Another year, another blimmin’ retelling of Superman’s origins - from no less than Frank Miller this time! A guy who I thought only despised the Man of Steel is now unexpectedly writing a Superman comic. Though, unfortunately like all of Miller’s latter-day output, it’s godawful. In this tedious reiteration of his origin, Superman does some Navy SEAL training and porks (spears?) a mermaid. What else? What else, indeed.
Like the super-characters from his Dark Knight comics, Miller’s Superman is a lot more knowing and a lot less innocent than he’s usually written to be, particularly at this time of his life. His tone is almost arrogant in the way he looks down on humans, which makes him a lot less likeable.
The bad guys he battles are absurdly one-dimensional. High school bullies that supposedly hold Smallville in thrall and attempt to rape Lana Lang, Navy grunts in a bar who attempt to rape female customers, and a version of Poseidon that’s out to rape his own daughter: this is just laughably childish characterisation and lazy writing.
Superman goes from being madly in love with Lana Lang to throwing his lot in with the new love of his life Lori the little mermaid even though they barely know each other and met briefly in one scene? It’s not even remotely convincing. And what is it with love interests starting with the letter “L” - Lana, Lori, Lois? Superman’s got a type and it’s bizarrely alphabet-related.
I don’t know why we had to see Superman do Navy SEAL training, especially given how long that goes on for - nearly a third of the book for something utterly pointless! It’s not like it was teaching him discipline or values - he already got that from Jon and Martha. Also, is it normal for cadets to be taken on actual life-or-death missions against terrorists while still in training?
And the rest is just rehashing the familiar story: Metropolis, journalism, Lois, Lex, yadda yadda yadda, the end. It’s such a boring book.
The title is a misnomer - this story takes place over several years rather than one year, unless it’s figurative and stands for just the beginning. But it’s really called Superman: Year One because Miller wrote arguably his best DC book in Batman: Year One and this is just a reference to tell readers, hey, ‘memberberries that classic? Check this one out!
Because did we really need another origin retelling? Of course not. That’s the only reason this book exists: nostalgia and yet another version of the same guff to flog to readers. What little new details Frank Miller throws into his retelling doesn’t justify its existence and I just wouldn’t bother with Superman: Year One at all. Instead, if you want to read better Superman origin stories, I would recommend the vastly superior Superman: Birthright or even Superman: Secret Origin over this rubbish.
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