Superman is one of those characters that I was aware of when I was a kid, but I really didn't have much interaction with him the way I did Batman, the crew of the Enterprise-D, and the Power Rangers. I didn't have anything against the character, I just didn't know very much about him. I didn't see the Christopher Reeve Superman movies until I was a teenager, there weren't reruns of the 1950s Superman TV series starring George Reeves like there was for the 1960s Batman TV series starring Adam West, and there wasn't a Superman cartoon on TV either. Heck when Superman was killed in the comics in 1993 we didn't get the news reports about Superman #75 here in Canada like people in the U.S. did. So my knowledge of Superman came from ads I saw with him in them in the issues of Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation I had, the Super Powers Team Superman action figure from the '80s and of course from Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman starring Dean Cain as Clark Kent/Superman and Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane. That show took inspiration from the comics of the late '80s and early '90s, which began with The Man of Steel by John Byrne, a former Marvel Comics writer and artist.
The Man of Steel is probably my favourite version of Superman's origin of all time. It's simple, it's timeless and it doesn't get so convoluted trying to incorporate every single version of the origin into a single story. Superman's actual origin is told in the first issue and the rest of the series is just Superman starting out in Metropolis and meeting people like Lois Lane, Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, Lex Luthor, and even Batman. Which I appreciate, because in more recent times, the people writing Superman's origins are so obsessed with every single version of the story, from the movies, TV shows, and comics that it ends up becoming jumbled and the story isn't as enjoyable. Especially since it's an origin that has been told and retold so many times over the years that anyone who has ever read a Superman comic, even if they've never read this book or an issue that covers the origin, knows what Superman's origin is.
I also like that while this is a mini-series, you could pick up any issue of it and read it as it's own standalone issue, without having read the previous one or without reading the next one. Though the only real callbacks are in the final two issues, where Superman is continually foiling Luthor's assassination plans against him in issue #5 and then in issue #6 where Clark and Lana have their conversation, where we find out that that's who Clark goes to see before he leaves Smallville after discovering that Ma and Pa had kept his true origin from him, including the Kryptonian pod that had brought Kal-El to Earth in issue #1.
I'm not a fan of the Krypton stuff and so the fact that it was limited to the very beginning and didn't play much of a factor again until the final issue is something I appreciated. I don't understand what everyone's fascination with Krypton is when the planet was destroyed and it was just used as an element to get Superman to Earth and that's it. Maybe it's because Superman: The Movie spent a lot of time with Jor-El and Lara on Krypton before sending Clark to Earth is why people care so much. Because I didn't grow up with Superman the way other people did, I don't care about that stuff very much and it doesn't fascinate me at all, so when I'm not having to read Superman stories about Krypton, particularly modern day Krypton, the way it's been portrayed since this series, I'm happy.
My favourite issue in this entire book is issue #3, which is an entire issue about Batman and Superman meeting for the first time in the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC Universe. While I generally don't like how antagonistic Superman and Batman are toward each other ever since The Dark Knight Returns came out, it works here because Superman and Batman haven't met before, and have only read about one another in the newspaper. Because of this, they don't really understand each other's operational methods and they don't know what each other's city is truly like. This is one of the elements that I felt Zack Snyder tried too hard with in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. But it works here, because John Byrne knows these characters and gets them working together pretty easily.
As I mentioned earlier, Lois & Clark took the inspiration for their version of Superman from these comics. As I was reading the book for this review, I could definitely see the similarities in the book's tone. Lois and Lex's relationship was similar to how it was on the show, and Clark's personality as Clark Kent was pretty much the same as well. In fact issue #4 where Lois and Clark go to a party on Lex's boat and Lex tests Superman's abilities, deliberately placing everyone's lives in jeopardy actually felt like an episode of Lois & Clark even though the show wouldn't be in production for another seven years after this book was published. Which I thought was pretty cool as Lois & Clark was basically my introduction to the Man of Steel outside of ads in Star Trek comics that DC used to publish.
The artwork in this book is absolutely phenomenal. As the writer and artist on this book, John Byrne knew exactly how he wanted Superman and his supporting characters to look. He also knew how he wanted Krypton to look in the opening sequence in issue #1 where Jor-El sends Kal to Earth while the planet around them is dying. Byrne's art style is simple but detailed. There's not a lot of clutter on the panels, but there's also plenty for the reader to see on the page. No matter how you feel about the character, you have to admit that Superman's world is absolutely gorgeous to look at. From the alien landscape of Krypton to the sprawling cityscape of Metropolis with the tall building that houses The Daily Planet to the quietness of Smallville. I think that's why even though I'm a Batman fan, Metropolis is my favourite city in the DC Universe and Smallville is my favourite small town.
Final Thoughts and Rating: Overall The Man of Steel is the best Superman origin story ever written. At least for me. The only other one that holds a candle to it is Superman: Earth One, which I'll be reviewing in the very near future. The thing I like most about this book is that, despite having been published 34 years ago, it doesn't feel outdated or old. It feels like it was written last year. That's the thing I like most about a lot of comics from the '70s and '80s. They feel timeless enough that they never feel out of date. I'm giving The Man of Steel 10/10 stars.
DC Universe Wiki: https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/The_Man_of_Steel_Vol_1
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