Superman: Rebirth #1 (DC)

I've made few bones about how much I loved Tomasi and Gleason's Batman & Robin.  As far as I was concerned, it was the definitive Batman of the New 52 era.  This went against the grain, for fans obsessed with Snyder's work.  I never cared.  I didn't overlook Gleason's follow-up in Robin: Son of Batman, either.  And neither did DC.  Because now Patrick Gleason is joining Peter J. Tomasi as co-writer in a more high-profile project.  Namely, Superman.

This launch issue features the art of Doug Mahnke (always a stand-out), but the series will feature Gleason pulling double duty as co-writer and artist.  For now, you can forget about the fact that the series will feature Tomasi and Gleason creating father-and-son comics again, because this one's all about the father, and bridging a few gaps.

The Convergence Superman, last featured in the pages of Superman: Lois & Clark and Tomasi's Superman #52, is the '90s Superman in his next logical incarnation: as a father.  The post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman reboot saw the Man of Steel finally get married to Lois Lane.  The big thing that never happened was the happy couple rounding out their family with a child.  The soft post-millennium reboot that preceded the New 52 broke off from the continuity that had guided the '90s, effectively postponing if not outright removing that possibility from ever happening.  Then Convergence happened, and the '90s Superman returned.  In Superman: Lois & Clark, he adopted a black costume variant not unlike the one he sported in the wake of his return from death at the hands of Doomsday.

Tomasi and Gleason don't go over all of that, but they acknowledge the Doomsday event, something that for all intents and purposes didn't exist in the New 52 (fans tend to ignore that Grant Morrison alluded to it in his Action Comics run), and how the Convergence Superman is forced to reveal himself more than ever before on a world he's tried to stay out of the way of in deference to its Superman.

If that sounds complicated, it really isn't, and Tomasi and Gleason explain it probably better than I could. 

The issue is all about how the old Superman must decide to take up his replacement's mantle, more or less.  It's the ongoing series that will delve into his parental adventures.  Which is just as well.  If I made it sound complicated, it's because it really did need to be explained.

The problem with a lot of the New 52 Superman stories is that the continuity was frequently getting in the way, even though the results were supposed to be exactly the opposite.  I mean, that was the whole point of the New 52.  But a series of creative teams meant continuity was an issue.  So having a backup Superman, with a backstory rich enough but also suddenly streamlined (you won't have to worry about everything that came before) means a Superman who will once again be easy to follow.

And if that's not good enough, Tomasi and Gleason will be doing what they do best: stories about family.  Really, that's what's always made Superman great.