Review by Booklist Review
Looking to Marvel's Ultimate line, DC launches its Earth One series with a modernization of the world's first superhero. With 72 years of various imaginary stories behind him, if you're going to reimagine Superman again, you'd better distinguish yourself. It's all quite recognizable: Lois, Jimmy, and the Daily Planet are all here, though the menace of Lex Luthor is replaced by an alien armada hunting the last son of Krypton. Torchbearer of the Todd McFarlane-Jim Lee aesthetic of modern comics art, Davis provides sleek figures, intense detail, and subtle integration of current hairstyles and fashions (including a nip and tuck to the old supersuit itself) that do the lion's share of the contemporizing. Ultimately, though, it's Straczynski who distinguishes the work, humanizing the dynamic between characters and adding a compelling twist of melancholy to young Clark Kent's search for purpose. This is not a revelatory reexamination of a great American icon but the script and storyboards for a great Superman summer blockbuster, and one with a lot of heart, at that.--Karp, Jesse Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This is DC's fourth try in the past 10 years to reintroduce Superman to a general audience. The story is familiar enough: Clark Kent shows up in Metropolis and becomes a reporter with the Daily Planet. No sooner has he settled into his role than an alien invasion forces him to introduce the world to Superman. The success of any reboot depends on how exciting the creative team can make the classic beats, and how fresh the updated elements feel. Writer Straczynski (Rising Stars) and artist Davis (Green Lantern) do well enough with the familiar parts of the story. Reporter Clark hits the right mild-mannered notes, and Superman looks and feels super. The updating has its moments as well. Davis's art is dynamic, and his costume design adds a few grace notes to the iconic red-and-blue union suit. Straczynski's introduction of an alien menace with personal ties to Superman's home planet of Krypton is inspired, too. But other revisions are awkward: Clark's job search (which includes legend-making tryouts with pro sports teams and brilliant interviews with Fortune 500 companies) requires inconsistent characterization, and the Web-free Daily Planet seems quaint for a 2010 newspaper. Nonetheless, the built-in audience of Superman die-hards and Straczynski fans should all be happy to see a new treatment of a classic hero. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
For decades, Superman, the most iconic character in comic books, has felt like a dull link to the past, a boring carryover of the "Greatest Generation" living with a code of morals ensuring he'll be a hero with a conscience. That ends with Superman: Earth One. Straczynski (the creator of Babylon 5) reboots Superman the same way music producer Rick Rubin reinvigorated Johnny Cash's legacy in the 1990s, reshaping a living legend into an icon of the moment. Inside this stand-alone graphic novel, Straczynski gives us a Superman for today-a fatherless teen raised by a strong woman, a young man tempted to use his powers for fame and fortune before realizing a hero's journey is the more rewarding path, a hero who doesn't discover his mettle until the fate of the world falls on him. A story with no clear faults, this take on the world's greatest hero also introduces us to a new villain and offers a fresh take on Superman's home world. Verdict The best development of Superman in decades; director Zach Snyder has just been given the reins to revamp the film franchise, and every Superman fan in the world should be pleading with him to use this book as the script. For lovers of great stories exceptionally told, comic book fans or not.-Robert Morast, Fargo, ND (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
