Superman: Last Son of Earth

Superman Elseworlds

by Steve Gerber, Doug Wheatley (Illustrator)

Part One Of Two

Genres: Comics, Superman, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fiction, Comic Book

102 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Steve Gerber graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in communications and took a job in advertising. To keep himself sane, he wrote bizarre short stories such as "Elves Against Hitler," "Conversion in a Terminal Subway," and "...And the Birds Hummed Dirges!" He noticed acquaintance Roy Thomas working at Marvel, and Thomas sent him Marvel's standard writing test, dialoguing Daredevil art. He was soon made a regular on Daredevil and Sub-Mariner, and the newly created Man-Thing, the latter of which pegged him as having a strong personal style--intellectual, introspective, and literary. In one issue, he introduced an anthropomorphic duck into a horror fantasy, because he wanted something weird and incongruous, and Thomas made the character, named for Gerber's childhood friend Howard, fall to his apparent death in the following issue. Fans were outraged, and the character was revived in a new and deeply personal series. Gerber said in interview that the joke of Howard the Duck is that "there is no joke." The series was existential and dealt with the necessities of life, such as finding employment to pay the rent. Such unusual fare for comicbooks also informed his writing on The Defenders. Other works included Morbius, the Lving Vampire, The Son of Satan, Tales of the Zombie, The Living Mummy, Marvel Two-in-One, Guardians of the Galaxy, Shanna the She-Devil, and Crazy Magazine for Marvel, and Mister Miracle, Metal Men, The Phantom Zone , and The Immortal Doctor Fate for DC. Gerber eventually lost a lawsuit for control of Howard the Duck when he was defending artist Gene Colan's claim of delayed paychecks for the series, which was less important to him personally because he had a staff job and Colan did not.

He left comics for animation in the early 1980s, working mainly with Ruby-Spears, creating Thundarr the Barbarian with Alex Toth and Jack Kirby and episodes of The Puppy's Further Adventures, and Marvel Productions, where he was story editor on multiple Marvel series including Dungeons & Dragons, G.I. Joe, and The Transformers. He continued to dabble in comics, mainly for Eclipse, including the graphic novel Stewart the Rat, the two-part horror story "Role Model: Caring, Sharing, and Helping Others," and the seven-issue Destroyer Duck with Jack Kirby, which began as a fundraiser for Gerber's lawsuit.

In the early 1990s, he returned to Marvel with Foolkiller, a ten-issue limited series featuring a new version of a villain he had used in The Man-Thing and Omega the Unknown, who communicated with a previous version of the character through internet bulletin boards. An early internet adopter himself, he wrote two chapters of BBSs for Dummies with Beth Woods Slick, with whom he also wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Contagion." During this period, he also wrote The Sensational She-Hulk and Cloak and Dagger for Marvel, Cybernary and WildC.A.T.s for Image, and Sludge and Exiles for the writer-driven Malibu Ultraverse, and Nevada for DC's mature readers Vertigo line.

In 2002, he returned to the Howard the Duck character for Marvel's mature readers MAX line, and for DC created Hard Time with Mary Skrenes, with whom he had co-created the cult hit Omega the Unknown for Marvel. Their ending for Omega the Unknown remains a secret that Skrenes plans to take to the grave if Marvel refuses to publish it. Suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ("idiopathic" meaning of unknown origin despite having been a heavy smoker much of his life), he was on a waiting list for a double lung transplant. His final work was the Doctor Fate story arc, "More Pain Comics," for DC Comics'

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice elseworlds story. Nice art and a good story. Enjoyable read. Recommended

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me the measure of a good Elseworlds story is when I want to read on after I've finished it. This one definitely meets that threshold, with an reversed story of a infant Clark Kent who is launched into space by his parents just before an astronomical body hits the Earth. Landing on Krypton, he is adopted by scientist Jor-El and raised in a far more challenging environment from that of his hone world. Part of what makes it work is that Steve Gerber knows when to develop the parallels and when to deviate from them, making his book a nice mix of the familiar and the new. While I don't want to spoil the story that follows, Gerber ends it in a place that offers possibilities for much more.

