SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE Mo’s REVIEW
Photo: dccomics.com
Before I begin this review let me first tell you a little bit about my long history with Superman. I have been a fan of Superman for as long as I can remember. You can say I grew up on Superman. I had a poster of Christopher Reeves as the iconic superhero hanging in my room as a child and I remember watching Superman II every year on TV. (For some reason they always broadcast Superman II and not Superman I) I actually saw Superman II before I ever saw the first classic. It’s a good thing Superman II’s opening credits gave a pretty good recap of the first film. I’ve since come to my senses and agree that Superman I is the superior film.
During the 90’s I was once again captivated by Superman lore with the record breaking Death of Superman comic series. Every week I rushed to the my local newsstand with my dollar fifty in quarters ready to see the next episode. Then Superman returned to the small screen with Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. This is how I spent four of my teen years. However just when I thought I was outgrowing The Man of Tomorrow, along came Smallville the television series. Now at age thirty I find myself watching every Friday night as the final season unfolds and I also find myself visiting my local comic book store (Magnum Comics in Riverdale) to keep up to speed with all things Superman. So it’s official, I am and will forever be a lifelong fan.
Well now that you’ve read this far I will reward you with an in depth review of Superman: Earth One, the latest retelling, in a not so conventional way, of the Man of Steel. First lets give credit where credit is due. This graphic novel is written by J. Michael Straczynski and penciled by Shane Davis. Now there will be spoilers in the review so if you have not read it and don’t want anything spoiled, well then stop and go read this book. Otherwise, here we go.
I really enjoyed this book (big surprise) but I did feel that it was missing something, and I can’t put my finger on it. Perhaps through this review it will become clear to me and to you. The story starts out with Clark traveling to Metropolis via train. We immediately are given the impression that Clark is on some coming of age journey to try to figure out what he should do with his life. He stays at a hotel and seems so disconnected with the world we only catch a glimpse of his humanity through his brief conversations with Ma (Martha) Kent on the phone. Clark goes on to tryout for a Football team, interviews at a Scientific Facility, and other high income career jobs. All of which he seems to ace, yet he seems to only be going out for these jobs in order to take care of ma back home. After another conversation with Martha he decides to give a job at the Daily Planet a try. There he meets Lois, Jimmy and Perry White. He doesn’t get the job and it seems that Clark is now more lost then ever. At this point I felt a bit frustrated with Clark, but had to remind myself that this is a different Clark and a different retelling of how he becomes Superman. I had to forget all I know of the character from what I’ve seen on Smallville regarding his development into the hero we all know and love. So I got over myself and continued reading.
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As Clark continues to ponder his life and how he got here, we are given a flashback of how Jonathan and Martha found him and when they told him he wasn’t born in Kansas. Apparently they were only able to salvage a piece of his spaceship and the blankets they will one day use to make the famous suit. As we see young Clark grow up and later visit his father grave (in this version of the mythos Jonathan has passed before Clark becomes Superman) we realize that Clark has had a rough adolescence. He feels alone despite always trying to fit in. Now that he’s good at fitting in his inner struggle is weather or not he should continue down this lonely path or walk into the light and be who he is destined to be. Mean while back in Metropolis, we see that his Spaceship wasn’t destroyed and that the government has it in some secret lab. Then all of a sudden the ship activates and some strange visitors from another universe appear. An alien mother ship, all’a “V”, comes down on downtown Metropolis and other major cities around the world. An air battle that reminded me of the movie Independence Day ensues. It then seems that the arrival of the space ships activates Clark’s ship and downloads all of the knowledge of his home world beamed directly into Clark’s brain. Then in action movie speeding of the plot fashion, Clark realizes what he should do, puts on the suit and fights the alien attackers. We are introduced to the main villain, Tyrell (really?) And in true villain fashion, he details his plan and why he is here. Apparently his race lived on a planet close to Krypton and after years of war they were helped by a mystery person in destroying Krypton from within. (My guess, Zod or Brainiac) They then learned that a scientist had sent a ship with his son on board to escape the catastrophe. So Tyrell and his minions have spend years searching the universe for Clark and now here they are and here he is. Let the war begin. (This plot kind of reminded me of the new Star Trek film and the whole revenge against Spock plot) Anyway, an epic battle takes place and with some help from Lois and Jimmy, Superman is able to defeat Tyrell and the alien army. Or did he?
Clark realizes who he needs to be (Superman) and where he needs to be (the Daily Planet). He also remember’s what Ma Kent advised, that Superman is who he is, and nerdy Clark Kent is the mask he must wear. Cue the John Williams score, Superman flies by and smirks at the camera.
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All in all it was a Superman tale, like I said in the beginning I enjoyed it. As a stand alone Superman story it was a nice and different adventure. If this is the beginning of a new series or continuity, well then I am sorry to say I don’t like where it would be going. The “out of the box” style of this story reminded me of the movie ‘Superman Returns’. Many didn’t like it, but I think it was a good stand alone Superman Movie. The problem is that it was suppose to be a return to a new Superman film franchise, and at that it failed. It was way too out there. Superman Earth One is the same. At first I didn’t really like Clark or how we has being portrayed but as the story went on I realized (even as I write this review) that it’s a different telling of the Superman mythology.
As far as nitpicks, I didn’t’ like the villain at all. Tyrell? Really? He looked like the long lost member of KISS, and I’m not comfortable with some other planet being so integral in the destruction of Krypton. Lois also didn’t seem to enchanted by Superman. Her characterization has a bit off. Again this story needs to be enjoyed as a stand alone story. I almost view it a an ‘Else World’ story. After all its Earth One. Whatever that means.
The penciling by Shane Davis was very good. He does a lot of the story telling through the close ups on faces. You can feel the emotion wether funny or sad through the very detailed expressions. Clark had this youthful yet strong appearance. I liked the red hood he wore. Funny how he uses the red hood to hide himself and later will use the red cape to draw attention to himself. Jonathan Kent looked like Willem Defoe for some reason, not sure if that was done on purpose. Aside from that distraction all of the players in this story looked the way they would look if this were based in reality. Colors by Barbara Ciardo had this almost Michael Bay feel to it. Every scene had this yellowish afternoon sun wash look. In the art department my only complain would be that it seems to have been overly inked. Detail is good but this was a tad distracting. Made the images look almost dirty and not as shiny as I would like a Superman book to look.
Photo: media.comicvine.com
So if your a huge Superman fan like me you will buy this book and display it on your book shelf along with your other Superman books you’ve collected over the years. However with so many other more interesting books out there, I feel that unless your a mega fan like me, your going to pass on this book. I give the story 3 out of 5 and the art a 4 out of 5. Let’s wait and see if BATMAN: Earth ONE will be any better.
