"Superman: Birthright" (by Mark Waid and Leinil Francis Yu) came out around 6-7 years ago. I managed to snag the hardcover collection the moment it hit the shelves. Truth was, I didn't really like the story that much on my 1st and 2nd readings. Upon rereading it on Sunday evening, the story shined like no other Superman story before or after. It's still the same story. What has changed is me. Specifically, my own attitudes towards any revisioning of the Man of Steel's origins. Previously, I was like the other "continuity-zombies" posting angry messages on the DC Boards complaining about how Mark Waid departed from established post-Crisis Byrne-continuity. Now, I'm finally understanding what Mark Waid was really trying to accomplish here.
The story is more than just an in-continuity Superman tale. It's an examination of the mythos of Superman. To put it in another way, the mythos is far larger than just what comes out in a typical month from DC. It encompasses everything that make Superman what he is to the public consciousness. It's a tale for the older folks who have grown up listening to the radio shows or the George Reeves TV show. It's for those from my generation who "believe that a man can fly" because of the Christopher Reeves films (before everything went grim-and-gritty following "The Dark Knight Returns" and "Watchmen"). It's for those (like me) who absolutely loved the square-jawed and corny Broadway play. It's for those younger ones (like my kids) who are enamoured by the "Smallville" TV series and Paul Dini's "Superman Animated Series". It's also for everyone out there who either loved or hated the Bryan-Singer-helmed "Superman Returns". In other words, it's trying to encapsulate every element that you loved about the Superman-mythos into a twelve-issue maxi-series or a huge hardcover that you can revisit everytime you want to remind yourself (or the 12-year old inside you) why you fell in love with the character and mythos in the first place. It's a handy volume that you can hand to anyone with the question - "Why Superman?"
As I'm writing this review, DC is releasing a new "official" origin of the Man of Steel in the form of another miniseries by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. In view of the popularity and fan-support given the dreamteam creators of Johns and Frank, it's unavoidable that the miniseries will be the official or canonical version of Supes' story. Not that that's a bad thing. Johns is rightly applauded for reintroducing the Legion of Super-Heroes back into Supes' origin story - and also, reintroducing Superboy back into Clark Kent's Smallville days. Like Byrne's "Man of Steel" miniseries in 1986, it's really an update of Supes' origin to allow the monthly stories to reflect the changes of the times.
Byrne was commissioned by DC following "Crisis on Infinite Earths" to streamline and update Supes for the late 1980s and 1990s. At that time, the DC editorial was more concerned about presenting a more "realistic" Clark/Superman that reflected those years. My take on it is that the comics from the 1980s and 1990s represented the adolescence of the comic industry (much as the Silver Age represented the childhood). In the 1980s and 1990s, we were growing up as an industry. Some of us (myself included) drifted away from the four-coloured fantasies that dominated our childhood. Superman, with his Fortress of Solitude, Krypto the Superdog and foes such as Toyman and Mr. Mxyptlk were about as embarassing to our teenage sensibilities as "Ritchie Rich" and "Scooby Doo". Byrne's revamp appealed to folks who were embarassed by the Silver Age sensibilities of Superman but were too attached to the material to really discard them totally. As a result, we were treated to a Yuppified-Clark and a more realistic take on the Lois-Clark romance (with Cat Grant thrown in to stir things up). The "mythic" and "fantastic" aspects of the Superman story were either thrown out or toned down considerably. Krypton was an insipid place which destruction nobody in their right minds would shed a tear for. There was no Krypto, no Supergirl, no Fortress of Solitude, and definitely no Beepo the Super-Monkey! Lex Luthor was no longer the evil scientist of yore who sometimes teamed up with Brainiac. He was a corporate figure. All of these elements can be found in the famous "Lois & Clark" TV series starring Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher, that was also designed to appeal to the same demographics - i.e., the 20-somethings who grew up with Curt Swan's Superman and remembered the love-scenes featuring Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder in the films.
Johns' take reflects our present times where editorial was no longer getting cold-feet about embracing many of the more fanciful elements from Supes' mythic past (by that, I mean many of the Silver Age elements that made Supes magical in the first place). Like I said, it's about the adulthood of the industry. When we reach adulthood, we suddenly start to view the things from our childhood as surprisingly charming. That was possibly a result of misty-eyed nostalgia and a longing for the simpler days when problems such as mortgage payments and juggling with married life/parenting were non-existent. Suddenly, the things that were positively offensive to adoslescent sensibilities gave way to a rediscovery of the power of the imagination. It's no surprise that Jeph Loeb's and Tim Sale's "Superman For All Seasons" captured the imagination of an entire generation that had grown leery of murderous vigilantes and amoral characters, now looking for a return to older traditional values of honour, self-sacrifice and decency of smalltown America - specifically Smallville, Kansas. This resulted in Loeb being given the reins over the monthly books and also served as the inspiration behind Al Gough and Miles Millar selling the concept for a "Smallville" TV series to the media-moguls. Loeb and gang started rebuilding the abandoned Christmas tree with the ornaments of the past. Krypton was redefined with Krypto the Superdog and Kara Zor-El the Supergirl revived as the character finds of the late 1990s and the early 2000s. Johns' "Secret Origins" miniseries is really a continuation of Loeb's efforts by adding more ornaments to the tree - the result being an update of the Silver Age Superman with 21st century sensibilities (also reflected in Grant Morrison's "All Star Superman" maxiseries).
