Ultimate Superman
Superman tries to live a normal life among average humans, but he figures out it's harder than it appears given his powers. Then an alien invasion hits earth causing Clark Kent to spring into action as Superman and finds his purpose. That basically sums up J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis' Superman Earth One, which kicked off DC's Earth-One runs. Earth-One is basically DC's answer to Marvel's Ultimate Universe, which is placing iconic heroes in a world that more closely resembles our world instead of a comic book world. With that being said Superman Earth One was a brilliant start for DC's Earth-One. Superman Earth One is a spectacular retelling of Superman's origin story paired with amazing characters and artwork.
Story
Superman Earth One is a retelling of Superman's origin story. In this version, Superman tries to live a normal life and walks among humans to blend with them. When Tyrell invades Earth looking for Superman. Clark Kent becomes Superman to stop his new foe and save Earth from an alien invasion. In Earth One, Krypton was at war with Dehron and it was the caused the destruction of Krypton. The Dheronians planned to destroy Krypton so the's win the war. Tyrell wanted to doom Earth because a Kryptonian lives there and killing the last Kryptonian would've been a victory for Dheron. Clark Kent becomes Superman to save Earth from Tyrell's invasion, normally it's because he discovers he has great power and decides he wants to help people. Clark Kent becomes a journalist because he saw Lois Lane and Jimmy Olson in Metropolis while he was trying to save the world. I can tell Superman Earth One heavily influenced Zack Snyder's Man of Steel. Hell, he even kills the villain, a lot of people give Man of Steel trouble for having Superman kill Zod but this is a New York Times bestseller and Superman kills Tyrell, which means a lot of those same people had no issue with Superman killing Tyrell. Overall I liked this it's an amazing retelling of Superman's story. Superman Earth One is to Superman what Ultimate Spider-Man is to Spider-Man.
Characters
Superman Earth One demonstrates J. Michael Straczynski's ability to create compelling characters in a story. Superman is an alien who wants to live a normal life with everyone else in the world. In the beginning, we see Clark Kent applying for jobs at various places of work just so he can have a job and make a living. Clark becomes Superman because he realizes that the world needs him in order to stop the threat of Tyrell and that humans aren't capable of stopping him. Superman is depicted as being a brilliant scientific mind and a spectacular athlete at the same time. He is also a bit of an outcast, he's rather shy and spends most of his time alone. Superman also does have a desire to help people and he immediately saves Jimmy Olson from one of Tyrell's robots. Tyrell is an original character created for this graphic novel. Tyrell was sent by Dheron's leadership to kill Kal-El, Superman, because he survived the destruction of Krypton because a survivor of Krypton means that Dheron did not fully win the war. Tyrell is depicted as being an unhinged maniac who is willing to millions of innocent people in order to achieve his goals. He is also vengeful, his motives for killing Superman are driven by revenge for what the Kryptonians did to his world. Like Superman, Tyrell also gets his powers from yellow sun radiation and red sun radiation takes his powers away. Though Tyrell's only powers seem to be flight and super strength, other than that he uses technology to fight Superman. Superman has all the same power fans of the character are familiar with. Ma and Pa Kent are depicted as Kansas farmers who love their son and want him to do great things. In fact, in this version of Superman's origin story, the Superman costume was made by the Kents because they want to see Clark use his powers to become a superhero. The "S" was literally made to mean Super, instead of being the symbol for the House of El and meaning hope. Jonathan Kent tells Clark that he's an alien and that they adopted him so he'd have a home. Martha Kent is the loving mother who checks on Clark as he moves into the big city. As for Superman's Kryptonian parents, we see little of them. All we know is that Jor-El and Laura Jor-El sent Kal-El to earth so he'd survive the destruction of Krypton. Jor-El does foresee the destruction of Krypton and tries to warn the Kryptonian leadership only for it to be too late. Lois Lane and Jimmy Olson are depicted as they normally would be, two reporters than what to get the first scoop on a major story. That being said their roles are in reverse Jimmy is more likely to put himself in harm's way and it is Lois who is advising caution. Which is a nice change for the characters. Lois is attracted to Superman, but instead of being friendly to Clark Kent she's suspicious and mistrusting of him. Jimmy Olson is fond of both Superman and Clark Kent. As for Perry White, he's a bit of a hardass and he wants his paper to be a success. Major Sandra Lee is an original character who investigates Kal-El's ship for the government and find out what it is and where it came from. She mostly talks to government scientists looking at the ship. Those are all the characters in this story each character is interesting and makes the story more fun to read.
Artwork
Superman Earth One wouldn't be a great graphic novel without great artwork and the artwork is amazing. Shane Davis' artwork makes Superman Earth One a real treat to read and a beauty to read. Superman looks fantastic. His costume looks like a modernized version of the original Superman costume. The boots have a more body armor-like to them. The suit has a more athletic feel to it with the lines running down the chest to his legs. He still has the trunks which is fine they don't look outdated in this rendition of Superman. Clark Kent looks an awful lot like Tom Welling. Lois Lane is pretty. Tyrell looks menacing, he has a black and white color scheme and even has pale white skin and hair. He also has metal wings that float behind him. The Fortress of Solitude in Earth One is a hole in a glacier with Kal-El's ship inside of it. Superman ship acts as the Fortress' computer and it's how Superman communicates with Jor-El's conscience. Which is a nice change from it being a white Kryptonite Fortress in the arctic. This version influenced the depiction of the Fortress in Man of Steel. I also like how Earth One ends in a newspaper recap of the story with articles written by Clark Kent and Lois Lane. It even has the photos by Jimmy Olson line under the pictures. Point being the artwork was neat.
In conclusion, Superman Earth One is one of the best Superman stories I've ever read. The retelling of Superman's origin story is brilliantly executed and the characters are well developed. The art was amazing to look at. Superman Earth One was a spectacular start for DC's Earth-One storyline. This is a must-read for fans of the Man of Steel.
