Superman: Earth One is a series of graphic novels written by J. Michael Straczynski and illustrated by Shane Davis. The series is a modernized re-imagining of DC Comics' long-running Superman comic book franchise as the inaugural title of the company's Earth One imprint. Earth One's Superman exists alongside other revamped DC characters in Earth One titles, including Batman: Earth One and Wonder Woman: Earth One, as well as other graphic novels.
The first volume was published in the US in October 27, 2010 by DC Comics, and in the UK in 2011 by Titan Books. Superman: Earth One Volume Two was released on October 31, 2012. Superman: Earth One Volume Three was released on February 4, 2015, with Ardian Syaf illustrating the book instead of Davis.
Background and creation
Writer J. Michael Straczynski said the project was a dream come true, as writing Superman was among his plans which also included Babylon 5. Two years before its publication, Straczynski signed a contract with DC Comics. Before Straczynski's announcement, he had kept the project secret while he worked on the Red Circle characters and The Brave and the Bold.
Straczynski used his experiences as a journalist to add detail to the Daily Planet environment, for example, the character Jimmy Olsen, called Jim in the books, is depicted as tougher and smarter than his mainstream counterpart. Straczynski wanted to retell the beginning of Clark Kent's transition to Superman, and explore possible alternatives to Clark becoming a superhero. Straczynski said that "he [Kent] could have been rich as an athlete, researcher, any number of things. There's a flashback scene to when Martha Kent finishes his uniform and gives it to him as a gift, hoping he will go that way. He looks at it and says, in essence, 'Shouldn't there be a mask?' She says no, that 'when people see how powerful you are, all the things you can do, they're going to be terrified ... unless they can see your face, and see there that you mean them no harm. The mask ... is that what you're going to have to wear the rest of your life'". Straczynski introduced a new villain character with a connection to Krypton, who was used to explain its destruction.
Shane Davis removed the stereotypes associated with depictions of the civilian and superhero identities of Clark Kent. Davis drew the 20-year-old Clark wearing layers of clothing, showing that he is trying to blend in with his associates and differing from previous depictions of Kent wearing a suit, tie, and glasses, which Davis said, "didn't make sense". Davis also re-imagined Metropolis, which was historically depicted as an expanse of art deco buildings. Davis designed the city to look more realistic.
Plot summary
Volume One
Clark Kent arrives on a train in Metropolis, and rents a room at a hotel. The next morning he tries out several jobs: pro footballer, Major League baseball player, and positions in a scientific research company, and in financial services and media industries. Each company wants to hire him. His last job stop is at the Daily Planet newspaper, where he meets Perry White, James "Jim" Olsen, and Lois Lane.
However, upon hearing that the Daily Planet and the wider newspaper industry are in decline, Clark decides not to apply and flies into space. He thinks upon his history, and how his adoptive parents, Martha and Jonathan Kent, told him how they found him while hiking through woodland. They saw a spaceship fly past them and crash. They checked the wreckage for survivors, found a baby boy, and left with the infant, deciding to keep him. Shortly after this, the US government and military arrive at the crash site. The Kents kept a small fragment of debris from the ship and learned of its, and the child's, extraterrestrial origins. Back in the present, Clark talks to his late father's grave and says he feels incapable of being a superhero. Instead, he decides to begin a career and hopes that his father would accept that.