Superman: The Man of Steel Vol. 1

As he approaches adulthood, Clark Kent is shocked when his father reveals he is adopted and decided to leave Smallville to find his own way in the world.John Byrne reinvents the origin of the Man of Steel in a very important way. In this iteration, there is Clark Kent, who used Superman as a disguise to protect his loved ones while he fights for truth, justice and the American Way.The artwork is classically styled, with a firm focus on exploring movement and readers can see Superman hovering in a believable manner.

A now classic retelling of the Superman story. Wonderful art by Byrne and Giordano. Lois Lane has never looked more beautiful or Lex Luthor more deadly. Loved this mini series when it first came out. And I still do.

Okay, I've been looking for an 'in' road to reading DC and thought the New 52 would be it. Boy was I wrong. Don't misunderstand me though, there are some great titles among them, but there still seems to be a whole bunch of back story I feel I'm missing. So finally I decided to go back to the first big shake up. The Crises on Infinite Earths event. It was big, it was confusing, with hundreds of characters I didn't know anything about. But you know what, it didn't matter, because by the end everything fitted into place and I had some routes for various characters and some solid leads to titles I could read. Man of Steel is one of them, and boy is it a great way to get into Superman comics for a newbie. Byrne's stories are well crafted and really help get you into the characters and events without too much exposition. Dick Giordano's art is crisp but warm and feel like a nod to the Christopher Reeve films. The selection of issues available here are a great introduction and include some brilliant 'firsts' such as: The first meeting with Lois Lane and the other Daily Planet staffers such as Perry White and Jimmy Olsen, that first fateful duel of wits with Lex Luther, an initial skirmish/Team-Up with Batman, the creation of Bizarro Superman and Clark's first clues to his true parentage. I think the final story is my favorite, this is because of the characterization of Lana Lang, Clark's treatment of her and how she has dealt with it really show Superman/Clark in a different light, he really isn't perfect and has made mistakes, the life Lana has lead since he left Smallville and ditched her is quite heartbreaking. If there is a misstep, it shows itself in the form of Lex Luther, there is just something a little off about the way he has been presented here. He doesn't quite fit the arch-Nemesis role yet, but this is only a very minor sour note in an excellent first act. I am most certainly looking forward to more in Vol. 2.

Was a present for my son

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Awesome book, this is the post crisis supermans origin and first encounters with louis, lex and batman, and its brilliant. We get to see how clark takes learning his birthright and how he decides to use it, great superman book

John Bryn did a great man of steel. Great jumping on point for new readers. Would definitely recommend reading this book if you like superman

All people know Superman is a boring character. It has always been. However, John Byrne's reboot back in the past made this protagonist really interesting. Both great in the form and content. Made him less campy and more human. I loved it back when I was teenager, I love it still. High recommendation of the book. Planning to get all of those 9 volumes crafted or co-crafted by Byrne.One forewarning though - it appears DC has saved on the paper quality on those Sups Volumes. It is really cheap material (paper within), or at least looks so. Other than that - the book is, pun intended, super :)

