Summer 2022 Reading Entry #7. Superman: Secret Origin Deluxe Edition (2010) by Geoff Johns, penciled by Gary Frank, and inked by Sibal. Colors by Brad Anderson.
Originally released in single comic book issues as Superman: Secret Origin #1-6 (November 2009-October 2010). Version read: First hardcover reprint collection (the "Deluxe Edition", copyright date 2010; 2019 printing). Has also been released in trade paperback format in 2011 and 2018.
Okay, now that that's all of that now out of the way. I *loved* this book (comic book mini-series)! Superman: Secret Origin was the *third* time that DC Comics decided to do a major revamping of Superman's origin story in what most would consider to be the modern era of comics. The first had been John Byrne's The Man of Steel six-issue mini-series (1986). The second (which I just read and reviewed a few weeks ago) was Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu, and Gerry Alanguilan's twelve-issue Superman: Birthright series (2003-2004).
I started reading comics not less than ten years prior to Byrne's Man of Steel, so I was very familiar with both his version of the character and his origin story as well as the classic version that had been built up over the many decades prior to that (the "Pre-Crisis" version, as in pre Crisis on Infinite Earths, which was the first time DC did an intentional massive revamping of their line).
I really liked Byrne's version. When Waid, Yu, and Alanguilan's Birthright came along in 2003, I was resistant to it because I didn't see a reason to change Superman's origin story at that time from Byrne's version. I was also, at that time, starting to fall way behind in my comics reading, so I only partly got through Birthright when it first came out.
By the time I got around to reading Birthright now, I'm much more used to seeing multiple versions of Superman's origin story, both in the comics and also in the Superman television shows and movies. So I was more open to it now than I had been in 2003. (Plus, I knew now that Birthright was no longer the current "canon" version of Superman's origins in the comics than Byrne's, having been surpassed by several other company wide crossover "events" and origin retellings/reimaginings.)
Enter Superman: Secret Origin, which came out just five years after Birthright had finished. Now, I can't recall exactly what all was going on in the main Superman comics at the time or the rest of DC's superhero titles because by that point I had stopped regularly buying comics or was just about to. I do know, however, that British comic book artist Gary Frank had been the doing the art on Superman's stories in Action Comics already at the time that Secret Origin came out. My first encounters with Frank's art had been on titles like J. Michael Straczynski's Midnight Nation (Top Cow Comics) and Supreme Power (Marvel), and on Peter David's runs on Incredible Hulk (Marvel) and Supergirl (DC). Gary Frank has a nice clean classic looking art style and excels especially in the very clear and varied facial expressions he is able to give all of his characters.
However, let me get right to exactly why I love Superman: Secret Origin so much (and really any time Gary Frank draws Superman): Frank's Superman is clearly 100% unapologetically Christopher Reeve, straight out of the 1978-1980s Superman movies. Which is wonderful for me and probably most others who are just the right age that Reeve *was* their live action version of Superman growing up.
Yes, it's a line drawing of Superman still, and Frank does put in a little bit of his own "tweaking" of Superman (and Clark Kent's) face, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't clearly Reeve that's Frank's visual inspiration. And it goes beyond just the face. Frank also draws Superman in flight and in walking, etc., in clearly Christopher Reeve inspired Superman movie poses. And his Clark Kent in the classic blue suit and really big round lens glasses, again, pure Christopher Reeve.
Beyond hitting my nostalgic buttons there, however, writer Geoff Johns also wisely hits a completely different set of nostalgic buttons for older readers by bringing back elements from the pre John Byrne Man of Steel/pre-Crisis version of Superman's origin and back story. Specifically, he brings back the notion that Clark's adopted mother, Martha, created the Superman costume for him out of materials found in the spaceship that brought him to Earth back while Clark was still a school boy instead of much later on after Clark had grown to adulthood. In short, Johns brings back "Superboy".
Now, we don't get the impression that Clark did much superheroing in public during those years because he still comes as a complete surprise to everyone when he makes his public debut in Metropolis as Superman many years later. And young Clark is actually embarrassed to wear the costume. However, where it he does when secretly rescuing people from various accidents.
And, soon after he does start wearing his new costume, along come three similarly strange costumed teenagers with super-power saying they are from the future and part of an organization of super-teens there called the Legion of Super-Heroes. They say Clark is their inspiration in their era and they broke several rules to travel back in time to meet him. Clark convinces them to take him with them back to their 30th Century future where he is not only amazed by everything but also for the first time in his life gets to enjoy being with others like him.
It's a short visit and they bring him back but it is nice in that it reintroduces to the DC continuity that Clark had been a part of the Legion of Super-Heroes in his early years as Superboy. (Byrne had dropped the Superboy element of Superman's past entirely in his version.)
