Superman: American Alien

Superman: American Alien 1-7

The final Superman origin story out of this box.  (Yes, I screwed up yesterday, I had one more thing to review.)  Max Landis writes seven stories about Clark’s formative years, similar to Byrne’s Man of Steel.  They’re only roughly connected, with no real overarching plot.  Getting right to the things that I liked:

What else has Nick Dragotta drawn? Because he does a great kid Clark.  Ohhh, East of West.  Well that’s not what I expected.  Anyway, the last two pages of the first issue are pure magic.  Clark’s just learned how to fly, and he treats it with the exuberance you’d expect from an innocent, excited elementary school boy.  It’s delightful, as are the loving, understanding, and proud silent expressions on his parents’ faces.

Feels so true.

Joelle Jones pencils the third issue, and of course I’m going to use it as an excuse to call out something cool that she’s put to paper.  This time around, it’s the body language of Clark and Barbara (Clark had a fling with Cheetah, did you know?) as they look up at the stars.  

How their legs are positioned is so real.

She also pulls off a sight gag wonderfully a few pages later.

Deathstroke's no match for a drunk Superman.

Jae Lee (man, this miniseries was stacked with great artists) don’t do anything showy in the fourth issue, but he still manages to do some good stuff.  (Not forgetting that Landis is giving him some hilarious situations to draw.)

Hilarious juxtaposition of Batman's persistence and Superman's implacability.

Such a dork.

Dick Grayson making deductions about Clark.  Awesome.

Issues five through seven didn’t do much for me, though it’s not like they sucked.  Landis ends the last issue with a declaration of love that kind of comes out of nowhere, since he only spent a few panels the whole series on their relationship.  (It’s not that I’m against Lois and Clark together, I’m a huge fan. But it’s strange to end your entire story on this one point that feels tangential to the main themes of an alien fitting in to his adoptive world.)

A sweet ending, but I want another issue to follow up on this.  Feels incomplete.

I remember there being rave reviews for this when it first came out, but I don’t think it’s as good as they said.  Overall, it’s a nice little series with some really nice moments.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Nice