Reviews
I have such conflicting feelings with this one. Among the earliest Superman arcs I read, it was hugely influential in shaping my love for the character. Reading it today I can’t help but notice the problematic changes Byrne made to the origin story. I’m all for shaking things up, but removing the immigrant/alien aspect from the character is doing it a great disservice. Having the character born on American soil, is a slap in the face of the 2nd generation immigrants, Siegel & Shuster, who created the character in many ways in their own likeness. Considering that it was written during the 80s and the Cold Ward freeze, it smacks of nationalism and that saddens me. I like the version of Lex and the more youthful versions of Jonathan and Martha. It’s difficult to separate the nostalgic childhood memories from my reading, and thus I end up giving it 3 stars. A more objective rating would probably be 2 stars.
