A question I’m sure that probably came up
from the first part of my review is this: why so many retellings of the
Superman origin? As stated before The Man of Steel was an attempt to
streamline the Superman story after Crisis
on Infinite Earths which could be considered the official end of the Silver
Age.
Superman: Birthright as stated before was created to bring the
character into the 21st century.
It was the Infinite Crisis event that restored a
lot of the Silver Age back story that had been eliminated, so it rendered the
previous retelling defunct. Secret
Origin was necessary to fit all those pieces of the puzzle back together. On
with the review then….
Part
2-Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes: We open on a drunken Lionel
Luthor driving on a hilly road (in Kansas?) and he notices a large amount of
debris blocking his way. He tries to hit the brakes but they fail causing him
to drive off a cliff only to be saved by….Superboy! At the police station,
Lionel tells his story and gets thrown into the drunk tank for his trouble. At
the stately shack of the Luthor family, Lex gets a call about his father’s near
miss with the person at the other end remarking that it was a miracle he didn’t
crash. We can see from a well-placed book on auto maintenance and a pair of
pliers that Lex cut the breaks. He remarks “miracles don’t exist.”
At home that night,
Clark looks out into the night sky when he’s joined by Pa Kent and the two make
observations about how big the universe is and if there is life on other
planets. The next day at school Clark runs into Lex in the library who tells
him about his dream to make it big in the greatest city in the world, Metropolis
and how he wants to get away from the small minds of Smallville. Despite being
treated like dirt by Lex for not knowing who invented paper (he sites Ts’ai Lun , a 1st century Chinese
eunuch, yes you read that right, who is credited with the formula for modern
paper) he invites Lex to hang out who brushes him off asking “why would I do
that?” Anybody getting the feeling that you may have more in common with Lex
Luthor at this point with their opinion of Superman?
Clark then confides
in Lana Lang about how Pete won’t talk to him anymore, Lana tries to kiss Clark
but turns away her advances (and yes I’ll say it with you, he’s an idiot). As
Lana leaves in a huff Clark with his super-hearing can make out the comments
being made about him by other students. Clark leaves and begins to hear voices
in a language he doesn’t recognize which then becomes English. He is then
addressed by his Kryptonian name of Kal-El by two young men and a young woman;
they are Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, and Saturn Girl respectively of the Legion
of Super-Heroes. They explain that they come from the 30th century and have
come to Clark to thank him for being an inspiration to them and tell him that
he will one day be accepted for who he really is. Despite breaking the rules,
the trio decided to bring him to the future and they end up in 30th century
Smallville where they come across a group of human supremacists causing
trouble.
Superboy and the
others intercept the group and end the disturbance, during the fracas Lightning
Lad tries to act cool by coming up with a couple of really bad catchphrases.
However it’s Superboy in answer to a supremacists’ cry of “death to the legion”
answers with the phrase that will become synonymous with the group “Long live
the Legion”. However, since the Legion is not sanctioned by any governing body,
the police try to round them up with the supremacists. The Legionnaires make
their escape only to run into three more members of the Legion in Phantom Girl
and Triplicate Girl (who gush over Superboy) and Brainiac 5 who lectures the
other members for bringing Clark to the future in the first place.
The Legionnaires
soon return Clark to his time and after a short debate between them invite him
to join them in their adventures again soon.
As a sing of their good faith, they give Clark a Legion flight ring,
making him an honorary member of the Legion. Back home, Clark tells his parents
about the events and relates how he feels that he can be more like himself
around them. A rumbling then shakes the Kent home as a small spaceship heads
towards them. Clark intercepts the rocket and brings it down to the ground. The
rocket opens and the first sound from whatever is inside is the sound of a
dog’s bark.
We end part two
with the police at the door of the Luthor home, telling Lex that his father has
just died. After they leave and Lex closes the door he exclaims that “Today is
my last day in Smallville”!
This closes out
Clark’s childhood story and the nest issue will move him and Lex on to
adulthood in Metropolis. For now however we’re going to take a break because I
feel a need to get the funk out. What does that mean? You’ll see.
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