Superman: Earth One Volume 2 Review

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Artist: Shane Davis

My Superman buzz continues, as after seeing Man of Steel I've decided to go through some of my favourite Superman stories again, as well as trying to obtain some that I've not yet read. Anyway whilst re-reading Superman: Earth One Volume One (reviewed here) I decided to buy this, the second volume, and have been excited about reading it, as I loved the first volume.

Plot

Clark continues his life as a reporter for the Daily Planet, moving into a new apartment, where he meet's a beautiful young woman named Lisa Lasalle. Life isn't all roses for Clark, as his other life as Superman gets in the way with a Tsunami hitting the Island Borada, and the emergence of a new enemy dubbed Parasite.

Review

This was yet another amazing book, and although there isn't much between this book, and the first, this one came very close to being the best of the two. J. Michael Straczynski continued to show that he could make awesome Superman stories, and although he disappointed me with Grounded, he has since made up for that with these two graphic novels. What I loved most about Straczynski's writing was that although he continued to amaze with some awesome action, he also continued to delve more into the character developments, giving more depth, and feel to the character's. Straczynski also introduced some new character's, and developed the start of a relationship for Clark which was nice, and although I'll go into more depth later on in my review on this subject, I felt it was worth stating how this shows Straczynski's skill as a writer, and how he plans ahead, without them plans having to necessarily take effect. The emotion, and symbolism that Straczynski put into this story was also brilliant, and I loved how he made this story feel so different from the first just by having a different pace, and speed to the story, which was wonderful. There was however one small thing that made this story not quite as good as it could have been, and that was the fact that the story really slowed down in the last 30 pages, and if it wasn't for that this story would have been better than the first. Straczynski did however leave us with some teasers for the future, and I seriously can't wait to see them developed in a third volume.

The art in this story was phenomenal, and Shane Davis once again produced some of the finest Superman artwork that I've ever seen, as although there are better Superman artists, Davis' art isn't far behind. The detail in Davis' art is simply outstanding, and although there were some rough, and imperfect details, most notably in a couple of panels on the first page, most of the art was perfect, and felt very dynamic. He also once again did an amazing job of drawing both Superman, and Clark, as well as the other character's that featured in the first volume. Davis did however also draw some fabulous new character's including Clark's new flatmate, Lisa Lasalle, who looked beautiful, and the new villain Parasite. Talking of Davis' art on Parasite I have to say when the character first turned into Parasite I wasn't too sure if I loved the new look for the classic character, but after seeing him in action, as well as getting bigger I loved it, and I especially loved the organic energy-receptor's, which made his abilities feel more natural, and modern. Davis also once again gave some amazing action during this story, especially when it came to Parasite, and the fights between Superman, and Parasite in this story made the spectacular fight Superman had with Tyrell in volume one look small. Besides all these great points, Davis also showed the character's emotions well, especially between Clark, and Lisa, and overall this added more depth, and drama to the story.

Near the start of this story we see Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen talking about Clark, and how Lois feels that there's something not right about him. This would lead in Lois obsessing over Clark, wanting to know more about him, without Clark knowing this. Overall this was a brilliant addition to this story, and I loved that it didn't just kick off right near the start of the book, but that it wasn't in your face, and felt like the side story that it is. It was also nice to see Lois' intuition's come in early in the overall Earth One story, and how she already has a feeling that there's more to Clark than meets the eye. As to whether this is due to jealousy (over him getting the Superman interview), or whether it is her reporters intuition, it made for an interesting side story, and I hope it continues through any possible sequel books.

As I said earlier we got a new character introduced in this story in the form of Lisa Lasalle, who made short work of trying to start a relationship with Clark. Some of people say that Lisa is Earth One's version of Lana Lang, and although I can see similarities, I have to disagree. Lisa to me is a much different type of character, and the only real thing her, and Lana have in common is that they are love interests of Clark. As for her characteristics, I loved how she was a strong headed woman, and not afraid to show how she feels. I also loved how she acted sexy, as although this can sometimes be over the top (as it is in Catwoman), Straczynski handles this well, treating it as a playful tease for Clark, which adds more drama, and suspense. The chemistry between Clark, and Lisa was also brilliant, as although they both had different personalities, like Clark, Lisa seemed like a good person, and the way they interacted was just golden, and although I still feel that the Clark/Lois relationship is the relationship that defines Superman, it's nice to see him with someone else in his earlier days, and I hope Lisa stays for a while longer.

