This week: Absolutely superman #1 crashing into stores, marking the complete trinity of the publisher’s new series of Absolute books. In addition, we have also summarized the common introductions of other DC books on the market!
Absolute Superman #1
writer: Jason Aaron
artist: Rafael Sandoval
Colorist: Ulysses Areola
Writer: Becca Kelly
This week we get Absolute Superman #1before it was Absolute Batman and Absolute Wonder Woman last month. In some ways, I think this comic is the hardest job in the DC Trinity. While (as far as I know) these Absolute books have no overtly stated mission, it certainly feels like updating character origins is part of the reason for their existence. I think Batman did a very clever job of having Thomas Wayne be a public school teacher who gets killed in a mass shooting on a field trip. At the same time, Wonder Woman’s origin has always seemed less original to me than the other two in the Trinity (the subversive behind-the-scenes creation story feels like the character’s true origin, but that’s another topic…) , making it easier for her to start something new from scratch.
However, Superman’s origin has been revisited and tweaked multiple times with varying degrees of success, perhaps even more so than Batman’s. Or at least that’s how it seems to me. I feel like there’s a higher standard for your Superman Origins remake to really stand out. This tendency is usually to make Superman evil (yawn) or have him wear a hoodie (I agree). Absolute Superman #1 did the latter, and struggled to explain why Superman was wearing that hoodie, intricately tying it all back to Krypton in a way that I really enjoyed (more on that below).
I think Krypton is the funniest part of the first issue. I’m particularly interested in how this comic imagines Krypton as a super-class society. That subtext may have always been there, but here it’s so tied into the nature of the character. On this Krypton, Superman’s parents are working class, as one of them dares to suggest that the government should invest more money in space exploration, and the other openly comments on Kryptonian society’s environmental recklessness.
To this end, they are not just laborers, but good farmers, like the vast majority of other depictions of Superman’s adoptive parents in Superman’s origins. They were oppressed, which fueled their desire to help and contribute. The book does establish the new view of Superman as openly pro-labor, which is both timely and consistent with Superman’s earliest depictions in the 1930s. This is an important reason why I like it Absolute Superman #1.
Of course, this reimagining is about much more than that. In this book, Superman spends so many more years on his home planet that he definitely remembers this. He also has living armor that talks to him. Kent Farm doesn’t seem to be part of his origins, instead it has been overrun by a possibly galactically evil corporation that abuses its workers and controls them with some kind of cosmic technology. I bet said corporations were a part of what happened on Krypton as well, because my money is definitely on the huge profits, which is the biggest bad thing about this run, or at least the biggest bad thing about the first storyline.
Our new Superman is using his powers to do labor’s work for them, so they stay safe and not exploited. Trouble (and the usual superhero punches) arise when doing so angers the company’s private security guards to the point where they start beating workers. These are the most important contents of the first issue.
Overall, I think this is a great start. This doesn’t have to be the conversation Absolute Batman #1 Yeah, and it doesn’t have bold artwork Absolute Wonder Woman #1 Did. The art is pretty good – credit to the artist Daniel Sampere and colorist Ulysses Areola — but it’s more traditional than other Absolute books. That’s fine, you can certainly tell it’s appropriate for the character. Then again, it’s still a good-looking comic.
Jason Aaron’s The script is also very strong, with a particularly clever idea. You see, as a member of the working class, you are branded with—you guessed it—Superman S. feeling, but this won me over for being A. smart and B. inseparable from Superman’s mission. This is the origin of his shirt and the reason he wears it on the new planet.
My slightly controversial choice for this was to have Lois Lane join the evil corporation. Now, Louis only appears on two pages of the first issue, so I’m willing to hear what they have to say (and hopefully throw in some surprises), but if they essentially turned Louis into a violent corporate cop, that would be a big deal To me that’s like giving up on finding a new, modern way to play the role of a journalist in 2024. to a way that blends in. It’s a really interesting new take on Superman’s origin story.
But there will be plenty of time to win me over on this point in the next questions, which I will definitely read.
Overview
- First of all, are you reading? Plastic Man no more? You should be. I talked about this week’s third issue in my Hot Comics column yesterday.
- One of my favorite books this week is Batgirl #1 by writer Tate Blumbar, artist Miyazawa Takeshi, Colorist Mike Spicer, and engraver Tom Napolitano. I’ll be as succinct as Cassandra Caine herself… Would you like to see Cassandra Caine as Batgirl karate-fighting ninjas while poking fun at her complicated relationship with her mother? Yes, you do, and that’s what the beginning of a new cycle brings.
Another highlight of the week is Arrow 2024 #1. This issue summarizes the author’s operations Joshua Williamson and artist Sean Isaacsay, Also features art Amanke Nahuelpa, Color by Romulo Fajardo Jr., and engraver Troy Peter. But it’s a fun single issue, even if you don’t read the whole thing. It’s a story that travels through the eras of Arrow, unified by a sweet future-oriented framework and a single villain who has evaded Oliver Queen for years between his more noteworthy eras and adventures. It jumps nicely between previous eras that long-time readers will know, without anything feeling gratuitous. From that perspective, it was also a fitting capstone to the run. This run looked to me like the creative team was on a mission to reassemble Arrow’s vast cast of characters over the years without feeling rushed or forced – and then they did just that. Good stuff everywhere.- Just a quick note, but Poison Ivy #27 That’s another good question about what is Washington’s best long-term operation. I’m impressed that this run has achieved enough commercial success to continue while also keeping its creative team intact (Writer G. Willow Wilson, artist Marcio Takara, Colorist Arif Prianto, and engraver Hassan Otzman Elhou). If you’ve read the specific columns of superhero publishers in depth, you probably already know how rare it is these days for a non-big name character to have a long run with a full creative team. But I think it’s still worth typing. We should be grateful for everything we get from this run.
- In the end I didn’t know what to do Joint Security Agreement #1 This week has been like continuity soup with no focus to me. I know these are puzzling characters in continuity, but also hope that the new #1 might be a little friendlier to understand them better. Maybe a full storyline would have done a little better. This is caused by Jeff Lemire, and art Diego Olortegui, Color by Luis Guerrero, and letters Steve Wants.
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