REVIEW Superman: The Coming of the Supermen #1

The start of this new miniseries is a throwback of sorts; to the action filled and science fiction style stories of classic Superman books. The fact that the legendary Neal Adams is in charge of the pencils as well the story (he shares a co-writing credit with Tony Bedard) should be reason enough to peak the interest of readers, even those who have not read a Superman book in a while. 

This first issue of six, begins with the simultaneous arrival of a mysterious group of three men from a spacecraft and dressed in Superman's iconic uniform as well as a horde of Parademons captained by a ferocious Kalibak. As the two sides clash in and around the streets of Metropolis, Superman is in the Middle East doing his thing when he encounters an unknown and cryptically powerful entity that shows him a glimpse of the past and a surprising look at the origins of the DC Universe's greatest threat, Darkseid. Setting up the book we discover a not unexpected plot by Lex Luthor as well as deeper questions regarding a number of new characters introduced this issue.

The most noticeable thing when you pick up the book is the stellar art by the prolific Adams. Clean and dynamic, the art just pops, especially during the action sequences. The writing does suffer a bit with a noticeable amount of exposition used in the early pages but it thankfully levels out as the meat and interest points of the series are breached. Introducing just the right amount of mystery to keep you wanting more, as well as dazzling with art by an established and prestigious penciler, The Coming of the Supermen is certainly one of the better reads this week.