During his first date with Lisa, Clark had to go off and be Superman to help out people caught in a Tsunami on the Island of Borada. Superman is however stopped in his tracks by the leader of this Island, General Samsa, and is forced to leave. Now this is the first time in Earth One that we see Superman try to help a foreign country, and get involved in politics. I found this an interesting addition, as he stated in his interview with Clark that he'd not get involved in politics, whereas he's placed in a positions where he politics stop him from helping the innocent. This also gave Superman his first dilemma, and the way Straczynski let it play out was brilliant, and very interesting, showing the development of his character, as a hero.

There was naturally a new villain in this story, and this time Straczynski went for a classic villain in the form of Parasite. Now I've never been the biggest Parasite fan, but he was nothing short of awesome in this story, and both Straczynski's writing of the character, and Davis' art was perfect. There was two things I loved most about Parasite this time round, and that was that he had a decent, and deep backstory, and that he was a serious threat to Superman. I'll start with his backstory, which I loved, as never having the chance to read the original backstory for Parasite, it was nice to see it in this story. I also liked how it showed him as a murderer, who had a troubled life growing up, and that he only thought of one other person bar himself (his sister, Theresa). Now onto the other reason I loved this Parasite, and that was the fact he was a serious threat to Superman. Most recent stories I've read involving Parasite have Superman beating him easy, whereas with his powers that shouldn't be the case. I also loved how this type of villain was added so soon, showing that Superman can be weakened, and that he can't win everything with raw strength.

The military return in this story, continuing their role from the last volume, with Major Sandra Lee continuing her research into Superman. This time instead of examining the spaceship that he arrived in (which is now in the Arctic, and acting as his Fortress of Solitude), Sandra's working on finding a way of stopping Superman if necessary, as well as trying to find out how to kill him. It was obvious that she wasn't going to give up hunting Superman, and it was obvious that she'd try to find a way of neutralising him at any cost, so it was nice to see that in this story. I did however once again love that like the Lois angle that this didn't take up a great deal of time, and acted like the side story that it is, and the teasers for the future of this side story are very interesting, and I look forward to seeing it developed.

Final Verdict

This story was awesome, and it's hard to tell what's better between this, and Volume One, but this story was very close to being better than Volume One. Straczynski, and Davis continue to give us excitement, and emotion, as we have more fabulous action, as well as great character development. Clark also gets a love interest which was nice, and the villain Parasite was handled perfectly, being a real threat to Superman, like he should be. Due to all this as well as other teasers I would highly recommend this to anyone, and although you can read this without reading Volume One I'd recommend reading that also, and I hope Straczynski, and Davis continues to make these wonderful graphic novels.

Rating: 5/5

Superman: Earth One Volume 1 Review

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski

Artist: Shane Davis

Since watching the Man of Steel a couple of weeks ago I've been in a big Superman mood, and decided to start my Superman reading with Superman: Earth One. When I first bought this book I was sceptical, as although J. Michael Straczynski is a good writer he wasn't doing that good on the normal Superman series at the time, as Grounded was simply disappointing. I did however decide to buy it, and was very happy to have.

Plot

Having arrived in Metropolis Clark Kent looks for a job that will make him enough money to look after his mother. He soon however learns that he can no longer keep his secret, and has to do what he must to save the world from the evil Tyrell by becoming Superman.

Review

This was a phenomenal book, and I love it even more with each read. I've always been a fan of J. Michael Straczynski's work, having loved his runs on Spider-Man, and Thor, as well as his first series of Supreme Power (second series, re-named Squadron Supreme wasn't as good), and although he disappointed me with Grounded, I still had faith that he could write a great Superman story. This book was just that, giving the level of quality I knew Straczynski could produce, and the same quality that should have been in Grounded. Staczynski showed that he understands Superman perfectly, and although we saw this in Grounded, we didn't get as deep as story, or as much excitement in that as we have here. Straczynski also did a perfect job of taking Superman's origin, and making a modern story out of it, as it feels like the origin story we all know, but set in the 21st Century. I also loved how he modernised Clark, having him go about in a hooded jacket, which shows that this is a young man, in the current world, and time, which is very different to the young Clark from old. Straczynski also did a great job with all the character's involved, showing that he truly understood them, whilst adding his own twists, as well as depth to their character. The action that Straczynski added also made this story that much more exciting, and explosive, making it feel like a film in a book, which I loved, and overall Straczynski did a wonderful job with this story.

