All-Star Superman #6

by Scott Cederlund

The adventures of All-Star Superman when he was a boy.

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I think one of Superman’s greatest failures was his inability to save his parents. Of course, there was nothing he could do for Jor-el and Lara. A powerless infant, there’s no way he could have done anything to save his family and his parents. But, much like Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent is a haunted man but he’s just better adjusted than Batman. In All-Star Superman #6, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely explore this without getting into a lot of grim and gritty territory. Through the death of Jonathan Kent, recalling the Golden and Silver Age histories, they explore Clark’s failures at being able to protect those that he loves.

With a tale focusing on a younger Clark, before Metropolis, Jimmy, Perry and Lois, Morrison and Quitely show us a hero on the verge of growing up. The world seems like a huge and energetic place to Clark. He has his parents, his dog and more powers than any boy should have. Best yet, he has little responsibility. He’s not Superman of the world yet; he’s just “the Kansas Superman.” He’s just a hometown boy and a hometown hero. He can still enjoy milkshakes with his girl (Lana) and best friend (Pete Ross) as he contemplates the future and plans on becoming a journalist. He plays with his dog Krypto, chasing eachother through space and enjoying a quiet moment on the moon. It’s a good life.

One day, three men walk up to the Kent farm, looking for jobs. The new farmhands are an interesting lot; a tall lanky fellow, a short wiry-haired older gent and a third with his face wrapped in bandages. Pa believes in the hard work the farm provides and, even with a Superman for a son, wants to do the work the true way, the right way and the old fashioned way. These three men should help with that but, in truth, they’re everything but normal. These three are members of The Superman Squad who have travelled back in time tracking down the threat of the Chronovore. The tall lanky man is Kal Kent, the Superman of A.D. 863,500. If you’re read DC 1,000,000, also by Morrison, you’ve met Kal before. With him are the Unknown Superman of A.D. 4500 and the Superman from the 5th dimension.

These three future Superman are in Smallville to track down a Chronovore, a rather ambiguous threat, and to give Clark one last gift; time with his father. They’re from the future and know the fates of those Clark loves the best. But Clark is too young, reckless and ambitious to pay attention to what they’re trying to do. He rushes off to face the chronovore, to prove to these other heroes that he’s just as strong, quick and powerful as they are. In doing so, he misses the whole point of their visit to our time and ultimately loses their gift.

Morrison has hit on the right angle approaching this iconic character. In All-Star Superman, he’s not writing about Superman but he’s been writing about Clark and his friends. This issue strongly shows that as Clark has to learn lessons about being a hero, about being Superman. And even as we witness Clark stumbling now, we see the legacy of him through the future Superman. He will build a legacy that will survive throughout the ages and it begins here, in Smallville, Kansas by a farm boy with big city dreams.

All Star Superman #6
Funeral In Smallville
Written by: Grant Morrison
Pencilled by: Frank Quitely
Digitally Inked & Colored by: Jamie Grant
Lettered by: Phil Balsman