Earth One (Superman (DC Comics Numbered))

Straczynski's second volume picks up nicely where the first leaves off, both humanizing and distancing the Kryptonian in such a unique fashion, it's almost stunning to think that is hasn't been down before now. Truly a great read. Kudos to Straczynski for making the Man of Steel relevant again.

Overall good storyline that shows us what Superman's upbringing would be like in a more modern context. It is clear that this is a new Superman, not the same one we are familiar with from decades prior.

Some minor quibbles still arise: the glasses-only disguise for Clark Kent, for example, but they don't diminish the storyline's entertainment value.

What a refreshing change of pace for Superman. I love the art, something about the lighting just makes everything look cooler. You gotta love this story too, such a satisfying ending. Really enjoyable stuff.

Was pretty disappointed with this book. The writing is outright bad (I'll explain more below), while the art suffers from characters all looking the same. The action is drawn well, but so many of the characters look identical to one another that it's distracting.

As for the writing, it's hard to discuss without spoilers, so please beware spoilers I'm going to discuss below:

*SPOILER ALERT*

- The villain of the story is just outright idiotic. They might as well have name him "Ragey McAngerpants" instead of "Ray." The character has absolutely no substance and no motivation. He's just bad because, well, bad. Nothing like a lackluster villain pushing the story forward.
- With 0 explanation, the villain is chased into some inexplicable chamber, fried Dr. Manhattan style, and comes out as Parasite. Bland.
- Dialogue is super, super weak. Paraphrasing: "Oh, you're a hooker? It's cool. I'm just disappointed but it's no big deal." I'm sure that's exactly how that conversation would've gone.
- The book is super perv-y. Doesn't miss a chance to show boob shots, barely shadowed nude women, female masturbation comments... C'mon, was this written by a 13 year old? I came for a Supes book, not some basement virgin's fantasies.
- The story dives into subplots that simply eat up pages and have no fruition. Great example: The books takes pages to explain how Supes needs his ship to create a cover-suit to protect him from Parasite/Ray. The suit is damage and broken within 3 panels (not pages, panels) of it being introduced. Did we really just spend pages to explain this to have it near-instantaneously removed from the story?
- The US military characters are rabid and bloodthirsty for ways to kill Superman. Like, inexplicably so, calling him the alien "sonuvabitch." Again, no explanation. Just angst for angst.
- Their take on Luthor's character is not my cup of tea.

I honestly could go on and on and pick apart each page for how poorly they were written, but you get the idea. The art has some good action pieces so I enjoyed that, but the fact that characters are A: All beautiful, and B: basically the same character with different hair took away from even that. Would not recommend this book.

A vaguely entertaining but ultimately unessential take on the Superman origin story that, unfortunately, doesn't bring much new to the table. Unlike the Batman Earth One book, which makes some interesting changes to continuity and supporting characters, all the changes here are superficial. Jimmy Olsen goes by Jim or James, is a bit more serious. Clark Kent wears a hoodie.

Straczynski goes out of his way to tell us how much Clark is struggling -- to belong, to fit in, to be one of us -- but he never does the work to actually show us, to convince us, to make us feel, so his version of Superman isn't someone we can easily relate to. The character is one dimensional, and it's a story that's been told so many times before, and so much better, which is the crux of the problem I have with Superman: Earth One. It never rises above the mythos.

I'm really loving the Earth One Novels. Riding off the success of the first book, Superman: Earth One Vol 1, Book 2 takes us a little deeper into Ole Clark Kent and this "Coming of Age" Superman. Everything from the Art to the Dialogue is superb. I have to give the creative team a pat on the back. I'm very excited for the next volume in this Earth One Series.

If you liked Superman: Earth One, you should also check out Batman: Earth One, it is also pretty interesting twist on Bruce Wayne.

Action packed with a great story. Maybe not as good as Vol. 1 but still a must read book for Superman fans. ( and that's a big maybe) the places this story goes is like no other I have ever read in Superman comics. I would defenetly recommend this book!!!

