Superman: Father of Tomorrow #1 – Kenny Porter, Writer; Danny Earls, Artist; Nick Filardi, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Elseworlds has always been fascinating, twisting the history of the DCU in any way it can think of. Now, for the first time, we’re seeing an alternate history where it wasn’t Kal-El who came to Earth – but Jor-El. This is a bit reminiscent of the world where Thomas Wayne became Batman in Flashpoint, but with less of a bitter edge. This Jor-El was working on the shuttle when an unexpected surge of Kryptonite energy killed his wife and son, leaving him as the only one to enter the shuttle. He crashes on Earth in a Kansas field, in front of the childless Jonathan and Martha Kent. They wind up befriending the strange alien man, grieving a loss of his own, and Jonathan starts to view “Jordan” as a brother. His odd origins don’t seem to bother them, but when Jonathan has a heart attack, Jor-El tries his best to save him – only to be rebuffed by the doctors. And for the first time, he starts to think this world needs to change.
The timeline shift here, with Jor-El being a fully-grown Kryptonian ready to debut on the scene almost two decades before Superman would, changes a lot. The rocketship got more attention, leading Sam Lane to lead the charge to track down alien threats – neglecting his young daughter Lois in the meantime. The Metallo project debuts early, with John Corben being the first supervillain that this very different version of Superman faces off against. Meanwhile, a young Lex Luthor watches on TV as his father tries to dodge liability for the giant rogue robot. By the end of this issue, we’re starting to see the foundation of a very different DCU, one where a man driven by grief turns the world on its head long before superheroes were a thing. While the first issue moves fast and is a tiny bit disjointed at times, it’s a fascinating concept that I can’t wait to see explored more.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