[Michael Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Elseworld stories are some of my favorites. Here’s one that reverses things a bit: What if Clark Kent was born to the humans Jonathan and Martha Kent, then sent into space before *Earth’s* extinction-level event–finding himself landing as an infant on Krypton and raised by Kryptonians. The human child isn’t strong enough to survive on Krypton unaided, but Jor-El raises him nonetheless… and in time he becomes a Green Lantern so he can become the savior of his adopted home.

You’d think I spoiled something important there, but I didn’t. So much more happens that the above is just the taste necessary to draw a reader in.

[Tvrtko Balić · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Superman Elseworlds story with a very simple premise. What if instead of being a Kryptonian that crash landed on Earth after its destruction Superman was an Earthling who crash landed on Krypton after its destruction? And it is handled well, I actually really liked it. It's not perfect, there's some dumb things here. For instance, baby Clark is just lucky that there was a wormhole nearby, there could have been some dialogue added about how the baby was put into hybernation or something, but no, Kents just shoot a helpless baby into space with no plan and no parent to take care of it. You can complain about this in the regular Superman continuity also, but there it's easier to imagine any numbers of explanations dealing with Kryptonian technology or biology that you need to actually write into the story if you are going to switch the settings. But that's just one nitpick. The very premise of the story makes this Elseworlds more imune to nitpicks than most Elseworlds because Krypton had so many different interpretations over the years that having a story placed there is not likely to feel like a betrayal of existing mythos. The version of Krypton here is great. It feels fleshed out and full of history. It is a kind of utopia expected of the lost highly technologically advanced home of Superman and also a kind of dystopia which is expected of an inhuman civilization and of a setting for this kind of story. Kryptonians are everything that 20th century humanity dreamed of, but in their advancement they lost much of what might be termed human, they seem cold, calculating and isolated. Jor-El is rebellious by the standards of his society, there's a nice bit of tension with him and Nara and he's the perfect candidate to raise an alien as his own and defending him against his society although a conflict will necessarily arise between the two. This interpretation feels new and fresh while it is also reasonable to imagine him being the same kind of isolated scientist that is necessary for the conventional Superman origin. The story is already interesting, but of course this is a superhero comic and Kal El needs to become Superman and learn about his origins so he becomes a Green Lantern. This could easily have dragged to story in a different direction and conflicted with existing story lines, but no, it is handled well, it pushes the story forward, Kal El gaining new powers puts him at odds with society at large and makes him confront his adoptive father about his origins. I really liked the story and all the themes it was exploring... and then the second issue/volume happened. Suddenly the writing takes a nose dive, themes become confused, different and I just didn't like what the book was saying, Earth is still there going against the title and the premise of Superman... It's a hot mess that feels like starting a sequel before the original story is finished. It's just such a shame. I am a little bit confused about if this entry on goodreads is just the first part of the story or the whole story. It says part one of two, but then it also says it's 102 pages which suggests it's the whole thing. I will give this one a 3 star rating and then the other entry on goodreads a 2 star rating. That seems sensible to me.

[Jefferson · Rating 5 out of 5]

COMO HÁ TÃO POUCAS PESSOAS QUE FALAM DESTE QUADRINHO??

Mais uma revista que entra para minha lista de histórias que pensei que seria só mais uma história qualquer, mas me surpreende bastante. E olha que não sou fã do Superman!!

