As the dying planet of Krypton tears itself apart, Jor-El, Krypton's
greatest scientist, launches a tiny interstellar ship into the frigid
void of space bearing its hold his only child - the infant who will
become Earth's Superman. From his childhood in Smallville, to his
emergence as Metropolis newsman Clark Kent, through his battles with his
arch-enemy Lex Luthor, his story is told anew and as never before, with
all the high drama and excitement that have enthralled three
generations of fans.
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There’s one of two things I’ve come
to expect the typical Superman novel weakness to be – cheesiness that’s
hit-or-miss with its blatant quirkiness, or dryness which makes
characters too distant if the author doesn’t dampen the moment every so
often. It’s obvious there’s going to be some cheesiness; after all, it’s
a novel about superheroes, just goes with the territory, but you can
establish a setting which stays true to the legend while holding enough
intellect, enough fun, to keep it worthy.
In
this case the novel came highly recommended. I checked the reviews on
Paperbackswap, Goodreads, and Amazon, surprised to see the three sites
united on raves (not common). I hadn’t read a Superman book in awhile,
thought why not, so ordered it and then waited in (almost embarrassed to
admit) impatience and dorky eagerness. I first opened it to be a bit
glum at the size, pretty thin for the 270 or so pages. The writing is a
slightly small so there’s a decent amount of story in there, just not
something that’s going take long to read if you get absorbed.
Even
though the book totes that Superman is now a motion picture, and
includes photos from the first film in the center of the book, the story
has nothing at all to do with the movie. In fact, it’s very important
to note that the Superman/Clark Kent persona is the older almost
pre-Crisis type, and the Lex Luthor is the complete opposite of the
comedic movie role. Here they go to the roots – in between plot points a
flashback or so occurs telling a little about the younger Luthor in
Smallville, a friend of sorts with the Kent/Superboy, but more absorbed
in his scientific endeavors. These backflashes fascinated me, and it was
a different take - some of the common things were there just sketched
out and altered slightly, while other things were changed pretty
dramatically (such as what happens with Clark's adoptive parents.)
Of
course Lois Lane is in the novel but it also should be mentioned that
nothing at all is brought up about any romantic interest on Clarks part
or hers. The author chose to not focus on that at all apparently. Clark
is working for a TV station and they do not even work together any
longer; Superman is of course still her savior and hero when times heat
up. This includes a scene that surprised me and almost seems
anti-Superman as he melts a gun and gives a mans hand third-degree
burns. I've already said Lex is different, and they focus more on the
mental illness aspect of youth and then the theories as an adult that he
is the perfect balance for Supermans heroics. Clark is more interesting
when he's Superman and it finally shows more thought later on. At first
he just seems so distantly sketched but I felt more toward the ending
with the character and think it was easier to then see him as more
realistic.
Pacing
was pretty swift, a good deal happened. The story turned a surprising
180 in that it changed course midway through the book in a way. The
first half was between Superman and Lex Luthor and their rivalry, while
the second half they had to work together of all things to leave Earth
and solve a situation on another realm. While the author made the man of
steel and the villain super-geniouses, I sadly was unable to keep
following along with some of the scientific, mid-dimensional stuff later
on. There was plenty of it, and that keeps my interest little, so I
didn't focus on much other than the action.
Apparently
I keep rambling, so I'll start wrapping this one up. Rather than
cheesy, this book took itself as seriously as it could. It really tried
for a very different type of backstory and intriguing plot that stands
out and had it complex with other characters (Green lantern system,
etc.) The author chose to concentrate solely on Lex and Clark rather
than anything with Lois besides a few saving scenes, and the writing
style was easy to follow and well-penned. I have to say I agree with the
reviews on the other sites -- it was a worthy, unique story that
actually had a real story, not just a scene play-by-play with the
characters. My least favorite was the very beginning, where it was less
captivating than the rest and almost slightly full for a chapter or so.
Besides occasional dryness it was the best I've read yet in this genre.
And yes, the pictures were fun to look through!
