ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #1
DC COMICS
STORY: Jason Aaron
ART: Rafa Sandoval
COLORS: Ulises Arreola
LETTERS: Becca Carey
EDITOR: Chris Conroy
COVER: Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Jim Lee and Scott Williams with Alex Sinclair; Wes Craig with Mike Spicer; Clayton Crain; Matteo Scalera
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (January 2025)
Superman created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster
“Last Dust of Krypton” Part One: “Down in the Dirt”
Superman is a DC Comics superhero that was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and that first appeared in Action Comics #1 (first published on April 18, 1938). Superman was born “Kal-El” on the fictional planet Krypton. As a baby, his parents, “Jor-El” and “Lara” sent him to Earth in a small spaceship shortly before Krypton was destroyed in a natural cataclysm.
The space ship landed in outside of the fictional town of “Smallville,” Kansas, USA. Farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent found baby Kal-El, adopted him, and named him “Clark Kent.” Clark began developing superhuman abilities, such as incredible strength and impervious skin, and the Kents advised him to use his powers to benefit humanity. As an adult, Clark moved to the fictional American city of “Metropolis.” Clark works as a reporter for “The Daily Planet,” but he fights crime as the superhero, “Superman.”
The origin story of Superman has been its own “Goldberg variations” for decades. Now, comes a new line of DC Comics, “Absolute Comics,” which is similar to Marvel's “Ultimate Comics” line, in that Absolute Comics presents alternate versions and the changed narratives of familiar DC Comics characters and their back stories. Welcome to “Earth-Alpha” and the “Absolute Universe.”
Absolute Batman was the first entry in the Absolute Comics line. The second entry is the recently launched comic book series, Absolute Superman. It is written by Jason Aaron; drawn by Rafa Sandoval; colored by Ulises Arreola; and lettered by Becca Carey. In the new series, Superman/Clark Kent is without the fortress...without the family... and without a home. So what is left is the Absolute Man of Steel?
Absolute Superman #1 (“Down in the Dirt”) shifts in time. First, it opens in the past on the planet, Krypton, which is nine million light-years from Earth. It is a world of haves, have-nots, and have-mores. Jor-El, an engineer, has discovered that something terrible is about to happen to his world.
In the present day, Kal-El, a strange young man who is not of this world, has been helping the have-nots, much to the chagrin of the have-everthings. Against the advice of his “companion,” “Sol,” Kal-El has been working below in mineral mines, doing deeds that favor of the poor, especially the abused miners, much to the chagrin of Lazarus Corp. Now, these conflicting values are all coming to a head.
THE LOWDOWN: I do not receive PDF review copies from DC Comics. I bought a copy of Absolute Superman #1 from Lone Star Comics' eBay shop.
The art by Rafa Sandoval is pretty, but it is overly detailed. Most of the panels are so crowded with elements and content that it creates a murkiness between the storytelling and the readers – at least as far as I am concerned. The colors by Ulises Arreola are also pretty, but sometimes, the colors look like a soupy mess of bright, vivid, heavy, and thick coloring that is not necessary. Less is indeed more, sometimes. I find that it is Becca Carey's lettering, of all the elements, that serves to make the story clear.
Superman's origin has undergone major renovation in the past, everything from John Byrne's 1986 comic book miniseries, The Man of Steel, to J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis' Superman: Earth One Volume One. Even director Zack Snyder's 2013 film, The Man of Steel, takes a radical view of Superman's origin.
Without offering spoilers, I can say that Jason Aaron's re-ordering of Superman's origin is radical on two fronts. First, his new look at Krypton borrows from Byrne and goes even darker. Secondly, Aaron takes Superman/Clark Kent's life on Earth and makes it unrecognizable, but familiar in that it recognizes Superman's place as a man of the people rather than as being nothing more than a superhero brand and lucrative IP.
When DC Comics' marketing copy says, “Without the fortress...without the family...without a home...what's left is the Absolute Man of Steel!,” Aaron means it. Still, I wonder if Aaron is not stripping away a lot of familiar, but worn elements merely to replace them with new elements that will quickly become worn.
Absolute Superman #1 has high production values and a lot of interesting narrative concepts around it. In a way, I like what Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval are doing... but I'm not really that interested. I don't want to pay the price of admission, nor do I want to spend the time to engage with Absolute Superman. Still, I recommend that curious comic book readers at least give this first issue, Absolute Superman #1, a try. It is high-quality, professionally executed commercial fiction.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Superman comic books will want to at least try Absolute Superman.
[This comic book features a back-up story, “AEW Presents Darby All In” from writer Steve Orlando; artist Pop Mhan; colorist Hi-Fi; letterer Josh Reed; and editor Michael McCalister.]
B+
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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