Superman: Birthright is an excellent origin story. If you get the impulse to know how exactly Supes started, then this is the only comic book you need. The subplots on the other hand are just ordinary. It touches on so many points of Clark's life that it doesn't really go deep on most of them.

Birthright's story started strong. The Africa story is a heartfelt and a convincing anecdote in Kent's life to don the red cape (and underwear) and carry the great moral responsibility. After that, the Clark Kent - Superman journey from the barn to the big city is everything you have expected.

Then there is Luthor.

As an aside, let us take a look about why Batman Year One is the definitive Batman story, and perhaps the top Bats story of all time. The answer is simple: you have no villain. We just focus ourselves with Batman, Gotham and Gordon. Frank Miller could have added the Joker but he did not, because an arch-enemy as early in a hero's early career would have stolen the spotlight. Besides, it's inevitable for the Joker to have his own origin story (The Killing Joke).

That is the problem with Birthright, it has given a lot of panels to Lex Luthor. The main thesis is that Superman is the symbol of hope and courage. That is him. That is why we need a Superman. Instead, Birthright forced a reason for the people to need Supes, that the exposition of the thesis felt contrived: we need Superman because there is a super-villain. I lost interest by the time the final series of battles started. For me it was just a messy cocktail of destruction and rescue.

Yu has done a great job in his artwork though. I'm just not a fan of his under lashes.

Superman: Birthright is a modern origin story of the Man of Steel. It is modern but not definitive. Just don't expect Batman: Year One or All-Star Superman level of feels.

"Here it is, the support group for people who hate fictional characters."

I walk in, sit down, and patiently wait my turn.

This is your first time here, right? Why don't you stand up and introduce yourself.

"Hi I'm Terence and I hate a fictional character."

Hi Terence the group says in unison.

"Hi, so the fictional character I hate is Superman."

Gasps, shocked faces, and the rustling sound of people sucking air sharply through their teeth is all I hear.

"Oh come on I can't be the only one. I mean yes you feel for old Kal-El when his parents send him away to save his life as a baby, but after that it's all downhill with Mr. Perfect."

The group stands up and file out of the room as though I said the place was rigged to blow.

"I mean come on, his disguise is glasses and a slumped posture. For all the technology available in the comics, facial recognition software apparently isn't one of them."

Superman: Birthright was touted to me as the best of the best Superman comics. Unfortunately I am predisposed to highly disliking hating Superman. I agreed to give it a try and I found what I always find when I experience Superman, I didn't like it...at all. Superman as a character has always been disinteresting to me because he's practically perfect. It grates at me deep within my soul and I can't ignore my frustration. For me the only time I want to read about Superman is when he's fighting Doomsday or Darkseid so that Mr. Perfect can have a real challenge.

Superman is perhaps the finest of all American heroes. He has the humility and moral compass of Atticus Finch, and like George Bailey, he battles for the common man against a powerful and corrupt enemy. Superman: Birthright is a fantastic origin story of Superman - establishing him as a symbol of hope for everyone. The final arc has some breathtaking panels and this comic really sticks the landing. The central theme of Superman is one of acceptance. It is about the battle between fear and hope. Superman has to accept himself before he can become a hero, Metropolis has to accept Superman before he can be their hero and symbol of hope.

The final pages bring the whole story together, the journey starts where it ends - with Superman claiming his birthright as a hero for the people. This is by far the best Superman story I’ve read and possibly the best comic Mark Waid has ever written.

This reminds me of all the reasons I love Superman and why you should love him too. Birthright gives you a vulnerable Clark trying to find his place in the world, and it fleshes him out beautifully. Birthright also gives you a touching insight into the reasons Clark decides to become Superman but you also cry because Clark doesn't owe anything to this world and the world doesn't deserve him. And then you cry some more and experience this deep loneliness because Clark Kent doesn't belong anywhere. Krypton is gone, the world is half in love with him but scared of him at the same time, but what hurts me the most is that when Clark Kent becomes Clark Kent reporter at the Daily Planet, he doesn't make any friends because he goes out of his way to be dull, boring and un-charismatic. What kind of life is this? It makes my heart ache.

My favourite scene is seeing Clark fly over the plains of Ghana because it brings me joy and I also feel his ~freedom~. I also love seeing the relationship between Lois and Clark (YESSSSSSS). I LOVE SUPERMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't fault Mark Waid; I just don't think I'm ever gonna be a Superman fan.

