Published in 2023 by DC Comics.
2023 Eisner Nominee - Best Limited Series
2023 Eisner Nominee - Best Writer, Mark Russell
Synopsis
Superman: Space Age tells a slightly different Superman story. We join a late teen Superman helping his father on the farm in Smallville, Kansas in November of 1963. His father opens up about his rough experiences in World War II and talks to Clark about what a hero is.
That same day, Kennedy is assassinated and Soviet-U.S. tensions climb so high that there is real fear that a nuclear war may start. Clark Kent takes to the air and flies to the Arctic in his overalls and work shirt to try to prevent World War III. But, his enthusiasm and inexperience nearly cause the war he is trying to prevent. Luckily, he is shot down by a pilot named Hal Jordan.
Clark Kent awakens to find the Fortress of Solitude.
This book tracks Superman from 1963 to 1985. As time goes on we add Bruce Wayne, Lex Luthor, Wonder Woman, and the rest of the Justice League. We get a lot of Lois Lane as she demonstrates heroism in a non-superhero way.
News events that we are all familiar with come into the story, such as the Civil Rights movement. But, that all changes when Lex Luthor gets a couple of nuclear weapons and actually uses them...
My ReviewNice advice from Mr. Kent
There are a lot of clever things done in this graphic novel. The Batman/Bruce Wayne setup is very well done, with Bruce Wayne and Batman actually seemingly being on different wavelengths throughout the book (for example, Bruce Wayne funds the Hall of Justice but Batman stomps out of the group for a while.)
The solution to the major crisis of the book (surprisingly, it is not Lex Luthor's foray into nuclear weapons) is quite clever and I did not see it coming until the very end. It was a very different way for Superman to be a hero and save the world.
Nitpicking note: The book starts with Clark Kent and his father baling hay in Kansas in NOVEMBER. As a person who has put up hay (much like they were doing in the graphic novel) in Indiana, I can guarantee you that no one is baling hay in the midewest in November. It's always done in the summer and always seems to happen on the hottest day you can imagine. The heat has nothing to do with it, it's just the bad luck of everyone that is putting up hay. The only time I ever had heat stroke-tyoe if event was when I was putting up hay on what had to be the hottest day of the year when I was in high school. It wasn't full blown heat stroke, but I was well on my way.
I rate this graphic novel 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Superman: Space Age
Nice quotes from the book:
"As Americans we talk about being American as if we all agree on what that means. But the truth is that some judge truth and justice by how well they support the American Way while others judge the American Way by how well it stands up for truth and justice."
"The people who do the most good in this world are not the strongest, the smartest, the most prepared, but simply those who show up."
