J Michael Straczynski's Earth One- A Review

So this young man Clark is rather versatile.

He shows up out of nowhere and becomes the best football player in the big city team. He also shows his prowess in the baseball field, becoming the best baseball player. In the top research lab in the city, he shows himself to be a prodigy. Any job you give him and he'll become the best in the field.

Looks like Clark is not your average young man; he is not average anything. He is always on top, above average. He is always above any other man.

Above man. How do you say that in Latin?

Thus begins J Michael Straczynski's book Earth One, exploration of how the man of steel came to be on his own. All his life he had faced the dilemma: be himself and expose his identity to the world and the repercussions would be heavy. The ostracism and subsequent interest from the darker corners of the government would mean an end to his freedom. On the other hand, holding back would mean that his life would pass him by without him ever being able to reach his potential. He would merely be a shadow of himself, a mere shell of what he could truly become.

The young man travels to the city by train although faster mode of transport is easily at his disposal. He wants to try out several job opportunities, professions that would bring him a lot a money. He wants to set up his widow mother up comfortably and he is willing to take on the well traveled career paths to do so. As stated before, he tries out the football team, baseball team and the top research lab; everyone is impressed and he can name his price. And yet he is not satisfied. Above all he wants to make his mother happy.

His mother reminds him that he must choose his own path to happiness and that to her his independence means more than anything. He could have it all if he conceals himself- his true identity. This is something that he is very good at, he has been doing it all his life. But would that bring him purpose and happiness, knowing that he is living the life of someone else?

Clark has had some experience in journalism and so he goes to the office of the Daily Planet. The editor is a tenacious bulldog of a man, holding out against the mediocrity of the modern day media by his teeth. He is a hard man to please and yet Clark is not sure whether it is journalism where his future lies. Uncertain and alone, he broods on the purpose of his life and how he came to be here on this planet.

Looks like Mr. and Mrs. Kent, his parents, found him in a wreckage of a crash. It was that of a flying object that was not of the terrestrial kind. They removed him from there before the military got to the site. There was very little to salvage other than a piece of the wreck.

A childless couple, they raised him with love and care, always trying to protect him from the outside world. They were reluctant to hold him back but they did in order to avoid bringing unwanted attention to him.

The military continues to conduct research on the wreck they had rescued from the crash site. It continues to baffle their best researchers. And yet, one day they find that the wreck is mending itself and reforming into a whole new ship again. Clark also finds that the piece of the wreck that his father rescued is also making him remember things. All would be well- clearly the wrecked ship was just waiting for the boy to grow up and then rebuild itself to show him the true destiny of his life.

All that the boy needs is peace and quiet and some alone time to digest the fact that he is not from around here. The last thing he wants is distraction.

Well... as the philosopher Jagger once said, you can't always get what you want.

Out of the blue, the Earth faces invasion by creatures from another world. They are from the planet Dheron and their only objective is to destroy the inhabitant of the ship that came to this world more than twenty years ago. They offer the Earthlings one simple proposition. Either the entity that came here two decades ago surrenders to the Dheronite fleet or they will destroy the planet.

Such is their determination to destroy the last living son of Krypton.

In all the chaos and destruction, the only two people making a stand were the two journalists from the Daily Planet, the reporter Lois Lane and the photographer Olsen. They are willing to put their lives on the line for the truth- a fact that does not escape the attention of the young man called Clark.

So would Clark give himself up? Would he finally come out of his shell and face certain death? Or would he continue to hide behind the persona of Clark Kent and let the planet be destroyed? Either choice means certain death, that's for sure. So would he die as himself or would he just remain as his own shadow?

Straczynski is one of the few writers writing in the comic book genre who is not afraid of tackling the big questions. He is very successful as a storyteller because he does not avoid the issues involving non- conformity, defiance and being different. He is also one the few who can understand the flip side of having powers no other mortal can possess- the burden and the loneliness that come with it. He understands that the powers that be are not benevolent by default and that one's liberty may not always be certain- especially when it comes to being different.

So, would this man who stands above all other men, a man who is truly exceptional, a man who has had his world destroyed by the rival Dheronites, be able to take his responsibility and make a stand? Would he avenge the destruction of Krypton?

Would Superman save Earth?

If you want to find out the answers to the questions posited above, you must read J Michael Straczynski's Earth One, published by DC Comics. I am never a big fan of the super hero genre but for once I decided to read the comic and liked it. Straczynski always delivers and this book is no exception.