I bought Absolute Superman #3!

When DC comics announced the absolute universe I could not have been less interested. Since Having started reading DC books in the late '70s, I had already seen more than my fair share of crises, alternates universes, darker "more realistic" versions, resets/reboots/restarts, and "bold new takes" on characters designed primarily for the sake of increasing sales. The Absolute concept seemed like just another one to add to the list. I remember scoffing at the original promotional material, especially at the idea of Superman's cape being made from "the dust of Krypton." While I have enjoyed most of the self-contained Elseworlds tales featuring Superman, the entire Absolute concept seemed like nothing more than DC's way of capitalizing on Marvel's success with its Ultimate line.

But as time passed, something about the Superman title in particular kept capturing my attention. Absolute Batman hit the shelves to widespread praise, but that was hardly a surprise as any “new take” on Batman had been met with similar fanfare for the past forty years. ("It's Batman like you've never seen him before: LEFT-HANDED! And for whatever reason that has made him really angry and violent! Be sure to buy all 1,121,966 variant covers!") But the idea of Kal-El reaching his pre-teen years while still on Krypton intrigued me, the art in the sample pages shared by DC looked great, and I had enjoyed artist Rafa Sandoval's recent work on Superman in Action Comics.

After reading a couple of interviews with writer Jason Aaron - who has pretty solid track record of writing good comics - I realized he shared my reverence for Superman. He seemed intent on staying true to the character, despite the alternate upbringing, and the differences would be meaningful, not just for the sake of shouting, “See? It’s different! Buy it!” It also appeared that he was going to adhere to the parameters and long-term plans set forth by DC for the Absolute universe without dwelling on them and have fun with the title for as long as he could before DC's inevitable next big shake-up/event/crossover/debacle.

Here's Aaron from an interview at comicbookcouplescounseling.com: "To me, in vague terms, it's the heart of Superman. Who is he? What does he do? Why does he do it? If anything, as much stuff as I've changed about his origin, from the version we're used, to me, it only reinforces his heart. This guy did not grow up in this idealized Smallville. He has not grown up surrounded by loving parents and the best this planet has to offer.

If anything, he's seen more of the opposite. He's seen the worst of what people do to each other here, yet it somehow still comes out of that wanting to help us, wanting to do what he can to help those people around him, and willing to risk his own life for others. Even though he doesn't seem welcome here, he doesn't seem wanted, he doesn't have connections or anchors here. He still fights to be Superman. So if anything, I think the more we change about that, the more it reinforces what's special about this guy."

So I emailed my friendly local comic shop and asked them to add the title to our pull list even though I had missed the final order cut off. A few weeks later I had the first issue in hand and read it almost immediately upon arriving home. It was money well spent as I thoroughly enjoyed it from cover to cover! Last month I bought the second issue, and again read it immediately after arriving home. While I was disappointed that it focused more on the current day aspect of the story and less on Kal-El's past on Krypton, I loved it just as much. Today I picked up the third issue and got everything I wanted when I bought the second one, as all but one page focused on Kal-El's past. But that single page was arguably the most intriging... After three issues I am solidly on board with the title as long as the creative team remains the same and DC avoids sabotaging it. Maybe, just maybe, the powers-that-be at DC will notice four of the top eight best sellling comics in 2024 were Absolute Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman issues and they won't mess with what's working, but given how the line started I am concerned it will be a finite series ending in a giant crossover. Until then I will continue to read this title as an Elseworlds series and ignore the rest.