Superman: Earth One

[frigidmagi]

Superman Earth One is yet another retelling of Superman's origins. To be honest I'm okay with such retellings as long as they don't fuck it up. Myths get retolded, that's how it is.

Superman Earth One is written by J Micheal Straczynski, of Babylon 5 Fame, who wrote a hell of a good run on Spiderman until a certain HACK who shall remain nameless forced him to do One More Day. Moving on.

The story starts with Clark arriving in Metropolis as an aimless 20 something looking for his career. We quickly see that Clark can do anything and I do mean ANYTHING. He ends his job hunt with offers from businesses, research firms and professional sports team at any price but none of it sits right. None of it feels like it... matters. And Clark needs to do something that matters and feels right. So he kinda drifts. He speaks to his mother (Martha Kent) and we find that his father (Jonathan Kent) is dead. Clark actually visits his tombstone and has a touching moment speaking trying to justify taking one of these jobs.

During this we notice he's carting around a piece of cloth that is blue and red. There we learn his birth origins. His ship crashed in the Appalachian Mountains where a hiking couple sees and pulls out a baby escaping moments ahead of a group of government helicopters. They decide on the ride back to tell everyone that Clark is a child of Martha's sister, or as they put it "That layabout sister of yours in Chicago," sent to them to rise. We also learn that the ship Clark came in is impounded by the US military who after 20 years of trying figured out that the Kryptians wrote a message on the very atoms of the ship. That cloth and a single piece of sharpel is all Clark has left.

Clark ends up visiting the Daily Planet, but Perry ain't all that interested in him. We meet Lois and Oslen. And there have been some changes here, Lois remains more or less the same, a daring, almost pushy girl wanting to be a successful reporter. Oslen is dramatically changed from a blundering kid to a fairly cocky but good hearted photographer who may be too devoted to his trade.

Clark remains undecided and unsure... And then the Alien Invasion Fleet shows up.

If you wanna know the rest you'll have to read it.

I thought the retelling was well done if not as deep as Birthright a decade or so back. It retools Clark into the current generation. Someone who wants to do good, who wants what he does to matter but is utterly unsure of how to do that or even why he wants that. The story is well written and nothing was inherently offensive to me. I liked the villains in this origin story better then Birthright or the other retellings because they have a deeper more intense connection to Clark and his origins (Luther doesn't really make an appearance here) all in all this worked for me.

I give it a B+.

[Dark Silver]

I've kinda wanted to pick this up to read: unfortunatly, it seems it sold out in all the local comic shops near instantly, and I didn't want to obtain it in other ways yet....

Glad to know it was a good retelling though.

[Batman]

Not as bad as it could have been, but nothing to write home about either.
I liked the bit about Clark being tempted to become exceptional. Tell me you wouldn't be if you had that kind of power.
None to shabby, but as useless retellings of Clark's origins that'll be completely ignored pretty soon go, Birthright was much more interesting.

[Dark Silver]

At least it's better than the upcoming Batman Incorporated.

[Batman]

That's DC Comics for you. By now I think they have a bet going.
'Oh really? You think we can't suck even more? Well read this!'

[frigidmagi]

Birthright had the advantage of greater length and more focus on Clark Kent. This isn't to say it didn't have it's weaknesses. First there was the rather weak Luther plot and motivation making him an uninteresting villian for me. Seriously Luther comes after the Big Blue... Because he got better press... That's the kind of motivation that I expect from a high school girl Lex, step the up game man!

And Lex's big plan is to fake an alien invasion of Kryptians. To make Superman look bad. Yeeeaaaaaahhhhh.

Earth One has a better villain. One that is fighting to ensure his own species survival. Which is alot more interesting to me.

Then there's aura superman who eats only veggies, I found that a bit annoying.

Birthright Clark Kent is vastly different from Earth One Kent though. BR Kent knows what he wants to do and why. He has a plan. He has a goal and moves with purpose and determination. He's widely traveled and sure of himself having the experience to back up his talents. Superman is actually the end of a long series of experiments and actions for Kent here.

In short we're looking at two very different supermen here.