The Origins of Superman

[Bat-Fan Beyond]

How many times do we have to have a retelling/revision of Superman's origin in comics?

I mean, Batman has had only one defining origin story Post-Crisis [of the Infinite Earths] and that's Batman: Year One by Frank Miller, which not only serves as Batman's origin in the regular DC Universe, but also as his origin in Frank Miller's alternate Dark Knight Universe.

But Superman has had quite a few so far...

The Man of Steel by John Byrne and Dick Giordano

Superman For All Seasons by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale

Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid and Leinil Yu

Superman: Secret Origin by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank

It's no wonder why Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely practically summed it up ever so briefly in only three panels on one page for their All Star Superman series.

And now we have Superman: Earth One by J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis coming out with yet another... guess what!? Yep, another retelling/revision of Superman's origin!

Just curious, though....

Which Superman origin story do you like best?

[Anthonynotes]

Well, Supes and Bats have had even more origin retellings than that, counting Golden and Silver Age tales... for Batman, the main pre-Crisis ones would probably be:

- Detective Comics #33: the first origin tale, from 1939.
- Batman #47: from 1948, another retelling, this one giving us Joe Chill's name for the first time.
- Untold Tales of Batman: a three-issue 1980 miniseries by Len Wein summarizing the Silver Age Batman's origin story.

For Superman, probably:
- Superman #61, late 40s: kryptonite appears in the comics in the first time, as does a retelling of Krypton's destruction/how Superman came to Earth.
- an early 60s story retelling his (Silver Age) life story; retold (with better Curt Swan art/less gratuitous detail) in an early 70s special.
- Action Comics #500: a detailed retelling of Superman's life story for the anniversary issue.
- If changing his name from Superboy to Superman counts, there's a few one-shot stories contradicting each other, and the 1985 miniseries "Superman: the Secret Years" (that gave a more detailed version, with covers by Frank Miller)

One possible reason for more Superman retellings might be that unlike him, Batman never had the wholesale post-Crisis reboot that tossed all previous stories out---stories dating back to the 60s still "count" for Batman, but the same can't be said for Supes.

As for my favorite Superman origin story:

Pre-Crisis, and overall: the early 70s one noted above (what can I say? I like Superboy...)

Post-Crisis: Probably "All Star Superman" (Lara's heavily involved in sending Supes to Earth, unlike other versions, etc.)

-B.

[Manga4life]

"The Man of Steel" by John Byrne and Dick Giordano is the mini-series (TPB) I refer to the most when it comes time to refresh myself on Superman's origin, I loved the story they told and I find it to be the benchmark of Superman in the "modern age" of comics.

I did like "Superman For All Seasons" too though, but there is something classic and important about John Byrne's Superman story that will live on in comic-dom for ever and ever, it's just a very fun read.

[Shawn Hopkins]

"The Man of Steel" by John Byrne and Dick Giordano is the mini-series (TPB) I refer to the most when it comes time to refresh myself on Superman's origin, I loved the story they told and I find it to be the benchmark of Superman in the "modern age" of comics.

I did like "Superman For All Seasons" too though, but there is something classic and important about John Byrne's Superman story that will live on in comic-dom for ever and ever, it's just a very fun read.

It doesn't count anymore, though. Almost all of Byrne's vision of Krypton has been discarded.

[Manga4life]

It doesn't count anymore, though. Almost all of Byrne's vision of Krypton has been discarded.

Not by me it hasn't, I could care less about the industry's take on it or whatever DC is pushing for it's readers to believe these days. To me, the Byrne vision of Superman is what I consider to be the true origin tale of the character and it will probably always remain that way.

[Ed Liu]

How many times do we have to have a retelling/revision of Superman's origin in comics?

I mean, Batman has had only one defining origin story Post-Crisis [of the Infinite Earths] and that's Batman: Year One by Frank Miller, which not only serves as Batman's origin in the regular DC Universe, but also as his origin in Frank Miller's alternate Dark Knight Universe.
As Brainatra points out, Batman has had lots of other origin stories told about him, and if you're going to ding the JMS/Shane Davis GN for doing the origin again, I think you also have to ding the Batman GN because it's going to do the origin again also.

