Superman: Last Son is a story caught between the past and future. It being partly written by Richard Donner, there is no surprise in that it feels like the 1978 film. Some have gone as far to say that it is what Superman III would have been had Donner not been fired partway through the filming of Superman II. One could certainly see this being the case.
The premise is as follows. From the sky falls a rocket and inside this rocket is a young child. This child turns out to be Kryptonian and is quickly developing powers. With the discovery of this child, Superman finds that he might not be the Last Son of Krypton anymore and must find a way to raise this child.
That summery covers the first issue of this storyline, Action Comics #844. I maintain that it's the best issue of the story. It begins with Superman speaking with his father, Jor-El, through the fortress of solitude. (needless to say that each of the first three issues begin with someone talking to Jor-El through the fortress of solitude.) This is a good scene to bring up the art.
Immediately, the art makes it feel like a movie. Artist Adam Kubert's panels look like film shots. Even the subtitles used for Kryptonese later on feel like film subtitles. One can also observe the mixed aesthetic. All of the designs are clearly inspired by the 1978 film, but Superman is wearing the costume from the 2006 film Superman Returns. Varying inspirations will be apparent as the book continues.
Adam Kubert's art through the story is all about incredibly detailed backgrounds with sketchier characters. This gives the art a kinetic feel in way. The art is never better than it is in the first issue, but it maintains consistent quality throughout.
Each scene in the first issue does a good job of establishing the universe that Superman inhabits. In the first scene, Jor-El establishes that Superman is the last Kryptonian and we get a peak into Superman's loneliness. Because Geoff Johns is not writing this book with thought bubbles or captions, it is up to the art to really show how each character is feeling at any given time. In this, Adam Kubert succeeds. This book reads quickly, but every scene has an emotional punch to it that gives it weight.
The next scene establishes the status quo at the Daily Planet. Perry and Jimmy Olsen are exactly as they were in the Donner films. Even Clark Kent is played as he was by Christopher Reeve. The biggest change in status quo from the Donner films is introduced here: that Clark is married to Lois.
Then we see Superman catch the rocket in Metropolis, discover the child, and his first meeting with the child. His excitement his obvious. As much is revealed in the scene with Lois. Again credit must go to Adam Kubert as makes the use of superpowers look larger than life even in the most mundane scene. Scenes like Superman hovering when he is speaking to the Kryptonian child, Superman hovering outside Lois' office window with Chinese food, and the Kryptonian child's first use of powers all feel real but highlight how otherworldly these powers are. It makes scenes where Superman uses his powers more aggressively all the more impactful. The scene in which Superman charges into the Pentagon, angry because he believes the government has kidnapped the child, is brilliantly drawn.
The best part of the issue comes at the last page. Superman has recovered the child from the government. Ma and Pa Kent hear a knock on their door. They open it to see Clark, holding the kryptonian child. He says, "A young boy fell from the sky. You took him home. You forged documents. You raised him as your own. Tell me how you did it."
With that last panel, the story begins to click. It is the story of Superman becoming a father and learning about his past. It is also a story about Superman having a new role in the universe. He is no longer the Last Son of Krypton. I cannot imagine what a relief it would be to know that I was no longer the last of my race. This joy is apparent in the second page of the second issue:
But soon, the plot thickens. Lex Luthor would naturally have an interest in this child. His presence has been looming in the back ground throughout the story so far. During a press conference, Lex sends Bizzaro to kidnap Chris. This battle sequence is drawn very cinematically. I can quibble on how it ends quickly, but it plays an important role in the story. Lois see Chris afraid of all of the destruction going on around him. After Lois helps Chris out of a bus, they see the Daily Planet globe about to fall directly on top of them. Chris comes forward and lifts it above his head. This moment is what convinces Lois that they should take care of Chris.
It is at the end of this issue that we learn who this boy is. Next to the fortress of solitude, we see Chris' rocket send out a signal, which causes three more rockets to fall from the sky. From these rockets come Zod, Ursa, and Non. We learn from their dialogue that they have escaped from the Phantom Zone and that Chris is the son of Zod and Ursa.
So who is Zod here? Zod was the head of military defense of Krypton until he attacked the council with Ursa and Non. Sadly missing from this collection is Action Comics Annual #10 which shows these events instead of just telling them. It gets a mention here, but it is revealed that Non was Jor-El's mentor and was lombotimized by the Kryptonian council. The council gives Jor-El the ultimatum to either stay silent about Krypton's impending destruction and send Zod, Ursa, and Non into the phantom zone or to allow the council to execute them.
Regardless of one's position on capital punishment... that's an awful deal. First off, lives shouldn't be used as bartering tools for the release of scientific information. But secondly, Jor-El could have potentially saved his entire planet otherwise. We don't get the full circumstance of the situation in this volume, but I have to think something could be done if the people of Krypton knew the planet was blowing up. The irony is that Jor-El's actions, including the discovery of the phantom zone, resulted in only Krypton's criminals surviving the planet's explosion. Now that I think about it, a movie about the destruction of Krypton would be pretty cool. I still need to read The Last Days of Krypton by Kevin J. Anderson.
That tangent aside, Zod's goal here is to create a New Krypton on Earth. He holds a grudge against Superman for Jor-El's actions (despite the fact that Jor-El saved his life, but whatever). Zod believes that he could have saved Krypton but for Jor-El's actions. And when he comes to Earth, he believes that Superman has betrayed his Kryptonian heritage. The way Zod is presented here, the Zod/Jor-El conflict is significantly more interesting than the Zod/Superman conflict.
The lack of intriuge Zod/Superman conflict is especially evident when we see Superman team up with Luthor in the last issue. In two pages, they have a 15 panel long philosophical argument about Superman's effect on mankind and Luthor's pride. Luthor is presented as something of a raving lunatic, which is unfortunate, but the scenes with his work and hit at the themes of the story. Luthor states: "You leap over tall buildings. You outrun speeding bullets. You juggle locomotives. How does that inspire anybody to be a better human being?"
Yet, it is through Superman's and Lois' influence that Chris rebels against his father and sacrifices himself to a life in the Phantom Zone with the other Kryptonian invaders for the good of the people of Earth. Essentially, this story is a parallel to Ma and Pa Kent rasing Clark. And it is through the arc that this story works. It would work better if we got to see Superman teach Chris moral lessons or something like that, but it still works.
A funny thing: During the final confrontation, Superman asks Zod how he would have saved Krypton. When Zod exclaims that he would have found a way, the reader is supposed to see this as his pride getting in the way. But only a few pages later, when Chris is about to make his sacrifice, Superman exclaims similarly "We'll find another way!" Point being: The villain and hero making the same defiant statement cannot be expected to have different impacts on the reader.
Overall, this is a very strong and compact Superman story. It has iconic moments, big action, and a good heart. It even features a large portion of Superman's rogue's gallery and supporting cast. My biggest complaint with the story itself is at the end of this story, nothing has changed from the status quo. The only real change is that the characters know that Zod, Chris, and friends are in the Phantom Zone along side something else that Zod made a point of foreshadowing. Superman looses Chris, still can't save Mon-El, and cannot have children with Lois. Not to say that every story must have an impact, but for so much to happen with so little consequence... it feels weird when the story ends.
Best lines in this story:
Chris: Who's Batman?
Lois: Someone you're not meeting until you're sixteen.
Chris: Who's Wonder Woman?
Lois: Someone you're not meeting until you're eighteen.
Thank you for reading,
Scott Charles
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