Superman: Earth One is a series of graphic novels written by J. Michael Straczynski and illustrated by Shane Davis. The series is a modernized re-imagining of DC Comics' long-running Superman comic book franchise as the inaugural title of the company's Earth One imprint. Earth One's Superman exists with other revamped DC characters in Earth One titles, including Batman: Earth One and Wonder Woman: Earth One, as well as other graphic novels.
The first volume was published in the US on October 27, 2010, by DC Comics, and in the UK in 2011 by Titan Books. Superman: Earth One Volume Two was released on October 31, 2012. Superman: Earth One Volume Three was released on February 4, 2015, with Ardian Syaf illustrating the book instead of Davis.
Background and creation Writer J. Michael Straczynski said the project was a dream come true, as writing Superman was among his plans which also included Babylon 5. Two years before its publication, Straczynski signed a contract with DC Comics. Before Straczynski's announcement, he had kept the project secret while he worked on the Red Circle characters and The Brave and the Bold.
Straczynski used his experiences as a journalist to add detail to the Daily Planet environment, for example, the character Jimmy Olsen, called Jim in the books, is depicted as stronger and smarter than his mainstream counterpart. Straczynski wanted to retell the beginning of Clark Kent's transition to Superman, and explore possible alternatives to Clark becoming a superhero. Straczynski said that "he [Kent] could have been rich as an athlete, researcher, any number of things. There's a flashback scene to when Martha Kent finishes his uniform and gives it to him as a gift, hoping he will go that way. He looks at it and says, in essence, 'Shouldn't there be a mask?' She says no, that 'when people see how powerful you are, all the things you can do, they're going to be terrified ... unless they can see your face, and see there that you mean them no harm. The mask ... is that what you're going to have to wear the rest of your life'". Straczynski introduced a new villain character with a connection to Krypton, who was used to explain its destruction.
Shane Davis removed the stereotypes associated with depictions of the civilian and superhero identities of Clark Kent. Davis drew the 20-year-old Clark wearing layers of clothing, showing that he is trying to blend in with his associates and differing from previous depictions of Kent wearing a suit, tie, and glasses, which Davis said, "didn't make sense". Davis also re-imagined Metropolis, which was historically depicted as an expanse of art deco buildings. Davis designed the city to look more realistic.
Plot summary
Volume One Clark Kent, a new arrival in the city of Metropolis, applies for various open jobs. His last stop on his job search is at the Daily Planet newspaper, where he meets Perry White, James "Jim" Olsen and Lois Lane. When Clark discovers that the Daily Planet and the wider newspaper industry are in decline, he decides not to apply and flies into space.
Clark thinks upon his history, and how his adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, told him how they found him while hiking through woodland: they witnessed a spaceship crashing and found a baby boy in the wreckage, deciding to keep him. Shortly afterward, the U.S. government arrived at the crash site. The Kents kept a small fragment of debris from the ship and learned of its, and the child's, extraterrestrial origins. Back in the present, Clark visits his late father's grave and says he feels incapable of being a superhero. Instead, he decides to begin a career and hopes that his father would accept that.
The next day, Major Sandra Lee, a U.S. soldier studying advanced technology, revisits the crashed spaceship, which has regenerated its damaged and lost parts. Scientists under Lee there have found symbols inside the atomic structure of the ship. Clark discovers his apartment is on fire and quickly enters to recover the fragment of spacecraft and a red and blue outfit his mother made for him from the cloth he was wrapped in as an infant. Alone, he checks the fragment with his enhanced vision when he is hit with energy, becomes unconscious and falls from the sky. The fragment talks and connects itself back to the ship in order to download more information. Just then, an invading alien armada attacks Earth's major cities. The military fights back, but the aliens defeat them. Jim and Lois are almost killed in the attack. Clark, still unconscious, is shown the last moments of his homeworld, the planet Krypton.
Clark, born as Kal-El, is the son of Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van, who waited until the last minute to dispatch him from Krypton so that the shockwaves of the planet's destruction would hide his escape. Tyrell, the leader of the alien armada, reveals himself to Earth but does not reveal his identity and purpose. He issues an ultimatum: Earth will be destroyed if someone Tyrell has been looking for does not surrender to him. Lee and the scientists agree that the person Tyrell is looking was in the crashed ship. Clark tries to attack the aliens without revealing himself, but Jim's photographs show a human-shaped red and blue blur. Clark goes for help at a research company that was about to employ him, but he finds that it is corrupt. Tyrell notices Jim taking pictures and almost kills him until Clark, who can no longer be a bystander, destroys a robot. Now aware of Clark's presence, Tyrell prepares to escalate his attack. Clark decides to wear the costume his mother made and reveals himself to the world as Superman.