I think that Frank Miller didn't really do the "origin" of Batman in the same way as most origins of Superman do. It's not important that TDKR tells the origin story of Batman, but that it re-tells it over and over and over again, visually communicating it as the defining obsession of Batman's life. Miller's origin story there doesn't do anything new or novel at all compared to the original two-pager that was published all those years ago in Batman #1. On the other hand, I say Batman: Year One is really the origin story of Jim Gordon, not Batman. It adds the "I shall become a bat" scene to what was already said in TDKR, but I always thought the real lead of that story is Gordon.

This also pinpoints one reason why Batman hasn't had so many subsequent origin stories while Superman has. Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns were good enough that they have been effectively canonized (in the literal sense). They are holy writ that can't be touched or modified. Anybody who does is going to be compared to Miller, and I'll wager that 9 times out of 10, the results are going to be repetitive or inadequate in the comparison (including modern-day Frank Miller).

I can't say the same thing about any of Superman's origin stories. The Man of Steel updated the upholstery, but it wasn't the kind of game-changer for Superman as Miller's work was for Batman. I don't think Man of Steel has aged anywhere near as well as Miller's Batman works have, and I don't think any of the subsequent Superman origin stories have had the kind of staying power of TDKR or Batman: Year One. I don't think it helps that some of the later-day additions or modifications to Superman look like they require some kind of update to the origin ("Last Son of Krypton" => "Last Son except for those three" => "Last Son except those 10,000 over there in the bottle").

And does it matter that you can still read Bob Kane's Batman origin story today and then jump straight to modern-era Batman stories, but you can't really do the same with the Siegel/Shuster Superman origin story? I think it might. Heck, Siegel and Shuster had to do Superman's origin a few times to adjust for Superman's increasing power levels, but the Batman origin was always better comics.

On the one hand, it's kind of worthwhile to revisit the origin of Superman because nobody's told the "definitive" version of the tale. On the other hand, I think the regular revisits and the tweaks are just symptomatic of that brand of creative bankruptcy running rampant among the mainstream superhero comics that believes origin stories are inherently interesting and worth revisiting. Hence the vast number of projects lately that revisit "the early days of X," attempting to leave no stone unturned and no minute unchronicled. The brilliance of the Grant Morrison/Frank Quitely one-page, four-panel, eight-word origin story of All-Star Superman is not just that it boils down the origin story to its barest form, but that it also emphasizes how incredibly unimportant his origin story is. You can take that one page out of the single issue comic and the TPB reprints entirely, and it wouldn't really matter. The subtle (and maybe intentional) message is that Superman only needs his origin to explain how he can do what he does. Once that's out of the way, it's completely unnecessary to him as a character.

The reason why Miller's origin is interesting isn't really because of anything he does in retelling the origin itself. His innovation was making it so central to Batman as a character. And, like most of the innovations of TDKR, most mainstream comics completely misunderstood that to mean that ALL origin stories have to become critical parts of superheroes' character, which is completely bogus. The origin is critical for Batman, and I'd also argue that it's critical for Spider-Man. For the overwhelming majority of other superhero characters, it's a convention that is not as necessary as people think it is, and in some cases (Wolverine) an explicit origin made the character a whole lot LESS interesting. Origin stories are necessary to understand why that guy can pick up a car or that woman can shoot lasers from her fingers, but that's really about all they have to do. Origin stories are not inherently interesting. If they're interesting, it's because they are interesting stories that are told well (the recent Madame Xanadu on-going series, for instance), not just because they're origin stories.

Batman the Animated Series never did Batman's origin explicitly, except maybe a flash in the credits of The New Batman/Superman Adventures. Didn't hurt them any. Origin stories are not as necessary as superhero fans have been conditioned to think they are.

And, er, that went on a lot longer than I intended it to. To answer one of your other questions, I still like The Man of Steel and Superman: Birthright, although I think the first is horribly dated now and the latter pulls a last-minute plot twist that is totally cheesy and unnecessary. Superman the Animated Series did a very nice origin story that set up all kinds of future plot threads well, and I still get choked up a little when Superman's parents finally have to launch their cosmic Hail Mary to save their infant son. However, I think the Morrison/Quitely one-pager is all the Superman origin I really need for a lot of the reasons I just listed.

[Wolf Boy2]

- Detective Comics #33: the first origin tale, from 1939.
- Batman #47: from 1948, another retelling, this one giving us Joe Chill's name for the first time.
Oooh, hello! Hello! **waves hands in the air**

If y'all aren't aware, I'm Toonzone's Golden Age DC expert. Seriously. It's the only period of DC comics I really enjoy. I have every Chronicles volume they've release so far.

