Runner Up: Superman: Year One #1 – Frank Miller, John Romita Jr., Danny Miki, Alex Sinclair and John Workman

Trigger Warning: Attempted Rape/Sexual Assault

Slow and steady wins the race.

That’s the approach visionary writer and sometimes crazy person, Frank Miller, took when writing the great, but flawed, Superman: Year One. The book is a masterwork on the slow burn that builds excitement and tension for a character that has all the potential to be exciting, especially as a young child.

Beginning with the destruction of Krypton from the toddler Kal-El’s point of view, the boy is rocketed from his dying home. He watches as his parents get further and further away, engulfed by the fire and explosions of the dying Krypton, scared and alone until he reaches his new home; Earth.

This presentation feels a lot more personal through his eyes. Though his inner monologue is a bit jarring for a toddler, it speaks volumes that he doesn’t know what’s happening. He’s terrified that his parents are leaving him alone, that he may never see home again. His hands press against the glass in fear.

Pa Kent just happens to pass by, noticing the rocketship land with this strange child in it. The baby Kal exhibits a strange telepathic suggestion ability and makes Pa Kent think that taking him home is all his idea. Ma Kent is introduced as the ideal small town mother and the majority of this book expands on Kal-El’s life in Smallville.

This comic acts as the absolute ideal in what Superman’s life as a kid could have been. It’s hokey in a way that the Kents are just simple farmers and the perfect parents with Clark learning the values of how to be a good person. He defends his nerd/outcast friends from bullies and gains the love from the always awesome Lana Lang.

The books flaws, however, are as awful as the entire thing is good. Things get a bit jarring as the bullies go from simple name calling and egging to physical violence and attempted rape after Lana takes pictures of their actions. If anything should have been cut, it should have been this gross depiction of near violence against a teenager.

This and the fact that there’s no real comeuppance after the fact, aside from Clark just beating their asses, and leaves a bad taste in my mouth and the plot is dropped from there. It shifts to his relationship with Lana Lang after he reveals his powers to her and gradually makes up his mind about his future. In his late teens, instead of going to college or to Metropolis for his common origin of becoming a reporter, he decides to join the US Navy.

I am a little biased because his experience was much like my own from people questioning the decision, to telling my girlfriend at the time that I’d come back and what not and the teary goodbyes. Of course everyone who joins may have the same story. It just felt very personal to me and stood out as the most glaring change to how Clark Kent becomes Superman. I felt kinship and traumatic flashbacks when seeing John Romita Jrs. representation of RTC Great Lakes.

Speaking of the amazing artist, his art for the book is absolutely stellar. Capturing the vibe of the dry heat of the American Midwest, Romita Jr pulls you into every scene. The sense of scope is grand in space, it feels home-y in Smallville and the road to Illinois feels desolate and empty and yet full of hope and joy.

The line between adult and children’s faces, however is very thin. Clark’s faces run the gamut of emotions from joy, to surprise to near rage, but between each time jump, it’s hard to tell just how old he actually is. Ma and Pa Kent age with the subtle graying of hair and maybe a few wrinkles, but Clark is forever having the face of his three year old self.

Despite covering ground that’s been trodden millions of times, Frank Miller’s found a way to inject a bit of interest into a familiar origin story. I love the new angle of Clark Kent becoming a Sailor and fighting for America, not exactly knowing what kind of person that it will change him into. Though I hope we get a more focused and less Crazy Frank Miller in the next issue. Attempted rape is disgusting as a simple storytelling device and depending on what kind of accounts he’s gotten from Sailors on boot camp, things could go either way.

I am excited for the future of this series, however, and can’t wait for the next one. High recommend!