created with these meetings, I don't get the idea of Gandelo's involvement in Krypton's destruction like we've seen in the Supergirl book.  Hell, I don't really get how any of what we've learned from these series is played out in this issue because it feels almost like a new look at what happened to get baby Kal-El to Earth. 

Sadly, this is an issue of a lot of standing around and talking, where I'm desperately trying to get more information on what this new look at Krypton's destruction really means and all of the players behind it and I'm still feeling rather lost from what this issue delivers.  Maybe, because this is from Jor-El's perspective he's lying about what went down to Superman, but that's no way to tell a story that's being covered in different books or maybe Brian Michael Bendis is doing something slightly different than he originally planned........ or maybe I'm just a dummy.  All things are possible, I'd just like to understand this new take on the Superman mythos a little better for a story that's been going on for over a year now.

All in all, this issue is a bit of bore and confusing if you're following all the Superman books and their different takes on the destruction of Krypton, but maybe that's the point right now so that the big reveal when it happens is more of shocking moment, but as of right now my favorite parts of this issue are the incredible art and the Offer cliffhanger, which shows Lois Lane being given a gift by Lex Luthor.  

Bits and Pieces:

Diving back into the Superman origin story and the destruction of Krypton this issue leaves me with more questions than I had before because from what plays out this issue it seems like some things don't jive with what we've learned in the Supergirl book...... Plus, nothing really new to the whole Rogol Zaar background.  The art is great though and the Offer cliffhanger leaves me curious to what's to come.

6.5/10