I’m not really a Superman fan. I like the character enough, how can anyone my age not like him, after all one of the great moments I had as a kid was watching Superman The movie in a theater. I read the Byrne run but lost interest in the character. He wasn’t relevant, or cool like Batman.  

But I gave the Donner/Johns Last Son arc a shot. Hey it was Donner and Johns. But the delays were bothersome. I didn’t care enough about the character to read about in in other titles, so I drifted away again. But I bought the collected edition of Last Son, then came across the collected edition of Superman/Brainiac and was impressed. Really impressed. it was a long time since I cared about the character, and Johns made you love Superman again. I followed by Superman fix with Superman and the Legion, and Legion of Three Worlds.

Now he gives us Secret Origin. Yes its late, who cares. Its damn good. Gary Frank is as much the definitive Superman artist as Curt Swan was. This is a tough act to follow. It’s classic Superman but in a modern world, yes Frank’s Superman looks like Christopher Reeve, but so what. I also noticed a bit of Margot Kidder in his Lois Lane. This is the first superhero, these characters are the original archetypes but I loved every minute of this. After I read the issue I want to see where it was going to go, what Luthor would do next, how the Daily Planet and its staff would become the number 1 paper in Metropolis, and see Lois and Superman become partners, friends and man and wife. I wanted Johns and Frank to tell those stories, but. . . we won’t get them. 

Other things to love, Lois drawn as a real woman. Perry White. Superman getting the Planet globe to move again. The details in the art like the pigeons nesting on the globe.

Another thing that made this book seem very current, and of today might have been totally accidental due to its lateness. But to have this come out now with the fear and bigotry running rampant in America. The fear of something different (like muslims)  makes it feel relevant. An allegory for our current life in America.