Picto-Review: Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #1(of 3)

Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #1: Writer: Cary Bates. Artist: Renato Arlem.

Before we get to the story a little background information first... This is an Elseworlds tale that looks into what would have happened if Superman's mother and father had managed to escape the destruction of Krypton along with baby Kal-El.


So the family El land on Earth and bust out the awesomely clichéd, “We come in peace” line to a bunch of skeptical soldiers.


However, the El's prove to the planet that they do indeed come in peace as they go around preventing death and destruction, becoming model citizens beloved the world over.


In time, Superman's mother, Lara, decides that young Kal should see first hand how an Earth child lives, and after some deliberation decides to send him to Martha and Jonathan Kent, the ideal Earth couple. Supes father, Jor-El is not exactly enamored by his wife's decision.


With Supes away, Lara writes a best-selling book on Raology, the religion of Krypton, while Jor-El starts up Jorcorp, a massive think tank.


Growing ever apart, the El's end up having a massive argument, which ends with the couple getting busy on the sun.


And as is often the case when unprotected sex on the sun is involved, Lara becomes pregnant and winds up giving birth to twins, ending this issue.


What I Thought: Well, if nothing else, this comic was interesting. With that said though, I'm a sucker for alternate reality stories(I grew up a HUGE What If... fan), so going in I knew I'd at least be intrigued by the premise of this story. On the plus side, it almost read like a bizarre Fantastic Four type of comic. You had Jor-El as the distant scientist(ala Reed), Lara as the media darling(like Sue)and little, powerful Kal-El(taking the role of Franklin). The more I read, the more of an FF feel I got off of this comic, which I did like. On the negative side though, nothing really happened... I mean, this was a big $4.99, 64-page comic, and all we really got was the El's establishing themselves on Earth. There was some slight conflict between Jor-El and Lara, and an barely developed sub-story about Kal wanting his father to accept him, but that was that. There was no bad guy(although Lex Luthor as a child did appear), no real conflict, nor even anything set up for future issues, as this issue ended on a positive note. Weird. In the end though, this issue did interest me enough to convince me to pick up the rest of the mini-series. Here's hoping we get a bit more action next issue.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.