I gave up on this title during the rebirth phase (although I did read some 'Action' Superman titles). I imagine that getting the entire earth trapped in the phantom zone must be virtually the only storyline not yet covered in the Superman titles over the decades but having said that, i did enjoy this story and plan to read volume two of the Unity Saga in due course. ( )

In his move from Marvel to DC, I think Bendis has confused the Phantom Zone with the Negative Zone. Anton Arcane lookalike Rogol Zaar -- a genocidal maniac intent on killing all Kryptonians -- sets himself up as Annihilus, gathering an army of aliens who fly around the Zone attacking Superman and his friends. File this under "sound and fury," as it is basically one long fight sequence with one little clever but basically unexplained save by the Atom. I have another Bendis Superman GN sitting on the to-read shelf right now, but unless it is amazing I think I'm done with this uninspiring take on the character. ( )

Superman, Volume 1
The Unity Saga / Phantom Earth
Author: Bendis - Reis - Prado - Albert
Publisher: DC Comics
Publishing Date: 2019
Pgs: 168
Dewey: 741.5973 SUP - V1
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
The endless fight gets lonelier. Jon and Lois are gone travelling the universe beyond his reach. But, as always, Earth needs Superman. Science runs amok. Unintended consequences. The Earth finds herself inside the Phantom Zone. There are bad things, people, aliens, villains in the Phantom Zone. Many of them with a bone to pick with the House of El. Superman and the Justice League have to race against time as the Earth spasms against the unnatural circumstances. Will there be an Earth for Lois and Jon to come home to? Will Clark be there alive when they do? And Rogol Zaar, the scourge who claims to have destroyed Krypton, is coming for vengeance at the head of a supervillain army.
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Genre:
Comics
Graphic Novels
DC Comics
Superheroes

Why this book:
I love Superman when he’s written well. I had to see if Bendis could carry the ball. I fully expected to not like this because I wasn’t a huge fan of his Marvel work. I was wrong.
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Plot Holes/Out of Character:
J’onn is OOC with his offer. Course if this is the same J’onn who was a member of Stormwatch, he might be in line. But this is not the J’onn that I knew in old comics.

Favorite Scene / Quote/Concept:
Lonely Superman is well done. Laying in bed...sitting at the breakfast table missing his family. The art, the words, the colors...well done.

Adam Strange hanging in space where Earth used to be going “Guys? Guys?” That’s damn funny.

Superman vs Rogol Zaar vs General Zod. It’s a beautifully drawn fight in the Phantom Zone.

Hmm Moments:
Superman’s internal debate as Rogol Zaar’s Phantom Zone Army bears down on Earth. His “so be it” attitude reminds me more of Byrne’s Superman than any other era. And looking at Rogol, he could have sprung fully formed from that same era.

WTF Moments:
What the Atom did was freaking awesome!

No. NO!!! He left Zod to face Rogol alone. Together they had a chance. Alone. Zod was dreaming a better dream. I liked this Zod. Dammit.

The Unexpected:
The Nuclear Man, no, not Firestorm, the villain from Superman IV: The Quest for Peace...cool. Least expected character.
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Last Page Sound:
Zoooddddd!!!

Questions I’m Left With:
Is Rogol Zaar just Mongol without the baggage? And Mongol was King Kosmos, that’s a deep cut. Superstrong, intergalactic warlords should always be great Superman villains. Mongol desperately needs to be reinvigorated.

Conclusions I’ve Drawn:
Zod won’t die. Zod will return with a reinvigorated hate for all things El. His son will blame Jonathan for what happened to his father. Zod’s dream will sour in the torture pits of the Phantom Zone denizens.

Author Assessment:
Bendis did great here. But I’m really glad that I didn’t have to wait for every ish to come out.
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That was-- different. I sorta knew it would be with Brian Michael Bendis taking over. I didn't hate it, but, I now think twice about the Superman serieses before I choose to read them.

Lois and Jon are still gone, and Superman has a big problem. Save the Earth before the guy that nearly destroyed Earth just a little while before tries again. Oh, and Zod gets involved too.

There were fun parts. I love that he stumbles into an invasion and the aliens are like 'WTF' (paraphrased). His new fortress is in the Bermuda Triangle as well, and that was fun. Not to mention, dude, Nuclear Man!!

Unfortunately I didn't love the grand/humongous-ness of the story. The Superman story was finally getting back to its good days (in my opinion, the stuff that was friends/family centric and looked at characters not big battles), and now BMB has dragged it all back into the gigantic, not to mention Supes musing about taking over the Earth. Ugh.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to DC Entertainment. ( )

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Superman Vol. 1: The Unity Saga: Phantom Earth by Brian Michael Bendis (illustrated by Ivan Reis) is a graphic novel which makes Superman look at his role in a different light. This graphic novel collects Superman #1 – 6.

STAR Labs were screwing around and caused a mess by beaming the Earth into The Phantom Zone. The Phantom Zone is dimensional prison used on Krypton.

In The Phantom Zone, Superman meets General Zod and Rogol Zaar who wants to kill every Kryptonian he meets since they destroyed his planet.

I had no idea what to expect from Superman Vol. 1: The Unity Saga: Phantom Earth by Brian Michael Bendis (illustrated by Ivan Reis), I enjoyed the Rebirth series and was curious about where DC Comics is going to take my favorite superhero to. Right off the bat I started to enjoy this graphic novel, the story was easy to follow and not too convoluted.

The writer managed to tell an interesting story, allow the characters to grow as well as a rounded supporting cast. The story is cool, but I thought the main reason the villains are there is just to allow Superman to punch something.

There are many characters from the DC comic book universe appearing all over the book, from Adam Strange to Martian Manhunter. I haven’t read many of the stories the past few years, but it seemed to me that Martian Manhunter is action totally out of characters (trying to push Superman towards fascism by taking control of Earth).

The art was good, I don’t always enjoy the representation of my favorite hero, and actually I’m quite critical. Some of the pages were choppy, but I have no real issues with it.

I always maintained that Superman is not an easy character to write. A superhero that has very little physical challenges, writing a viable villain is difficult and he always does the right thing. Mr. Bendis gets the character, concentrating on the “man” and little on the “super, putting together a strong and entertaining arc. ( )