Pretty good overall, I thought that JMS did a good enough job on the story to make superman fairly modern. The only negative i have on this book is that the villian is pretty lame. His appearance as well as his dialogue, he looks like he came from a David Bowie video and really just says the stuff that you would expect him to say blah blah blah....I came to finish you off..blah.

That being said i am extremely excited for this series, i hope now that JMS is off the regular superman series he can focus on putting these books out on time. I feel like this series could really put supes back on the map.

I loved the way Clark is humanized, and the close personalization he develops with his earth parents.
However author loses a star for lack of creativity, come on a whole alien army sent to earth so over played in every b class movie.

Another wonderful addition to the Superman Earth One collection. I won't spoil anything but JMS is not afraid to change things in big ways. He changes the origins of two key characters in Superman's life. Story was moving at times with the right amount of action. You will not be disappointed.

An excellent read...I do not agree with everything written and drawn here. However, the way they portrayed the man of steel was excellent if felt more realistic more human...you can empathize with him more... artwork was more gritty then I usually prefer but it worked well with the story telling... issues with zooming features and rotation on my kindle fire was a bit annoying I admit... I was going rate it a 4 but decided not to fault story due to minor conversion issues

Superman is a character that has been reinterpreted many times throughout the character's life. Sometimes these have been subtle changes as the years have passed and other times the character has been completely reinvented in either an alternate reality storyline or within the main continuity of the DC Universe. The last person to successfully reinvent Superman in the main continuity was John Byrne after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, while a host of other stories such as Superman: Red Son and Superman: Last Son of Earth have been written as one-offs under the Elseworlds banner and most recently All Star Superman has been a great success at retelling Superman without completely reinventing him. There have been other smaller reinventions of the character along the way that haven't really taken much hold in the main continuity including Superman: Birthright and Superman: Secret Origin each retconning particular aspects of the character's origin.

Superman: Earth One by J. Michael Straczynski is part of an ongoing alternate universe within DC designed in the same vein as the Ultimate universe that Marvel has created. These stories will use well known characters, but be unburdened by previous continuity.

The story as told is not much of a change from the standard Superman legend. Kal-El is sent to earth in a space vessel from Krypton where he gains super powers under the yellow sun of earth. He is found by the Kents as a baby when the ship crashes and when he is in his late teens early twenties his father Jonathan Kent dies (this diverges slightly from the original silver age storyline where both his parents die and the Byrne continuity where both live and is more akin to the original movie story). In this storyline the main plot change is that Clark Kent is reluctant to put on the costume of Superman and become a public hero. He seeks employment in sports and corporate research due to the money he can make figuring that this is how he can make the most difference in the world, by gaining monetary wealth. He dismisses the life of a reporter when there is no money in it. He also seeks a more normal human life as his upbringing made him feel alone due to having to hide his abilities. The idea of using his powers as a public hero is something he dreads as he feels he will always be outside of humanity and alone if he does that.

Obviously something happens and he ends up becoming Superman, it's not much of a spoiler to put that out there, but the way it all comes together is somewhat obvious and not particularly interesting. It doesn't seem that JMS has much room to work with the character in this, possibly due to the influence of DC. While Supreme Power had JMS invent his own Superman as a government raised pawn that is used as a secret weapon who ends up rebelling and destroying his masters the most you can say about the Clark Kent from Superman: Earth One is that he is a bit selfish and naive and that he gets over it.

If you are looking for some sort of revelatory new Superman story, this really isn't it. The art is good, the hardcover version is nicely bound and printed and the story is passable, but as a reinvention of the character it's lacking in creativity. Certainly there is room for improvement as the series continues and JMS is a fine writer, but this isn't a particularly great start.

