Superman: American Alien

 

A few weeks before its release Superman: American Alien from Oxy publications, our friend, read and judge us. 

By Nikos Michalopoulos

That Superman: American Alien is a 7-issue limited-series published by DC Comics in 2016. Written by Max Landis and those responsible for the plan Nick Dragotta, Tommy Lee Edwards, Joelle Jones, Jae Lee, Francis Manapul, Jonathan Case, Jock.

The series focuses on 7 different periods in his life Clark Kent, from when he was young and discovering his powers, to the time he becomes known as Superman. Although it is considered one of the classic "origin stories" of the hero (something that has been done many times in the past), this one is different from the others for several reasons.

To begin with, the strongest part of this series is that it focuses not on Superman, but on Clark Kent. This means that the legend of the mighty hero is stripped away and we focus on the human side of him, with human fears, concerns, physical changes, values, failures, inner conflicts, etc. This results in the reader being able to identify with him much more easily, something that made it difficult for many people for many years, due to Superman's unreal potential as a hero. In the end, Max Landis did an amazing job: he shows us a small child who one day is terrified because he starts to swing uncontrollably, a teenager who gets into trouble for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and a young adult who moves to the big city trying to build his future and find his place in the world.

 

 

Another feature that distinguishes this series is the choice of designers, as well as their work. Apart from the fact that the choice of specifics is unusual (but quite successful), the way the series was designed is very interesting. In particular, each issue has a different artist (which is quite common), however, depending on the period in Clark's life, the sketches and colors change from "innocent" and warm, to dark and epic, to scary and violent. Thus, each chapter has its own distinct tone and creates very different feelings in the reader. But in the end, they remind us that he's still the Superman we all know and love.

A nice surprise was Clark's first interactions with important figures, heroes and future enemies. Max Landis made sure that each of these interactions affected Clark in some way, some more directly than others, and each of them played an important role in the final character he would shape.

DC and Landis' choice to keep this series out of continuity was a very good one, because it makes Superman: American Alien a series for everyone (might need a little research if you don't know some names, but no big deal) and a pretty good starting point if one wants to get to know the character. I repeat, this is not a series for someone who wants to know Superman's definitive origin story or for someone who wants to read a Superman-centric series. It's a series centered around Clark Kent and is meant to highlight Superman's human qualities, as well as the path he took (and the obstacles he encountered along the way) to become the hero we know.

As for the negatives of the series, honestly, there isn't much that can be said. Aside from the fact that some issues' illustrations may not be for everyone, and that the choice of villain for the final battle was a bit unusual and strange (but not necessarily bad), overall the series had no problems.

Personally, my favorite parts of the series are two: First, the detail that all of Clark's childhood friends and the residents of Smallville knew his secret and kept it a secret/joke among themselves. I take this to mean that the community he grew up in accepted him from a very young age and never betrayed him. Second, a line from the fifth issue of the series (“Eagle”) that Clark says perfectly captures the character of Superman: “[…] or maybe he's just a nice guy with a lot of spare time […]”.

This sentence shows us that Superman does not have an ultimate purpose or a specific reason for doing what he does, but he does it because he can and, above all, he wants to. That is why it represents the best features of humanity.

Overall, the Superman: American Alien is a modern classic that can be enjoyed by almost everyone, especially those who are into comics in general. Max Landis manages to bring Superman down to the level of ordinary people and convince us that for all his power and unreal abilities, he too has gone through the same hardships that we all have gone through at different stages of our lives and, as and we, he wrestled with doubts and uncertainty about the future and overcame them, showing us that we can do the same. The very talented design team managed to express the different tones of the different aspects of Clark's life in a very beautiful way, no matter how dark some of them may be.