Welcome to Earth One!

[Frankenmation]

Imagine if Batman Earth One embraced the 60's T.V. camp. Not everything is exactly the same, and New Earth Batman is the same, so no harm right?

To be honest, that sounds a hell of a lot more interesting that what Johns is doing with it atm.

 

[Compi716]

So what's the general consensus here? Is Earth One worth a buy?

 

[Eze]

I dunno, depends. If you are disappointed, will you be angry having spent the money?

 

[Kurosawa]

So what's the general consensus here? Is Earth One worth a buy?

Well, to me the only good parts came from stories I read 30 years ago, written by better writers, drawn by a better artist, so not worth $20 but okay. It's not as bad as it could have been. It's better than Grounded.

 

[sdc10]

Well, to me the only good parts came from stories I read 30 years ago, written by better writers, drawn by a better artist, so not worth $20 but okay. It's not as bad as it could have been. It's better than Grounded.

Saying that something written before is better than this kind of isnt a great critique considering the fact this is meant to be different from what came before. A lot of people have given this a negative review when they compare it to a different book. But guess what the casual reader is going to go back and compare it. Like it or not this book is not meant for the hardcore reader, its just meant to be picked up and read.

 

[Mystirious]

To be honest, that sounds a hell of a lot more interesting that what Johns is doing with it atm.

Hahaha true 'dat Frankenmation

 

[Eze]

Just say Schumacher three times

 

[Kurosawa]

Saying that something written before is better than this kind of isnt a great critique considering the fact this is meant to be different from what came before. A lot of people have given this a negative review when they compare it to a different book. But guess what the casual reader is going to go back and compare it. Like it or not this book is not meant for the hardcore reader, its just meant to be picked up and read.

Regardless, the best scenes in it (to me) are just repeats of old scenes. The new material/ideas in the book fall short IMO. Still I'm glad they are there because to me they are essential. His new material just wasn't up to the level of his adapted material.

 

[Assassin]

The problem with Krypton being destroyed by an outside source is that make Superman the avenger of his dead world, not the champion of his adopted one. It's Batman territory. Byrne's Superman was more of an Ultimates version than this one TBH as it made significant changes in Superman's core personality and identity.

The other thing that ticks me off is they keep popping up with new versions of Superman but meanwhile Kal-L, who represents Siegel and Shuster's Superman gets killed in one stupid crossover, then brought back in the next stupid crossover and used in an idiotic manner yet again.

oh god

 

[Kurosawa]

oh god

They should have left him well enough alone. At least Wolfman had the decency to give him a happy ending. That said, maybe his story isn't finished yet.

 

[fifthfiend]

But what's the point of criticizing about JMS adding a tad of logic to Krypton's destruction

That isn't the thing I was criticizing. You're the one who brought it up as a response to the thing I was actually criticizing.

when adding "logic" has been done many times before to all sorts of science fiction from Superman's biology as the basis for his powers, or the "science" of Star Trek, and whatnot.

Lots of ****** ideas have been done lots of times, they're still ****** ideas.

 

[Nave 'Torment']

JMS and Geoff Johns should work on separate Earths.

JMS' SUPERMAN EARTH-1 and WONDER WOMAN seem to be in the same vogue, while Geoff Johns' SUPERMAN SECRET ORIGIN, GREEN LANTERN, THE FLASH and BATMAN OGN are all similar Neo Silver Age books. They really shouldn't have changed Earths.

 

[Batman]

Man, I had high hopes for this. I really did. And I'm usually pretty optimistic about stuff like this, no matter how contrived or stupid it sounds.

I'm probably one of the few people that'll admit this, but I highly enjoyed most of the Ultimate Marvel imprint. Infact, I still consider the first arc of Ultimate Spider-Man to be one of the best retellings of a superhero origin ever done. And with JMS on the book, I was doubly excited, having been a fan of Supreme Power and knowing how big of a fan he was of Superman. It finally seemed like DC was going to really do something that equaled the quality of those first few Ultimate Marvel arcs.

Unfortunately, that isn't the case here. Superman: Earth One is about as redundant and preachy as you can get with a superhero comic. Ignoring the fact that Superman's origin has been redone twice in the last decade - a problem of which didn't really bother me, other than the fact that DC seemed hellbent on kicking the epic "Birthright" story to the curb - JMS really doesn't do much with the concept of a newer, modern day Superman. It's the same character with a sprinkle of hesitance. Like it could be the Superman we already know, but withheld from his traditional nobility, and not in an interesting way. Instead of coming off as a different iteration, JMS just kind of makes Superman into a guy who twiddles his thumbs until the very last second that Earth could be in grave peril, then becomes kind of a shell of who he's associated to being.

