“When I close my eyes and think of Superman, I think of Dan Jurgens’s Superman.” – Joshua Williamson, from the introduction

The circle is now complete.

One of my all time favorite Superman eras– and I’ve been reading Superman for a long time- is Rebirth. I would put it up there with anything else that has come before or since, and a huge reason is the work of Mr. Dan Jurgens.

I have reviewed the stories and material collected in this new, gorgeous omnibus, which completes Dan Jurgens’ work on Action Comics, many times in the past, so I am not going to here (but I could!). Just take my word for it that they are just solid all around.

What I will do is review the edition itself, what’s new vs old, and what is included in this one as opposed to the last, what else is left, and so forth.

After releasing the entirety of Peter Tomasi’s Superman run in one complete omnibus a few years ago, DC continued with a Dan Jurgens Action Comics Vol.1 a few years after that. This volume closes the loop on Dan’s Action run, which unlike the Tomasi/Gleason stuff required two hardcovers, as there was some wonderful ancillary material, mainly the two excellent Lois and Clark minis with Lee Weeks.

All of Superman: Rebirth has now been collected in three omnibuses, and that makes me a very happy camper. 😁

The book itself is very similar in quality and make up to volume one. This time, however, the cover of the book is taken from an issue of Action, number 977 to be exact, rather than a unique drawing as in volume 1. I can see the logic as this cover was meant to invoke a beautiful new era for the character which started (restarted?) immediately following “Superman Reborn,” which did a soft reset.

While I might have preferred another original drawing for this edition, Andy Kubert’s cover with a running, soaring, smiling Superman doing the shirt rip is just a solid choice to represent this material.

The binding and pages look fantastic, as is the case in most omnibuses, with fairly glossy paper and art that looks clear in the larger format- a benefit of today’s artists drawing digitally first, which allows their work to be presented in different sizes without getting blurry, as is sadly the case with some older work. Being less than a decade old, Rebirth doesn’t have that problem. The pages in this book look great.

Some exceptional Superman artists are featured in this collection- the back half of Dan’s Action run- including Patch Zircher, Brett Booth, Will Conrad, Dan himself on a few issues and my personal favorite, Lee Weeks. Thumbing through the book alone is a big treat, especially when looking at the original concept art and sketches in the back.

On that note, this book has a decent amount of extras, from the aforementioned sketchbook and inked pages to a glowing introduction from current Superman writer Josh Williamson. Josh gushes about being a fan of Dan Jurgens from the time he read his Triangle Era work as a kid and loving his Rebirth run, which is a nice way to open the volume.

Crazy to think that guys from my generation who grew up reading the same Superman stories as the rest of us are now the ones shepherding the character. Wild.

Quite honestly, I am so happy with this book that I need to say I wasn’t sure if omnibuses of these stories were needed because I already had all the deluxe volumes released during Rebirth. But after seeing the love put into this book, with better extras, page breaks and quality of the book itself, not to mention additional material- the excellent second Lois and Clark mini and Dan’s story from the Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special, it is very apparent that this omnibus is an upgrade.

I guess if there is a “con” anywhere in any of this, it’s maybe the fact that the book doesn’t include Superman: Hero for All, the treasury-sized special released to coincide with the new movie that wrapped up some of Rebirth’s loose ends. It is a very different book though, and in a lot of ways the start of a new era in the books, so if it’s being saved for a third volume, that would be fine with me.

Speaking of, if there were to be a third volume (here’s hoping!), as sort of a supplemental collection to the first two, I would love for it to have the following contents:

– Hero for All

– Green Lanterns 50-57

– Reign of the Supermen 30th Anniversary Special (Jurgens’ story)

– Superman: The Wedding 30th Anniversary Special (Jurgens’ story)

– Superman: The World (Jurgens’ story)

All of the above material was written by Dan and, assuming there won’t be more stories in the future, could get close to an omnibus-sized page count.

At the same time, I am not sure that’s something that we can assume at this point (yay!). Maybe a topic for a future blog post.

There’s really not that much else to say about the material that I haven’t said already, so I’ll just conclude by saying the book will look great on a shelf next to the companion volume, a fitting tribute to a beloved era.

Capeage Meter: 10 out of 10

If you’re interested in more of my thoughts in Superman: Rebirth, check out my Rebirth top ten list I made a few years ago!