I want it known here - I was wrong, once.
I was wrong when I didn't like the initial first few issues of Superman: Birthright and opted to not continue reading it. That was unfair to Mark Waid and Leinil Yu, who proved themselves worthy by the end of the series, which wrapped up a couple of months ago. I've got a pretty straightforward reason for this - the characterization of Pa Kent in issue 3 torqued me at the time and made me blind, causing what many would call a FANBOY RAMPAGE. More on that (and my fanboy loser mentality) a bit later in the proceedings.
First off, Birthright was DC's attempt to make Superman more accessible than he's been in the past, oh, thirteen years immediately proceeding John Byrne's1 reboot and successive handling of the Man Of Steel after the Crisis On Infinite Earths reset the stalwart comic giant's continuity for easy accessibility to the fans at the time. They realized that, while Man Of Steel was perfect for 1986, if you were someone who walked in off the street and had seen Smallville, the characters presented in that show bore little resemblance to what was currently in the Superman comics on the stand, even allowing for the differences in age and medium. Taking a cue from the WB's 800-pound gorilla, then at its creative peak2, editorial took what worked from the Silver Age (1950s & 60s) Superboy and Superman mythos and fused it with a modern sensibility. One could also say that Spider-Man put them up to it. I like to blame Spider-Man for most things.
So, to the story - the first issue shows, of course, Krypton Blowing Up. As far as Superman Origin Story Pieces go, this one is essential � you can't really show two people hurling their child into the void without making clear that it's the only way to save them, otherwise they'd have those wacky Kryptonian Social Services people on their ass.
�And why, Jor-El, did you decide to send...was it Kal?...into space?�
�Well, Lara kept whining about his keeping her up at night and she won't put out if he's awake and damn it, man, I have to have that sweet booty!�
This is not what makes a compelling origin for Krypton's Last Son. He must, in fact, be the Last Son Of Krypton or that nickname sounds silly. So, Krypton blows up and Mark Waid makes an odd decision here � instead of following the linear telling of the origin that we so love from Superman: The Movie, he jumps to the future � twenty five years later and Clark Kent's in Africa, exploring the political situation in a country where one group is being oppressed by another. While this is well-done stuff, it really disturbs the narrative drive to suddenly go from space to show Clark roaming the planet, learning about cultures and emailing his mom3 from all over the world while poking around on an �ebook� left in the rocket by his birth parents.
The second half of the first issue and the first half of the second issue (uh) are devoted to this Africa Situation, where Clark reveals his powers while saving everyone (he is, after all, going to be Superman � have to start the saving thing early) and comes back to Smallville with the realization that he can't be anonymous while doing good deeds � the S symbol that keeps appearing in the Kryptonian Atlas (that "ebook" thing) comes to mind.
The third issue addresses the issue outright � Clark needs to be able to be Clark while still making sure he helps his fellow man. There's a sequence that pleased me highly wherein they go through different looks (�Clark, don't wear a t-shirt � girls will see your six-pack coming from a block away�) for his day-to-day life while working on the costume. Jonathan's reaction to this, though, bothered me highly. Yes, it may sound like I'm being a loser fanboy (moreso than usual, I suppose) but the idea that Pa Kent is churlish and a bit jealous over Clark choosing to act under a guise strikes me as wrong. Maybe it's the Democrat4 in me, but I would presume that Jonathan would be happy that his son was doing what was right, no matter how he went about it. There's some dialogue about how his father was a real son of a bitch and how that messed Pa Kent up, but that didn't placate me one bit � I dropped the book because I thought Waid Didn't Get It. Some might postulate that I have Father Issues if I freak out so much about how a fictional character's father is presented. I shan't comment other than to say my father can beat up your father.
It's nice to be proven wrong. Today I decided to read the whole damn thing and give it a fair shot.