That's all in the first two issues. The remaining four issues deal with Clark in Metropolis. The usual stuff. Meeting Lois Lane, Perry White, Jimmy Olsen. Getting his job at the Daily Planet. Making his debut as Superman. Saving people but also being feared by some at the same time for being different. Lex Luthor is the main villain again, of course, just as he had been in Man of Steel and Birthright. As in Birthright, this version of the story has Lex moving briefly to Smallville as a boy and meeting Clark before moving on. It also, as in Birthright has Lex discover the chunk of Kryptonite in Smallville that he later uses as a power source for things he has planned (and, as a bonus, realizes that the glowing green radioactive meteorite is the one thing that can hurt Superman). As in Birthright, Lex turns the people against Superman briefly, revealing that Superman is in actuality an alien and therefore must be dangerous.
You also get two other classic comics Superman villains, the Parasite and Metallo, both created either intentionally (Metallo) or unintentionally (the Parasite) by Luthor's experiments with the Kryptonite. (I have to say that it is very cool to see a Christopher Reeve looking Superman fighting these long time comics bad guys, Metallo and the Parasite, villains we never got to see in the 1980s movies.)
And, really, that's overall exactly what Superman: Secret Origin does and therefore makes it such an enjoyable comic/graphic novel: it's "fan service" in the best meaning of the term. It mixes elements from more than one much loved previous version of Superman (the Christopher Reeve movies, the pre-Crisis comics, and more recent retellings of the origin story) to present a thoroughly enjoyable hybrid of them all. I highly recommend Superman: Secret Origin, especially to those in their forties or older who grew with Christopher Reeve as *their* Superman (although I think readers younger than that who didn't have that experience with the Reeve movies will also find it to be enjoyable). I gave it a five out of five stars on GoodReads.
(Previous Summer 2022 Reading Entries: #1: Star Trek: Avenger by William Shatner (1997; novel); #2: Batman vs. Ra's Al Ghul by Neal Adams (2019-2021, six-issue comic book limited-series; 2021 collected hardcover edition); #3: Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Wu, and Gerry Alanguilan (twelve-issue comic book limited series; 2003 to 2004; read on DC Universe Infinite, also available in hardcover and softcover editions); #4: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows Book 1: A Sea of Troubles by J. Steven York and Christina F. York (2007; novella), #5: The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings by David A. Goodman and David Cabeza (2019, four issue comic book limited series; 2020 collected trade paperback edition), #6: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 2: The Oppressor's Wrong by Phaedra Weldon.)
—David Young
Originally released in single comic book issues as Superman: Secret Origin #1-6 (November 2009-October 2010). Version read: First hardcover reprint collection (the "Deluxe Edition", copyright date 2010; 2019 printing). Has also been released in trade paperback format in 2011 and 2018.
Okay, now that that's all of that now out of the way. I *loved* this book (comic book mini-series)! Superman: Secret Origin was the *third* time that DC Comics decided to do a major revamping of Superman's origin story in what most would consider to be the modern era of comics. The first had been John Byrne's The Man of Steel six-issue mini-series (1986). The second (which I just read and reviewed a few weeks ago) was Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu, and Gerry Alanguilan's twelve-issue Superman: Birthright series (2003-2004).
I started reading comics not less than ten years prior to Byrne's Man of Steel, so I was very familiar with both his version of the character and his origin story as well as the classic version that had been built up over the many decades prior to that (the "Pre-Crisis" version, as in pre Crisis on Infinite Earths, which was the first time DC did an intentional massive revamping of their line).
I really liked Byrne's version. When Waid, Yu, and Alanguilan's Birthright came along in 2003, I was resistant to it because I didn't see a reason to change Superman's origin story at that time from Byrne's version. I was also, at that time, starting to fall way behind in my comics reading, so I only partly got through Birthright when it first came out.
By the time I got around to reading Birthright now, I'm much more used to seeing multiple versions of Superman's origin story, both in the comics and also in the Superman television shows and movies. So I was more open to it now than I had been in 2003. (Plus, I knew now that Birthright was no longer the current "canon" version of Superman's origins in the comics than Byrne's, having been surpassed by several other company wide crossover "events" and origin retellings/reimaginings.)
Enter Superman: Secret Origin, which came out just five years after Birthright had finished. Now, I can't recall exactly what all was going on in the main Superman comics at the time or the rest of DC's superhero titles because by that point I had stopped regularly buying comics or was just about to. I do know, however, that British comic book artist Gary Frank had been the doing the art on Superman's stories in Action Comics already at the time that Secret Origin came out. My first encounters with Frank's art had been on titles like J. Michael Straczynski's Midnight Nation (Top Cow Comics) and Supreme Power (Marvel), and on Peter David's runs on Incredible Hulk (Marvel) and Supergirl (DC). Gary Frank has a nice clean classic looking art style and excels especially in the very clear and varied facial expressions he is able to give all of his characters.
