So, I just read "Superman: Birthright..."

I loved "Birthright." Leinil Yu's art is very sketchy in quality, but it works. Making Clark a crusader for social issues in the years after high school is an interesting touch and really fleshes him out as a person. Lex is an asshole, as is to be expected. Another great Supes yarn is Superman: For all Seasons by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. It is more of a classic tale, but it helps to build the Superman mythos.

Birthright succeeds best at the small details that have always bugged me about the Superman origin-- where the costume came from, how the glasses constitute an effective disguise for Clark, and how a 'mild-mannered' journalist could ever keep a job at a major news organization. I love how natural it is to see a Clark with such self-confidence and self-awareness, and that Lois is so clearly reminiscent of Margot Kidder's scrappy interpretation in the films.

I don't care as much for the Luthor character. Maybe it's just the way Yu draws him-- he's always in some extreme of anger and it gets boring. I would have liked more than a glancing reference to Lana Lang too.

But man... that ending knocked me flat.

I appreciated "Birthright" save for the retconning of Luthor back into Clark's formative years in response to the baffling popularity of "Smallville". I always thought of Luthor as having at least ten years on Clark, and the fact that Waid never addresses exactly why Luthor seems to have no memory of Clark or his time in Smallville was very annoying to me.

I thought he covered that OK, but maybe I need to go back and check. Waid makes it clear that it's Luthor's own arrogance that keeps him from making the connection between Superman and Clark. Does he actually say that Luthor doesn't remember Clark, or is it just that Luthor blocked Clark out of his life after the telescope incident?

He seems to not remember Clark or Smallville, period, and arrogance has never affected my vision, just my body when its gotten me kicked in the nuts.

Pre-Crisis, Lex and Clark were friends and the incident that split them up was about the same as in Birthright.

I thought it was a great read, especially Lex enjoying Superman's "autopsy."

A lot of the storypoints I didn't like about Smallville, I didn't like because I thought they were made up, like the significance of the caves. Turns out that a lot of this stuff is actually taken from Pre-Crisis lore.

Oh, I'm well aware of that, but I still don't believe that it would have been retconned w/out "Smallville".

Read it earlier this year......

As far as I'm concerned...this IS the origin.

Superman is something that has changed so much over the years.

The only reason he flies, works with Perry White and Jimmy was due to a radio show in the 50's. The TV show gave us the Daily Planet I believe. Various media have taken their interpretations which have become canon.

Birthright works because, as someone rightly mentioned. It reasons out Superman. Why the glasses work, where the costume comes form, why he does what he does so selflessly (essentially answering the fanboy annoyance of his goody-two-shoes nature), and nails his PERSONALITY.

There is actually a character more than just a 'modern day prophet'. I like that it is no longer the overly bumbling Clark Kent - theres meaning to it all.

Metropolis Clark is a costume, Superman is something he does and the 'real' man is only seen by his parents. Much like Batman with Alfred.

By far the best Superman story I've read (Red Son and All Seasons follow closely).

And i have to say, I'm a mans man, a tough, hard, dont-play-by-the-rules outsider. But I was actually the most touched i have ever been by a comic at the end. Very Impressive, they nailed ALL the characters - even and especially Jor-El and Lara.

A beautiful piece of work. And Yes, the artwork works perfectly for it.

I'm about 200 pages into this and digging it so far. Obviously I'm still not done, so hearing that the ending is a doozy has me itching to finish it as soon as possible. Darn things I need to accomplish on a Sunday! My only wish is to see Brainiac in there somehow, but that's just because I finished watching TAS and the origin in that show had Brainiac as the CPU for Krypton. I guess Goyer said he was going to be basing the new Superman flick on Birthright, which is good news. There's some strong character groundwork laid out in this, so much so that it makes me wish that (a non-Gene Hackamn/Kevin Sapcey influenced) Luthor was going to be in the new film.

