Absolute Superman, three issues in, is all about building mysteries. Who is this new Superman? What is up with his weird suit? How did he end up on Earth, and how did Krypton die? While we’ve only got partial answers to most of these questions, the excellent Absolute Superman #3 dug in on the last one in a big way for the most emotionally charged and action-packed issue of the DC Comics series yet.
Spoilers past this point, but 95% of the issue focuses on Krypton, six years before the main events of Absolute Superman. While Kal-El’s parents Lara and Jor-El know about the imminent destruction of the planet, they’re just lowly workers; not high-ranked members of the science guild. They also love their son and planet, and are absolutely at their wits end trying to do the right thing and halt the destruction before more people die.
Last issue, it became apparent that one of the real-world bones writer Jason Aaron had to pick in this series is about AI. Specifically, how the lack of creativity in the writing from pre-supplied material can be factually accurate, but lacks a soul. The script digs even farther into that in this issue, with Kal-El plainly explaining the difference between writing your own words and using pre-supplied ones. The former are alive; the latter are just words. It’s a pretty lovely distillation of AI versus real art, and thrilling to see a Superman comic dig into contemporary issues.
But that’s far from the only thing Aaron is dealing with here, as the destruction of Krypton is plainly connected to big ideas like climate change and the 1% versus the common man. These are all things that have been plainly laid out in the Earth-bound first two issues but come to light in a big way here, plainly, in the text. Aaron is bringing Superman back to his roots as a superhero who fights for the workers — whether he’s able to fly, or is just a kid.
This also shows a beautiful, loving family relationship between the three characters that is heartbreaking and warming at the same time; particularly as we think we know where the story is going (you do not, actually). And all of it is stunningly rendered with Rafa Sandoval’s pencils, which are as adept at drawing stunning vistas as they are intimate family moments.
While issues #1 and #2 leaned more into the action, this one doesn’t shirk on the explosions but digs more into the emotion — and be default makes us care more about Superman, in the present. We already want to root for him. Now, we know him. And it seems like this title is just getting started.
Absolute Superman #3 Rating:
Absolute Superman #3 Official Synopsis:
MEMORIES OF KRYPTON! Years ago on Krypton, Jor-El and Lara became utterly convinced that their planet was headed towards cataclysm. But what could two lowly peons of the Labor Guild possibly do to save their entire species? The answer is decidedly not what you think…
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