I had heard headlines on the internet about Supermans "new-look". Most had compared him to a cross between Edward Cullen and your average emo teen. I was instantly put off and expressed my disappointment, if this was the direction that Michael J. Straczynski and Shane Davis were taking Superman then you could count me out. Later I happened upon some previews of the graphic novel and found them to be very detailed and well drawn with smooth page transitions so I made the purchase, at the cheapest price to avoid buyers remorse. I was blown away!!! It wasn't at all what I was expecting. I found the character to be the most relateable and sincere incarnation of Superman ever. It is a simple and, in my opinion, accurate portrayal of the transition between Clark Kent and Superman. While the cover may seem to paint a picture of a dark, brooding, and melancholy Superman the reality could not be further from the truth. He is rather a man at a crossroads, impacted by the reality of who he is and what he is capable of. Unlike the soap opera that was Smallville, Superman: Earth-One makes Clark Kent the young adult that many of us can visualize and nod our heads in agreement to. You may find yourself asking the question: Would I have made the same choice? A definite and solid purchase for Superman enthusiasits or someone who is just starting to get into the mythos of the man of steel. I was actually so into that I bought a black leather jacket and am in the process of adding the red hood and sleeve stripes LOL. Enjoy!

Earth One continues to be the most interesting and exciting Superman comic book to come out in years. Clark Kent is finally more than just a lovestruck alter ego and Superman, even, is more than just an ideal. I can't wait for the next volume to come out.

Big Superman fan. This is probably one of my favorite story arch. Not so much the boy scout, and has a darker feel (not batman dark). It has some fresh point of views, and it looks like its as some substance to the new movie coming out.

Had a Blast reading this book! The story of superman has been told and retold, this story however told the story from a unique point of view, that of Clark Kent. I really like how the portrayal of a modern day Clark and all that he could have become without becoming the Man of Steel. The writing shows the close relationship that he shared with his earthly parents Jonathan and Martha and they are the ones who instilled that values that Superman holds true throughout the ages. Any self-respecting Superman fan should make sure and have a copy of this in their library.

Loved many parts of this. Love the artwork. Love the concept of Krypton being destroyed as part of a bigger plan, not just an act of nature. Love the idea that Superman's powers would be different under other celestial objects, not just yellow and red sun effects.

Hate the job search. Hate the "we have to kill the last one" motivation. Hate that the villain, superpowered for 20 years, makes a typical lame mistake that leads to his destruction. Hate that one planet's metal is stronger than the other planet's metal.

Enjoyed the read, just not quite up to super five star status.

This book made superman feel more human, to see how he feels and views the world was perfect. I haven't been this excited about a sequel for superman since the early years of smallville. Keep up the good work.

This is as good as advertised. Artwork is outstanding and Straczynski offers a very realistic view of a 20 something Clark as he tries to figure out what he wants to do with his life. Well worth the $19.99 cover price....or the discounted price the store has it for.

The first volume of this book re-imagined the creation of Superman in an updated world and gave readers a look into the "why" he chose to don the symbolic "S" on his chest. The second volume depicts Superman's battle with himself, the world, and Parasite, a serial-killing super-powered human that gains strength as he steals energy from humans, electrics, cars, and even Superman himself.

Stracynzski has taken the Perry White character and developed him into a mentor for Clark Kent the journalist, instead of just the tough boss. He has also added another love interest, Lisa Lasalle, Clark's redheaded next-door neighbor. While Clark has another love interest Lois Lane is not forgotten as she investigates a story only she notices. Jimmy Olsen is a Crazy do-anything-for-the-picture photographer.

Shane Davis and Sandra Hope have done an amazing job in this phenomenally drawn comic. The book is edgy,colorful, and both Parasite and Superman look tremendous. The battle scenes in Earth One Volume 2 may seem short-lived and quick, but their point is made and drawn beautifully.

Clark is challenged on a number of different levels as he determines what he will and will not do with his both powers. Parasite that brings him down to Earth in miserable fashion, two of his neighbors suffering from their own societal ills, and a brutal dictator of a war-torn country brings into question the political significance of Superman. the main focus of the book is to explore Clark Kent's mind. Drawn in by Clark's human feelings readers are offered a look into his past and what went into his becoming Superman.

I highly recommend this Story to anyone who enjoyed "creation of" or "evolution of" a hero story lines in the past, this one is with the best.