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10 Things We Can Tell You About Man of Steel #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Ivan Reis, and Joe Prado

That's right, I'm doing another listicle. But unlike other lists on other websites (or even on this one) you will not have heard any of these anywhere else before. Okay, okay, aside from on Bleeding Cool. And I'm doing it all on one page as well.

So. Ten things I can tell you about Man of Steel #1. Only minor spoilers… promise. Or at least — you'd have to have read the comic to get most of them. Onwards.

We ran an art preview earlier. This is a little more in depth.

1. The first 18 pages are drawn by Joe Prado and Ivan Reis and coloured by Alex Sinclair. Jason Fabok has been drafted in to help with the final two pages. The rushed production schedule on the six-weekly series saw DC editorial staffers criticise the problems by opening a betting pool on how many fill-in pages would be required for each issue to meet the deadline. Steve Rude was announced as aiding Evan "Doc" Shaner on issue 2.

2. Orders were a lot lower than DC Comics expected. Partially retailers resistant to new Brian Michael Bendis comics, based on recent Marvel sales, also Brian's reluctance for the series to have any variant covers, whether additional, tiered, or retailer exclusive. However after initial orders were in, DC Comics internally ordered their own variant cover to be sold at comic conventions during the summer, and the comic was also made returnable to encourage retailers to take more of a chance on it, which they did. Expect Justice League #1 to sell two-and-a-half times as much though. Superman #1's retailer variants may help Bendis's next launch, however.

3. The comic continues the DC Nation #0 storyline. Clark Kent works at the Daily Planet, but Lois Lane is absent from the paper without adequate explanation — as well as their marriage and their child not being mentioned. The issue doesn't ignore this, however — there are photos to linger on and a mystery to be revealed in the final pages. Could that be revealed in the upcoming Lois Lane series?

4. The comic also continues Action Comics #1000 with the threat formed by Rogol-Zaar. He is revealed as an anti-imperialist, holding Krypton to blame for being a colonial power in the galaxy and harming other planets and people which it exploits.

5. But it's not just the new Big Bad.

Bendis is also going through Superman's rogue gallery, however minor, with Killer Moth and Firefly filling the pages. Which is an easy-ish set up for…

6. Delving into the motivation of a new Daily Planet reporter. Miss Robinson Goode is the new journalist on the scene. We also meet the new deputy fire chief of Metropolis, Melody Moore – likely to be a new standout character for Bendis's Superman books.

7. We get a godlike Superman. We hardly see him as Clark – though mention is made. The humanity is all in his head. But it's exploring the way Superman sees the world and the way the world sees him as a result. This is the kind of storytelling that Marvel Comics often rejects, and Bendis is getting a chance to explore these new tropes. And DC gets to have a Bendis-y story as well. It does, actually, feel different — and in a welcome way.

8. Superman doesn't need a Spotify subscription. He can listen to anyone's music all the time. He's like a super Kieron Gillen.

9. It's funny when children swear.  And old people. But mostly children.

10. Remember, folks: This is weekly. The story is going to fly past… and who knows who will be drawing all the issues… a supersmorgasbord perhaps?

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MAN OF STEEL #1

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