The supporting cast is kind of underwhelming too, save for Jimmy Olsen, who was probably the best written character in the book. Lois Lane is her same ole' self and nothing more... maybe even a little less. Same for Perry White and the Kents, apart from the fact that Jonathan seems to try and part wisdom with every breath he freaking takes. It's almost worthy of parody. Like an Uncle Ben archetype on steroids. And I'm not even going to get into the villain. The guy should be the poster child for how not to do a Superman villain - he steals elements from Zod and Brainiac and simultaneously disgraces them with his need to tout cliche after cliche.

The dialogue is atrocious at times, and cheesy in others. There's too much of it, and above all, there are too many lines that are just "on the nose". Almost to a laughable degree. Literally, I was reading a specific scene during the final battle and thinking of ways to parody it. "Go forth and fly, Clark. Don that big red and blue and yellow outfit that's been hanging over you like a cloud for the whole of your life. Press that metaphorical diamond shaped S against your chest and show the world how much of a SUPER young MAN you are."

Ugh.

Shane Davis' art is the only reason to really give this a look. Beyond that, color me worried for how they're gonna handle Batman.

 

[Saint]

I probably would have enjoyed this much more if I hadn't read Birthright, which as far as I'm concerned is the ultimate Superman origin story.

The thing that's notable here is how different JMS writes Earth One Clark from the way he he's writing Superman proper right now. JMS' current run on the latter is actually the first time I've picked up a core Superman title on a regular basis, because he seems to have an inherent understanding of the character that I think challenges even that of Geoff Johns. It's been wonderful.

His Earth One Clark is an entirely different person from the Superman we're familiar with, which is obviously deliberate. It works, with the caveat that there aren't any "Superman moments," where you feel that sense of familiarity--it's not iconic. The core concepts are there, but this is a very different animal, very much an "Ultimate" Superman. The writing itself is solid, which is the norm for JMS. If I had one major criticism, it's that ther aren't enough new ideas here, and the ones that are there aren't emphasized enough.

So much time is spent exploring this new, different Clark's attitude (not that this is a bad thing, of course) that there isn't much time left to explore the few new concepts that distinguish this book. Also, I agree with the poster who said that Jimmy was particularly well written, while Lois sort of fell to the wayside. Also, I really enjoyed the crux moment where they saved Clark from the red sun/gravity well weapon.

All things considered, I'll pick up the next installment.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Well, then his point is bogus. I don't understand this mentality that just because Krypton is advanced means that they're literally this perfect race that can do no wrong. If anything, Krypton's destruction by environmental neglect is more relevant and poignant now than it was before, since we do have people debating a scientifically proven process that's doing damage to the planet on very political terms. I mean, sure, it's exaggerated to a degree (since we aren't going to blow up tomorrow from climate change), but superhero fiction like this is exaggerated by it's very nature. That's why we have Reed Richards pulling some gizmo out of his butt in 15 minutes that should take 15 years to research and develop.

It's not a bogus point. It's not even environmental neglect. The plain and simple fact is that even modern Earth, whose culture is deep into environmental neglect, would most likely be able to detect if the Earth is going to blow up centuries before hand. We're able to determine that if things remain the same, the Moon will eventually become it's own planet, that one of Mars' moons will eventually break up into a ring system in about 7 million years.

 

[hippie_hunter]

I probably would have enjoyed this much more if I hadn't read Birthright, which as far as I'm concerned is the ultimate Superman origin story.

The thing that's notable here is how different JMS writes Earth One Clark from the way he he's writing Superman proper right now. JMS' current run on the latter is actually the first time I've picked up a core Superman title on a regular basis, because he seems to have an inherent understanding of the character that I think challenges even that of Geoff Johns. It's been wonderful.

His Earth One Clark is an entirely different person from the Superman we're familiar with, which is obviously deliberate. It works, with the caveat that there aren't any "Superman moments," where you feel that sense of familiarity--it's not iconic. The core concepts are there, but this is a very different animal, very much an "Ultimate" Superman. The writing itself is solid, which is the norm for JMS. If I had one major criticism, it's that ther aren't enough new ideas here, and the ones that are there aren't emphasized enough.

