The Absolute Superman was the slowest burn of the first book on the Absolute Line. In contrast to Absolute Batman’s electrical pace and Absolute Wonder Woman’s modest classic approach, Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval took the entire first arc to drive Superman away from Krypton. This meant that most of the first five issues in the series were dedicated to having readers sit in an absolute Superman world and absorb the experiences and emotions of the character.
Page readers after the page are asked to use empathy to see the world through the eyes of the oppressed. It’s heavy. But that weight is the weight of Aaron and Sandoval’s use to collect their case that the world actually needs Superman.
Does the world need the wrath of Superman?
In issue 4, Lois Lane interviews some of the people Superman saved, some of whom appear to have expressed their desire to see “Superman’s Wrath.” They say they pray for it. In this issue, those prayers are fulfilled, and readers will see what Superman means to be angry and what he has inside creates the possibility of that rage.
Part of Aaron and Sandoval’s absolute sparkle into Superman and part of their choice to take time to tell stories is that the loss of Superman’s family and home is no longer a distant experience for him. Instead, he knows closely the tragedy of it. He knows how terrible it is to suffer and die from the suffering of privileged and inhumane death.
DC
These scenes at Crypton’s final time are where Sandoval really shows off. Throughout the series, he is excellent at guiding readers to such a variety of experiences and emotions, but here his best achievements bring a little more real world to the book. The overwhelming nature of the revolution is suffocating and evident from the first panel. The insanity of violence and experience is obvious, but it is disastrously reminiscent of the acts of oppression that we have all seen from our cell phones over the past few years. In the final four issues, he made it feel inevitable, so it is testament to Aaron that none of the destruction and violence feels unlucky.
By creating this context for Superman, Aaron and Sandoval made the series talk with characters and other great works in the genre. I ask questions that my contemporaries take for granted. Superman is placed in a role that is normally reserved for the villains of our mainstream story. Yes, our heroes experience tragedy and loss, but often face directly in the most traumatic ways, bringing clear rage about the aggravation of injustice. By placing the paragon of cartoon virtues in its precise role, readers must engage in questions about justice they are not used to.
In the modern part of the plot, Superman works through his rage and how to handle it in a healthy, mere way of doing it in a page-wise manner. He is not scandalized for feeling this anger towards injustice, and readers are not asked to overly sympathize with the oppressor, the target of that anger.
A clear line is drawn between the modern enemy, the Psemie Artisans and the Legal Guild, who abandoned the Science Guild and the working class of the Crypton, and who sought to abandon the undoubtedly preventable death. This works effectively to examine Superman’s perspective on the issues happening on Earth and his emotional response to them. And even those carried out by the immortal Superman raise questions about the utility of individual acts of violence. Violence alone did not save anyone Krypton (as we know).
Sandoval shows that readers are aware of this concept in real time. There is a spectacular change in this art as he is experiencing the colours that Sandoval uses, his portrayal of Superman, and as he moves from inhuman to human rights in front of readers on the page. He allows for many different human shades, which is a moment that solidifies the wholeness and nuance of the Superman in this book.
It is indisputable that the time it took to create, explore and destroy Cryptons in the first arc of this series was rewarded with dividends. Aaron and Sandoval have created such a compelling foundation for these stories, creating wonderfully complex internality for this character to move forward. It feels almost impossible to imagine a world where this has no external influence on the way creators imagine Crypton in the future. By the time it is over, readers cannot escape the deep humanity of this work and the Superman-like desire for a better tomorrow.
“Absolute Superman” #5 explodes all over the page
Absolute Superman #5
By the time it is over, readers cannot escape the deep humanity of this work and the Superman-like desire for a better tomorrow.
Exclude the world and carry out its construction
Everything gives off a sense of internal organs
Create interesting conversations with other Superman works
Superman expresses subtle interior design
Modern stories don’t have the same conclusion as Crypton’s conclusion
