Superman Secret Origin #1 (OF 6)

Let's hope that this delayed issue thing isnt a continuing trend throughout this series, Im really looking forward to it!

A kid with Christopher Reeve's face kinda creeped me out in the preview.  Hopefully it doesn't become a distraction.

@slockhart: That's my favorite thing about Frank's art.

So my plan is to trade wait on this, but I don't think that's going to pan out how I want it.  Frank's art is just too tempting.  We'll see

If you'll excuse me, I think I'm gonna dance a little jig in utter joy over this coming out.

More (alive) Pa Kent, and here we get to see him shaping Clark and helping him grow up.   Good, good stuff.

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank back together for a Superman comic?

YAY!!! *plays 'Greatest American Hero theme song*

Looking forward to this the most this week. Just having this creative team back together is more then enough reason to read this.

Really excited for this. As many of you know, I'm not a fan of Kal-El... EXCEPT for Superman and Superman II. (Well, and the Advs. of Superman tv show, which is where my love for Earth-2 Superman comes from) So this is perfect for me. Slap Reeves face on Superman and I'm sold. This is "definitive" origin #15 for Superman right?

@Conor

Don't get me wrong, I love that he uses Christopher Reeve.  There was just a panel or two in the preview where it looked like a man's head on a child's body.

As long as it replaces Birthright as the go to origin. I don't even know if Birthright is canon and while i loved the art on that book the whole thing where superman see's the aura of living things was just weird and didn't have any purpose

@roi Believe it or not Johns said right after Infinite Crisis that you should disregard Birthright. And something in the beginning of the Last Son story arc directly contradicts Birthright, too.

@Prax  thank god, man that was such a well written and drawn book but every issue it seemed there was something wonky that made me hate it

Damn I've missed this team on Action Comics...

@flapjaxx - Exactly how I feel.  I hope this is of the same caliber as the Brainiac arc.

Johns/Frank on Action was the best Superman stuff I've read in quite some time.  This should be terrific.  I'm losing interest in the other Supes books (actually only on Superman WONK at the moment) but I'm glad this is finally here.

i love both johns and frank and their work on supes so far has been second to none. I can;t help thinking at a time where im trying to save money and drop titles left right and centre if i really need to read another version of supermans origin. is this really going to give me something new and different?

@Sammy I get the feeling that it's a more expanded origin (being that it's 6 issues).. and Johns will get into some of the rogues gallery beginnings that should or could connect with what's going on in the main Supes titles.  If nothing more, it's Johns and Frank on Superman which is more than enough to sell me.

I'll also add that Johns' GL secret origin made me a GL fan from absolutely zero experience with the character.  Very much looking forward to his take on Supes' origin, as it's a story where the main plot points we all know.  I'm thinking he has a lot more to add to that main story since it's so well-known.

Its gonna be nice to read a Superman comic that actually has Superman in it being Superman.

Really working hard to cut my spending on comic books, but I just can't resist picking up a mini created by the team of Gary Frank and Johns.

I'm tempted to get this simply cos it's a light week for me. Me and superheroes don't get on too well but origin stories can be good. I enjoyed the GL origin (similarly having zero experience with the character) until all the superhero stuff started happening, then I got bored. "here's your power, try it" "ohh cool" "oh but it doesn't work on yellow" "what, why?" "Just! Just because I say so! Do not question me" Yeah whatever. That was lame. Sorry GL fans, just can't get into that at all. Magneto's origin was SUPERB and I'd never even heard of the guy before reading it.

So yeah, might give this origin story a go. Seems to be some hype about it and sometimes I like to pick up something like that to see what all the fuss is about. Plus the art looks nice even if the christopher reeves head is kinda freaky.  Aaaand it's a double issue.

It has to be said about Gary Frank's art . . .

He only has about two different faces for his male characters and two for his female characters (Ma Kent may be the second).

The dude is not that versatile when it comes to faces.

If you don't believe me, compare stuff from his Action Comics run with Johns and his stuff with JMS on Supreme Power.

@Scorpion- When you say different faces are you referring to facial structure, or the look, or? Because I see a distinct difference between the faces of Pa Kent, Clark as a child, and Brainiac.

The overall look. 

I probably used some hyperbole, but I'm saying Super Man looks a lot like Hyperion from Supreme Power and they both look like almost every male character in the Legion of Super Heroes.

