Book Review: It's Superman!

Book: It's Superman! by Tom De Haven

Cover Design by Phil Balsman
Cover Art by H. J. Ward

Edition: Paperback

Description:

Coming of age in rural 1930s America with X-ray vision, the power to stop bullets, and the ability to fly isn't exactly every boy's story. So just how did Clark Kent, a shy farmer's son, grow up to be the Man of Steel?

Follow young Clark's whirlwind journey from Kansas to New York City's Daily Planet. This ace reporter is not the only person leading a double life in a teeming metropolis, just the only one able to leap tall buildings in a single bound — a skill that comes in handy when battling powerful criminal masterminds like scheming Lex Luthor and fascist robots. But can Clark's midwestern charm save the day and win the heart of stunning, seen-it-all newspaperwoman Lois Lane? Or is that a job for Superman?




Rating: 5 stars

Review:

It's Superman! was an interesting take on the Man of Steel. The story which is set in the 1930s mostly follows Clark Kent, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor but it does focus occasionally on other characters such as Willi Berg, Betty "Skinny" Simon, Richard Sandglass, Alger Lee and a host of others.

Although the author takes the long approach in telling how Clark Kent becomes Superman, you get to see every aspect of Clark's story as he goes from small town resident (with advancing super powers) to fledgling reporter at the Smallville Herald-Progress newspaper (following the death of his mother Martha).

College graduate Lois Lane had moved to New York City to take graduate journalism classes at Columbia University with a goal towards a career as a reporter. She's involved in a sort of relationship with aspiring photographer Willi Berg. Meanwhile Lex Luthor who was also in New York City was building a public career in politics as an Alderman while also leading a private career as a crime boss.

Willi made the mistake of crossing paths with Luthor which left him having to go on the run after being framed for murder. Thanks to Lois asking her former professor John Gurney for a favor, Willi under the assumed name William Boring was able to get a job taking pictures for the Writers Project. This led to Willi stumbling upon Clark while he was in Kansas taking pictures.

Following the abduction and murder of a child (Clark tried to rescue), Clark decides to leave Smallville with Willi. The duo traveled around until they found their way to Hollywood, California where they stayed for a few years. However, trouble continued to follow Willi leaving the guys to eventually settle in New York City with hopes of Willi's name finally being cleared. While the guys were traveling around, Lois had become a reporter at the Daily Planet and was dating police officer Ben Jaeger. Meanwhile, Lex's criminal empire was being investigated but he already had a lead on everything going on within the investigation.

Despite being cleared of all accusations (due to getting rid of Lieutenant Richard Sandglass and his report), Lex was finished with politics and was preparing for his next stage of his business/criminal empire. Lois reconnecting with Willi to hear his sensational story of the flying man who broke him out of a Hollywood jail lead to Lois and Clark's first meeting. Even though she considered Clark to be an insignificant hayseed, she still let him in on how he could potentially get a job at the Daily Planet.

Lex's new phase as a businessman and his new product would lead to the public reveal of Superman. Clark wasn't exactly prepared for a battle with a robot, however, he had no choice but to figure out a way to stop it. Lois may have found evidence that connected Lex to the robot but it was an unexpected discovery that finally convinced the police that Lex was a criminal mastermind and got Clark hired at the Daily Planet.

Although I found It's Superman! to be an interesting and good read, it was fast-paced and well-written but I did have some issues with it. I found it to be quite annoying at times how Clark was written as a naive rube throughout the story. Just because he's from a small town doesn't mean that he would necessarily be so naive and so easily trusting. I don't like how he quickly left Smallville with Willi and how he didn't see that Willi was somewhat using him in a way. I know Clark wanted to experience more than just his small town life but traveling around with Willi didn't necessarily change his outlook on life because he already knew about injustice, racism, etc and knew that they were wrong. However, I guess in some small way his traveling around was a good experience despite these two not having a plan and were traveling around with no clear destination in mind until they eventually made their way to Hollywood.

I like how Lois Lane was written for the most part except for how the author seemed to write her as incapable of being alone. She continued to date one loser after the next from Willi (who was a total slimy cad) to Ben Jaeger (who started out okay but eventually became annoying) to her former professor John Gurney (who was a slimy arrogant jerk). I know that Lois was still trying to find herself romantically but she certainly didn't need to date that many losers in order to do so.

There is no denying that Lex Luthor is horrible his only redeeming qualities is that he was not racist, homophobic, etc. especially considering the times this book was set in. However, that doesn't cancel out all the terrible things he did throughout the book. I still don't like that he had a hand in creating something important to the Superman mythology.

There is a lot going on in this story, which feels like a cross between a noir crime drama and sci-fi but at it's heart it still feels like a Superman story.