However, let me get right to exactly why I love Superman: Secret Origin so much (and really any time Gary Frank draws Superman): Frank's Superman is clearly 100% unapologetically Christopher Reeve, straight out of the 1978-1980s Superman movies. Which is wonderful for me and probably most others who are just the right age that Reeve *was* their live action version of Superman growing up.
Yes, it's a line drawing of Superman still, and Frank does put in a little bit of his own "tweaking" of Superman (and Clark Kent's) face, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't clearly Reeve that's Frank's visual inspiration. And it goes beyond just the face. Frank also draws Superman in flight and in walking, etc., in clearly Christopher Reeve inspired Superman movie poses. And his Clark Kent in the classic blue suit and really big round lens glasses, again, pure Christopher Reeve.
Beyond hitting my nostalgic buttons there, however, writer Geoff Johns also wisely hits a completely different set of nostalgic buttons for older readers by bringing back elements from the pre John Byrne Man of Steel/pre-Crisis version of Superman's origin and back story. Specifically, he brings back the notion that Clark's adopted mother, Martha, created the Superman costume for him out of materials found in the spaceship that brought him to Earth back while Clark was still a school boy instead of much later on after Clark had grown to adulthood. In short, Johns brings back "Superboy".
Now, we don't get the impression that Clark did much superheroing in public during those years because he still comes as a complete surprise to everyone when he makes his public debut in Metropolis as Superman many years later. And young Clark is actually embarrassed to wear the costume. However, where it he does when secretly rescuing people from various accidents.
And, soon after he does start wearing his new costume, along come three similarly strange costumed teenagers with super-power saying they are from the future and part of an organization of super-teens there called the Legion of Super-Heroes. They say Clark is their inspiration in their era and they broke several rules to travel back in time to meet him. Clark convinces them to take him with them back to their 30th Century future where he is not only amazed by everything but also for the first time in his life gets to enjoy being with others like him.
It's a short visit and they bring him back but it is nice in that it reintroduces to the DC continuity that Clark had been a part of the Legion of Super-Heroes in his early years as Superboy. (Byrne had dropped the Superboy element of Superman's past entirely in his version.)
That's all in the first two issues. The remaining four issues deal with Clark in Metropolis. The usual stuff. Meeting Lois Lane, Perry White, Jimmy Olsen. Getting his job at the Daily Planet. Making his debut as Superman. Saving people but also being feared by some at the same time for being different. Lex Luthor is the main villain again, of course, just as he had been in Man of Steel and Birthright. As in Birthright, this version of the story has Lex moving briefly to Smallville as a boy and meeting Clark before moving on. It also, as in Birthright has Lex discover the chunk of Kryptonite in Smallville that he later uses as a power source for things he has planned (and, as a bonus, realizes that the glowing green radioactive meteorite is the one thing that can hurt Superman). As in Birthright, Lex turns the people against Superman briefly, revealing that Superman is in actuality an alien and therefore must be dangerous.
You also get two other classic comics Superman villains, the Parasite and Metallo, both created either intentionally (Metallo) or unintentionally (the Parasite) by Luthor's experiments with the Kryptonite. (I have to say that it is very cool to see a Christopher Reeve looking Superman fighting these long time comics bad guys, Metallo and the Parasite, villains we never got to see in the 1980s movies.)
And, really, that's overall exactly what Superman: Secret Origin does and therefore makes it such an enjoyable comic/graphic novel: it's "fan service" in the best meaning of the term. It mixes elements from more than one much loved previous version of Superman (the Christopher Reeve movies, the pre-Crisis comics, and more recent retellings of the origin story) to present a thoroughly enjoyable hybrid of them all. I highly recommend Superman: Secret Origin, especially to those in their forties or older who grew with Christopher Reeve as *their* Superman (although I think readers younger than that who didn't have that experience with the Reeve movies will also find it to be enjoyable). I gave it a five out of five stars on GoodReads.
(Previous Summer 2022 Reading Entries: #1: Star Trek: Avenger by William Shatner (1997; novel); #2: Batman vs. Ra's Al Ghul by Neal Adams (2019-2021, six-issue comic book limited-series; 2021 collected hardcover edition); #3: Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Wu, and Gerry Alanguilan (twelve-issue comic book limited series; 2003 to 2004; read on DC Universe Infinite, also available in hardcover and softcover editions); #4: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows Book 1: A Sea of Troubles by J. Steven York and Christina F. York (2007; novella), #5: The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings by David A. Goodman and David Cabeza (2019, four issue comic book limited series; 2020 collected trade paperback edition), #6: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 2: The Oppressor's Wrong by Phaedra Weldon.)
—David Young
