Ages of Superman by Darowski Joseph;

Author:Darowski, Joseph;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Published: 2015-02-01T16:00:00+00:00

The Man of Steel

Byrne’s vision of the Superman narrative is fundamentally an immigrant story. The writer/artist stated in a 1988 interview that the Man of Steel is the “ultimate American success story—a foreigner who comes to America, and is more successful here than he would be anywhere else.”17 In his six-book series, Byrne celebrates the humanity of Clark Kent and tells the story of how Clark created his alter ego, Superman, and found his place in the world.

In 1938, Cleveland teenagers Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster hurriedly explained the Kryptonian origin of their hero: Panel one—he was born on Krypton and rocketed to Earth. Panel two—A passing motorist discovers the rocket and takes the infant to an orphanage.18 No parents or guardians are mentioned on Krypton or Earth. In 1986, Byrne expanded the Kryptonian prologue to eight pages. Readers meet the renowned scientist, Jor-El, and his wife, Lara, the couple whose “seed were mingled in the matrix” to create the young Kal-El. Krypton is a sterile, artificial world whose advanced science has controlled nature for thousands of years. Now the planet is rebelling as a chain reaction in the core is building explosive pressure and creating a radioactive element that has already killed millions of Kryptonians. As the end nears for the planet, Jor-El reveals to Lara his plan to send the infant Kal-El to Earth. Lara is aghast and wonders “what kind of hell” he has chosen for their child. Jor-El assures her that Earth’s yellow sun will empower him and “In time, he will become the Supreme Being on that planet, almost a God!” Lara wonders if he will rule the people of Earth. Jor-El simply responds, “Perhaps.”

The eruptions begin and Jor-El launches the rocket. Lara laments “never knowing the touch of my child’s hand.” Surprisingly, the scientist responds in most compassionate terms and touches her face. He explains that he has learned one thing from his study of humans. “I have always loved you.”19

The first panel on Earth shows a fullback outracing his opponents. The field announcer cheers the player’s tenth touchdown of the game and declares: “Smallville High has just never seen a football player like this amazing, all-around champion, young Clark Kent.” Clearly, this is not the nebbish alter ego envisioned by Siegel and Shuster. The fans celebrate and cheer but it is clear that Pa Kent has seen something else in the exhibition. The elder Kent insists that Clark skip the post-game celebrations and join him for a talk. After eighteen years, Jonathan finally tells Clark of the rocket ship that he and Martha found nearly two decades ago. An amazing story unfolds about how Clark grew and developed super human strength, x-ray vision, and eventually, the power of flight. The chapter concludes with Clark resolving to use his powers to help others. He vows to do so anonymously.20

Seven years have later, Ma Kent has kept a scrapbook of miraculous events listed in the newspaper where catastrophes have been avoided and people saved from certain death.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.