[CONTÉM SPOILERS DA HISTÓRIA]

A história acontece em uma realidade alternativa, onde a história de origem do Superman acontece de forma invertida. Ele nasce na Terra, é humano e filho dos Kents. O planeta Terra está prestes a ser atingido por um enorme asteroide, Jonathan com medo do planeta ser destruído, envia o recém nascido para o espaço até que chega a Krypton. Jor-El e Lara encontra ele e o criam. Quando cresce, ele descobre uma lanterna verde e um anel em Krypton de algum lanterna que morreu naquele setor, e com isso acaba ganhando poderes do lanterna verde. Ele começa a ter visões de quando era bem jovem graças ao poder do anel, com a ajuda dos guardiões do universo ele usa o anel para ver mais de seu passado ao mesmo tempo ele indaga Jor-El sobre suas origens. Kal descobre de onde veio e vai então à Terra, ainda toda encoberta por uma grande massa de poeira cobrindo todo o planeta graças ao asteroide e apenas com alguns milhões de sobreviventes, ele vê o mundo dividido em "tribos/gangues" com Lex agindo como um ditador querendo dominar tudo. Lex ataca a resistência onde estão Lois, Perry e Martha ainda viva. Kal decide ajuda-los na situação e acaba perdendo o anel, mas ele percebe que ficou com super poderes na Terra mesmo sem usar o anel. Isso ocorre porque ele ficou muito tempo em Krypton e o corpo dele se acostumou com o Sol velho e vermelho de lá e quando veio para a Terra com um Sol mais jovem, o corpo dele desenvolveu poderes. Kal consegue deter Lex e descobre que Martha é sua mãe e então decide ficar na Terra para ajudar na reconstrução do mundo.

Eu tentei encontrar algum ponto negativo que me chamasse atenção. Alguns podem achar a história um pouco corrida, com a passagem de tempo ou o personagem indo do ponto A para o ponto B muito rápido. Na minha opinião isso é positivo porque vai direto ao ponto. É melhor poucos capítulos bons, do que muitos capítulos ruins ou médios.

Há um capítulo especial chamado Superman: Last Stand on Krypton que estende um pouco este universo. Eu não achei tão bom quanto os dois principais, mas fica a dica pra quem quiser procurar pra ler.

Alguns pontos legais nesta história:
-O roteirista tenta colocar um embasamento científico na forma como o jovem Clark vai se desenvolvendo em Krypton e no decorrer da história.
-Foi colocado o estilo de arquitetura e vestimentas de Krypton das histórias de John Byrne.

Enfim, não entendo como esta história não é mais reconhecida pelas pessoas!! Uma pena!!

[Sayak Chowdhury · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with every Elseworlds stories this provides a riveting tale deconstructing the core ideas of a superhero, in this case Superman. A really great idea that tells you why Superman is Superman, an analysis of his core values and his good moral nature unwavering despite all odds and ultimately how he'll give up his powers if that means he can be closer to those he considers his family and loved ones.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

For Gerber completists and fans of artist Doug Wheatley as well as Superman fans.
Great to find these Prestige format stories in the bargain bin.
I could foresee an anthology of Gerber's Superman stories including Phantom Zoner, A. Bizarro, and these...
I miss his sensibility. This is, though, minor-key Gerber.
Mildly recommended.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork and coloring - Gerber took a basic idea (baby from Earth sent to Krypton, where he is the weakest person) and spun a winner about curiosity, human contact, compassion and the savior of TWO worlds.

I have this as a two-issue prestige format miniseries - it deserves a one volume book format.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think returning to Earth was when the story did a wrong turn: it should have stuck to its guns and kept to the premise, set the whole thing to Krypton. Give us Kryptonian Justice League. Give us Nightwing and Flamebird!

[Mete Güner · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, simple Elseworlds story—quite enjoyable overall.

I found the issues at a comics store in London and picked them up at a fair price. If you ever come across Last Son of Earth in a similar setting and enjoy Elseworlds stories, don’t think twice about adding it to your collection.

[Tariqul Islam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome alternate superman story.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

A most excellent inversion of the classic hero. What's more, it explores what makes Superman Superman not only ethically, but in terms of his powers. A well-worthwhile read.

[LQ 🖖 🇨🇦 (to the max!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

So a baby Clark Kent gets sent away from Earth before it explodes, and he ends up on a planet called Krypton. Cool. This is what elseworlds is all about.