Superman starts destroying the armada, and Tyrell reveals himself. He turns out to be from the planet Dheron, an enemy planet of Krypton; a mysterious man provided Dheron with a war machine designed to destroy Krypton's core. Although Krypton was destroyed, Clark survived, and Tyrell's mission is to find and kill him. Tyrell proceeds to activate several war machines to destroy Earth, and hits Superman with a red solar energy beam that pins him down. He proves to be Superman's physical match but leaves to make final preparations. Because Superman is the cause of the invasion, no one in Metropolis is willing to help. Lois and Jim get Superman out of the energy beam, making him regain his strength. He and Tyrell fight again; this time Superman gains the upper hand by burning Tyrell with his heat vision. Superman's ship becomes fully regenerated, takes off to find him and knocks Tyrell from behind. He then enters Tyrell's spacecraft and destroys it from the inside. Tyrell tries to stop him but is defeated. The invasion is over, and Superman flies away. At a government base, Lee contemplates Superman's motives. She is put in charge of researching Superman and his origin.
After his ordeal, Clark walks home. The boss of the research company finds him and offers him a job, but he declines. Instead, he purchases some new clothing and formulates a "Clark Kent disguise". He returns to the Daily Planet, which is more enthusiastic and successful because of its coverage of the invasion and Superman. Clark is hired because of an interview he claims he conducted with Superman, and he bonds with his new colleagues. Public opinion of Superman is mixed: some like him and see him as a hero, while others do not trust him, as he was the cause of the invasion. In the Arctic, Superman hides his ship in a secret cave, and its sentience activates and tells him his mission: to survive, use his powers wisely and to avenge the murder of his homeworld.
Volume Two
The events depicted in Volume Two occur shortly after those of Volume One. Perry promotes Clark to write articles to help rebuild the Daily Planets reputation. Lois is suspicious of Clark and the authenticity of his Superman article, so she decides to investigate his past. Clark later meets his neighbors Lisa Lasalle and Eddie Monroe; Lisa and Clark start dating.
Criminal Raymond Jensen infiltrates S.T.A.R. Labs to destroy evidence of his crimes kept by an accomplice. Jensen is discovered by guards and while escaping is accidentally exposed to a high-energy neutrino that transforms him into an energy-absorbing supervillain called Parasite. Elsewhere, Clark learns that a tsunami is about to hit the island of Borada. He travels there to help as Superman, but the island nation's ruthless dictator, General Samsa, sees him as a threat and threatens to kill his own people if Superman does not leave; Superman complies. Meanwhile, Parasite feeds on the life force of innocent people, killing them, but is unable to satiate his newfound hunger. He decides that Superman might be powerful enough to feed him.
Distrustful of Superman, Lee proposes that the United States should develop countermeasures should he go rogue. Superman is lured to an incident at a power plant where Parasite attacks him and drains his energy, turning Parasite into a hulking beast with Superman's power. Weakened, Superman escapes while Parasite begins a rampage. Parasite's sister Theresa is informed of his actions but refuses to believe that it is her brother and takes a flight to Metropolis to see for herself.
In the Arctic, the artificial intelligence (AI) aboard Superman's Kryptonian ship has turned a cave system into the vast Fortress of Solitude. There, Superman researches a means to counter Parasite's power, and the AI offers to build a crystalline shielding warsuit. In the U.S., Lee responds to Parasite's rampage with military force; during the following attack, she realizes that Parasite is progressively weakening as the energy he absorbed fades. Parasite attacks the Daily Planet to draw out Superman; their fight leaves Superman drained and powerless, leaving him comparable to humans and capable of being injured. The next day, Superman's powers are restored and he returns to the Fortress. The AI completes the warsuit, but warns Superman that it will prevent him from using his heat vision, will block the sun's energy and that if Parasite breaches the suit and absorbs his power again, he will die.
Parasite again attacks the Daily Planet. With the warsuit, Superman fights Parasite on equal terms, but the suit gradually disintegrates as the battle continues. Theresa arrives and Parasite breaks away from the fight to hug her, accidentally absorbing her energy and killing her. Parasite blames Superman for her death and resumes his attack. Superman strikes Parasite with his full strength, incapacitating him; Parasite is taken into military custody. During a later telephone conversation with his mother, Clark hears Lisa scream from her apartment and finds she is being attacked. As Superman, he flies her attacker to Alaska and warns him not to go near her again. Lisa tells Clark that she is working part-time as a prostitute to earn extra money. Clark is heartbroken but the pair agree to remain friends.
In Borada, Superman instigates a rebellion against General Samsa, leading the country to democratic reform. He returns to his apartment and learns that Eddie has died of a heroin overdose. Clark writes an article about Eddie to raise awareness of the dangers of substance abuse. He receives a telephone call from a former teacher in Smallville and learns that Lois is investigating his past. In the epilogue, Lee recruits the wealthy scientists Alexandra "Lex" Luthor and her husband Alexander, to help find a way to kill Superman.
Volume Three