The second quarter of this 12-part series starts off with Clark arriving in Metropolis to interview at the Daily Planet. Of coure he gets the job, but not without a few hitches. You get to see the craft that Waid has put into his characterization of Clark, who has embraced a persona that falls comfortably between the �Aw, gee, Lois, I am wetting myself because it's Monday!� of Christoper Reeves and many Silver Age tales and the �I am a flawless example of the very modern gentleman!� of John Byrne's reboot. The way that Clark feeds off of and serves as a sounding board for the other members of the cast works perfectly and damn it, Waid's Lois Lane is freaking hot, even when she's verbally abusing the publisher of the Planet. You can see why Clark falls in love with her after she stands up for Jimmy to this foul, foul man.
This portion of the series also lets you see Superman in action for the first time in Metropolis and the hubbub he causes. You also see his first encounter with Lex Luthor since their time in Smallville together and that rolls into the best part of Waid's writing for this series...
You can't do a Superman origin without bringing up his archnemesis. Lex Luthor was, frankly, fucked most royally by Byrne and Marv Wolfman, who patterned him after Donald Trump5 and made him a power-hungry billionaire in an era where Reaganomics reigned supreme. He and Superman had no previous relationship until the day that Big Blue started operating in Metropolis, which deprives the character of any real motivation outside of being a dick that wants to be the top of the totem pole. Waid took the good parts of this (public image, lots of cash money from his inventions and family wealth, so no need to do stupid robberies) and made him a scientist with ties to Smallville again. Obviously heavily influenced by Elliot S! Maggin's portrayal of the character, it's Lex's hubris that is his own greatest enemy and if not for that, he'd actually be the hero to the world that he percieves himself as being compared to the Byrne/Wolfman version, who is just a cock6. The issue of Smallville is raised and handled quite deftly and the issue that explores the relationship between Clark and Lex in their teenage years is easily my favorite of the series and is probably the most direct descendant of the Smallville meme � Waid and Yu even did a short story for the spinoff comic for the series that was referred to in this chapter.
Things move along in the series quite handily from this point. Superman's alien origins are a central part of the second half of the book with Kryptonite playing, of course, an essential role in Lex's plans to take down our hero and handle Metropolis his way. Without spoiling anything, the action set pieces here and the story beats are the strongest of Waid's career. I consider his current run on Fantastic Four to be his strongest emotional work, but the build, ebb, and flow of story in this series's second half is as close to perfect as he's gotten. Of particular note is the fact that each issue, while ending on a cliffhanger, has a discrete set of events - the previously-mentioned #8 could easily be read by itself. All this praise of Waid (which is grotesquely out of character for me, rest assured - I have enough issues with his Kingdom Come to do an entry about this long about why I don't like it) is not intended to short Leinil Yu � his work is just plain beautiful and conveys the power, grace, and even humor that Waid's Superman has.
This isn't perfect, but compared to the snail's pace storytelling (that happens to be very pretty) presented by Brian Azzarello and Jim Lee in Superman, Chuck Austen's heavy-handed slugfest version of Action Comics, and Greg Rucka's just plain lame Adventures Of Superman? No contest � this miniseries has enough pep and verve to make me ignore its flaws and actually consider buying the hardcover coming out in November.
1For those playing the home game, John Byrne was a prolific, well-regarded writer/artist whose attempt to tell the early years of Superman was about the last decent thing he did. Everything since has been a death-spiral of ego and laziness.
2In the last few episodes I've seen, the show has resembled the death-thrash of a shark. By playing its hand too early in regards to Clark's origins and powers, it seems to have made the writers realize that they need to do some stunts to keep the show somewhat interesting � Lois Lane shows up in this coming season, as does Bart Allen, who bears the moniker of Kid Flash in the comics nowadays and is the distant future grandson of Barry Allen, the second Flash. Are you still reading this? Jesus, this stuff gets downright silly sometimes.
3As narrative devices go, the emails-to-mom thing, while a logical upgrade to the traditional letter style, doesn't work for me. It looks silly to have Clark email martha@kent.com � but I think it'd be more disturbing to have HotKansasMom6969@aol.com to be the recipient of news from the road, so it's probably a fair compromise, considering.
4Yes, that's a poke. Poke poke poke.
5I don't care what you've learned from The Apprentice - Trump's a royal ass who lives largely off the largesse of creditors everywhere.
6Yes, I've used penis metaphors twice in relationship to the Man Of Steel take on Luthor. That is because he is a real piece of manmeat.
