I think it’s safe to assume that we’re on the verge of new footage being released from next spring’s tent-pole film: Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Yeah. It’s still an awful title.
But there’s a sense of escalating excitement over the film and the direction that DC Comics/Warner Brothers is taking with their various superhero franchises. This is the first hit of filmic crack candy, after all. Everyone – and everything – spins out of this film. It has to succeed at the box office.
It’s not like anyone needs to read a new iteration of Superman’s origin right now. Everyone knows it. Doomed planet. Surviving son. New home. New parents. Incredible powers. Super man.
Still, there’s a lot about the young man that would become super, that we don’t know about. And DC Comics aims to hitchhike on the cape of mounting fan excitement and treat us to some of those stories beginning today.
Follow me after the jump for the low-down on the very interesting Superman: American Alien #1!
Superman: American Alien #1
Written by: Max Landis
Illustrated by: Nick Dragotta
Published by: DC Comics
DC Comics reached out to the world of cinema (and comics) for the Superman: American Alien series and grabbed hold of acclaimed screenwriter and Eisner Award nominee Max Landis (Chronicle, American Ultra, and the recent Victor Frankenstein).
The seven issue miniseries, published monthly is unlike any Superman series in recent years: each issue will be illustrated by different artists, including favourites like Nick Dragotta, Jock, Tommy Lee Edwards, Francis Manapul and Jae Lee. It’s really an all-star line-up that will take readers right up to the release of the Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice film next year.
Superman: American Alien will see Clark Kent before he became Superman, at a time when his powers were just starting to make themselves apparent. The first issue details how his adoptive human parents deal with the twelve year olds frightening ability to float into the air! Told as a sort of short story collection, subsequent issues will detail Clark growing up: a teenager in issue two and a young man in issue three.
From heartwarming to violent, from funny to frightening, Superman: American Alien is American Graffiti for Kansas-farm-boy-alien-from-another-planet, Kal-El. He’s growing up. He’s becoming the hero we all know him to be. And it’s an exhilarating life.
Make the run to your local comic book shop today and pick up Superman: American Alien #1!