Now when I originally read this book I hadn't seen much of Shane Davis' art, having only read a few comics that featured his art. I did however love his art on this book, and felt that along with Straczynski's great storytelling that his art was the reason this book was so brilliant, and fun to read, and DC really chose the right creative team for this story. His art was simply stunning, and the detail was perfect, with little to none imperfections. What I loved most about Davis art however had to be the way he showed the character's emotions, and reactions to certain actions, as it made the story feel much more alive, giving it more drama, and excitement. Talking of excitement, the action sequences that Davis drew in this story were epic, and were very explosive, and exciting, and it was truly awe-inspiring. The redesign of Superman, as well as the design of the villain, Tyrell, and his alien fleet were also brilliant, and although there was minimal change to Superman's look, he made Clark look much more modern, and Tyrell looked very menacing, and calculating, which is perfect for a villain. The way he drew the other character's, making minor adjustments to make the more well known character's look slightly more modern was also fantastic. The layout of Davis' art was also spectacular, adding yet more depth, and drama to the story, and overall his art was outstanding, and I'm happy that both Davis, and Staczynski returned for Superman: Earth One Volume Two, and look forward to reading it.

Near the start of the story Clark goes looking for multiple jobs, including American Football, Science, Business, and Construction, before going to the Daily Planet for a reporters job. Now I understand that Superman has all these super abilities, and some of these jobs make sense, but I question how he's all of a sudden so good at science, or business, cause as I've never seen any signs of this in the past, although I'm not the hugest Superman fan so I may be wrong, but I believe I'm a big enough fan to think that I'm right. I did however slightly like the idea of the Superman being able to do everything better than others, but deep down I'd rather he kept to his normal traits, as if it was just sport jobs he went after I'd accept that, as he's considered a sports background in the past, but avoided due to his abilities.

As I said he finally decided to try the Daily Planet, which allowed for the introduction of the famous Planet staff, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and Perry White. Now it was obvious that these character's would feature in this story, as a lot of classic Superman stories have the Planet involved. I did however love seeing them at a younger stage, as although we've had this since in the New 52, when I originally read this I can remember loving the daringness of Lois, and Jimmy, as although we saw this in the pre-New 52 series, they also seemed more mature, as they developed over the years, so it was nice to go back to this less developed state. I also loved the way that they all interacted with one another, and how their individual charm's came through. The thing that I liked most about the Planet in this story however was that they were the underdog, being in a bad patch, as although I can't recall if this has happened prior in Superman's history, I enjoyed seeing it in this.

The military was also shown in this story, as a research team headed by Major Sandra Lee study the ship that Clark landed in. Now the military have always been an interesting addition to Superman stories over the years, and this is no different. Now we don't get a lot from these scientists, but it does show that there are people who know of the possible existence of Clark, and that he's an alien. I also find it interesting how Sandra Lee is obviously smart, but still a military person, who thinks like a soldier. I do however look forward to seeing more of these scientists, and mainly Sandra in the second volume, as with the events that happen in this story they're bound to still be on Superman's heels.

As with most Superman origin/opening stories we get to see both his Earth parents, Jonathan, and Martha Kent and his Krypton parents, Jor-El, and Lara Lor-Van. Superman's parents have been the thing that I feel have shaped who he is as a person, as you have his good nature, and heart from being brought up by the Kent's, whilst also the lust for knowledge of his home world, and real parents, due to them not being able to bring him up. Straczynski did a good job of both, but focused more on the Kent's. I loved how we had the Kent's in the form of flashbacks during this story, as it allowed the pace of the story to be much quicker at the start, allowing the reader to get into the story easier. I did however wish that Jor-El, and Lara Lor-Van would have featured longer, but loved that their message was cut short, leaving a hint of mystery.

With all great stories comes a great villain, and although Tyrell isn't the best villain that I've ever seen, he was still very interesting, and really acted like a proper villain, making sure that Superman, and the world knew who he was. Now personally I saw Tryell as a cross between General Zod, and Brainiac, as he had all the soldier, and leader skills that Zod possesses, but looks more technology advanced. I also loved the fact that Tyrell came from a planet that shared the same sun as Krypton named, Dheron, and how they were bitter enemies of Krypton. The things that Tyrell would later reveal also made him that much more interesting as a character, and left me asking questions, which is brilliant, as it gives suspense to the series. Tyrell's army was also awe-inspiring, and they really had a presence in the story, adding more depth as well. The fight that would embroil between Tyrell, and Superman was also phenomenal, and really exciting, and although not the best fight that I've ever seen, whether in a Superman story, or elsewhere, it was still a fantastic fight, and the dialogue really helped with that.

Final Verdict

This was a great way of introducing Superman to a new audience, as although the New 52 is very modern, I feel that this is even more so, being more in touch with the modern world. As a story it was also exciting, and dramatic, whilst also having some deep character development, and some brilliant dialogue. The art was also fantastic, and the paring of J. Michael Straczynski, and Shane Davis has truly been magical. Due to all this I'd easily recommend this book, and can't wait to finally read Volume Two, which I'm about to do next.

Rating: 5/5