Same with Lois Lane who looks like the Wonder Woman knock-off in Supreme Power who looks like every female character in the Legion of Super Heroes.

I like his art and all, but I really do think faces are his primary weakness.

Err... Superman looks like Hyperion? I don't think so, because Superman is clearly Christopher Reeve and Hyperion looks nothing like him. However, Hyperion does like Earth Man from the Legion story. However, this hasn't dissuaded me from liking his art.

@winthewonderboy: don't hold your breath, the preview looked like there's a lot of story before Clark wears teh costume. But Chillax, it's all good stuff.

very very excited for this one, boys and girls

I'm not trying to dissuade any one from liking Gary Frank's art. I like his art. I'm just pointing out something that bothers me about his art.

One set of characters in common is not enough to complain. I find uncanny resemblances between a lot of his characters.

Another one is Power Princess (or whatever she is called from Supreme Power) and the chick with wings in the Legion of Superheroes.

Superman looks like Christopher Reeve in some of his portrayals, but in other issues of Action that seems to fade a bit more towards his standard super hero male.

It didn't even cross my mind that the young Clark looks a lot like Reeves. Now I can't get it out of my head! Thanks a lot :P

Let's take a poll here. How many of you have rewritten Superman's origin?

None.

Fantastic.

A conversation with Johns should go something like this, "so, Mr. Johns, what would you say was your greatest accomplishment?"

"Gee, I don't know.. was it, making people give a shit about Green Lantern, or rewriting Superman's origin? Tough call."

Compared to him I've done nothing with my life. Nothing.

I love Gary Frank's art!  I'll see you in 2 years on the paperback!  (DC puts paperbacks out slow, not the artists)

johns is gonna go way silver age on this origin which is good and bad

is anyone else worried about FACE?

I love the fact that young Clark looks eerily like Mr. Reeves.  If big boy Clark is going to look exactly like him, then it makes sense.

@FACE - Your post didn't contain any serious typos, so you've got that going for you. 

I love the covers I've seen for this series (1-3) and look foward to getting a new origin for

"the man of steel".

@Scorpion- Ya i can see that.

@Face- I think most of us fail when compared to Johns. I'm a college student who's biggest achievement is making it to class on time.

the bit of this that i saw on blackest night is interesting n if u love smallville then ull love this

I'm looking forward to this.  I recently read Superman: Brainiac and really enjoyed Johns' writing with Frank's art.  Have they collaborated a lot in the past?  I'm somewhat new to current Superman.

@dneufeld: Not to overblow anything but the are the sole reason that Superman is a good character again. Go pick up the Legion of Superheroes arc and Brainiac arc to see what I mean.

I had no idea this was coming down the pike. Johns? Supes? Count me in!

Gary Frank and Geoff Johns on Superman AGAIN YES

Oooh!!  And DC takes a big hit this week!!

@ KickAss
In what regard?

I felt like the Jor-El stuff was a little exposition-y, as in real life exposition since we all know that stuff about Clark but he doesn't. This issue stradles the line between 4 and 5 for me, I'm gonna need to think about, maybe use the rest of the week's issues as points of reference to decide.

It reminded me way too much of Smallville (Tv show)

Man, I loved this.  Then again, i'm a sucker for a good Superman origin.  I think I might re-read 'It's Superman'

This might be the best single issue I have read this year.

This is such a callback to the early days of Superman, and I mean that as a look back into Golden Age years. Geoff Johns has the idea down of making Clark such a shy and sad kid and not the invincible man we see today. There were some great jokes in here (especially the last page) and some great character moments. The short time with Lex Luthor pretty much speak volumes to how he becomes the villain we know today.

There are no words for how brillaint Gary Frank's pencils were in this. Everything felt right and also perfect. That pretty much describes this issue as a whole: Perfect.

Loved this issue, I am probably going to enjoy this much better than Flash: Rebirth, but that has to do with the character.

Hmm. Has it really been that long since the last superman origin story?

how many times can he grow up in smallville really?

@Bryce31: As many times as there are stories to tell and re-tell.

While I was like "Where was the Krypton intro?", it is nice to see him taking a different approach to telling Supes' origin.  And of course, Superboy is back in his origin!

Not bad but it's got nothing on Man of Steel. It seems like an episode of Smallville and I don't care for Clark having a career as Superboy either.

