Superman: Earth One Preview!

[Admiral_Young]

Just saw this on Newsarama and have been excited for both this and "Batman: Earth One" which doesn't have a publication date yet despite both DiDio and Johns saying it would be out by the end of the year, most likely it has been pushed back to early next year. "Superman: Earth One" is coming out Oct 27th though...I gotta say that I'm not that familiar with Shane Davis's art but it looks really clean and crisp here. Here's the preview...doesn't reveal very much...

http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album.php?aid=37879

 

[Samurai8472]

This sounds like DC's version of ultimate story lines for their characters.

 

[Myasishchev]

What would happen if the origin of The Man of Tomorrow were introduced today for the very first time?

Why don't you tell me, DC, so there's a hook. Maybe he could save an experimental spaceplane, though. That would be cool.

Seriously, this is about the five most hook-less pages I've ever read. ("Do you mean you don't know yet?" "I don't know yet." This is not, exactly, trailer material.)

And really (respectfully) disagree on the art. Okay, this will come off as snark, but he is a great background artist. His human figures all look a little... mannequinny. Also, the blocking--it's bizarre to complain about the blocking in a comic, but here I am. The blocking is way off on Page 3 (possibly to fit in the "I don't know yet" exchange, although there were options to do this without sacrificing that scintillating conversation), and arguably it is off on Page 4.

 

[Admiral_Young]

As I said I think this is one of the few exposures that I've had to his art work so I don't have much else to go on...no worries about the disagreement, at first I didn't really like his Superman (which you can view by finding my thread on the original announcement which still should be somewhere) but his Clark reminds me of Smallville Clark a bit. Yeah the build up used wasn't great but it's obvious that at least in the first half of the graphic novel that we'll most likely see Clark trying to decide to be Superman if he already hasn't.

As for it being DC's take on the Ultimate verse...meh...that's what people thought about their All-Star line when it was first announced and look at how that line has turned out, a whacked out Batman who thinks he's god's gift to women and crime fighting and supposedly the Dark Knight Returns/Year One Batman, and All Star Superman which was one of the best Superman stories ever told (at least to the majority of fans who've read it). All-Star Batgirl has yet to seen life along with All Star Wonder Woman which we've been continually teased over the last couple years is still in the works.

It's not really been made clear if Superman and Batman Earth One take place in the same universe despite sharing the same title on their covers...at least I don't remember JMS and Johns confirming this in the interviews they've given on them.

 

[Myasishchev]

As for it being DC's take on the Ultimate verse...meh...that's what people thought about their All-Star line when it was first announced and look at how that line has turned out, a whacked out Batman who thinks he's god's gift to women and crime fighting and supposedly the Dark Knight Returns/Year One Batman, and All Star Superman which was one of the best Superman stories ever told (at least to the majority of fans who've read it). All-Star Batgirl has yet to seen life along with All Star Wonder Woman which we've been continually teased over the last couple years is still in the works.

Well, given how the Ultimate Universe turned out, it's not the most unfair comparison...

Funny thing I read on some blog, I think Written World's Ragnell said it, and she was quoting a friend. Boiled down to: "The Avengers are to the Ultimates as the Justice League is to the Crime Syndicate." And the more I think about it, the more true it seems.

Personally, I really wish the actual title of ASBAR was The Goddamn Batman. They've sought their refuge in claims of parody, time they revel in it.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^That'd be an awesome title for it...it has been renamed as "Dark Knight: Boy Wonder" and the next issue is supposed to be out in Feb according to Jim Lee who has said that the delays are his fault due to his ongoing work on DC Online.

I kind of compared the Ultimates to the Authority rather than anything else.

 

[Samurai8472]

From the small previews it seems everyone is out to push Clark/give him a rough time. It's like the fans of "Smallville" crying out

"Why aren't you Superman!"



Martha- You've had years think about this....

Landlord- You've got to decide what you want to do with your life. No one can tell you what to do.

 

[Mike Farley]

JMS sure likes to have Superman walking around a lot. Must be afraid of heights.

 

[Delta1]

"What would happen if the origin of The Man of Tomorrow were introduced today for the very first time?"

Return to Smallville as we try to get the Man of Steel's birth right, again. Brought to you by an all star team of creators.

 

[Gen. Zod]

I, for one, am really looking forward to this. I think the change in format is great, too. I really hope this is successful and we get the additional 2 books a year (or so) that have been discussed.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yep, I hope sales are good for this as well.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Looks pretty lame.

jms's characters can never resist commenting upon every incident and plot point, no matter how it slows or interrupts the flow of the story. That in the moment or so when Clark resists the robber would bother to remark upon a detail which he would not understand the significance of - the "scary contacts" remark - can be justified on nit-picky logical grounds but makes no sense in terms of plausibility at all.

One of the leads on Babylon 5 once imitated jms's approach to dialogue to me this way:

"Hello, I'll be over in one hour to pick you up for our date. I'll be driving my car. It has four wheels."

 

[Yassim]

That preview makes me sad.

"You will believe... a man... can rent a hotel room!"

 

[Checkmate]

"Hello, I'll be over in one hour to pick you up for our date. I'll be driving my car. It has four wheels."

That's common in most sci-fi shows. No one ever just starts the engines. No one ever just shoots a guy. No one ever says they're just out of fuel. It's always some technobabble bullshit with too many equally technobabblicious adjectives.

 

[Rowan Sjet]

"Hello, I'll be over in one hour to pick you up for our date. I'll be driving my car. It has four wheels."

That's common in most sci-fi shows. No one ever just starts the engines. No one ever just shoots a guy. No one ever says they're just out of fuel. It's always some technobabble bullshit with too many equally technobabblicious adjectives.

But Babylon 5 is the only show I know of to take it to such an extreme.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

SOOOOOOOOO sick of DC retelling Superman's origin in mini series form. Man of Steel, Birthright, Secret Origin, and now this. Can DC get a new idea? Please?

 

[Myasishchev]

"Hello, I'll be over in one hour to pick you up for our date. I'll be driving my car. It has four wheels."

That's common in most sci-fi shows. No one ever just starts the engines. No one ever just shoots a guy. No one ever says they're just out of fuel. It's always some technobabble bullshit with too many equally technobabblicious adjectives.

Very funny send-up of the "as you know" set of tropes in this here, a (very) short realist fiction piece, written as a science fiction piece.

Maybe it is science fiction after all, because on a meta level it's a cautionary tale, which should give the best in the business pause.

“Do you think we’ll be flying on a propeller plane? Or one of the newer jets?” asked Ann.

“I’m sure it will be a jet,” said Roger. “Propeller planes are almost entirely out of date, after all. On the other hand, rocket engines are still experimental. It’s said that when they’re in general use, trips like this will take an hour at most. This one will take up to four hours.”

Teehee.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Is the use of the phrase "Earth One" a coincidence? Obviously a Superman like this would never have worked on the "real" Earth-One...

"Hello, I'll be over in one hour to pick you up for our date. I'll be driving my car. It has four wheels."

Which B5 lead was it?

 

[Admiral_Young]

I don't know if you can actually count Earth One as "another origin" story because I don't think it will even be that...just another continuity.

 

[Snaploud]

I don't know if you can actually count Earth One as "another origin" story because I don't think it will even be that...just another continuity.

Yep. Another distinction is that Superman is supposed to be the only super-powered individual on Earth, and it seems to be more about exploring the possibilities of what he could do with his powers than his first year in tights. Though, I could be wrong about the latter part.

Edit: Also, you should read the epilogue to Midnight Nation if you want to know about JMS' fixation with walking.