Superman: Earth One vol. 2

Arriving almost two years to the date after the first volume, this second one almost singlehandedly makes the case for the “Earth One” line as a series of original graphic novels.  It’s hard to imagine the material here being drip-fed to the public over that length of time managing to sustain anyone’s interest for that long.  Doing it this way gets around that problem and one other.  You see, if this story had been serialized and held up to critical scrutiny over its run I doubt that it would be selling as well as it has.  While the craft here is competent, it’s just that the version of Superman J. Michael Straczynski gives us here isn’t one that I can, or want to, believe in.

Now settled into Metropolis, and into his job as a reporter at the Daily Planet, Clark Kent is getting his first extended taste of the world outside Smallville.  This comes in forms both small, as in the Dylan-loving junkie who hangs out on his doorstep, and sexy, with his free-spirited neighbor Lisa who likes to wear revealing clothes and makes a concerted effort to de-virginize him… to experiencing the “Rocky Horror Picture Show.”  Of course, he’s also balancing his personal life with using his powers to benefit the world only to find out during his efforts to repair the damage caused by a tsunami to a small island nation that some people in power really don’t want his help.  As he’s struggling with these issues, another bonafide super-threat appears in town after a hired killer is mutated after being exposed to an experiment at S.T.A.R. Labs.  He’s now the Parasite, and his ability to drain energy from any source is going to allow Clark to become closer to humanity in the worst possible way.

The regular supporting cast of Lois, Jimmy and Perry are still on hand, and we also get some insight into the title character’s history in Smallville through Lois’ investigative efforts into his past.  However, her efforts reveal a character who is determined to isolate himself from humanity.  Someone who has taken the fact that he is not like anyone else and chosen to shut himself off from making any kind of meaningful human connection outside of that which he shares with his parents.  It’s not that this is inconsistent with how he’s portrayed in the first volume, but this depiction of the character doesn’t allow for what has been shown to be his greatest asset in the best comics about him:  his compassion.

I’ve never bought a Superman comic just to see him use his powers to beat up on badguys.  That’s the least interesting thing you can have the character do.  Alan Moore understood this when he wrote “For the Man Who Has Everything” and “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow” (and because he’s Alan Moore, he even found ways to make those parts memorable).  You saw it all the time in Grant Morrison’s “All-Star Superman,” and in Mark Waid’s “Superman:  Birthright.”  The contrast between Waid’s take on the character’s origin versus Straczynski’s ongoing version here is striking.  Though there’s a lot of the same angst about being different than anyone else, Waid’s Clark Kent is one who actually gets some enjoyment out of the powers he has and is consistently trying to forge connections and get involved with humanity.  Sometimes it doesn’t work out all that well, but that only seems to renew his determination.

More than that, and another thing that really irked me about the character’s portrayal here, Waid’s Superman isn’t about vengeance.  The opening issues in “Birthright” have Clark getting involved with a local activist’s efforts to bring democracy and human rights to his African nation.  Things wind up going badly for the activist, but Clark doesn’t take the “eye for an eye” approach; instead, he helps the law along and lets the perpetrator fall according to its rules.  In “Earth One,” we get a version of Superman who is much more open to the idea that while he won’t kill anyone, he doesn’t have to save the bad guys either.  This is seen when he takes Lucy’s abusive ex-boyfriend on an express trip to Siberia and leaves him to walk to the nearest village in the middle of a snowstorm.  We also see it again when he makes it possible for the inhabitants of the tsunami-ravaged island nation to take revenge against their dictator for the crimes he has perpetrated.  Not only is this a way of thinking that’s more in line with a specific interpretation of Batman (read:  Christopher Nolan’s), but it also shows the character to be incredibly petty and small-minded about how he deals out justice.  We’re told throughout the story that Clark is an incredibly smart person with an astronomical IQ, but he apparently can’t solve problems without resorting to some kind of violence, or (in the case of Parasite) without the aid of special Kryptonian-based shielding designed by his ship.  It would appear that all of these smarts are “book smarts.”

There was a moment towards the end of the first volume where Superman asks the A.I. from his Kryptonian ship what his purpose is.  It tells him that it is to survive, use his powers well and wisely, and to avenge the murder of his homeworld.  I read that last part and thought, “That’s not a Superman thing to do.”  However, I could see the character eventually realizing that vengeance is not something one can dedicate their life to, because that’s what Superman’s compassion would allow him to do.  After reading this, I’m not so sure that’s a possibility anymore.

Speaking of growth, Shane Davis returns to provide the art and he really hasn’t gotten any better in the past two years.  He’s still quite good at the sequences where Superman and the Parasite really go at it, but not so much with the ones involving ordinary people.  The man still hasn’t mastered the art of having characters look natural or comfortable in everyday settings and there are more than a few panels where their eyes have a completely unnatural look to them.  That said, I don’t think that an artist with more skill in these areas could’ve salvaged the overall story.

The volume ends with the introduction of Lex Luthor in a way that I genuinely didn’t expect.  Unfortunately, it’s more in the “scientist Luthor” than “businessman Luthor” which I’ve always found to be the more interesting take on the character.  The fact that his involvement comes from the challenge of finding out how to kill the unkillable man rather than righteous anger at seeing this selfless alien show up all of humanity (and himself by extension) also doesn’t inspire confidence in seeing how he’ll be developed in the next volume.  Any optimism I might have had about that has largely been dissipated by what I’ve read here.  So be advised that there are better Superman stories out there (such as the ones I’ve listed here) and that any reviews of future volumes of “Superman:  Earth One” will be down to the fact that it’s status as an original graphic novel bestseller for DC means that it demands consideration on that level.  That said, I’ll be actually looking forward to the next volume of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s “Batman:  Earth One” because I actually liked the first one.