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Superman: Secret Origin #1 (of 6)
Every twenty years or so the Superman mythos needs to go through a re-telling to modernize it for a new generation. When I was seven years old this was done by John Byrne in his Man of Steel mini-series that basically re-created Superman into the character we knew him as. But over the years, as the character wass handled by different creators, Superman's backstory became in need of some tweaking. After all, the character is now over 70 years old. That leads us to Superman: Secret Origin #1 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, which features a young Clark in Smallville...
The Good: I've always loved Gary Frank's artwork. When I was really into comics in the mid-90s he was working on a Supergirl book that used to wow me with each issue. The way Frank draws Superman is definitely influenced by the look of Christopher Reeve, who so many people think of when they hear the name of the character anyway that it just makes sense. In this first issue of the mini-series we are treated to a Smallville backdrop. At points during this book I felt like I was watching the first season of the TV show. I wouldn't be surprized if Johns was trying to incorporate as many of the most beloved interpretations of Superman into one origin. So far we have a Smallville-esque feeling, an appearance of Chloe Sullivan (hooray!) in the high school, the crystals from the first Reeve movie, an illusion to Doomsday on Krypton, Zod, and even a nod to the animated series by suggesting Brainiac was on Krypton too. At the end of the book we even have Superboy, bringing the Boy of Steel back into the mythos, which was previously elminted by John Byrne.
The Bad: The story of Superman is one that can be told by anybody. I'm sure you already know it. He's sent from a doomed planet as a baby and he grows up to become Superman. This story is inevitably going to read better in a one-volume collection than in single issues.
The Verdict: It's too early to tell, seeing as how there are still five issues left to be published. I'll come back to this review again once I've read the entire series. But so far, I really do like what I'm seeing.
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