In 2011, *DC Comics* rebooted their line with the *Flashpoint* mini-series. Though there are frequently smaller "reboots" of certain parts of the continuities at both DC and Marvel Comics - in fact with *DC* initiating one such smaller set of changes with the *Rebirth* titles, there is rarely a resetting and re-imagining of the content on the order that *DC* introduced in 2011. In fact, the last such reboot of similar proportions (for *DC Comics*, anyway) was the GIANT crossover event that came to define "crisis crossovers" in the comics industry. That crossover event was *Crisis on Infinite Earths*, which ran from April 1985 to March 1986.Anyone reading this may very well be wondering what in the world *Crisis on Infinite Earths* has to do with the graphic novel *Superman, The Man of Steel: Vol. 1*. The answer is simple. The events of *Infinite Earths* were explicitly put in place in order to streamline and simplify the very, very complicated *DC* "Multiverse" wherein many different parallel worlds and universes with different version of the characters from different eras existed. In essence, the door was to be shut on the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Ages of Comics. A new continuity was to be introduced. Many heroes had their origins, enemies, and so forth, re-imagined.When it came to Superman, the job of re-imagining the Man of Steel for a new age was given to acclaimed comics writer John Byrne. The issues that make up this compendium being reviewed are the complete mini-series that Byrne wrote reintroducing Superman in his Post-Crisis persona.Chiefly, different elements from the Christopher Reeve *Superman* films, and other sources were used, with a mind to have him be slightly different from his pre-Crisis identity. Now, this was not a difference at the core of who he was, but a difference that took all of these disparate ideas about his origins, and, in turn, put them together into one story that told THE definitive origin of Superman. Also of difference was that it was made clear that Clark Kent was who the man really is. "Superman" is a role he plays to do good, but it's *not* who he is.The other characters also came across differently than how they were written pre-Crisis, but with their best aspects of previous ages intact. Lex came across as different, and a tad strange, to be honest. Some of his characterization in this story was eventually changed, though much stayed the same. The whole ruthless businessman that is the opposite of Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen was created, and has been kept for a quarter century. Gone is "mad scientist" Luthor and to stay is corrupt businessman Luthor. He was also arguably more brilliant than before.Lois Lane was more like her plucky, independent Golden Age self. A beautiful, intelligent, tough-as-nails reporter. Sure, she still needs to be saved, but not to the ridiculous degree she did in the Silver and Bronze Ages of Comics. Just look at some of her exploits where she kicks butts and takes names in the Classic Fleischer Superman cartoons, and know that the then-new Lois made that Fleischer Lois look like a wuss. Batman was different as well, as they kept the traditional "smart-guy and meticulous planner" aspects of his many renderings of previous years, while dropping the more silly stuff.A character of interest to me was that of Lana Lang. At that point, she was based - it seemed to me - on the Annette O'Toole version in *Superman III*. The version then was far, far superior to the modern version that either inspired or was inspired by the *Smallville* television show. Thankfully, as of the "New 52" reboot earlier mentioned that began with *Flashpoint*, she is being reverted to that earlier version from the 1986 John Byrne re-imagining. And this is completely for the better. As you can tell, I rather liked this version of Lana Lang with the sillier stuff dropped, but still a good character, not the more anti-heroic character of recent years in comics and on *Smallville*.In fact, saying that the comics writers "dropped the sillier stuff" is a good description of this period post-Crisis. Arguably they went too far eventually, giving us the reviled and pathetic "Dark Age of Comics" with moral myopias and no true heroes, but that is a topic for another day, and a few years down the line from this point in the mid '80's.The art here is nothing to write home about. While other comics, such as Star Wars under Marvel (as it wound down no less), and the post-Crisis Batman books were beautifully rendered, this was typical, average fare at best. But the story, however, was good, and was the strength of the volume. While maintaining the goodness and wholesomeness of the previous renditions of Clark Kent, this version was different, and has him growing into the role. It wasn't the ease with which he grew into his role previously. He had a harder, and more uncertain time of it.I can't recommend this enough, not just for those who want just a good, fun, comics adventure, but also for those who are interested in reading a fundamental piece of the *Superman* mythos.Rating: 5/5 Stars.

This is a good introduction to Superman. It’s slow burn and focuses on Clark Kent than his alter ego. Overall good read.

I missed this run when it initially came out (I was 6) and didn't really know about it until I started to dig back into comic histroy a bit. This is the post-crisis reboot of Superman. And it changed up alot of the status quo.Superman wasn't concieved by standard "relations", he is basically a test tube baby. He was never actually exposed to his own planet - he was inside a "Birthing Matrix". This is my major issue with the story.Krypton is a cold a sterile place - all science no love... It works, but the hand is a bit too forced. I prefer the basic origin story.The story is a series of minor tweaks: His father lives, He isn't great friends with Batman (they fight and then respect each other - but they aren't Super-friends (hehe)), Lex Luthor is a fat business man who STILL has no reason to hate superman so much...There is a great debate on which origin is better - the almost 20 year old Man of Steel or the recent Birthright. Having read them both in the last year - my opinion is that Birthright is by far a better story.But this is good superman history. The art and dialog are great for the time and it is an overall satisfying story.

The first issue of Superman reinvention by John Byrne was published over 38 years ago, in 1986. And it still feels like THE “definitive” origin of Superman.A balanced mix of classic elements with modern sensibilities, this is a book that still inspires and entertains without feeling too “dated”.Byrne left Marvel and a magistral run on the Fantastic Four for this “reinvention” of Superman, that was much needed and became an essential read for any fan of the “man of steel”. Highly recommended!