Life has a funny way of going about things. I grew up with two big brothers who are big Marvel fans, and so that's how I grew up, and don't get me wrong, I will always be one at heart. However, in recent years I have developed my own perspectives and began to appreciate things from the DC side of things, and probably the biggest of those things is Superman. Growing up, I had little to no appreciation for the Man of Steel. He was boring, too powerful, and so I didn't really bother to give the character a chance. In recent years, however, not only have I gained an appreciation for the character, but I have developed a fascination in him. I don't think there is a character that I have written more pieces about in my time writing. Hell, the story that got me invested in my own writing (which is sadly no longer available to read as the site it was on was shut down and I hadn't backed it up), was a review of the second issue of Superman: Rebirth back some 3 years ago during DC's Rebirth relaunch. So when I read the recently released "Super Spectacular" by Marv Wolfman: Man and Superman, I was floored to find a book that so beautifully depicted everything that makes this character what he is: a symbol of peace and hope.
Wolfman's Man and Superman acts as a zero year for Superman and is broken up into four chapters, starting with: In Which He Leaves Smallville as a Boy. As one can imagine by the title of that first chapter, this story starts off with Clark arriving in Metropolis, trying to establish himself. However, what's very interesting is that this story focuses more on the pursuit of Clark's career as a journalist. Clark's love for writing in the story is probably the most human part depicted as he sees it as the only gift he has that he had to work for. No superpower he has could give him an edge as a writer. Clark was even drawn to Metropolis over other cities due to the prestige of the Daily Planet, which is his dream job. However, getting a job as a reporter is not easy, and so Clark has taken up a job as a reporter. Superman is not something that Clark feels he is ready for, and this is shown through the fact that despite having his suit packed away, he does not don the iconic costume until the last few pages of the panel.
The Superman side of this story is centered around a series of arsons occurring throughout Metropolis. In the pursuit of trying to investigate these arsons and help, Clark ends up making a mess of things and public opinion of him as "The Flying Man," starts off very negative. His constant blundering leads to Clark losing his confidence and even sending his costume back to the Kents. However, despite this, Clark is continually reminded of the Kents by the people he surrounds himself in his new life in Metropolis. It is ultimately these relationships he forms that spur him throughout the book to keep going, despite being labeled as a villain by the press, as they are a constant reminder of the family back in Smallville that shined with humanity's best qualities. Honestly, it's bits like this where this book shines it's best in my opinion. Moments like Clark going to a baseball game with his friends from work, and using his super breath to cause a home run and fly into the stands so his friend could take the flyaway ball home to his kid, or the Pa Kent expressing his excitement to see Clark do things no man could dream of doing to help while simultaneously showing his generous nature by donating money to Adopt-a-family despite being financially tight because: "We do what we do."
As much as this is a Zero year for Superman, it serves as a zero year for another iconic member of the Superman mythos, Lex Luthor. What I found very interesting is how Marv Wolfman writes Lex in this. The reason I want to make mention of it is that Marv's interpretation of Lex in this reminds me of the rise of Batman. He is Metropolis' golden son that has been gone for 5 years. Lex returns to the city during the height of the arsons, after both the newspaper he built up, and the corporate HQ of Lex Corp have been destroyed by the alleged "terrorist group." When Lex returns he holds a press conference, calling out the terrorist group, serving to provoke an attack. Lex is more than prepared and the missiles that have been responsible for the Arson are shot down by Lex's artillery weapons he manufactured, however, Clark has to intervene as those weapons aren't enough and so "The Flying Man," gets a bit of positive limelight for a change. However, something about this doesn't sit well with Clark and so he investigates.
After doing a little digging, Clark reaches out to the only real ally to "The flying man" in the city, Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane. Clark confides in Lois that Lex is the man behind the arsons and gives her a lead to pursue, meanwhile Clark pursues a lead of his own and finds the Lexcorps warehouse where all the missiles responsible for the arsons are being held. Lex tries to use this opportunity, activating all the missiles to detonate and kill "The Flying Man." However, this obviously does not do what it was intended. Clark makes a pit stop to Smallville to pick up his iconic costume and then it's off to Lex Corp where get by far my new favorite first encounter between Lex Luthor and Superman.
The book wraps up beautifully with Clark going to Lois with his expose on "The Flying Man," titled "What the Flying Man Wants From Us." The title is on the nose, and while we don't get a look at the entire thing, we clearly get the best bit:
"I can do many things, but I can't protect you from yourselves. You have to believe in the good. You have to make sure you don't surrender your freedoms for security. You can't only hope for a better tomorrow, you have to work for it. I'll be there to help, but the better world is up to you."Lois gives the piece to Perry White and threatens to quit if Perry doesn't hire Clark, in addition, she changes the title of the piece, and gives "The Flying Man" his iconic name: Superman. The final panel shows Superman flying above Metropolis, and Clark's friend from work holding up a Daily Planet newspaper with the front page headline: "What Superman Wants From Us" signed by Clark as promised earlier in the book and it signs off with a black page with a shining blue Superman crest with the words "The Beginning" at the bottom.
While I have given an overview of this book, I have barely touched the surface because I feel like there is no amount of words I can write that can do this story justice. I have many people in my life that believe there is no way to write a compelling Superman story, and if you know people like that, this is the story to prove them wrong. This book gives All-Star Superman a run for its money, and if you have been reading my work since my days at moviepilot, you know that All-Star is my favorite Superman story and the one I consider to be his best story ever.
This has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you have enjoyed and we will see you again soon!
-Michael
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