Man of Steel # 6 – Superman’s Family Pulling a Fantastic Four Over Clark

Brian Michael Bendis’ first forray into the Superman books is… OK.It was engaging, it was wordy and it had consistently great art. They also set up a nice, long AND convenient way for Superman to go solo in Man of Steel # 6. It’s so convenient, it was like how Marvel setup the Fantastic Four’s “disappearance” at the end of Secret War.

So without further delay, spoilers from Man of Steel # 6 by Brian Michael Bendis and Jason Fabok.

The cover kinda makes it seem ominous but trust me it’s not.

So all throughout the six issue miniseries, we get to see a surprise conversation between the Kents and Clark’s estranged father Jor-El. Jor wants to take his grandson Jon Kent aka Superboy on an impromptu tour of the galaxy to give him a better perspective of what his role should be in the galaxy as one of the last remaining Kryptonians in the universe.

There’s a lengthy discussion about whether or not Jonathan needs to join his grandfather on a cosmic adventure. Clark and Lois (initially) didn’t want their kid mingling with his one-time crazy grandfather. But after Jon says he feels different because the Teen Titans rejected him, it would be a nice change of pace to see the stars.

Later though, Lois Lane relents and permits him to join Jor-El on the condition that she come along with them.

With no choice and with a moral obligation to Earth, Clark decides to agree with Jor-El’s proposal.

Before leaving, Superman’s dad gives him a communication device that can let Clark talk to his wife and son at any moment.

It doesn’t bode well though that this same communicator was one of the things that Ragal Zoor destroyed when he attacked the Fortress of Solitude and killed the citizens of Kandor.

Man of Steel # 6 ends with the mystery villain defeated (spoiler alert: he got sent to the Phantom Zone) and Supergirl choosing to leave Earth as well in order to find evidence that Krypton was indeed murdered by Zoor and what the motive was behind the destruction of the planet.

I make the connection between Fantastic Four and Man of Steel because at the end of Secret War, the Fantastic Four decide that they need to venture out in to the multiverse and help rebuild it after the disastrous affairs that had happened when Victor Von Doom aka Dr. Doom was in charge. They disappeared for a number of years and it was only recently that Johnny Storm aka Human Torch found evidence that supports the theory that they will finally return, hence Fantastic Four # 1. The difference is that the Richards clan are already coming back to a world thats changed in a number of ways while Lois Lane and Jon will be leaving it for awhile. I wouldn’t be surprised that by the time they return, its either Superboy’s all grown up or had grown by a few years or either him or Lois had become evil, thus opening a major Superman event.

I don’t know, what do you guys think? Did you enjoy Man of Steel? How would you rate Brian Michael Bendis’ work with DC Comics? Leave a comment below