Absolute All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison

“I had this notion that Superman actually went through something similar,” Morrison says. It’s similar in concept to a key piece of Morrison’s Batman epic, where the Dark Knight was briefly presumed dead but had simply become displaced in time, traveling to different eras and piecing his “self,” and ultimately the very idea of Batman, back together. It’s a seemingly incongruous moment, and in true Morrison style, it’s explained away in a brief line of dialogue later in the book, but in their head, there’s more to the story. It begins with the Man of Steel in his prime…hanging out with President John F. My version of Superman is unlikely to ever become an authoritarian monster.” A Unifying Theory of Superman Continuity?īut Superman & The Authority (which features art by Mikel Janin, Jordie Bellaire, Travel Foreman, and more!) doesn’t open on that older Superman. He’s got super strength, and he’s got super resolve, but he also has super compassion and super understanding.

“My version of Superman has always been this idea of what’s the best humanity can be.

“I knew that Dan was just doing this to wind me up, because that’s the kind of story I just can’t abide,” Morrison says. “He said, ‘We want to do a Superman who’s older, and his son has taken over…but as Superman gets older, he becomes more fascistic and authoritarian.’”įor the writer behind arguably the definitive Superman story of our century in All-Star Superman, a tale full of hope and idealism even as it dealt with reflective meditations on mortality, the concept of an authoritarian Man of Steel didn’t sit right. “We went to a restaurant and Dan proposed this notion,” Superman & The Authority writer Grant Morrison tells us by phone. It’s an older, wiser, Superman, sporting a look befitting a man with a teenage son and years of experience under his belt, and he brings all the patience and wisdom that you’d expect him to have as he reaches superheroic middle age.Īnd while this look is a holdover from DC’s old 5G publishing initiative (the fixed timeline continuity shuffle which would have seen established characters age and legacy characters take over, abandoned when DC co-publisher Dan DiDio left the company), it’s about the only thing from DiDio’s Superman pitch that stuck around. Graying at the temples, a hint of smile lines around his eyes, and a capeless outfit that looks equally ready for some serious work in a laboratory or a super-powered street fight. The Man of Steel of Superman & The Authority looks a little different than you might expect.

This article contains spoilers for Superman & The Authority.

Absolute All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison