Each Friday, we'll be letting a different DC.com writer share what they'll be reading over the weekend and why you might want to check it out. Here's this week's suggestion for a perfect Weekend Escape!
Say you, like many of us, have gotten pretty into Superman. Maybe you want to discover a bit more about the comics now that you’ve seen his latest movie. What’s the best place to start? What is Superman’s most essential origin story? Well, there’s really no answer to that. Don’t worry! That’s a good thing!
What you have to keep in mind is that as the first true breakout comic book superhero, more great writers and artists have had their own visions of Superman than almost any other character in fiction. There are so many Superman origin stories. What makes them interesting are the aspects of Superman’s life that they choose to focus on. If you’re looking for a side of Superman that’s rarely seen, but no less essential to who he is, then consider Mark Waid and Leinil Francis Yu’s Superman: Birthright.
The Premise:
Birthright skips over Smallville for a good reason: if you were reading this when it was released in 2003, you were probably pretty familiar with that period of his life already thanks to Smallville. (The popular series would have just finished its second season when Birthright debuted.) As it was written, Birthright was meant as a new origin for Superman for a Smallville-informed era. It was one which emphasized Clark’s personal drama and inner turmoil, presenting us with a Superman in search of his connection to a culture he never knew, yearning for a place in a world he was never meant for. This is the story of a Superman who never got to know where he came from as a kid—one who only gets to explore those truths about who he is and what he’s inherited on the cusp of adulthood. It’s a Superman who’s exploring the best way to use his gifts to help the world while he tries to understand where they’re from. This is the story of a socially conscious Man of Tomorrow, retold for the 21st century.
Let’s Talk Talent:
Mark Waid is simply one of the best to ever do it. The writer of arguably the greatest run on The Flash and Kingdom Come before this, along with the recent spiritual sequel to this series in The Last Days of Lex Luthor (look for it in a future edition of Weekend Escape), Waid is one of the definitive voices on Superman as we know him today. While some eccentric turns in publishing history soon replaced this story as Superman’s canonical origin, Waid’s Birthright remains an important series to this day when it comes to understanding the background of the Man of Steel.
Leinil Francis Yu is best known for his work at Marvel, which may explain why Birthright’s art style might particularly stand out for DC fans. His expressiveness throughout the series sells every life the young Clark touches in this initial quest to better understand the world and himself, culminating in one of the best depictions of the Superman and Luthor rivalry we’ve seen to date.
A Few Reasons to Read:
- A Better World: Birthright gives us a Superman who doesn’t just stand for Americans, but the entire planet. An early journalistic expedition to West Africa is one incident of many that bring him greater understanding of humanity on a macro scale.
- Brand New Powers: Birthright’s conception of Superman presents some abilities you’ve never seen before, expanding the scope of his vision to new horizons—a development which brings with it some interesting ramifications. How do you eat a hamburger once you gain the ability to perceive a cow’s soul?
- The Legacy of Krypton: So many Superman stories present a fundamental disconnect between Clark and his infancy on Krypton, with him connected to his past only by cold, pre-programmed artifacts. Birthright places much of its focus on connecting Superman to those unknown origins, with him discovering more about himself and where he comes from along with the reader.
- Lex Luthor’s Best Day Ever: We’re not going to spoil it. But really, the one scene that makes this book stand out from all other Superman origin stories is the unique role that Lex gets to play in the story’s most pivotal moment. It’s the key to understanding Luthor as a character, granting us the only time Lex ever experiences unqualified joy: when he’s humbling Superman.
Why It’s Worth Your Time:
Superman: Birthright is not the best Superman origin story ever told. But we only say that because there’s no such thing as the best Superman origin story ever told. The power of Superman as a symbol is that he inspires so many different visions of what he stands for. What that means changes not just over time, but from person to person. Birthright isn’t quite like any other Superman story ever told. But why would you want it to be? You already know that story. This is something else.
Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu and Gerry Alanguilan is now available in bookstores, comic shops, libraries and online retailers in a DC Compact Comics edition. It can also be read in full on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.
Alex Jaffe is the author of our monthly "Ask the Question" column and writes about TV, movies, comics and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @AlexJaffe and find him in the DC Official Discord server as HubCityQuestion.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Alex Jaffe and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
