Man Of Steel, Supporting Characters Of Kleenex: Superman: Earth One, Volume Two Review

Superman: Earth One, Volume One, when it was released in October, 2010, was a damn exciting development in Superman’s history, albeit alternative history. It was the first modern reimagining of Superman’s origin since John Byrne’s The Man of Steel in post-Crisis 1986, and it was the first version to posit Clark Kent as a somewhat modern 20-something – a modern 20-something circa about 1996, but still, better than a young man fresh out of college in a pristine blue suit, dress fedora and no stench of alcohol. Sure, it had some story issues – for example, if I could somehow finagle an interview for a job for which I was, on paper, grossly unqualified, and I then said I wanted to fuck around with their infrastructure, I would be less likely to be offered six figures than 60,000 volts from a stun gun – but I generally found it to be a refreshing take on Superman’s origin, especially considering that the alternate universe conceit allowed writer J. Michael Straczynski to be bold with things without needing to come up with some outlandish, what-if-Superman-landed-on-a-cocaine-farm Elseworlds scenario to tell it. It was a recognizable Superman story, non-beholden to continuity, and thus it felt fresh.

That, however, was two years ago. Superman: Earth One, Volume Two was released yesterday, and between the two volumes was a small event in the DC Universe called the New 52 Reboot. Which means that, for good or ill, Straczynski’s alternate universe early Superman stories are no longer going to be automatically compared to a miniseries written when newspapers were viable, homeland security involved a deadbolt and a shotgun, and “blog” was a regional reference to a particular consistency of bowel movement.

So the question here not only is whether or not Superman: Earth One, Volume Two is a good story and worth the 23-buck cover price, but how well it holds up now that it’s presenting itself as an alternative to an in-continuity Superman with an origin that’s more modern than the one presented in Volume One. And the answer? Well, like the first volume, it presents a pretty entertaining and generally emotionally engaging story, with a bunch of logical problems and character choices that seem to be made more based on convenience than realism… but it is definitely affected not only by comparison with the recent DC reboot of Superman, but with some older, near-classic comics that tackle similar themes.

However, Straczynski clearly knows that he is writing a comic for the Internet age, because there is also a cute kitty and underboob shots. So it’s got that going for it.

Superman: Earth One, Volume Two opens days following the conclusion of the first book, with Kent having secured a position at the Daily Planet thanks to his “interview” with Superman (Which actually comprises the first real logical error of the story: if I went to the New York Times and said I had an interview with, say, Jesus, and I didn’t have a phone number to hand over that they could call to confirm, we’re right back to the 60,000 volt scenario). Clark uses the cash to get himself a new apartment with included furniture, utilities, and a slutty neighbor whose rack would convince humanity that gravity is optional even if they hadn’t seen Superman fly. Meanwhile, a serial killer whose FBI profile must read, “He just likes killin’ folks” picks himself up some superpowers and gets ready to start doing some mischief, while Superman discovers the frustrations of international diplomacy, and tries to mitigate that frustration by trying to figure out if he can bang the skank in apartment 2B. Then there are explosions.

I don’t mean to make light of the book in my summary (well, not too much), but there is just a ton of stuff happening in this book. I counted six different through plots going through it, which is a lot of story, even for 132 pages. Chuck in a couple of fantasy sequences, flashbacks, and setup for Volume Three, and it’s hard to judge the book on any one story.

So let’s start with what works: Straczynski has created one hell of a compelling version of the Superman / Clark Kent character here. His Clark is lonely, and the basis for his loneliness is well explained and believable. Straczynski paints a character who knows he has to keep himself separated from most of humanity, and has borne that burden reluctantly his entire life, and he shows the toll that it has taken on Clark. There wasn’t a moment where I felt that Clark’s actions or emotions weren’t believable, and it is satisfying, and sometimes devastating – the pages where Clark talks about his damn cat were legitimately fucking heartbreaking. Further, Straczynski effectively shows Clark’s frustration at sometimes having to hold his power in check for reasons having nothing to do with who has the bigger stick. Anyone who’s ever had a revenge fantasy will relate to Clark’s… and based on his, I sincerely hope that he never goes to work for the Post Office. So in short, Superman is the best part of this story, which is the way it should be – character over plot is always satisfying.

