Raised in the idyllic farming town of Smallville, Clark Kent leaves home to become a champion and protector of innocent lives. Upon embarking on his new endeavor as the superhero known as Superman, he quickly makes enemies in the form of the egotistical Lex Luthor and becomes the singular obsession of the intrepid reporter Lois Lane.
Superman: The Man of Steel Volume 1 collects The Man of Steel #1-6, written and illustrated by John Byrne.
Under John Byrne’s pen, Superman’s world and mythos was redesigned for a then-modern audience following the continuity-altering Crisis on Infinite Earths. The six-part The Man of Steelbegins with Kal-El’s escape from Krypton and chronicles his earliest adventures as Superman. The most significant reinvention Byrne establishes is to Krypton. It’s portrayed as a cold, sterile world where science advancements have devastated the planet so thoroughly that it is on the verge of destruction. It feels like a cautionary tale of what could happen to Earth if we do not protect the environment and the planet’s resources. Aesthetically speaking, Byrne also gives Kryptonians a new look. Jor-El and Lara-El look androgynous, with their hair and bodies hidden behind concealing fabric. It’s an interesting visual choice that compliments the overall themes that Byrne is tugging on. The time spent on Krypton is brief, which is unfortunate since I think Byrne was doing something really unique with it. Instead of spending more time elaborating upon this world and its occupants, we’re quickly taken to Smallville and a feverish jaunt through Clark’s childhood and adolescence. Once more, Byrne doesn’t pace himself properly and it results in a frantic form of storytelling where none of the characters are able to develop properly. It’s possible that this first issue is so poorly paced as he was certain his audience was already familiar enough with these characters and this world.
The rest of this collection is focused on showing readers a few of Superman’s firsts – his first encounter with Lois Lane, his first article for the Daily Planet, his first team-up with Batman, and his first conflict with Lex Luthor. All of these are effective and engaging stories that are self-contained in singular issues. Byrne’s approach is opposite to what Frank Miller and George Perez would do respectively with Batman and Wonder Woman Post-Crisis. He gives readers little vignettes that are easy to digest rather than a full-on arc with a singular villain and primary conflict. This allows him to develop the characters by dropping them into different situations. One of the most interesting issues in the bunch is The Man of Steel #3, where Superman and Batman have their first team-up. They join forces to stop the thief Magpie from committing any more of her violent crimes. The story is full of tension as it explores the different approaches Superman and Batman have to vigilantism. Their personalities contrast quite well and Byrne does a spectacular job of portraying both. In contrast, Byrne’s reinvention of Bizarro (though he’s not called such) is a bit of a letdown. He strips away all of the iconic elements of the character and instead portrays him as a mute science experiment that perishes at the end of his debut issue. There’s also a whiff of ableism in terms of how the subplot involving Lucy Lane’s disability is handled.
The real star of The Man of Steel actually isn’t Superman. Lois Lane is. From the very first time she bursts onto the page, she’s a firecracker whose every piece of dialogue sparks on the page. She’s tough, stubborn, resourceful, single-minded, and funny. No other character manages to be quite as interesting as Lois. She makes Superman seem like a troglodyte in comparison because she’s that dynamic. Her willingness to put herself in danger to secure an interview with Superman and the scene in which she tears into Lex Luthor for not respecting her boundaries are standout moments for Lois. It also helps that Byrne portrays her as an incredibly stylish woman and draws her in such a way that she pulls focus whenever she’s in a panel.
This first volume of Superman: The Man of Steel by John Byrne reads like the first few episodes of a television series. It’s less cinematic than other origin stories for Superman and instead takes a more episodic approach to his earliest adventures. The small-scale conflicts that take place in these issues don’t contribute to any epic event or world-threatening battle. In some ways, this allows for more character development and enables Superman to slowly grow as a hero. It also means that the opportunity for larger conflicts is there, but hasn’t been exhausted. It’s an enjoyable read, but far from being the best Superman origin story out there. If anything, it’s most worth reading for all of the Lois Lane bits.
RATING: B
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