Source: Superman: Earth-One GN (2010)
Type: Reimagining
When I started Reign, I (only slightly) jokingly said it was because of JMS' Grounded storyline, that we needed real Superman content for the year. As most of you know by now, JMS has already quit Superman and is leaving I, Zombie's Chris Roberson to finish his story. His last issue is already on the stands and he's sent the appropriate cocktail napkins to Mr. Roberson. Things may be looking up, or the flawed premise behind Grounded may keep even a talent like Roberson from making Superman Superman again. There have been enough pixels spent on this issue already, so I won't talk about work ethic, spin doctoring and all that jazz except to say that DC's official reason for replacing JMS on Superman and Wonder Woman is so he can work on a sequel to the apparently already acclaimed Superman: Earth-One graphic novel.
Superman for the Twilight generation, some called it, but I don't really know what that means. Lip-biting heroines? Superman glitters when exposed to otherwise harmless kryptonite? And isn't Smallville already the Superman for the Twilight generation? So I read it.
It's not a bad reimagining of the Superman legend, actually. It's a sort of Superman Year One as if that year was 2010, and in that sense Earth-One feels a lot like Ultimate Marvel. I especially liked the Daily Planet scenes, with Perry critiquing Lois' writing and Jimmy overloading the server with huge digital images. Just how Clark decided to become a journalist is well handled too. Some props given for not using Luthor, though I'm not sure about the original alien menace in the Joker make-up. There is some awkwardness to the book as it attempts on the one hand to be more "realistic" (the government sweeps in to nab the Kryptonian rocket, the public is mostly untrusting of this alien on their shores, Clark's job hunt), but also has kooky Silver Age ideas like metal and cloth that are indestructible "under a yellow sun".
So what changes were made to the Superman story? Krypton now shares its system with another advanced world, and they caused its destruction (with the help of an unknown ally, which may turn out to be Brainiac... or Star Trek's Nero, judging by the M.O.). Superman's a lot younger - Lois seems older than he is and Jimmy about the same age. He's seems a bit more emo too, but not to the point where I'd compare Earth-One to Twilight. To Claremont's X-Men, maybe. Let's call it angst. Maybe it's just Clark's hoodie. Or that his mission now includes "avenging" his homeworld. He didn't go to University. The costume has some leathery black patches on it, but is otherwise close to the classic design. His rocket looks very different and has some measure of sentience; he stores it in the Arctic. That's it really.
As a graphic novel, it's quite readable, with strong character scenes and a fair mix of reflection and action. The alien invasion plot and lack of recognizable villains is perhaps bold, but somewhat unmemorable. The art is nice enough. To me, it reads like a Superman tv series would look like today, i.e. in the style of Heroes, V, Lost, etc. It has that look, that feel and even the same kind of special effects. Good enough to pull JMS right off his other projects? No, but it is head and shoulders above his monthly work. I guess it's where he actually spent most of his energy. Not that writing a Superman origin is that difficult - a lot of the work's been done by, you know, Siegel and Shuster.
But I'm interested in finding out what YOU thought of Earth-One. While you're thinking about heading to the comments section, here's the obligatory sortof kindof homage to Action Comics #1:
Type: Reimagining
When I started Reign, I (only slightly) jokingly said it was because of JMS' Grounded storyline, that we needed real Superman content for the year. As most of you know by now, JMS has already quit Superman and is leaving I, Zombie's Chris Roberson to finish his story. His last issue is already on the stands and he's sent the appropriate cocktail napkins to Mr. Roberson. Things may be looking up, or the flawed premise behind Grounded may keep even a talent like Roberson from making Superman Superman again. There have been enough pixels spent on this issue already, so I won't talk about work ethic, spin doctoring and all that jazz except to say that DC's official reason for replacing JMS on Superman and Wonder Woman is so he can work on a sequel to the apparently already acclaimed Superman: Earth-One graphic novel.Superman for the Twilight generation, some called it, but I don't really know what that means. Lip-biting heroines? Superman glitters when exposed to otherwise harmless kryptonite? And isn't Smallville already the Superman for the Twilight generation? So I read it.
