Superman: Earth One

[The Laughing Fish]

I read volume 1 of Superman: Earth One two weeks ago. It was written by J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5, Changeling, co-wrote the Thor movie).

It was yet another retelling of Superman's origin, where Clark comes to Metropolis as he considers his career options and seeks to live a normal life. This changes when an alien from another world which rivaled Krypton many years ago arrives, and seeks vengeance against Clark for being Krypton's lone survivor by destroying Earth. There is also a theme about how the print media industry struggles nowadays because of modern-day technology when Clark's application at the Daily Planet was turned down .

I noticed that there were a few striking similarities to Man of Steel. Like the film, this comic contains a lot of flashbacks of Clark's past, some similar to the movie such as his adoptive parents revealing to him about his alien origins, how Clark was bullied as a kid and how was growing up. Then when the villain, Tyrell, arrives on Earth he makes an ultimatum that's expressed in a way that's similar to General Zod's announcement in MOS.



I thought it was an alright book overall, but personally I prefer Batman: Earth One. I'll read volume 2 when I get the chance.

[The Laughing Fish]

After reading the other sequels, I'd say Volume 1 is the best out of all three. As I said three years ago, Volume 1 had a similar plot to MOS where Clark had to overcome his doubts and insecurities for the sake of humanity, though I liked that comic's premise of having an alien race which rivalled Krypton into attacking Earth better.

Volume 2 wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but I did get a fascinating read in how "alienated" Clark felt with the rest of society as he was growing up, e.g. feeling detached in the middle of a high school prom/homecoming or whatever, and decided to leave. The saddest moment was when the only friend he had was a cat who he saved from wild animals, and Clark took him to the moon and buried him when he passed away years later. Heartbreaking stuff to read.

While I'm not the biggest fan of the relationship between Clark and the new Lisa Lasalle character that much, I appreciate the writers wanting to do something different to a Superman comic instead of writing the same romantic stories with Lois Lane and Lana Lang (the tradition of Superman's girlfriends having the initials "LL" continues). After all, they're two socially awkward and lonely people, so I suppose they fit together. It's kind of odd though that in the Earth One universe, Superman has his "version" of the Batsignal, but Batman doesn't.

The scene where Clark daydreams of annihilating the African dictator and the militia with his vision was pretty brutal, but equally just as uncompromising was when Superman overthrew them near the end, and abandoned the dictator to the angry local mob wanting for blood. Pretty heavy, I'm sure Superman purists would have a fit over that.

Volume 3, however, was the weakest out of the whole bunch in comparison in my opinion. While I liked how it revealed that Zod was the one who orchestrated Krypton's demise and manipulated Tyrell's army into starting war with the planet in the first place (which calls back to alien invasion in Volume 1 and brings everything to full circle) as well as revealing he was Superman's uncle, I thought the UN's willingness to work with Zod suffered from faulty logic. They're afraid of Superman, yet they'll take the word of an unknown alien dressed in an ominous costume? Come on! But I did like after Zod's defeat that Superman shouted out at the world assembly "What the hell were you thinking?!".

I thought the treatment of Lex Luthor was similar to Batman: Earth One Volume 2 in the way the female equivalent inherits their male's identity. In that the second Batman story, Harvey Dent is killed and his twin sister Jessica has her face disfigured before becoming Two-Face. In Superman: Earth One Volume 3, the male Lex gets killed while Zod and Superman were fighting, and his wife swears vengeance against Superman.

[thecolorsblend]

The scene where Clark daydreams of annihilating the African dictator and the militia with his vision was pretty brutal, but equally just as uncompromising was when Superman overthrew them near the end, and abandoned the dictator to the angry local mob wanting for blood. Pretty heavy, I'm sure Superman purists would have a fit over that.

Right here! That bugged me since it put Superman in the position of picking and choosing which regimes stand and which regimes fall.

Since I'm American, someone here might not have a problem with that. But suppose you're a Democrat and Superman overthrows the democratically-elected government and gives it to, say, the Tea Party? Or if you're a Republican, suppose Superman hands the reins over to Occupy Wall Street?

