Well, here I go...
A few months ago, an idea popped into my mind: What is the greatest recent Superman origin that was or is in continuity? I actually kind of wanted to know mostly because there have been so many of them in recent decades. As Superman fans well know, Kal-El has had his origins told over and over again. In this millennium, we’ve have had three different (technically four) origins in the comics. Characters like Batman and Spider-Man have had one origin that have stuck for a long time. The same goes for a lot of comic characters…except Wonder Woman of course. I don’t know why that is. I understand that stuff has to change over time, but 3 reboots in the last decade? That’s a bit much.
A few months ago, an idea popped into my mind: What is the greatest recent Superman origin that was or is in continuity? I actually kind of wanted to know mostly because there have been so many of them in recent decades. As Superman fans well know, Kal-El has had his origins told over and over again. In this millennium, we’ve have had three different (technically four) origins in the comics. Characters like Batman and Spider-Man have had one origin that have stuck for a long time. The same goes for a lot of comic characters…except Wonder Woman of course. I don’t know why that is. I understand that stuff has to change over time, but 3 reboots in the last decade? That’s a bit much.
Well, this pic makes a whole lot more sense now!
So, after much thought on what I would do for Superman
Month, this project was born. For the last few weeks, I’ve looked at the three recent re-dos to see which the best is. I also have included the reboot that kind
of started it all for Superman: John Bryne’s Man of Steel. I talked about it here about two years ago. Dang, it's gone by so fast! To me, all of these
origins are pretty good stories. They all look at the character, his supporting
characters, and the world he exists in. They also differ in style. For example, Man of Steel
(MoS) is vastly different from the others in that it looks at certain points of Superman’s
early years. The others look at his early days before the cape as
well as the opposition he first faces when he comes to Metropolis.
The way I judged each
book was simple. I looked at all of the main characters, supporting characters,
the story, and the artwork to make my judgment. One thing to remember is that this is only my
opinion and if you don’t agree, that’s fine with me. I have about twelve categories
and the origin that has the most points is the winner. If I had to compare this
to something, it would be the Nostalgia Critic’s Old vs. New segment where he
compares similar versions of movies. For example, he compared Batman (1989) to
The Dark Knight (2008). Another example would be a pretty detailed match-up between the TMNT show from the 90's and the TMNT show from 2003.
I wanted to include Superman: Earth One in the list but
I decided not to. That origin is the start of another continuity that’s not in
line with DC’s continuity. Plus, I’m saving that for later. At the time I started this project, I did not know which one would
be the winner. Since I'm in grad school and just started a job...I still don't know. So come along on this ride to see which origin has the right
stuff. Instead of starting off with the main man (…No, not this idiot), I’m
starting off with the villains of these stories and tomorrow is the greatest
one: Lex Luthor!
Don't worry, JMS. Your time shall come...Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!
Score tally:
Man of Steel (MoS): 0
Superman Birthright : 0
Superman Secret Origin : 0
Superman and the Men of Steel (...Nu52): 0
NEXT TIME: LEX LUTHOR = THE MAN DONALD TRUMP WANTS TO BE!!!!
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