Books : Superman: Birthright (Graphic Novel)

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- Super Retelling of the Origin
I have always wondered about the 'missing years' in Superman's life. You know, that period between being a boy growing up in Smallville, and the time when he mysteriously appears in Metropolis. This book elegantly fills in the gap, and the story is quite well written. Over the course of this book Superman learns some very valuable lessons. Like the fact that he can't save everyone, but that saving everyone isn't what's important. What is important is that you don't give up, and Superman is a hero because he stays in the fight, even when it seems impossible to win.

My only complaint is that the book breaks a bit with some of the traditions of Superman, but that is forgivable given the excellent story telling.

Highly recommended.

Rating:

- Finally, Mr. Goody Two Shoes Gets Some Soul!
Growing up, I was never a big fan of Superman - he was always too perfect, too dull, too infallible. It had been a couple of decades since I'd been exposed to the "big blue Boy Scout". I picked this up on a whim after being wowed by the changes in comics over the years when I saw some collections of the JSA relaunch and the brilliant Jack Knight Starman series. I was definitely not disappointed. The complexity of plot, the subtleties of character, the emphasis on alien heritage - this is definitely not your father's (or grandfather's) Superman.
And the artwork: beautiful. Not since the heyday of Neil Adams and the old school Green Lantern/Green Arrow team-up have I been so impressed by ink on a page!
Forget the continuity issues this might raise and "retconning" it might require - this is a Supes for the new millenium - relevent, complex, and highly entertaining.

Rating:

- Superman and his soul
Good simple story. An intimate look at the personal motivations that made Clark Kent become Superman. I really enjoyed the first part of the story. It got a little cliche' when Superman has to fight (again!!!) with the droids created by the evil genius Lex Luthor. Overall a good read!

Rating:

- A friendly look for those who don't know Superman
Most of the time I dont care for Superman books. With the exception of when he died and returned and Kingdom Come i dont really enjoy Superman. I think he is terrific in the SUPERMAN/BATMAN arcs but superman is almost too perfect. I really enjoyed this story though. Waid is an excellent writer and the artwork is top stuff. The plot is really cool. after reading this I like Superman more and even have started reading All Star Superman which is also terrific. Good Stuff

Rating:

- Still Looking for that Great Superman Story
There are few characters in literature more quintessentially American than Superman and few more difficult to write. Just compare the number of five star Batman stories with the number for Superman. The problem is trying to come up with a compelling story featuring a character with godlike abilities. Not only is Superman nigh on omnipotent with his invulnerability, super speed and near limitless strength he is also essentially omniscient with his super vision, super hearing and x-ray vision (In Birthright Clark Kent uses all three to spy on his coworkers from blocks away). So how do you create a compelling story when the protagonist is invincible? The other problem is that his most frequent antagonist, Lex Luthor, is nothing more than a regular old human (albeit with an astounding intellect). Luthor taking on Superman is like a little league team taking on the Boston Red Sox AND NEARLY WINNING.

Writers have relied on three techniques to limit Superman. First is to have Superman conveniently forget his own powers in particular his near light speed movement. The second limitation is Superman's own Boy Scout morality and third is the annoyingly excessive use of Kryptonite. Mark Waid employs the second technique and is particularly egregious on the third. Luthor literally bathes the city in low level Kryptonite reducing Superman's powers to a more manageable Spider Manish strength. I think it's a testimonial to the skill of a writer if he/she can compose a Superman story and NOT employ Kryptonite. On the other hand Waid does an excellent job of establishing Luthor as a credible threat to Superman.

Despite the tweaking to Superman's origin which he establishes as occurring today, rather than in the 1930's or 1950's, the author really doesn't break any new ground. Luthor's scheme, if you can call it that, is so over the top that it reminds me of the Super Friends episode where The Toyman builds a robot planet to trap the heroes. I mean, if you can build an entire robot planet... uh well. Apparently aware of the absurd scale and unfeasibility of Luthor's plan the author tries (and fails) to rationalize and diminish what's going on. In the end I have to consider Birthright to be a mild failure. There are so many plot holes that it becomes a distraction. There is no explanation on how the faux Kryptonian Van-Gar was able to go toe to toe with Superman even if you account for Superman's diminished powers and why would Luthor compose such an extravagant plan only to leave the lynchpin of his scheme available for anyone to walk in and steal. The ending was meant to be poignant but it really made no sense. I mean nothing about it made sense. Birthright was also a case where the crimes of the villain are so heinous that they would undoubtedly merit the death penalty for the perpetrator yet it's implied that Luthor will get off on a legal technicality.

I have to wonder if there's any writer besides Alan Moore capable of writing a truly great Superman story.

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