It's Superman

[spenca7]

Has anyone read "It's Superman" by Tom De Haven?? I just bought it but it is in a stack of books to be read and I am trying to prioritize so any thoughts would be appreciated.

[wktf]

I've read it, and even reviewed it a while back in the comics section of the forum, January 2006. Great book. I really enjoyed it. Also chatted about it with comic book legend Howard Chaykin two years ago at a con her in KC and it's one of his favorite books.

Here's my review:

It’s Superman! A Novel
Written by: Tom De Haven
Chronicle Books

My wife surprised me with this novel as a gift last month. I’ve read a few comic book based novels, such as the novelized version of “Batman: No Man’s Land” or “Spider-Man: The Venom Factor,” both also gifts from my wife. They were okay but nothing entirely special. This book, though, is different as hinted by its cool cover: a ground-level view of a Superman at the apex of his leap over an illustrated city’s skyscrapers, the book’s title looping along the left of the cover and into the center in the trajectory of the Man of Steel’s flight. Inside is equally enjoyable coming-of-age Superman story. If you’ve read John Byrne’s “Man of Steel,” Loeb/Sales’ “Superman For All Seasons” and/or Mark Waid’s “Superman: Birthright” you may be wondering why you should bother with yet another coming-of-age Superman story, and one not even illustrated at that. Well, I’ve read all of those too and had the same thoughts. But, as I said, my wife bought me this book so I had to read it and, fortunately, was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed it! It grabbed me from the beginning, kept my interest all the way through, sucked me right into the characters (many of them new to me), developed several disparate and intriguing plot lines which eventually all wove together perfectly and provided the requisite action and adventure every good Superman tale should have, even if the costumed Superman himself doesn’t appear for the first 250 or so pages. Despite its 425 pages, I finished it in just a couple of days.

This story could well be a parallel universe Superman tale. Certain elements remain true to the Superman canon but there’s plenty different about it, too. In fact, on the very last page, the narration even acknowledges this different take on Superman, stating, “And here, at last, is the point where our version of the story merges with all of the others…” To start, Superman does grows up as Clark Kent in Smallville, KS. He is the adopted son of Jonathan and Martha Kent and did, apparently, crash land on Earth from another planet (though the word “Krypton” is never mentioned) as a baby. Lex Luthor is the villain and becomes Clark’s adversary. Lois Lane is Clark’s rival and the eventual (but not the first) object of his affection. The Daily Planet is their paper and Perry White is the editor. However, this story takes place during the mid-to-late1930s, when Seigel and Shuster launched their ground breaking character. The plot lines involving Lois and Lex (and, eventually, Clark) take place in New York City, not Metropolis. Lex is a city Alderman and, hence, a politician as well as a career criminal mastermind. Clark starts out as a sullen Midwestern Depression-era hayseed teen, trying to find his way in life, much less eventually the big city. And Clark’s other supporting cast include a clutch of photographers, nurses, jazz singers, crooks, cops and others who’ve never made their way into any DC Comic I know. Much of this book centers on Clark’s trying to find his place in the world and how to make the best use of his fantastic abilities. He’s not the Boy Scout we know from the comics and his moral compass even seems imbalanced more than once. Lois works like a dog to be at the top of her game in a man’s world and goes from ditsy to tough. Lex Luthor, though, is one seriously scary sonofa*****. He is cool, calculating and a cold blooded killer. His goals include nothing less than world domination and manipulation of everyone he knows.

Some pleasant moments for me, in particular, were when the novel brought to mind other medias’ takes on Superman. For starters, with Lex’s every confident and calculating word I could hear Clancy Brown’s perfectly sonorous baritone from his take on the same character in the Superman Animated Series. When Clark dons his costume and he launches himself into his first battle with Lex’s robot “Lexbots” De Haven seems to give a nod to the Fleischer Studio’s “Mechanical Monster” cartoon from their 1940s animated Superman shorts. Plus, Superman’s red “S” chest emblem sits on a black background, as in the Fleischer cartoons. And, finally, as with many of the other early Superman stories I mentioned previously, all roads lead to Superman’s life long enmity with Luthor and of course to the relationship between Lois, Superman and Clark. After Clark’s father dies there is a moment between Clark and Lois that finally gives both him and the reader hope for the two of them.

To sum it up, I thought this book delivered the goods in a time, place and style that are very different than what I’ve read before in a Superman story. It won’t win any Pulitzers like “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” (which, yeah, okay, my wife bought me), but if De Haven writes a sequel I’ll be sure to buy it…and on my own this time.