I have to say this is a great interpretation of the character and it figured out how to make the glasses as the disguise seem logical.   Another great Superman story (although it kinda isn't) is "Secret Identity" where Superman comics exist in that universe and a normal guy (named Clark Kent) gets Superman's powers.   It's almost like a Nolan-verse take on the character and quite effective.  Highly recommended.

This is probably my favorite Superman origin story, and I still say it would make a perfect template for a modern Superman film.

I rather like the whole "smallville" and pre-crisis stuff about Clark and Lex being friends as teens; it plays a lot into the theme of both Lex and Clark as outsiders in the world, and how that shapes their future actions.

I also enjoy that the whole Lex vs Superman conflict is much more personal because of that; the idea of Lex, isolated from humanity because of his superior intelligence, seeing and equal in Superman and then feeling betrayed by Superman caring and actually serving humanity is a fantastic idea; the whole thing about Lex not recognizing Clark is obviously part of that disconnection towards humanity he feels.

Also, in a nerdier note, i cant be the only one who gets a bit chocked up at the ending, right? John Williams "The planet krypton" sounds in my mind when reading that part.

 

EDIT: Also, can anyone not love the borderdown sadistic idea of

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Damn, now i need to read this again.

Yeah, those 3rd act reveals are pretty great and solidify Luthor as someone who Superman can dislike on a deeply personal level as well as on an ideological level. And that ending is very poignant even if it sorta comes from out of nowhere. I guess I'm not used to comic book science. Hehe. Do we need spoiler tags to discuss this?

Well, regarding the ending and the comic book science thing...better use spoilers here

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

I'd like to add that its a genius touch in the book that Superman has no fortress of solitude or any other connection to Krypton but the ship and that computer he uses early in the story; cutting Superman from Krypton that much really cements the surprises and the overall tone of the story.

 

 

Just to tackle the elephant in the room here, I recently read Secret Origins. I've owned Birthright for years, but I got SO from the library, and I'm glad that I did. It's not that it wasn't enjoyable (much more than, say, Earth One), it's just repetititve in light of Birthright. Both books share a very similar structure and hit all the key notes for Superman's origin story (both are essentially riffing on the broad strokes of Superman: The Motion Picture). The latter, however, is too beholden to the Donner films and the Silver Age to say anything new.

 

For instance, once Clark arrives in Metropolis in Secret Origins we hardly get any insight into his thought process. In Birthright, we're with him every step of the way as he develops the persona and tweaks it along the way. SO's Clark is already a complete character, and his Superman is too; he just has to prove he's authentic to the people. There's no learning curve, and really after the post-teen years no story arc. The Kents in Birthright are not just younger but far more provocative, with Martha having an interest in UFOs and Jonathan dealing with anger issues and jealousy/inadequacy. In SO they're saints again, with Martha reduced to sewing clothes for Clark.

 

Birthright restored the pulpy elements of Krypton, enough to break away from Byrne's interpretation and allow Supergirl to be reintroduced, but it also was a breath of fresh air. The chapter in Africa alone is worth the price of the book. What does SO add? Essentially the Legion of Superheroes and Superboy (and Krypto, ugh, in a completely pointless scene), and Superboy is only retconned back in so he can wear his costume in the future with the Legion because he's never seen in it until he's an adult. Johns also lends Lois Lane a strong voice, but she comes across as younger than I'd like, and brattier; certainly younger and brattier than the woman that Waid wrote.

 

Pointless. I guess what I'm saying is that Birthright is a superior story, and SO could have been written to accompany it rather than replace it (kind of like how For All Seasons was a companion piece to Man of Steel). In the end, however, continuity be damned as I'd rather read a good story than care about the exact circumstances of how Clark Kent met Jimmy Olsen.

 

In the end, they're both imaginary stories...but aren't they all?

my child hood was with donald duck, batman, superman and spider man. as i grow up i found my childhood super hero on big screen!!!!

Goddammit, fleed, don't let your idiot kid brother online unsupervised.