Tales from the Trade - Man and Superman

Next up for the month is a look at an old but recent book. Back in 2006, DC was releasing a book called Superman Confidential. I don’t remember the purpose of the book, but I think it was supposed to show out-of-continuity stories as well as the early years of Superman. Think of it as Superman’s Legends of the Dark Knight. It had a rotating creative team.  I remember that Darwyn Cooke’s and Tim Sale’s “Kryptonite!” story started that off. That  reminds me, I need to read that one day. The series ultimately got cancelled after 14 issues.

One story that was supposed to make in was a story from Marv Wolfman. Man and Superman was the name the story was given. When I saw it 2019, I picked it off the stands since I have a liking for Wolfman. He helped mold the Post-Crisis Superman. My other guess on why this didn’t get released back then was because Geoff Johns was doing his own revamp of Superman’s first days with Secret Origin. The artwork was done by Claudio Castellini. Hi-Fi handled the colors while Tom Orzechowski did the letters. So, how much of a screw-up was Clark Kent during his first days as Superman, aka “Ski-Mask Man,” “Many Muscles Man”, and my favorite, “COVID-19 Man”?

Man and Superman

Writer: Marv Wolfman

Artist: Claudio Castellini

Colors: Hi-Fi

Letters: Tom Orzechowski

Editors: Jessica Chen and Brian Cunningham

SYNOPSIS

This basically shows what Clark’s early days in Metropolis were before he donned the suit. He shows up to find out the apartment he’s rented is a dump. Also, while he’s looking to work in journalism, he’s working part-time as a janitor to make ends meet. Meanwhile, a series of arsons have been plagueing Metropolis, and no one knows the cause. Clark tries to investigate himself, but he ends up leaving behind fingerprints. When he tries to remove his stuff from the evidence at the police station, he’s caught on camera, and that gets folk worried. All of this puts his decision to put on the uniform into doubt. He even sends it back to Smallville when things get worse in Metropolis.

I'm glad my first place wasn't like this.

Another arson happens, and Clark jumps into action. When he finds out that the Daily Planet is getting word on the arsons in a city meeting, he spies on them. While the officials talk about instituting martial law, Clark listens to Lois Lane (who forced herself into the meeting) talk about how this could go bad. When the officials get another threat from this unknown figure, the figure has Lexcorp’s plaza blown up. Clark tries to jump into action and keep folk from dying, but it ends up being too much for him. He even gets blamed for what happened by the press.

While this does make Clark doubt his decisions, he does get some help from Lois, who believes that he’s here to help. She’s able to get the Daily Planet to print that the flying dude (he has no name yet) is a force for good. A press conference is called at Metropolis’s airport, and everyone heads out with Clark doing his spying thing. Businessman Lex Luthor has returned to town to put a stop to these attacks! Unfortunately, the unknown figure fires a crapton of missiles toward the press conference. While Lex shockingly has his own arsenal of turrets around, Clark flies into action to help. Luckily, folk begin to see that Clark’s a good guy.

Insert COVID-19 Man! Even he knows when to wear masks!

Sometime afterwards, Clark starts to suspect that Luthor may know more than he’s letting on. He finds out that he may have planned all this, so he ends up finally meeting with Lois Lane. After their talk, Lois heads to Lex’s offices and tries to get to the truth. We then find out that Luthor was behind or in league with the terrorists attacking Metropolis. Later, Clark ends up finding a stockpile of missiles, but Luthor ends up destroying them. Realizing that Metropolis and the world will need protection from guys like Luthor, Clark heads back to Smallville to get his uniform. After we see Superman pull the “I’m gonna float at this window” motif with Luthor, he ends up getting a job at the Daily Planet with Lois’s help. The book ends with her naming him “Superman.”

 

OPINION

I thought that this was an interesting retelling of Superman’s early days in Metropolis. I liked how it lacked all the theatrics of superheroes.  At the end of the day, Clark is just a guy from a small town, and this comic sells that aspect. He doesn’t even wear the suit until the end of the book. While he is powerful, his inexperience with being a vigilante definitely shows in places. He even wonders if this is the thing he should be doing with his life. It’s good stuff on that part.

I also liked that we just spend time with Clark, not the rest of his supporting characters. He even gets a couple of co-workers to hang out with before his time at the Planet. As for his regular cast, they’re around, but in much smaller roles. Lois is probably the only other character that gets some good stuff, and that makes sense because it’s Lois. Luthor also gets a couple of good moments especially toward the end. It was cool seeing the window shot just from Superman’s perspective.

The artwork is pretty good overall. Castellini has kind of a modern-retro style with his art here. While things seem modern, Clark and some folk dress like they’re from an earlier decade. It gives the book a different feel. He handles everyone pretty well. While it’s not heavy on action, what action is shown is pretty good. The place where the artwork shines is in the conversations and Clark’s introspective moments. Other than some wonky places and some inconsistent coloring (Lois’s hair changes colors toward the end), the artwork was  good.

As for things I didn’t like with the story, I did think things petered out toward the end. When Lex entered the stage, you more or less knew he was involved with the arsons. After that, things pretty much start to end up like most early Superman stories. While I did like seeing Clark interact with other folk who aren’t his normal supporting cast, I do wish they added more to the story. Other than these things and the art issues I mentioned earlier, this was a good book.

In the end, you can’t go wrong with this retelling of Clark’s early days in Metropolis. Where it stacks up with other origins is anyone’s guess. I will say that this does him more service than some origins like Man of Steel (comic and movie) and Secret Origin. Yeah, I said this kinda beats Geoff Johns just a bit. I don’t know how this would stack up with Birthright, though. Either way, it’s a nice addition to a long list of stories. Next time, I think it’s time to get back to Smallville. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.