While DC’s Elseworlds vary in terms of concepts and time periods, they’ve established one key fact: a large part of what makes Superman Superman is the fact that his rocket landed in Smallville. Landing in Russia gets you Superman: Red Son. Landing in Gotham gets you Superman: Speeding Bullets. Superman: Father of Tomorrow #1 keeps this in mind as it explores a world in which Jor-El, not Kal-El, is the sole survivor of Krypton.
The changes don’t stop there, as the dynamic between Jor-El and Jonathan and Martha Kent is both wildly different and strangely similar to the mainstream DC Universe. While the Kents do take Jor-El in, they pass him off as Jonathan’s brother, Jordan. Jor-El is also convinced to go out and help the world after a tragedy involving the Kents, but while he’s still participating in superhero adventures, he also uses his scientific intellect to try to improve the world. Considering that the mainstream timeline often features Krypton falling due to its rulers’ inability to listen to him, it’s only fitting that Father of Tomorrow #1 would feature more of Jor-El being a scientist.
Father of Tomorrow comes to comic stores courtesy of the rising stars that are Kenny Porter and Danny Earls. Porter’s no stranger to Superman lore, having previously written the excellent Superboy: Man of Tomorrow miniseries; his other work, whether it’s The Schlub at Image or the upcoming Operation: Iron Coffin at IDW, tends to focus on characters trying to find their place in the world, to find redemption or both. That makes him the perfect fit to write this version of Jor-El, who often struggles with the fact that he can do more to help Earth. I also appreciate that Porter has managed to fold elements from the Wildstorm Universe into Father of Tomorrow; between this and Deathblow showing up in Deathstroke: The Terminator, DC should definitely be utilizing more of these characters.
DC
Earls is no slouch himself, having contributed to issues of Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s run on Incredible Hulk. While that book was more horror-tinged, Father of Tomorrow #1 goes full sci-fi. Jor-El’s ship is sleek, silver, and bullet-shaped; it winds up crashing through the Stormwatch satellite, a massive interstellar tower that puts the Justice League’s Watchtower to shame (and gives us another Wildstorm reference.) Even Jor-El’s Superman costume has a sci-fi bent, with more of an overcoat and a silver-and-black color scheme that reflects his Kryptonian heritage. He also gets to put his spin on a classic Superman foe by making Metallo into a giant robot, resulting in an incredible fight scene.
Topping it all off is Nick Filardi on colors, who perfectly captures the sci-fi vibes. As mentioned before, there’s plenty of blue, black, and silver in Jor-El’s Kryptonian clothing and his regular work, while Metallo is immediately identifiable by his gunmetal gray and green color scheme. It even bleeds into Lucas Gattoni’s lettering, as Metallo speaks in a series of dark green word balloons with a mechanical slant to his letters.
Superman: Father of Tomorrow #1 imagines a world where the Man of Steel’s father took his place, delivering the start of a gripping sci-fi story in the process. If Porter and Earls play their cards right, they could deliver an Elseworlds story that truly stands out.
You must be logged in to post a comment.