Oh man, this was soooo good. One of the best comics I've read in a while. Fantastic sci-fi writing, with social themes, and some amazing-looking artwork that was pretty realistic looking. Great Elseworlds tale!
I haven't had a comic keep this glued from beginning to end for a while. If you're a sci-fi fan, and a Superman fan, you CAN'T miss this one!
Long story synopsis:In the story, Superman is a human, born to Martha and Jonathan Kent. The Earth, however, is in it's last days because of a massive meteorite that is on a collision course with Earth. Jonathan Kent is a top scientist in this world and is the only one that is trying to inform the public about it, while the world's governments are knee-deep in the Cold War of the 1960s. So Jonathan funnels funding money and uses it to build a rocket for Clark to survive in. That rocket finds it's way to Krypton, via a wormhole, and lands near the home of Jor-El.
Now this is where it gets good. Jor-El is a scientist is a scientist with a spark of adventure to him. The rest of Krypton has become islationist, sterile, and overly-cautious of anything outside of their personal little bubble. But Jor-El secretly takes the child, and raises as his own. He builds and a special environment where Kal-El can adjust to Krypton's atmosphere and gravity, and he raises him as his own.
Soon Kal-El gets his own sense of adventure and goes out to find out what happened to the ancient Krypton civilization, since no one else on the planet seems to care. In the meantime, a "green death" is creeping across the planet, killing Kryptonian with radiation poisoning, in a time when death is a rarity in Kryptonian society. In his explorations of the planet, Kal-El come across the corpse of a long-dead Green Lantern, and is chosen as the next Green Lantern of Krypton's space-sector. The energies of the Power Battery awaken long dormant and forgotten memories of his time as an infant on Earth. This leads Kal-El to go to his father and question his origins. Jor-El reveals the truth to him and tells him the only reason he never told him, is because he loved him as his own son and wanted to raise him on Krypton without the xenophobic attitudes of their society. Jor-El then tells him of the problems of the "green death", which Kal-El didn't realize because he was exploring. He then uses his newfound GL powers to make control rods (like in a nuclear plant) and launches them into the core of the planet, saving Krypton.
After that act, he uses his ring to travel to Earth. He finds that there is a pocket of humanity surviving in harsh conditions. And it is led by none other than Lex Luthor, who rules as a tyrant. There is a small pocket of rebels refusing to join him. Luthor soon starts to launch an attack against him. At this point, Kal-El as seen enough and puts a stop to it. Lex soon gets a hold of Kal-El's Power Battery and Ring. This leads Kal to discover that he has the powers of a "Super-Man" on Earth, due to be adjusted to Krypton's environment. He uses them to take out Luthor and his army, and re-acquire his ring and battery. He vows to stay and help the suviving humanity. This leads the Guardians to strip him of his Ring and Battery, though, as it makes him derelict to his duties in space. Which all sets-up for a new Superman to lead humanity to future on this harsh Earth.
So, anyone have any other Steve Gerber recommendations for me? Because I REALLY liked this.