Какво превръща даден човек в супергерой? Способността да лети или да спира куршуми с голи ръце? Трагедия, белязала миналото му? Или възпитанието, което е получил от родителите си? А може би е всичко това, събрано накуп. При всички положения, за младия Кларк Кент, да бъде супергерой се оказва призвание. „Супермен: Призвание“ е поредица в 12 броя от 2003 г., в която сценаристът Марк Уейд и художникът Лейнил Франсис Ю представят по нов начин ранната история на Човека от стомана. А сега, 20 години след издаването си, поредицата се появява за първи път и на български език, благодарение на „Artline Studios”. Прочетете ревюто на "Книжни Криле": https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/202...

Wow, where do I start? The short review of this book is: Birthright is the ONLY Superman origin book you need to read, it’s the book Mark Waid was born to write, and it is a true literary masterpiece.

That’s the short version. The longer version that will now follow will read like a firebrand preacher babbling on about the Saviour, etc. because reading this book and being an atheist, I had the same reaction and feelings that I imagine religious people do when they hear stories about Jesus or whoever their deity of choice is - that uplifting inspiration that inexplicably chokes you up and makes your heart beat stronger. Yeah, it’s Superman I’m talking about here guys, which might make some of you roll your eyes but he’s more real to me than any world religious figure.

I don’t want to scare any readers off though - if you’re not a devoted Superman fan, this book is hugely accessible and you’re going to have no trouble reading it. Hell, it’s basically written so that anyone wanting to read a Superman book can pick it up without knowing a damn thing about the guy and still getting a lot out of it! But if you love Superman - LOVE Superman - then this book will take pride of place on your bookshelves, to be taken down many times over the years and read again and again.

Basically this is the Superman story we all know - the exodus from Krypton, landing in Kansas where the alien baby is adopted by childless farming couple Jonathan and Martha Kent, becoming Clark, realising his powers, moving to Metropolis, and becoming Superman. It’s the classic origin - but it goes deeper than that. Waid doesn’t simply go through the familiar motions with this character but explains WHY Kal/Clark becomes Superman.

If you’re reading this after watching Man of Steel, there’s a lot here that’ll seem familiar to you - Jonathan telling Clark to hide his powers, that he’ll scare people if they know who he really is. There’s even some lines here that were used in the film like “you’re the answer to ‘are we alone in the universe?’”. However, unlike Man of Steel, Superman isn’t a murderous lunatic flinging his enemies into crowded city blocks with no thought to human life.

Clark leaves high school and goes travelling from then on, spending the next few years traversing the globe, slowly earning credits for his degree in journalism while filing reports wherever he goes. He winds up in an African country where he’s reporting on a tribe that is looking for equal representation in the government run by another tribe, and without getting into particulars, learns why he must put his all of his natural abilities to use, that he can no longer hide, and that one man can make a difference - all this from an ordinary man fighting an insurmountable system. It’s a breathtaking and emotional opening to the book that’s perfectly suited to the story.

From there we see the persona of Clark being developed to hide Kal’s true identity as Superman, we see a beautiful representation of Clark and Jonathan’s relationship in a highly charged emotional scene, Lois is superbly realised and has some fantastic zingers, Superman’s introduction in Metropolis is handled perfectly while Lex Luthor also takes a turn in the spotlight as Waid shows us why Lex became the way he did. He also writes the tragic friendship between Clark and Lex brilliantly. Great Caesar’s Ghost, there’s a lot to talk about! So I’ll stop there because otherwise this’ll go on forever, and just say this:

Reading Superman: Birthright doesn’t just familiarise you with the talking points of Superman’s origins - Waid writes the character in such a way that you understand him totally. You know why he thinks the way he does, you know why he must be Superman, why he does what he does. It’s an origin story that goes beyond treading familiar territory and revitalises the character for a new generation while paying homage to the many creators, writers and artists that worked on the character, going right back to the teenagers who created the Man of Tomorrow, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. This is the old Superman and the new Superman in one flawless representation.

Leinil Yu’s art is great as always, Waid’s writing is perfect - there’s no other word for it, he’s leaving nothing in the tank on this one; Birthright, like I said at the start, is a masterpiece. It’s a truly brilliant comic with no mis-steps, a real emotional core, and a deep and profound understanding and respect of the character that is rarely seen with Superman.

You’ll believe a man can fly - I sure do.

Графична новела, заслужаваща всички суперлативи, изказани по неин адрес. Плътен читав сценарий на Марк Уейд и изключително свеж арт на Лейнил Ю. Глътнах я буквално на екс, примирайки от кеф, а не мога да споделя същото за доста от броевете на Marvel-колекцията, които откровено ме напрягат. И макар да са значително по-рехаво представени в родни преводни издания, за момента DC категорично печелят двубоя с именития си съперник в личната ми читателска класация. Много по-замислящи и стойности истории, много по-малко безцелни/самоцелни патаклами. категорични 5 звезди.

