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Product Description
J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon 5, joins forces with rising star artist Shane Davis (SUPERMAN/BATMAN: THE SEARCH FOR KRYPTONITE) to create this original graphic novel that gives new insight into Clark Kent’s transformation into Superman and his first year as The Man of Steel. This is the first in a new wave of original DC Universe graphic novels, featuring top writers’ and illustrators’ unique takes on DC characters.Amazon.com Review
From Superman: Earth One
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Customer Reviews
2010-10-30
By Deborah Atherton (New York, NY United States)
It's been a very long time since I bought my last issue of Superman but I was riveted by the cover of this truly amazing graphic novel and the contents do not disappoint. This retelling of the myth we all know so well speaks to our era of failing newspapers, disappointing scientific progress, leaders who fail to lead, and a military trying heroically to cope with a situation that lies far, far out of their area of expertise. And it does all this while evoking a Metropolis where prosperity lies in the hands of a privileged few and the rest of the populace is hanging on in cafes and bars drinking cocktails and contemplating a somewhat dim future. J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis have some of the advantages of ancient Greek playwrights in telling their story--we all know how it comes out, so they can take a little time, despite the very condensed format of the graphic novel, to really give us subtleties and complexities of character and scene. The story is beautifully drawn and inked, using a muted 21st century palette. It's a brilliant re-thinking and re-imagining of the Superman story, introducing some moral complexity and ambiguity without losing the optimism and inspiration of the original. And it can't just be me who is thinking that they've already got some unbeatable storyboards for a movie.
2010-10-30
By Dylan Luciano (USA)
Despite the popularity and iconic nature of Superman, he has always been criticized by the general public as being way too powerful, not having enough faults, being boring etc. I thought of Superman like this for awhile myself until I read John Byrne's Superman reboot and realized I was completely wrong about him. This book seems to do the same thing only it also manages to put Superman in a modern day setting. Superman is cleverly written as not only being a different character from the original but also having faults without being self loathing and whiny (contrary to what some others have said)
In fact the only real complaint that I have with this book is how silly the main villain looks. Alien beings have certainly looked worse (Like in old B movies when they are wrapped in tin foil) but he makes me laugh just by his appearance. I also have the minor nitpick of Lex Luthor not appearing. If only because he is usually mentioned or shown in Superman's various origins.
The creative team behind this book is fantastic with J. Michael Straczynski's strong writing and Shane Davis unique artwork. (The cover itself is enough incentive for me to want to pick up the book)
2010-10-29
By Enrique Trevino (Cd. Juarez, Mexico)
Straczyinski is an author I like a lot. He wrote the great TV series Babylon 5, he wrote some really good Spider-man comics and he wrote one of my favorite comics "Midnight Nation". When I found out his favorite superhero was Superman and that he would write a graphic novel about him, I got excited. Before reading this book, I noticed that it was getting poor reviews online (4.5/10 on IGN and 2/5 in CBR) so my expectations lowered after noticing that.
Overall, I thought the book was pretty good. It had a beginning, a middle and an end. It had good art, it had nice moments and it was mostly well done. I liked that the book considers that the US would look for the meteor when it arrived on Earth, I liked that Clark Kent considers many jobs before taking journalism and that there's an actual reason for him doing that. I like that wearing that uniform felt silly for a teenager, but he did for his parents. I even liked the villain in the book, mainly because I don't think of the villain as just that one character, but the whole backstory with the destruction of Krypton.
However, I do have some problems with the book. In the beginning when Clark goes on trials for a professional football team, they say they put him as left tackle, however the actual sequence of drawings suggests that he was a defensive end. I have a problem with this, because it should be easy to check on wikipedia what the position is for the person drawing it. Another problem I have is when Clark writes some equations to "solve" a really advanced problem for some chemists that have been working on it for three years. The equation looks like something a third grader could write. It would have been nice to see an advanced equation or even gibberish would be better. It just looked silly.
Obviously, those problems are minor, but I think that attention to detail is the sort of thing that separates good books from great books.
I think the comic is worth reading, specially if you're new to the character. A great book to get new audiences to try out superheros.
2010-10-28
By W. Gullige (Orlando, FL)
This story starts right as Clark is settling in to a small apartment in Metropolis. Jonathan Kent has just died and Clark has graduated from a junior college and is trying to find a so he can take care of his mother. He is about 20 at this point. He isn't "emo" and the overall story really has nothing in common with "Twilight." DC (more specifically, Dan DiDio) said those things to boost sales. Salesmen often lie about their product in order to sell it. Even when they don't need to.
The story stays true to the traditional continuity in many ways. They cover how the Kents found Clark, where the suit and name came from and all of that. At a core level, neither the character or the overall story have really changed. Some things 'are' different though, and those are really interesting.
The fate of Krypton has changed somewhat. The end result is the same in that it blows up, but the reason why is different. It makes a lot of sense though. That is the case with most of the changes made to the traditional Superman continuity. More sense has been made of it.
Now, there are things in this story that made me wonder if Straczynski has simply run out of ideas. For example: Superman is fighting a villain near the end of the story. It is arguably the most important struggle in the whole comic and they stop it dead for a villain monologue. That is almost forgivable though. It's the way the author tries to excuse it that drives me nuts. Between that and the constant flashbacks, the story gets really slow at times. This is why I only gave it four stars. There was some exposition that almost made me drop it to three, but I loved the art.
The art is just great. The standout piece, I think, is the redesign of the iconic suit. It stays true to the classic design while giving it a really nice modern look that I could definitely see in a future Superman movie.
As a side note, I think what qualifies as a 'good' Superman story depends on the Superman you grew up with. My earliest recollection of Superman is the Superboy TV show. From there, I've always watched or read something "Superman" in some form all my life, and he is updated often to keep his relevance, so I'm used to the changes. A casual fan or someone who has based their entire fandom of Superman on the 90s cartoon or on the Donner movies may have some trouble getting into this comic. I would venture to say that this is where some of the negative critique is coming from. More accurately, I would venture to say that a lot of websites are posting reviews without actually reading the comic (cough *ign* cough). Don't listen to them, listen to actual fans.
The comic is very good all around and is a really decent price on Amazon right now, so I would say get it while the gettin' is good. I would also recommended "All-star Superman vol. 1 & 2."
4 stars out of 5. Bring on "Batman: Earth One"!
2010-10-28
By BigRobot
Everyone know Supes' origin. He's a icon. Hundreds of writers and artists have had their piece to add to the mythos. However, nobody writes Superman like J. Michael Straczynski, and Shane Davis' art is nothing short of amazing.
Now, this isn't necessarily the Superman that you're used to. This isn't the Superman who faces apocalyptic dangers with a silent, confident smile before wading into the fray and confronts New Gods before breakfast. Really, it's more about the man than the "super". This is about a Clark Kent who isn't sure about his place in the world, who is an outsider looking in. This is you, or me, or anyone who's gone out on their own for the first time and tried to make something of themselves, unsure and alone.
Superman: Earth One is an amazing coming of age story, a story about finding oneself, and standing up in the face of adversity, even if it's the last thing that you want to do. It's about doing the right thing, even if you have other options. It's quintessential Superman.
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