Superman #17 Review

I Don't Think I Can Handle The Truth...... Again

Written By: Brian Michael Bendis

Art By: Kevin Maguire, Paul Mounts, Dave Sharpe

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: November 13, 2019

Rogol Zaar is locked away, Jor-El was sent back in time to his death and Jon Kent has been sent a thousand years into the future to work with the Legion of Super-Heroes, which means, it's time to ruin Superman's secret identity.  I say that because this is supposed to be a prologue to Bendis' "Truth" arc, where Superman will reveal his secret identity to the world, kind of like the last "Truth" story we had that needed to be retconned away.  Really though, this is a prologue to that, which means that nothing will really matter here for the most part.  Let's jump into this issue and see what all Superman deals with and what amount of it actually matters.  Let's check it out.

Remember a bunch of issues ago when Apex Predator Lex Luthor showed up to Lois' with an offer, like he did with everyone else?  Well, we're finally dealing with that, but are we really?  We spend pages with Lois telling Superman about the lead lined box and Superman asking what's in the box, but after pages and pages, it goes nowhere and Lois and Superman simply go off flying together....... I remember when I used to like Superman comics.

Beyond the Lois and Clark stuff we see Superman dealing with a trade dispute in space...... because you remember how interesting that was in Episode 1 of Star Wars, but none of that really matters either.  What seems to be the big deal of this book is solidifying that STAR Labs is evil, especially under the leadership of Dr. Glory, but instead of having some great setup throughout and seeing Superman trying to take them down, we're told about everything from an article by Clark Kent.  Having fun yet?  In the end we head off to New Krypton to see Zod, where he seems happy to accept Superman and Supergirl into his home.  Boom.... 

All in all, I like the art in this book for the most part..... yeah, there's a few panels that look off, but it's pretty enjoyable throughout.  Like usual, the story is the problem..... or lack there of.  You get your usual Bendis dialog, which I can't stand and you get your usual issue where even though there seems to be things that are supposed to happen, nothing ever really happens.  Ultimately, this issue is about Clark beating around the bush about whether or not he should reveal his identity, but with out actually saying that, all because of what happened with Leviathan, which like this issue, was boring as hell as well.  Hopefully when The Truth: Part Deux finally starts proper something will become exciting in this book because right now I'm bored to tears.

Bits and Pieces:

I hope you enjoy the art in this book like I did because beyond that there's nothing really going on here besides for some beating around the bush, some location changes and STAR Labs being called out as bad guys through a Daily Planet article.  I wish Superman would become exciting again because every time I seem to open up an issue, nothing ever really happens.

5/10