And yes, there is the human cost. Superman's actions indirectly killed someone. I do find it interesting that Superman got pilloried for that when Batman made a similar decision in Batman Begins and mostly got away with it. Very telling.

Volume 3
...
But I did like after Zod's defeat that Superman shouted out at the world assembly "What the hell were you thinking?!".

Superman doesn't talk to people that way. Period. What the hell was JMS thinking?!

In other news, I like how JMS has a defined take on the characters. And even though I deleted your Lisa LaSalle comment, yes, that goes for her too. Bonus points for the quadruple L's there!

I'm interested to see what's coming. At least with Superman. I could give a crap about the other titles, especially Batman, which is everything a comic book SHOULDN'T be. But I mostly enjoy Superman: Earth One. It's a pretty decent read, made all the moreso by the fact that it's paced and structured like the original graphic novel that it is instead of a conventional 22-page comic book shoved into a compilation with other 22-page comic books. This format suits JMS nicely, I think.

[The Dark Knight]

Not a fan of either Batman or Superman Earth One lines to be honest. There's other better comics to read.

[The Laughing Fish]

Right here! That bugged me since it put Superman in the position of picking and choosing which regimes stand and which regimes fall.

Since I'm American, someone here might not have a problem with that. But suppose you're a Democrat and Superman overthrows the democratically-elected government and gives it to, say, the Tea Party? Or if you're a Republican, suppose Superman hands the reins over to Occupy Wall Street?

And yes, there is the human cost. Superman's actions indirectly killed someone. I do find it interesting that Superman got pilloried for that when Batman made a similar decision in Batman Begins and mostly got away with it. Very telling.

As one of the critics argued during the rescue montage in BvS, every action that Superman takes would have a political implication. Superman might have done the right thing in overthrowing that regime in EOV2, but yes, it opens a can of worms and it begs the question what really gives him the right to pick and choose which countries to stop their dictatorship. I suppose that's one of the reasons why the UN council became increasingly wary of Superman and turned to Zod in EOV3, because of his unchecked power and the fact that he doesn't have to answer to anybody.

Don't even get me started on the comparisons and double standards with BB.

Superman doesn't talk to people that way. Period. What the hell was JMS thinking?!

True, but I still liked the scene because it brought some humour, which was desperately needed at that point.

Not a fan of either Batman or Superman Earth One lines to be honest. There's other better comics to read.

They're not definitive by any means, but I suppose I appreciate them as Elseworlds stories. I reckon these comics are catered towards movie fans more so.

While I don't mind Batman: Earth One - Volume 1, I must admit that having Batman pit against a deranged serial killer hired by the Penguin to murder young children is repulsive. It's always hard to experience what serial killers do to their victims, but using dead young girls buried underneath a basement is too unsettling. I remember a decade ago I got shaken up about reading some notorious and heinous crimes committed by real life monsters. I don't need to be reminded about that in a comic. It's another reason why I don't like Victor Zsasz.

Anyway, the similarities between MOS and the Superman EO series are too strong to ignore.

[The Dark Knight]

Not a fan of either Batman or Superman Earth One lines to be honest. There's other better comics to read.

I was premature to post this. I read Batman Earth One volume two, as people know, and I really enjoyed it. It was that book that sold me on the Earth One concept. Same goes for the Superman lines. On reflection, this interpretation of Superman is right up my alley. I guess I never gave it the appropriate attention, which was a mistake on my part.

I think the miserable childhood, which Man of Steel presented, humanises the character in a big way, possibly even more than Peter Parker. Clark feeling anger and lashing out at times also goes a long way in achieving this grounded feeling. He's more of a man of action, less of a Boy Scout and feels more three dimensional.

Not that I'm knocking other portrayals of the character or anything. Leaving an African dictator for an angry mob to deal with works for me. Elected governments in the West can be problematic, but when law and order breaks down and hardcore criminality is the go, I think you are fair game. Superman is often accused of interfering and stifling human progress. In Earth One, he merely puts the choice in the hands of the people. Majority wins.

The Superman line feels modern, relatable and with enough edge to make me sit up and take notice. The character can be interpreted in various ways, and this is one of them.

