Review: Absolute Superman #1

I truly apologize for the lateness of this review. The weekly release of Action Comics with a dedicated Supergirl strip has made some books and news be kicked a bit down the road.

Absolute Superman #1 came out last week, the third title of the Absolute Universe to be released. For those coming in late, this universe is built off Darkseid energy which means everything is a little darker, a little more extreme, a little more volatile. From a brutal and poor Batman to a witchy Wonder Woman raised in Hell, things are skewed to a more grim sort of continuity.

Certainly, this Superman's origin is different. Jor-El and Lara are scientists but mired in the Labor Class. Krypton is a world filled with leaders willingly ripping the planet apart despite warnings. Kal is at least school age when he is rocketed off Krypton. There doesn't appear to be a loving Kent family in the mix. Lois is working for a nefarious acting corporation. So while some of the foundation is present, things are different.

But there is also a strong whiff of 'everything old is new again'. Writer Jason Aaron is setting Superman up to be populist hero, working against corruption and greed to help the underserved. In this issue, he is helping save people working in a dangerous mine. He isn't fighting super-villains. He is fighting the system.

Having read the earliest Action Comics by Siegel and Shuster, this is the foundation of Superman, hero of the oppressed. Heck, in those issues, he also helped out a mining community. And then, in the New 52, Grant Morrison brought that take on Superman back. Remember the 'jeans and t-shirt' Superman fighting evictions and gentrification?

In some ways, it works. This Superman isn't as different that sorceress Diana riding an undead Pegasus. In other ways, this first issue reads pretty close to prior takes making this not a new Superman but sort of a warped take.

We are only one issue in so I know the timelines and universes will continue to diverge. But the truth is I was worried about what a Dark Universe Superman would read like. This wasn't so dark to put me off completely. 

Rafa Sandoval is on art. I have loved Sandoval's work for a while and this issue he really shines. He handles the alien Krypton well. The Earth side of the book is a mix of tense conversations and wild action and he carries the story with the art. And the splash pages are powerful. 

So while the message of this is the standard 'corporations are evil', it isn't so heavy-handed that I eye-rolled. I am in, at least for a bit.

On to the book. 

The book is split into two section followed by an epilogue of teasers.

We start on Krypton where we learn the world is ruled by a caste system that seems unbreakable. The Science Klerics push science forward even at the expense of the planet. The shirt symbol is the caste, not a family crest. The Science caste symbol is the sun, similar to classic Jor-El.

Having the scientists called Klerics works in showing how science and the push of the boundaries of science is almost a religion on the world. And starting it with a K is a very nice little touch.

The S-symbol is for the labor caste, a sign of being unskilled or poor. 

We meet labor guild member Lara on a farm fixing a crop gathering vehicle. We hear how the Science Guild punishes farmers by making them pay for rain. 

Lara could have been in the science guild but as a child she spoke out against the lack of space exploration on Krypton. She was deemed unruly and placed in the labor guild.

So we see that Krypton wants conformity. They rule with the judgments of a totalitarian ruling class. And I like this Lara, still raging against the machine. Still good at heart, accepting goods for her repairs.

Similarly, Jor-El is also in the labor guild. He also could have been in the science guild but spoke up at his high school graduation, talking about the ravages on Krypton's environments. He also was downgraded to labor guild.

When we meet him, he is investigating an unsafe mine. He refuses to let the miners continue to work in it ... that is until a member of a more powerful caste (here someone from the League of Middle Management) forces the miners to go back in. It collapses, a familiar looking green radioactive stuff spewing forth.

Again, we see a similar Jor-El, worried about the planet and its people. And we again see how this planet works. Middle Management can overrule safety.

We then see a bit of a mirror sequence but now on Earth. 

In Brazil, there is an unsafe Lazarus Corporation diamond mine exposing the workers and neighboring areas to asbestos. Somehow, someone went into the mine, mined all the diamonds, and removed the asbestos.

It turns out it is an undercover Kal, trying to figure out which Earth is the true one - the one where evil corporations underpay unsafe workers? Or the other full of wonders.

There is a quick lesson. The one worth fighting for. It is a good scene of an unsure Kal feeling this place out.

 

Even thought the diamonds have been mined, the Lazarus Corporation isn't happy. Who did it? Why aren't the miners still working? The Corporation has Peacemakers as security and they begin searching out the one stranger, Kal.

In a dynamic splash page, Kar reveals himself in his suit. His gauntlets glow. His suit has a sort of 'Jarvis' inner voice. 

Earlier, we saw Jor-El defending a mine, including a great splash. Now we see Kal. 

The 'Jarvis' program knows that the Peacemakers are armed with an alien tech that could harm a somewhat depleted Kal. When the standard weapons don't work, they up the power.

He unleashes his heat vision, which looks like a mix of heat vision and solar flare. And it looks like he can't really control it.

That is another good wrinkle to explore. And I like that the AI has some modicum of control over Kal's body including somehow tamping down the power. 

An inexperienced hero fighting big corporations to protect the downtrodden. Sounds very familiar.

But then we get another big difference.

It becomes clear this isn't the first time Lazarus Corporation have run into Superman. 

Lois isn't a reporter. She is part of a field team sent in to take him down. She actually captures him, calling him 'Superman'.

In this universe, she is still the person who names him. 

Not a bad 'ending' to the issue.

But this also feels very New 52ish. You might recall that in Action Comics #2, Superman was captured by the government and interrogated.

But we get a little more.

A desolate and dilapidated Kent farmer. 

A mysterious tech person, viewing the Superman fight and calling him a new toy. 

Is it a take on the Toyman? Luthor?

 

And then the ending where we see it isn't baby Kal put in a rocket. This guy looks like a grade school age kid. And Krypto! Really loved this scene, Sandoval giving it the right weight. 

I have read all three Absolute #1's. Going in, I was most concerned about this one. Turns out this was the one I enjoyed the most. 

So I will stick around. This did what a #1 should do. Give us some history. Give us some action. Give us some direction and tone. And leave me wanting to know more. Sandoval is a marvel!

Overall grade: B+