“Each time I think I've made a connection with someone… once they find out what I can do, whether it's hours or days later, everything changes. Invariably they freak. They get retroactively paranoid, wondering what else Clark Kent is hiding from them.”

— Mark Waid, Superman: Birthright

This was a great origins story for one Clark Kent, knows mostly as Superman. The first few issues were not the strongest but it kept becoming better. Moreover, the art was superb and getting nice explanations for why Clark does things the way he do was great.

Also loved the relationship between him and Pa kent and ma Kent, and how they made Pa Kent flawed which made him more human. Lex Luthor was written fantastically and his relationship with Clark was amazing to read since their teenage years. Finally, the last scene was just perfection.

"Father...Mother....I made it."

In a continuing quest to read good Superman books, this one delivers big time.

There's a lot to recommend this to people who are and aren't comic fans. There's a lot of the story of Superman's origin in here, and in a lot of ways, not a lot new under the Sun. Earth's yellow sun, that is.

But Mark Waid manages to make all of this feel fresh, believable, and great.

This is definitely a superhero comic I'd introduce people to if they hadn't read superhero comics and were interested. No, it's not going to be a great gateway book for someone from the no capes, no flying camp, but for someone who's ready to give a superhero book a try, this is a must-read.

Something that this book managed that I didn't see in a lot of others, I actually kind of believed that, in a way, Superman was a hayseed from Smallville. In the best possible way, but there were a few moments in here that made me believe that an alien from another planet could be a good-hearted midwesterner. No spoilers, near the end of the book, Superman gets a minor, much-needed victory that I really loved.

I think this quest has been turned up a notch. Because now I know there are some really good Superman stories out there, but I want to see the stories that aren't origins. I think origins are a little easier to do. You don't have to deal with all the history, plus they're usually the most compelling bits of characters that tend to slump into being boring. I think I've got one more Superman origin story, and then it's on to new heights.

The origins brought together

This has been one of my favourite origin stories of Superman. I am old enough to remember the first movie staring at Christopher Reeves. This book is right up there what that movie.

Bring a continuity lover. I love that they took elements of Smallville and other tv series and managed as well as staying true to the core comic material.

I much prefer Lex as a ruthless villain to the more likeable character he played in Smallville. I like how they explained Clark/Superman being more worldly. I really liked what how they explained Clark's "disguise" it made much more sense. As well as his reasons for not wearing a mask. I also liked the reason for Clark's attraction to Lois Lane.

I love Leinil Yu's artwork from the first time I saw it in a Wolverine comic. I love everything about this book, even a bit of the full circle at the end. Always the mark of a 5 star book is as soon as it was finished. I want more! I would love another book in this universe I the there are a couple of plot lines left to tie up.

Summer Reading Entry #3. I just finished reading the twelve-issue "Superman: Birthright" comic book limited series written by Mark Waid, penciled by Leinil Francis Yu, and inked by Gerry Alanguilan, that was originally released from 2003 to 2004 by DC Comics. I read these issues on the DC Universe Infinite digital comics platform. I'm putting my review on GoodReads on the earliest released hardcover reprint collection (2004). There has been a subsequent softcover trade paper release (2005), a second hardcover (2016), and coming in December 2022 will be a DC "Deluxe Edition" hardcover release of "Birthright".

"Birthright", when it first came out in 2003, was touted as a brand new reboot (although I don't recall if they used that actual word or not) of Superman's origin story, the second such major reboot of the modern comics era (the first being John Byrne's 1986 six-issue "Man of Steel" mini-series. There have been several other reboots and reimaginings since "Birthright" (including Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's "Superman: Secret Origin" mini-series (2009-2010), another on my list to read).

At the time, however, it was a bit of a major thing, DC announcing that they were basically ditching the Byrne version (which had been *the* canon Superman origin in the comics for nearly twenty years) in favor of a new one written by Mark Waid, and, I must admit, I was resistant to it because of that. I didn't see any reason to jettison the Byrne origin story yet. (There was no galaxy changing event going on at the time to explain such a change--those would come along not too long after--and Byrne's origin just didn't seem to need to be changed, in my opinion.)

So, when I first read the first five issues of "Superman: Birthright" back in 2003, I thought they were all right but probably didn't give then a fair chance. My memory (now) of reading them then was that I had not finished reading the entire series (although I did buy the entire run of issues), and looking now at what notes I kept back in those days, it appears that I only read through the end of issue five.

I decided to revisit (and finish reading) "Birthright" now because I'd already decided that I wanted to read "Superman: Secret Origin" and decided, prior to that, that I should probably read "Birthright" to be able to compare the different versions of the Superman origin story. (I've read John Byrne's "Man of Steel" so many times over the years that I have that one practically memorized, so no need to revisit that one at this time.)