@CGPO

Geoff Johns
a) never intended to retell the Krypton origin and
b) is legally not allowed to tell that origin (nor is anyone at DC) due to a recent ruling in favor of the family of Jerry Siegel.

Keep in mind, however, I barely know what I'm talking about. 

Perfect.

 @captbastard No, they can tell that origin... until 2013. They're just choosing a different approach. Think about All-Star Superman's opening. It told the entire thing in 4 panels. Everyone knows where Superman comes from, that doesn't need to be retread again.

Great read. 5/5 for me. I keep hearing "This is so like Smallville." It is and it isn't. It's really like the first hour of the of the Donner Superman film if anything. Certainly there are nods to all the various origins in here, though. This book looked great, felt great and hit everything I wanted it to. I can't wait for next issue. 

@PraxJarvin - I've never seen a single episode of Smallville, but if it is anything like this issue I may start watching.

@PraxJarvin
As I said, "I barely know what I'm talking about." But, I also said that Johns never intended to tell that story, I was adding the other part because I was under the impression, incorrectly as you pointed out, that he couldn't even had he wanted to.

If that's the case, I think the new publisher at DC, who'd previously said in an interview that there were no plans for a Superman movie any time soon, should rethink that. Fast. Since their plan is aparently a reboot (a la the Hulk movie), they ought to have the origin in the 1st movie of the franchise in a brief, All Star Superman style, (since we already have a 1st Superman movie with a long origin) and get it out before the time runs out. 

Everything I hoped it would be. Nothing more. Nothing less.

There are definitely nods to Smallville with this issue. Although the only obvious one I saw was on Pete's cast when we get a close up on it.

Also, theres a great use of using the background to tell us the story. Love the panel where its in the high school; and there is a banner saying 'Smallville High Spirits' and in the room it shows Clark crying. There was a lot of stuff like that in this issue.

I really liked this, but to me it didn't feel new.  It was the best written book I read this week, but I had to give Fantastic Four my POW because I had more fun reading it.

Okay I just read this and I loved it.

so I take back my earlier statements.

@captbastrd: Diane Nelson is President of DC Entertainment; she's not the Publisher of DC Comics. They haven't hired a new one yet. But when they do, she will be that person's boss.

@conor
Darnit! I knew I was off on that; I'm just spreading half-truths and misinformation all over the place today. I've got to go apologize to the friends I blocked on Facebook for doing the same thing about a certain President of the United States. 

geoff johns is brilliant (im sorry i doubted him after flash rebirth)

The best issue of any thing I have read in as long as I can remember, so glad I saved it for last.

This is the single best issue I have EVER read! It is the perfect issue one comic, just incredible work from Johns and Frank.

Sure, we have all read this story before but never written or drawn this well.  To be honest I got pretty emotional reading this and I cant quite put my finger on exactly why but I do know this really was something special and something I will never forget.

Amazing 5/5 

The last page was just gold, pure gold

No offence to anyone but i really thought the issue fell at little flat.

 And here's why...

 i had some pre-conceived ideas about what Johns was going to do with the origin. I thought there may have been a new element added to the story which would inform the current story lines. i thought it was fantastic how Johns used the childhood memory Hal Jordan's father's death to explain why Hal pushes himself to not feel fear. I didn't see anything in this issue which would really form the alturistic character of Superman that we all know and love....

Young Clark made an odd connection between the thrill of helping people and getting some action off Lana very quickly. Quite an odd child, really

@edward
I'd have to imagine that that will be soon coming in this mini-series. I'm sure this was the same rhetoric of people who felt lukewarm on the GL Secret Origin story. There are still 5 issues left and we know Geoff Johns to be someone who has a long term game-plan in mind.

@captbastard I wasn't blown away by GL Secret Origin. 

Johns has written a lot of super-corny comics lately (his JSA finale & Adventure Comics. Hey, I'm a big fan of his, but too much syrup is too much syrup, whoever writes it) & this issue followed along those lines ... BUT, the difference with this issue is that I liked it! A LOT! Big chunk of credit for this has to go to Frank's AWESOME art (man, I've missed it), his reaction shots in particular were great. The panels of young Clark's eyes buggin' out his head were my personal favourites. So, even though this issue was corny, it wasn't over-done & I couldn't help smiling while reading this. LOVED the last page :)

Mmmmm, Superman porn.

This was hilarious.