Superman: Birthright #1-12

Superman: Birthright #1-12

Originally released in 2003

Written by Mark Waid

Art by Leinil Francis Yu

I'm changing up the order again this month, because February 29th comes around only once every four years, and DC considers it to be Superman's birthday.  I'd heard a lot of good things about this particular story, so I figured that if I was going to read a Superman story today, it should be this one.  I had originally planned to read six issues, but I wound up reading the whole thing, which seems to speak to how good this story is.

It's an origin story, which results in a lot of familiar beats if you've seen anything with Superman in it before - the destruction of Krypton, Clark leaving Smallville to go to the big city of Metropolis, meeting Lois Lane and Lex Luthor, revealing himself to the world as Superman... but it's the presentation that makes all the difference.  We see Clark traveling the world, building up his experience as a journalist and discovering how passionate he is about it.  Martha Kent is proud of his accomplishments, while Jonathan is worried about how people will react once Clark starts openly using his powers, though thankfully not to the extent of the movie "Man of Steel". (Kevin Costner did a good job, especially with the "you are my son" scene, but having him basically tell Clark "maybe you should have let a busload of your classmates drown" casts a dark shadow over that interpretation of the character)

Early on, we get a very clear justification for why Superman will never take a life.  As Clark is interviewing a man who wants his people to have rights as opposed to being treated like second-class citizens, he's caught up in a series of assassination attempts.  Clark has to save the village that is so important to that man, which means Clark isn't there to save him from an assassin's knife.  We see the man dying from Clark's perspective as the signs of life fade away, and it helps to show why Superman is the way that he is without directly commenting on it.

Clark Kent's outfit and mannerisms are also justified here, helping to explain why nobody would notice the difference between the two. (given the common joke that Clark Kent is literally just Superman with glasses)  Here, Clark studies acting, changing his entire demeanor so that he's beneath notice, with the glasses serving as a way to hide the unnaturally blue shade of his eyes.  Neither Clark Kent, Daily Planet reporter, or Superman are the real person - both are Clark putting on an act, one where he's less confident than normal and one where he's more confident.

Lois also plays a major part in the story, serving as a mentor to Clark at the Daily Planet and someone who inspires him to keep standing up no matter how much the world, or Luthor specifically, tries to knock him down.  She's also prone for taking absurd risks, as is tradition, and her behaviour frustrates the editor-in-chief Perry White to no end.

There were moments in here, as Superman is making himself known to Metropolis, where I'm reminded of the social crusading elements of Action Comics #1 and 2.  Superman steps in to prevent a school shooting, and once he discovers who sold the would-be shooters the guns...

It's a powerful and cathartic image, and an entertaining way to play on the "faster than a speeding bullet" catchphrase.  Of course, Superman can't make waves in Metropolis without Lex Luthor taking notice; these issues also go into Luthor's history in Smallville (something that he thoroughly covered up after becoming rich and powerful) and his sort-of friendship with Clark.  Lex views himself as being above the slack-jawed yokels of Smallville, and even in Metropolis, he can't find people who can keep up with his intellect.  He seems to feel like the only possibilities for meeting beings on his level would be to turn to the stars, developing an interest in astrobiology and using his studies and speculation as the basis for a lot of his inventions.  Amusingly enough, despite going on an extended demonstration of how deductive reasoning can be put to practical use (and revealing secrets that a bunch of his classmates would want to keep hidden in the process), he has a massive blind spot.  When a device that he built to find extraterrestrial materials starts reacting to Clark, Lex comes to the most logical conclusion...

Lex is a bitter and angry young man, and that doesn't lessen with age.  He's introduced by sabotaging drones made by Bruce Wayne's company in an attempt to secure a military contract, and his smug attitude combined with how easily he weasels his way out of it quickly annoy Superman.  This only makes Lex's hatred of Superman grow - all this time, he'd been searching for an equal among the stars, and when he finally meets an alien, the alien treats him with utter contempt. (having no idea that Superman knew Lex when they were younger, and is disgusted by who Lex has become)

I'm surprised that a lot of adaptations of Superman, at least from what I've seen, ignore the "Lex was raised in Smallville" angle. (aside from the series "Smallville", though I haven't seen that one)  I suppose it does make it increasingly odd that someone as brilliant as Lex can't put two and two together and figure out that Clark is Superman, but it adds a lot to both Lex and Clark - Lex is desperately trying to keep his humble beginnings buried, while Clark knows that Lex can be a good person deep down and that, if things had been just a bit different, they could have been friends.

This is a Superman origin story, but it's an extremely well-written one with some interesting twists and turns, and it covers a side of the Superman mythos that I haven't seen much of.  The main characters feel fleshed out and three-dimensional throughout these twelve issues, and I found that I couldn't stop reading.  It takes the time time to make the seeds of love between Clark and Lois, the hate between Superman and Lex, and Superman's status as a symbol of hope feel natural and earned.  I'd highly recommend this.