[The Laughing Fish]

Shane Davis' wife went on Twitter to accuse Zack Snyder of "stealing" from Earth One to make MOS. If that's not disappointing enough, she is doing this as a pitiful attempt to get Snyder haters' attention to advertise her husband's latest work.

https://twitter.com/linyanzi/status/1312339356552777728

Davis himself expressed some bitterness that he didn't receive much recognition from Snyder.

https://twitter.com/shanedavisart/status/1312495927374999553

First of all, Davis did the artwork for Earth One, but J. Michael Straczynski wrote the story. Strangely, Davis and his wife don't seem to advocate for JMS deserving credit and recognition. Hmm.

Second, even though Earth One is Davis and Straczynski's story, DC Comics owns the intellectual property. Thirdly, ALL of these Hollywood film and TV productions, whether's DC or Marvel, take tons of ideas from the comics. Many of them don't give the artists much recognition either. If Davis and his wife can see the fallacy of their complaints, they'd realise they are saying EVERY other director, producer and writer who has made a comic book film is a plagiarist. But they won't do that, because this is nothing more than a shameful attempt to attract people who suffer from Snyder Derangement Syndrome in the hopes of buying Davis' new book.

Very disappointing behaviour from Shane Davis.

[The Laughing Fish]

A month or so ago, I was reading a back issue of Action Comics #543, where Superman fought the villain Neutron and keeps falling for Vandal Savage's traps to ruin his reputation. There is this one scene where Lois takes a break from reporting the conflict in the Middle East, and escapes with Superman to the Arctic to enjoy the scenery. Their time together suddenly turns sour when Lois argues with Superman over his refusal to intervene in political affairs, and his reasons remind me of the lesson that the Earth One Superman had learned by the end of Vol. 3.



The part where he says "other people might not agree that whatever decision I make is the right one" sticks out to me the most, as it reminds me of how the United Nations panicked after Superman had overthrown the Borada government, and turned to Zod quite easily.

Of course, many may argue Superman in Earth One should've known better than do what he did in Borada. And yes, you can even say he didn't come across all that dignified with the way he scolded the entire United Nations at the end of Vol. 3. But it's a harsh lesson he needed to learn nonetheless, and now he understands he can't use abuse his powers to such extremes if he wants to earn humanity's trust as a global protector.

[thecolorsblend]

I can buy that the Earth One version needed to learn that lesson through experience. I don't enjoy that stuff. But JMS didn't sweep it under the rug, that's for sure.

The "conflict in the Middle East" thing is why I prefer the Silver Age notion that the Pre-Crisis DC universe wasn't the world outside our door but instead was a science-fantasy universe that our irl problems, conflicts, strife, wars, famines, etc., somehow don't exist. Because a character with Superman's power faces some very difficult questions in our reality. There's a tasteful way to raise those questions regarding Superman. But most writers are simply not capable of getting it right.

If it sounds like I'm talking about David Goyer it's because I'm talking about David Goyer.

[The Dark Knight]

I can buy that the Earth One version needed to learn that lesson through experience. I don't enjoy that stuff. But JMS didn't sweep it under the rug, that's for sure.

The "conflict in the Middle East" thing is why I prefer the Silver Age notion that the Pre-Crisis DC universe wasn't the world outside our door but instead was a science-fantasy universe that our irl problems, conflicts, strife, wars, famines, etc., somehow don't exist. Because a character with Superman's power faces some very difficult questions in our reality. There's a tasteful way to raise those questions regarding Superman. But most writers are simply not capable of getting it right.

If it sounds like I'm talking about David Goyer it's because I'm talking about David Goyer.

I'm in two minds about this. For a character who is often called boring, Superman has a lot of philosophical complexities. He faces the big kid in the playground dilemma. If he intervenes in a situation he's a bully, and if he stands on the sidelines he's a coward. Superman should operate mainly in Metropolis. But as a global protector I think ignoring the planet and it's problems as a whole reduces the scope of the character. As you rightly say it's a question of who gets to write the stories. International politics is a delicate balancing act and can easily open up a can of worms. Which leads to Superman stories walking on eggshells or simply going down the wrong path. Which makes me also prefer the simple days of STAS or Dean Cain's show.