September 5, 2009

LAST SON OF EARTH PARTS 1 & 2

In Part I of this Elseworld’s story, the origins of Superman are reversed. Instead of being sent from Krypton to Earth before the planet’s destruction, baby Clark Kent is sent by his scientist and engineer father, Jonathan Kent, into space as the last remnant of humanity before the Earth is destroyed by a meteor. The young baby is discovered and adopted by Jor-El. The human baby is similar to Kryptonians, but his structure is quite frail and he has to live in a bubble and as he grows a special suit is developed for him so that his body can withstand the immense gravity of the planet. Towards the end of the story, the tale takes on an evening more interesting turn as Kal-El (Jonathan Kent’s son) discovers a green power ring and becomes a Green Lantern. Using his newfound power he is able to stop the destruction of Krypton. Part I ends on a kind of cliffhanger with Kal-El having dreams that are actually his memories and he confronts his father, Jor-El about his past.

The story concludes in Part II. Kal-El comes to Oa for training and to learn how to use his ring to unlock his unconscious memories. Upon learning the fate of his birth planet, Kal-El travels to Earth. Most of the planet has been destroyed by the giant meteor. However, though billions perished, there are millions that have survived and the largest city on the planet is now Metropolis. Lex Luthor has brought law and order to Metropolis, but any who oppose him are eliminated. There is a resistance against Luthor and Kal-El joins their forces. In coming to Earth, Kal-El has disobeyed the command of the Guardians. Earth already has a Green Lantern. Kal-El is torn because he doesn’t believe the Earth’s Green Lantern is doing enough, so he is faced with the choice of remaining on Earth and helping to rebuild that world, but giving up his position as a Green Lantern or return to Krypton as their Green Lantern and leave the people of Earth, the place where he is from.

I enjoyed SUPERMAN: LAST SON OF EARTH PART I. It’s interesting how this story imagined the origins of Superman and combined it with Green Lantern’s origins. The art work is also visually appealing. The graphics are just as stimulating, but PART II isn’t as enjoyable as PART I. There was too much about the plotline that’s too convenient. For instance, Metropolis is the only major city left on Earth. Things could have been far more interesting if there was another city that had survived or if the city to have survived was another rather than Metropolis. For example, what if Gotham City was the only major city in America to have survived, but Bruce Wayne was dead and Gotham was controlled by Batman?

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