This time I had the advantage of going into reading "Birthright" with a bit of a more open mind, plus the advantage of being able to put all that issue of it being the new "canon" version of Superman aside because this story no longer is. "Birthright" was quickly overridden by other tales, including several of those universe (sometimes multiverse) changing company-wide crossover "events". So, reading "Birthright" now, I can view it entirely on its own merits as one of the many varying Superman stories out there.

The Krypton scenes (which visually are very distinctive and different from the versions that came before it, thanks to the penciling art of Leinil Francis Yu here) are actually quite short. Only a few pages long. The most noticeable change there in my opinion was that Waid presented Jor-El as very hesitant to send Kal-El away in his experimental rocket ship, and that Lara basically has to convince him that it's the only chance the baby has to survive.

We then jump to a young adult Clark Kent in Africa working as a freelance journalist and befriending the leader of a rebel tribe seeking out fair and equal representation in their county's government. There are attacks upon them by those in power and Clark has to use his powers to prevent many people from being killed. It becomes his motivating incident to return home to his adopted parents (Jonathan and Martha Kent in Smallville, Kansas) to come up with a way for him to be able to use his powers to help people without revealing who he is.

They, of course, come up with the Superman costume and also the idea of the more mild-mannered Clark Kent persona as the real "disguise". While doing so, we get glimpses of Clark's upbringing. Again, here, Martha Kent is much more of an eager aid to Clark, initially. Jonathan is very reluctant and worried that this will all lead to their losing their son. He does, eventually, come around to the idea.

Next, Clark arrives in Metropolis, first encounters Lois, Perry, and Jimmy, and gets his job at the Daily Planet (and Superman makes his debut). All of this is pretty common to most tellings of the origin story.

Where things are different are where they involve Lex Luthor. In this version of events, Clark and Lex knew each other in high school in Smallville, Lex and his father briefly moving to town. Lex, a clear genius but with really bad social skills, quickly ostracizes everyone around him except for Clark. His big experiment (which just happens to involve a piece of glowing green radioactive meteorite; Clark's first encounter with Kryptonite) ends up destroying his house, killing his father, and driving Lex into seclusion, having blamed Clark and everyone else for his failure.

Now, as an adult, Lex is a major leader of industry in Metropolis, a business man with his own company. But he still has a secret agenda behind it all, one that gets kicked into its next phase with the arrival of Superman in Metropolis.

From there it becomes a pretty standard Superman vs. Lex Luthor story with bits of the new version of Clark's Kryptonian heritage tossed in. The last two or three issues deal with that major confrontation, and Lex's turning the people of Metropolis against Superman by convincing them that he is actually the scout for a large invasion by Kryptonian soldiers.

Waid does a good job throughout at presenting the major characters in an interesting way, especially Clark, the Kents, and Lois. His Perry and Jimmy are pretty non descript (Perry is grumpy and yelling at people most of the time). This portrayal of Lex is the most problematic to me. He is a genius but most of the time he carries on like a crazed fanatic (although his plan, as convoluted as it is, seems on the verge of succeeding). Of course, it depends on that piece of Kryptonite Lex found back in Smallville, which he has discovered how to use as a powerful energy source (which, as a bonus, just happens to be able to eliminate Superman, as well).

The thing that makes "Birthright" very uneven, in my opinion (and this is going to be a very subjective thing) is the artwork of Leinil Francis Yu. Yu is a Filipino artist who began with Wildstorm Productions, and then moved over to Marvel to do long runs on "Wolverine" and "X-Men". Yu has a very distinctive art style. His page layouts are often quite exciting looking and are also easy to follow what's happening. However, his characters faces are often very stylized, especially those of the male characters (other than Clark/Superman). Many of the faces in "Birthright" are quite grotesque looking (crazed expressions, eyes bulging, veins popping). Not all the time but enough to be distracting and at times hard to look at. (His early issues with Clark in Africa, in Smallville, and first appearing in Metropolis are his best work here.)

I can't help but wonder how "Birthright" might have been if they'd gone with a more naturalistic/"realistic" style artist. Then, again, I know that Yu has his fans who would totally disagree with my assessment here. (And, honestly, I found Yu's style to be much more appropriate to Wolverine and the X-Men.)

Overall, it's is an interesting read (one I'd recommend that all regular Superman readers check out at some point). I ended up giving it three stars out of five stars on GoodReads (would probably have been three and a half stars if I was allowed to use half stars).

(Previous 2022 Summer Reading Entries: #1: "Star Trek: Avenger" by William Shatner (1997; novel); #2: "Batman vs. Ra's Al Ghul" by Neal Adams (2019-2021, six-issue comic book mini-series; 2021 collected hardcover edition).)