So much time is spent exploring this new, different Clark's attitude (not that this is a bad thing, of course) that there isn't much time left to explore the few new concepts that distinguish this book. Also, I agree with the poster who said that Jimmy was particularly well written, while Lois sort of fell to the wayside. Also, I really enjoyed the crux moment where they saved Clark from the red sun/gravity well weapon.

All things considered, I'll pick up the next installment.

This is exactly how I feel. They should have had more Lois and I would like to add that I was a bit baffled on why there is no Lex Luthor.

 

[Saint]

This is exactly how I feel. They should have had more Lois and I would like to add that I was a bit baffled on why there is no Lex Luthor.

Well, since this isn't a one-off event (Like Secret Origin, for example), I imagine JMS felt it would be better to save Luthor for the next installment, rather than cram him into this one. In another installment, Luthor can now be the main antagonist.

 

[Saint]

It might have been more interesting if Krypton's neighbours were more recognizable--for example, if the neighbouring planet was Colu, and the one who came to Earth was Brainiac. That said, it may be that JMS has further ideas for these enemies that would be impeded by connecting them to a classic character like that.

 

[Tron Bonne]

It's not a bogus point. It's not even environmental neglect. The plain and simple fact is that even modern Earth, whose culture is deep into environmental neglect, would most likely be able to detect if the Earth is going to blow up centuries before hand. We're able to determine that if things remain the same, the Moon will eventually become it's own planet, that one of Mars' moons will eventually break up into a ring system in about 7 million years.

Uh, how was it not environmental neglect? Their planet was dying, and they ignored it on any big scale until it was too late. And when is Earth's culture as a whole been deep into environmental neglect? Maybe the scientific community, but as a whole, only partially. Many parts of Europe are, but places like North America, China, and other Asian countries are lacking in that area pretty significantly (some are improving, sure, but there's still much to be desired).

And, yeah, like I said, there is a degree of exaggeration, but that's the nature of the genre. Do you have a problem with Reed Richards inventing things in crazy speeds? Because, honestly, it's basically the same thing in a different context.

 

[fifthfiend]

Seriously though, realisticness or unrealisticness is irrelevant to whether it's valid as a point. The real issue is that Krypton blowing up due to neglect is a better story, whereas Krypton being blown up out of nowhere due to WARGARBLE villains is a dumber, worse story*, and defending the latter with appeals to realism is inherently invalid because everybody including the author understands that this is a story in which storytelling leads and science follows, and JMS pretending not to understand that for the sake of shilling his ****** plot device is mostly just an act of authorial bad faith.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Well, yeah...and that, too. If the only reason to make Krypton be blown up by some enemy is to give Superman some revenge angle and/or to satisfy people who, for whatever reasons, thinks these comics need to be a mirror image of our realism, then yes...I don't see much warrant to it.

 

[fifthfiend]

I mean I'm just throwing it out there but did the alien invaders who "realistically" blew up Krypton... spend thousands of years trying traveling to reach it in order to blow it up, as would be required by even the most optimistic projection of what "realistic" interstellar travel would entail? Cause if not, I'm pretty sure JMS be ********tin'.

 

[Saint]

I mean I'm just throwing it out there but did the alien invaders who "realistically" blew up Krypton... spend thousands of years trying traveling to reach it in order to blow it up, as would be required by even the most optimistic projection of what "realistic" interstellar travel would entail? Cause if not, I'm pretty sure JMS be ********tin'.

Uh, they were in the same solar system. Since you don't know that, you obviously haven't read the book, which makes it pretty asinine for you to make claims about how it's story is "worse," as you said in your previous post.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Seriously though, realisticness or unrealisticness is irrelevant to whether it's valid as a point. The real issue is that Krypton blowing up due to neglect is a better story, whereas Krypton being blown up out of nowhere due to WARGARBLE villains is a dumber, worse story*, and defending the latter with appeals to realism is inherently invalid because everybody including the author understands that this is a story in which storytelling leads and science follows, and JMS pretending not to understand that for the sake of shilling his ****** plot device is mostly just an act of authorial bad faith.

Why can't you have both? I don't want to see the regular DCU Krypton blow up due to war. The traditional story of Krypton blowing up due to the arrogance of it's leadership works best. But for Superman: Earth One, it works.

 

[The Sage]

So what's the verdict on this book? Worth buying and reading?