Batman's earliest origin was a 2-page feature in Batman #1, with the famous crying boy Bruce that appears in like every history of Batman documentary (the Joker first appeared in this same issue).



- Superman #61, late 40s: kryptonite appears in the comics in the first time, as does a retelling of Krypton's destruction/how Superman came to Earth.
Very close. The story of Krypton is glossed over in Superman #61 (from 1949), but the origin was actually fleshed out a year earlier in Superman #53. Both issues were written by the amazing Bill Finger.

But the earliest origin story was in Action Comics #1: As a distant planet was destroyed by old age, a scientist placed his infant son within a hastily devised space-ship, launching it toward Earth!

In this early origin, his powers were: He could easily leap 1/8th of a mile, hurdle a 20-story building, raise tremendous weights, run faster than an express train and nothing less than a bursting shell could penetrate his skin!

I read various other periods of Superman every now and then (including modern), but anything post-Crisis is confusing and I didn't care as much for the Silver Age. I'm a Golden Age Fanboy to the end.

[Chiptooth]

Eh, frankly, NONE of the Post-COIE versions of Superman's origin, at least in terms of the comics, are definitive to me - as many parts as there are that I like from each one, there's just as many parts that I don't like.

I think the only Post-COIE version I care for in its entirety is that single four-panel, eight-word page of All-Star Superman.

[Azeke]

I don't really think of "Superman for all seasons" as an origin story. If anything, it's more like a tie-in to "Man of steel".

But.

Artistically i feel that "Superman for all seasons" is a head above of all these stories (especially the first chapter).

Haven't read "Secret Origins" though.

[Jin Kazama]

I don't really get the hate for having origin stories for these characters. They're all mini-series/one-shots/graphic novels. None of them are halting the ongoings to tell them. The only one that really did that of what's been listed was "Batman: Year One." All of the Superman ones were outside of the main series, so you can just not buy them, and not miss anything. Granted, I read Superman mostly off-and-on, but I've never read an issue of Superman where I felt I had to read "Birthright." or "Secret Origin." Most of the small tweeks to the overall origin rarely have any major impact on the ongoings. The only one that really did was "Man of Steel," and that was intended to, since it was post-Crisis.

[Anthonynotes]

Oooh, hello! Hello! **waves hands in the air**


Hi there!



Batman's earliest origin was a 2-page feature in Batman #1, with the famous crying boy Bruce that appears in like every history of Batman documentary (the Joker first appeared in this same issue).


No, "Detective Comics" #33 would be his first origin story--- it came out in late 1939, before "Batman" #1 came out the following year.



Very close. The story of Krypton is glossed over in Superman #61 (from 1949), but the origin was actually fleshed out a year earlier in Superman #53. Both issues were written by the amazing Bill Finger.

But the earliest origin story was in Action Comics #1: As a distant planet was destroyed by old age, a scientist placed his infant son within a hastily devised space-ship, launching it toward Earth!

In this early origin, his powers were: He could easily leap 1/8th of a mile, hurdle a 20-story building, raise tremendous weights, run faster than an express train and nothing less than a bursting shell could penetrate his skin!


Yep... Superman #53 (review of it given here: http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/pre-crisis-reviews/pre-crisis-mmrs-intro.php?topic=c-review-pc-sup53 ) seems to be the main Golden Age-era retelling of his origin (esp. since the writers apparently forgot they'd been publishing Superboy stories for several years by that point in telling it! :-p ). The later retellings of course included Superboy...

And to clarify what I previously wrote...

* If counting Superboy, "More Fun Comics" #101 from 1945 might count as well---since his origin's retold there, too. Also noteworthy in that (besides the Boy of Steel's mere existence), Krypton here deviates greatly from the the other early comics origin stories, showing for the first time the Kryptonians as non-superpowered and his parents named Jor-*El* and Lara (vs. Jor-L and Lora, though their modernized names first appeared in some early 40s text novel that also accounted his origins). Despite this, the Superman origin above (and a few other late Golden Age retellings) didn't include Superboy...

* The first major Silver Age retelling was Superman #146 in 1961. This one included such details as Superboy (including references to the previous Superboy story telling about his last day in Smallville from a mid-to-late 50s tale).

* The 70s update/retelling of the above (with Curt Swan artwork/some other updates) was published in "Limited Collector's Edition" #31 in 1974 (though originally appeared in black and white in some even-more-obscure giveaway comic).

-B.