DC Comics has simply established one other pillar of the brand new Absolute Universe with the discharge of Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval’s Absolute Superman #1. As with the lately launched Absolute Batman and Absolute Wonder Woman, this new sequence is ready in a world the place the Man of Steel lacks lots of the basic benefits of his basic counterpart. Is he nonetheless Superman if he by no means grew up on the Kent household farm? That’s one in every of many questions the sequence units out to discover in its opening chapter.
Just how completely different is that this model of Superman? How does he examine to a blue-collar Batman or a Wonder Woman raised in Hades? We’ve obtained the total breakdown of what’s modified for the Absolute Universe, however watch out for full spoilers for Absolute Superman #1 forward!
Krypton’s Caste System
The modifications in Absolute Superman aren’t restricted to only Superman himself, however prolong to Krypton as an entire. Issue #1 opens with a flashback to life on Krypton earlier than its destruction. As is often the case for the franchise, Krypton is depicted as a extremely superior however hubristic civilization that has stopped exploring the celebrities in favor of retreating inward. Also as per regular, Jor-El is depicted because the lone voice warning Krypton’s leaders concerning the planet’s imminent destruction. The distinction this time is that Jor-El isn’t in a lot of a place to make his voice heard.
That’s as a result of neither he nor his spouse Lara are revered scientists within the Absolute Universe. In this model of the Superman mythology, Krypton is dominated by a inflexible caste system. At the highest of the pyramid are the members of the Science League, having fun with all of the wealth and luxuries Krypton has to supply. At the underside is the Labor Guild, whose members toil away for the good thing about the extra privileged lessons.
Both Jor-El and Lara are members of the Labor Guild. Jor-El sacrificed his personal vivid future within the Science League when he made an impassioned commencement speech criticizing Krypton’s environmental insurance policies. As for Lara, her vivid future was reduce brief even earlier, when as a younger pupil she wrote an article denouncing Krypton’s flip away from area journey. In this universe, Jor-El is a security inspector within the planet’s Sunstone mines, whereas Lara moonlights as a mechanic serving to out struggling farmers.
Jor-El known as upon to examine a hard mine shaft, the place he rapidly discovers proof that Krypton itself is starting to interrupt down. Sadly, nobody within the planet’s ruling class has a lot curiosity in listening to the dire warnings of a humble laborer.
Even Superman’s S-shield takes on a really completely different significance on this universe. The defend isn’t the image of the House of El, however somewhat the mark worn by members of the Labor Guild. Superman carries the legacy not simply of his mother and father, however numerous hundreds of thousands of downtrodden and oppressed Kryptonians. More than ever, he’s a hero for the frequent man.
Superman vs. Lazarus and the Peacemakers
After Jor-El’s fateful discovery, the problem jumps forward to the current day, when Superman is a refugee on Earth. He’s proven hiding out amongst a gaggle of Brazilian miners toiling away in diamond mines run by the ruthless Lazarus Corporation. Superman appears confused by his environment and Earth tradition usually, struggling to speak with the miners or reconcile the truth that this new world can have such excessive divides in wealth and residing requirements. Clearly, he hasn’t been on Earth very lengthy (extra on that later).
Superman makes an attempt to assist the miners by singlehandedly filling their carts with diamond ore and eradicating the lethal asbestos permeating the mine. Unfortunately, that solely raises the suspicions of the Peacemakers, the armored, gun-toting enforcers of the Lazarus Corporation. Superman has no selection however to intervene immediately, battling the Peacemakers in protection of the miners.
Here we study that Superman’s powers appear to work very otherwise within the Absolute Universe. Rather than being empowered by Earth’s yellow solar, Kal-El has to cost his physique with the crimson Sun Stone of Krypton. He additionally depends on a useful AI companion named Sol, one whose directive is to guard the final residing son of the House of El.
Superman defeats the military of Peacemakers, however not earlier than he practically loses management of his powers and unleashes his devastating warmth imaginative and prescient. That act appears to empty him, suggesting that Absolute Superman isn’t fairly the unstoppable powerhouse he’s usually depicted as. In truth, it’s not even clear whether or not he has the power to fly on this universe.
Lois Lane: Agent of Lazarus
Drained after his battle with the Peacemakers, Superman is taken into custody by a Lazarus crew. The crew has been monitoring Superman for a while now, recognizing his handiwork at different mining websites in Botswana and Dharavi. The actual shock, although, is the identification of the agent who takes him into custody. That could be none apart from Lois Lane.
In one other enormous shakeup for the Absolute Universe, Lois has been reworked from crusading journalist to soldier in service of Lazarus. The query is whether or not her dedication to the reality nonetheless stays. Will she find yourself aligning herself with Superman and combating to show her masters, or has Lois been irrevocably corrupted by this twisted universe?
Then there’s the thriller of who is definitely operating Lazarus. Lex Luthor could be an apparent candidate. Or, given the title, maybe Batman villain Ra’s al Ghul. But the reply seems to be neither of these. Instead, an epilogue web page exhibits that Lazarus is outwardly being run by Brainiac.
As within the conventional DC Universe, Brainiac is surrounded by the jars of cities he’s bottled as a part of his assortment. Did Brainiac have a hand in what befell Krypton? And what precisely occurred to Krypton, anyway? That’s the place this challenge wraps up, ending on what is definitely the most important change to Superman’s mythology but.
The Fates of Superman’s Parents
Would Kal-El really be Superman if not for his adoptive Earth mother and father? So a lot of his worldview and innate goodness stems from the teachings of Ma and Pa Kent. Sadly, their affect has been stripped away within the Absolute Universe. Similar to how Wonder Woman was pressured to develop up in Hades away from the loving affect of her fellow Amazons, Superman seems to have by no means met the Kents on this universe. We solely see one glimpse of the Kent household farm, a spot that’s been deserted for years and is now owned by the Lazarus Corporation.
But that’s to not say Superman didn’t have any optimistic parental affect in his life. Issue #1 ends by flashing again to Jor-El and Lara-El on Krypton. Jor-El laments the truth that his planet is dying and nobody cares. Then he immediately panics, questioning the place his son is. That’s when Kal-El seems. Not a helpless toddler, however a rising boy. He even has Krypto as his trustworthy companion.
Much as Absolute Batman upends the Dark Knight’s mythology by revealing that Martha Wayne remains to be alive, Absolute Superman modifications the sport by permitting Kal-El to get pleasure from a childhood together with his delivery mother and father. He could not have the Kents serving to form him from boy to Superman, however Kal-El does nonetheless have sturdy parental figures to show him proper from improper and to battle for the underprivileged lots on Krypton and Earth alike.
Naturally, this raises a whole lot of questions. When precisely does Kal-El make the journey to Earth on this universe? How do his mother and father even handle that feat in the event that they aren’t members of the Science League? When does Krypton meet its finish? For that matter, does it nonetheless explode on this model of the story? With every little thing else that’s modified within the Absolute Universe, we wouldn’t put it previous Aaron and Sandoval to disclose that Krypton has survived to the current day.
What do you consider these modifications to Superman’s origin story? Is he nonetheless Superman if he isn’t Clark Kent? Let us know your ideas within the feedback beneath.
For extra on what’s occurring on the earth of comcis, discover out which Star Wars characters are getting married and why Marvel has immediately made Spider-Man immortal.
Jesse is a mild-mannered workers author for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your mental thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