Which is a good thing, because there are some problems with the plot and the other characters. Let’s talk Raymond Jensen, who winds up becoming The Parasite. Jensen is a serial killer before he gets powers. Okay, fine. And Straczynski lays the groundwork for showing us, yup: this sure is a serial killer! He shows a childhood history of violence, biting, and cruelty to animals. Okay, gotcha. He implies that Jensen’s first kill was a homeless dude in his hometown. Okay, textbook serial killer… except then Straczynski chucks the DSM4, and makes Jensen an equal-opportunity killer. He uses guns, explosives, whatever, and he uses them against men, women, whoever. And when Jensen gets powers, he fantasizes about killing everyone on the planet in different ways… except in a post-Silence of The Lambs / Jeffrey Dahmer world, it’s pretty common knowledge that most serial killers have a type of victim they prefer, and a methodology they maintain, because it’s what gets them off. An indiscriminate serial killer just doesn’t feel all that realistic, and possibly chucked in as a maguffin just to get Jensen into a position to get superpowers. The characterization felt like a misstep, particularly in a story where the protagonist is somewhat haunted by the power he has always had – wouldn’t it be more powerful to make the Parasite a character who never had any power over anyone to contrast against Superman?

And speaking of being haunted by powers, Straczynski makes the choice to take the whole leering fanboy barroom argument of, “Wouldn’t Superman just blow his load through the top of Lois Lane’s head?” head on here. He even shows a flashback of Clark talking sex with his father, who even uses the old “Man of Steel, women of Kleenex” line from Larry Niven. Okay, I’m willing to stipulate that of how superpowers would affect sex is a legitimate question – I’ve had that drunken argument the same as everyone. So I’ll call it a legitimate story point, but… if we’re going to take the concept realistically? Let us further stipulate that Clark knows Goddamned well what would happen if he had sex: it would be fine, and he would know it would be fine, because if he’s anything like any other red-blooded American male, he’s been practicing it on his own since he was thirteen years old. So unless Pa Kent spent all his free time patching holes in the bathroom walls, or Clark’s been sneaking out into the backyard and seeing if he can blast telco satellites out of orbit, he knows full well that he can get laid safely… and if any of those things had happened, don’t be coy about things and just fucking tell us. Otherwise, the whole subplot feels less like realism and more like pure titillation.

And then there’s the issue of how Straczynski’s version of Superman’s early years origin is affected by the New 52 reboot, and honestly, this book’s impact feels somewhat diminished by the parallels. A young Clark Kent trying to find his way in a modern Metropolis, and the concept of Superman trying to find the balance between his power and the limits of his morality is great… but we’ve been seeing the same thing on a monthly basis in Grant Morrison’s Action Comics since last September. Is Action Comics done better than this? No, particularly not when it comes to Straczynski’s sympathetic characterization of Superman, but seeing similar stories takes some of the fresh feeling out if this one. Not Stracynski’s fault, but simply a fact of life…

…but to be honest, one of the pieces showing Superman struggling to find the most moral use of his powers is simply dissatisfying by way of being damn close to another, older series. We get a couple of examples of Clark’s internal struggle in the book, and one of them, where he flies a woman batterer to Alaska and says, “Start walking” is great fun. The other, however, shows Superman dealing with a ruthless foreign dictator, and it feels and plays just like a similar scene in Mark Millar’s run of The Authority. You can almost hear Millar’s “What if the superheroes went after the real bastards?” caption when the scene plays out, and while it might play great for a casual comic reader who picks the book up at Barnes & Noble, the similarities popped me right out of the story.

One area that is in no way inconsistent is Shane Davis’s art. Davis has a very detailed and realistic style, from his figures and facial expressions to his backgrounds and settings – it wouldn’t surprise me to see a big honking lightbox in Davis’s studio, but unlike, say, Greg Land, I doubt we’ll find any porn star photo references there – things just look real. And the side effect of that realism is that it helps sell the more outlandish stuff; it’s easier to buy into a giant purple monster wth orange teeth when everything else just looks so Goddamned normal. His panel layouts are easy to follow – a must for a book that is partially designed to sell to non-comic readers – although there’s one two-page spread where you have to turn the book on its side to read it which looks good but is kind of irritating to read. But one gimmicky layout misstep aside, there’s no denying that this is one damn fine looking comic.

So I guess in the final analysis, this is an entertaining graphic novel that has some serious problems, mostly in the secondary characterizations, which feel often arbitrarily selected to service plot points. Jensen is a serial killer to put him in a couple of key locations and to justify his murderous impulses, not because Straczynski wanted to write about a realistic serial killer. Clark’s roommate is a sexually forward nymph who hooks on the side because it allowed Straczynski to write about the perils of superhero fucking and give Superman a jerkoff to drop in the tundra, and therefore she exists and does those things. However, Straczynski without question writes a compelling and sympathetic Clark Kent and Superman, and that character’s depiction alone was more than enough to keep me entertained and going through the whole book, even when presented with story elements and characters that were a little sketchy.

So if you love Superman? You can’t go wrong here. If you want a complete, satisfying story with no holes and complete supporting characters? Well, maybe wait for the cheaper paperback version.