It's not a bad reimagining of the Superman legend, actually. It's a sort of Superman Year One as if that year was 2010, and in that sense Earth-One feels a lot like Ultimate Marvel. I especially liked the Daily Planet scenes, with Perry critiquing Lois' writing and Jimmy overloading the server with huge digital images. Just how Clark decided to become a journalist is well handled too. Some props given for not using Luthor, though I'm not sure about the original alien menace in the Joker make-up. There is some awkwardness to the book as it attempts on the one hand to be more "realistic" (the government sweeps in to nab the Kryptonian rocket, the public is mostly untrusting of this alien on their shores, Clark's job hunt), but also has kooky Silver Age ideas like metal and cloth that are indestructible "under a yellow sun".So what changes were made to the Superman story? Krypton now shares its system with another advanced world, and they caused its destruction (with the help of an unknown ally, which may turn out to be Brainiac... or Star Trek's Nero, judging by the M.O.). Superman's a lot younger - Lois seems older than he is and Jimmy about the same age. He's seems a bit more emo too, but not to the point where I'd compare Earth-One to Twilight. To Claremont's X-Men, maybe. Let's call it angst. Maybe it's just Clark's hoodie. Or that his mission now includes "avenging" his homeworld. He didn't go to University. The costume has some leathery black patches on it, but is otherwise close to the classic design. His rocket looks very different and has some measure of sentience; he stores it in the Arctic. That's it really.
As a graphic novel, it's quite readable, with strong character scenes and a fair mix of reflection and action. The alien invasion plot and lack of recognizable villains is perhaps bold, but somewhat unmemorable. The art is nice enough. To me, it reads like a Superman tv series would look like today, i.e. in the style of Heroes, V, Lost, etc. It has that look, that feel and even the same kind of special effects. Good enough to pull JMS right off his other projects? No, but it is head and shoulders above his monthly work. I guess it's where he actually spent most of his energy. Not that writing a Superman origin is that difficult - a lot of the work's been done by, you know, Siegel and Shuster.
But I'm interested in finding out what YOU thought of Earth-One. While you're thinking about heading to the comments section, here's the obligatory sortof kindof homage to Action Comics #1:
Comments
Good point. There is, after all, a long standing tradition of angst in comic books that predates the Twilight craze by decades.
I haven't had a chance to read this yet. I've heard mixed things, so it's probably something I'll keep an eye out for used and pick it up on the cheap.
(It's from the Buffy Season Eight story Buffy Has F#@$ing Super Powers!)
My preferred joke about "Grounded" is: "You will believe a man can walk".
Which isn't really the best model to pick, is it?
- Mike Loughlin
And Perry ... ? Changing the position of phrases in a sentence doesn't flip the voice from "passive" to "active". No wonder nobody respects your newspaper.
As for Perry's "passive voice", it's not the right term, but he is right about which is the better phrasing for a newspaper.
But I haven't seen much to make me think that Clark has a strong instinct to help those in need. An alien invasion forced him into action, and he decided he liked the idea of being a journalist. Which would be fine for any number of heroes ... but Superman doesn't really have the luxury of considering public service "optional", not without losing something core to the character anyway. Kind of like you couldn't do a Captain America who was an isolationist in early 1941, and who only slowly grew to realize the Nazis were a big problem.
Basically, the fact that there is a Superman who takes duty to community that seriously, allows for the creation of other heroes who don't achieve the gold standard of civic responsibility. Take that away from Superman and you diminish the character and leave a void in the DC Universe.
Now a Clark Kent who initially eschewed costumed heroics because he felt it wasn't the right way to help others ... that might work. It might even explain Clark's various high-paying jobs (where he gives 95% of his earnings away to charities).
Eh, I'm doing a lot of griping over a comic I haven't actually read.
As for Superman's altruism, it's not that he didn't want to help humanity, it's that he didn't know how. The journalism bit is not chosen lightly (it's not even one of his super-talents like all those other jobs). He decides to work at the Planet because Jimmy and Lois showed bravery, valor and ethics during the crisis.
Yes, he's closer to a Spider-Man who learns responsibility of power, rather than a pure-hearted boyscout who would uphold the good even without powers. He's not your eternally 30 Superman, he's maybe 22. He didn't become Superboy, putting on the tights is not second nature. You do have a case, I just mean to show that it can be seen another way.
Also, it's an Elseworlds in everything but name. We wouldn't be bothered if Superman turned out to be, say, a fascist in an Elseworld.
I guess I can accept fascist Elseworlds Superman more readily because Earth One is also going to feature a Batman, and probably more and more heroes if sales are good. You can have a broken Wonder Woman or even a broken Batman, but if yer Superman's broken the entire universe is broken.