DC Comics Rebirth Spoilers and Superman Reborn Part 4 Finale Spoilers and Review for Action Comics #976 follows.
In previous issues of Superman Reborn the pre-Flashpoint married Lois Lane and Superman / Clark Kent had a blue aura and were aided in their battle with Mister Mxyzptlk to save their Super Son by red energy beings which were the New 52 Superman and Lois Lane.
The roles are reversed this issue as the New 52 Superman / Clark Kent and Lois Lane with their red auras are aided by Jon Kent, the Super Son Superboy, and by blue energy beings who are the married with kid pre-Flashpoint Lois Lane and Superman / Clark Kent.
Ok, whew, with that convolution out of the way, the rest of the issue is entertaining and important to DC Comics Rebirth as a whole.
As Superboy continues his battle with Mister Mxyzptlk, Mxy hints at the bigger threat and architect behind all this which readers know is Doctor Manhattan of the Watchmen from DC Universe Rebirth #1. He created DC Rebirth by stealing time when the Flashpoint reality was reforming into the DC Universe we used to know.
Ok, may that sounds convoluted too.
Anyhow, Mister Mxyptlk exits stage left pretty early in this issue leaving the rest of the issue to fix this Superman Blue and Superman Red / Pre-Flaspoint and New 52 Supes situation.
The blue being merge with New 52 Superman and Lois Lane and…
…the pre-Flashpoint Superman and Lois Lane are now one with their New 52 counterparts.
Mr. Oz, who many believe is Ozymandias of the Watchmen, watches in disbelief as he and “the he” Mxy referred to earlier didn’t think Superman could fix the two Supermen situation.
In the end, this efforts seems to have undone some of Doctor Manhattan’s tinkering with the DC Comics as…
…the Superman constellation of characters get rebooted back to something more recognizable to their pre-Flashpoint selves. It seems the two timelines merged so there was only one Superman and one Lois Lane from the start of the New 52. Not sure how that impacts the New 52 Superman and Wonder Woman romantic relationship, perhaps Superman and Lois Lane were on a “break”, but we’ll see how that shakes out as this change has huge impacts several New 52 runs and even DC Rebirth runs on books like Superwoman.
And, for some reason, that includes a slightly tweaked new costume for the new DC Rebirth Superman…
…as the Superman Family takes on a brave new world.
Mr. Oz watches on still in disbelief as a very direct tease of Doctor Manhattan on Mars, from both the original The Watchmen series and from DC Universe Rebirth #1 one-shot, follows.
The Superman Reborn Aftermath Black Dawn arc starts in April 2017 with a new DC Rebirth Superman ready to take on the threats of DC!
So…
This last issue of Superman Reborn in Action Comics #976 felt like it needed to accomplish a lot to fix the double Supermen and Lois Lanes situation. While the villain behind Superman Reborn, Mister Mxyzptlk, was actually only really relevant 2.25 isues of this arc, this arc was about Superman Reborn and a rebirth for Superman. It achieved that, but some of this comic book science and comic book logic can be convoluted. Overall, an entertaining issue and arc, with solid art. 7 out of 10.
