REVIEW: Superwoman Rebirth #1

I“d like to think I keep up to date on the world of comics but I had no idea what to really expect from this particular Rebirth issue. The twice monthly books from DC have kept me enjoyably surrounded by my world escaping medium. When I picked up my books this week I had totally missed this title on the release list. As I always do on weeks with a Detective Comics, I read it first. I continued to shuffle this title to the bottom of my stack until it was a toss-up between New Superman and this title. I decided to take the plunge as I already have some trepidation with the New Superman“s print future.
I generally try to keep my reviews in the “spoiler free”“ zone but I don“t feel I can provide a full review without a major spoiler . . . SO . . .Â SPOILERS AHEAD! SPOILERS AHEAD!

We find New-52 Lois Lane on the farm chatting it up with Lana Lang, hoping Lana will help hone her newfound super powers. The media are buzzing over this newly seen Superwoman while Super-Lex is posturing about his floating fortress, “The Gestalt.”“

Now to my surprise, we find Lana was also gifted with some of New-52 Superman“s powers and the two Superwomen work together to avert mass casualties when the Gestalt goes floating out of control. At this point it feels like a buddy cop trope in the making, but when the two discover Lex has a hidden lead-lined lab in the ship, trouble escalates.

The scientists in the lab are all dead and yet another super female appears, attacking Lois. In a fitting heroic move Lois gives her life in an attempt to keep Lana safe.Â Phil Jimenez not only wrote but penciled on this issue and crammed a massive amount in a few dozen pages. This along with the inserted flash back panels made the issue a touch chaotic to read but only slightly. Kudos for the swerve at the end which although not earth shattering, considering all the Supers we have in Rebirth it made for an enjoyable read. I did enjoy the homage paid to the 90“s Superman Blue and Superman Red with the respective costume designs, Lana“s powers and Lois“ nickname for Lana.***

The writing and art were more than adequate, I am just not sure if this title will hold longevity. Imbuing so many characters with Superman“s powers may saturate the market and make him seem less. On the contrary this may be a title which pulls in more readers. Time as they say will tell. As for now, I will pick up the next issue in hopes Lex is fully found to be the described “sociopath billionaire”“ we all want him to be.Â 3.7 out of 5

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Story and Pencils by: Phil Jimenez
Inks by Matt Santorelli
Colors by: Jeromy Cox
Lettering by: Rob Leigh

Agree or disagree, have titles you’d recommend? Â Find me on Twitter @InhumanMongo

***MONGO-NOTE: I realize Superman historians will scoff at my 90“s reference and point out Superman #162 (July 1963) as the original appearance of this tale. I wasn“t yet on earth in “63 so my reference fits my timeline folks.