Waid's "Birthright" represents something of a middle-ground between Byrne's revamp and Johns' update. More than both of those efforts, Waid's series was really a love-letter to the entire Superman mythos much as Grant Morrison's "All Star Superman" was an homage to the Silver-Age version. It reconnects us to the human element via Clark Kent and his travels around the world to discover his purpose in life - of which we witness the tail-end of his journeys in South Africa where Clark encountered the selfless sacrifice of a political martyr. While those elements were highlighted in both Loeb's (the Smallville Clark) and Byrne's (the Metropolis "yuppie" Clark) works, what made Waid's work shined was the attention he paid to Clark discovering his Kryptonian roots as well (hence the name of the series), seeing it corrupted in the hands of Lex Luthor who staged a faux-invasion, and then trying to live up to the noble aspirations of a now-extinct but once-proud civilisation. The final scene with Clark sending a message back to Jor-El and Lara just before Krypton exploded ("I made it...") to say that he survived the interplanetary journey in his space-ark to Earth brought tears to my eyes. Reading this story, we come off with a greater appreciation of Kal-El upholding the pride of his family-crest (the "S"-triangle) and Clark Kent living up to the highest ideals of humanity (a sort of revamped Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr.).
Many fans derided elements from Waid's story such as Martha Kent's UFO-obssession, Clark's vegetarianism (as a result of his ability to see the aura that surrounds living creatures) and Lex Luthor's childhood in Smallville (an more than obvious nod to the "Smallville" TV series), most of them do not realise how important the Kryptonian elements that Waid reintroduced continue to influence BOTH the present comics (e.g. the mega-epic "New Krypton") and the TV stories with General Zod now leading an invasion of Earth in Season 9 of "Smallville". The best comic characters are men of two worlds. For example, Thor is for both Asgard and Midgard - Walt Simonson's classic run on the character's book showed a deep appreciation for the Norse myths that undergirded the Thunderer's stories as well as giving us a relatable earthly hero in the figure of Sigurd Jarlson. Wonder Woman is a member of both Themyscira (with its roots in Greek mythology/history) as well as an ambassador to Man's World. In other words, these characters, like Superman, represents the marriage of the fantastical (Krypton and Kandor) and the earthly (Smallville and Metropolis). In Mark Waid's "Birthright", we see this blending in a seamless tapestry.
I must not go off without saying a word or two about the art by Leinil Francis Yu. Waid was looking for a non-traditional look for his take on the Man of Steel and Yu fit the bill perfectly. The feeling of reading this book is akin to reading a new translation of the Bible or Tolstoy. The very unfamiliarity allows shades of meaning to be highlighted that would otherwise have been obscured by our attachment to the familiar. Yu is about as different from the Swan, Anderson, Byrne, Ordway and Jurgens mold as you can get. In fact, Tim Sale's "Norman Rockwell" art-style was what made Jeph Loeb's "Superman For All Seasons" so magical and poignant an experience as well.
My argument is that Yu's art in "Superman: Birthright" is far superior to anything by Tim Sale in capturing the perfect blend between the fantastical and earthly elements in the Superman mythos. Check out some samples below:
Tell me that the John Williams score is not playing in your mind when you look at this two-page splash. This is Supes' first appearance in Metropolis in full regalia rescuing Jimmy and Lois from the tumbling helicopter.
My favourite image in the entire book. This image alone is worth the price of admission. Clark Kent, in normal everyday clothes, flies above hundreds of zebras in Africa. Like I said, perfect blend of the earthly and fantastical elements in the Superman myth. Furthermore, this image perfectly captures everyone's childhood dream of being able to soar in the clouds with gleeful wonder and reckless abandonment.
This is a poignant scene where Lara and Jor-El were deciding on which planet to send their infact son, Kal-El, moments before Krypton exploded. Even in a sci-fi scene like this one, Yu took pains to portray the human emotions of pain, loss, uncertainty, inquisitiveness and hope.
Verdict: Buy the book today. Here's hoping that DC releases an Absolute Edition of this book soon. A celebration of the Superman mythos on this scale is really a celebration of the rich history and tapestry of the DC Universe. If they're bothering to come out with Absolute Editions of "Green Lantern: Rebirth", "Batman: Hush" and "Superman: For Tomorrow", I'd argue that this work is far more deserving of that treatment.
