Written by Jason Aaron

Art by Rafa Sandoval

Colours by Ulises Arreola

Letters by Becca Carey

Years ago, on Krypton, two outcasts discover the end of the world. Years later, in Brazil, a group of miners find a task that will kill them has already been completed and a corporation finally tracks down the most powerful anomaly on Earth…

This third and final of the initial run of Absolute series continues the trend of distilling the characters down to their most fundamental nature. Where Diana is an Amazon despite being exiled to Hell and Batman is, if anything, more brutal and more altruistic without the fortune, Kal-El is still pretty much the same man. Or rather, the man he was to begin with. Aaron’s script makes three very clever choices and this is the first. Superman, as first introduced, was a working class hero with relatively minimal powers who fought the likes of corrupt landlords. Here he’s a man unsure of his powers, apparently with a self-aware suit, helping the miners and working class of the world to fight oppression.

The second clever choice is to have Clark’s biological parents be from this exact background. Zor is a miner who sees first hand the damage being done to the planet. Lara is an engineering genius. Both dared to criticize the scientific dictatorship on Krypton and in doing so were exiled to the bottom of the social ladder. It’s a great idea, one that takes the carefully doomed aristocratic El dynasty and gives them dirt under the fingernails. It gives context to Clark’s actions, gives him an ethical framework and puts the book in both a new, and very familiar, space.

The last great choice the book makes is in the shield. Here it doesn’t stand for Hope, but rather for Working Class. The S is a mark of shame, of being the lowest class. It’s the complacency and malice of Old Krypton on everyone’s chest and it, again, perfectly explains why this Clark is like he is. A working class hero whose compassion is tainted with rage and whose rage is based in compassion. He’s going to get on with the other two members of the Absolute Trinity so well.

The book’s art is every inch the equal of the script. Sandoval gives Krypton a lived in feel, like a faded, pre-apocalyptic Kansas and the characters all seethe with energy and determination. Their designs are just as impressive, especially on the intriguingly familiar armour the mine thugs are wearing. Carey’s letters give us a variety of distinct voices and tie the different time frames we see together while Arreola’s colours make Krypton realistic, alien, beautiful and doomed.

Verdict: This is determined, focused, smart comics. Like its predecessors it excels at understanding just who these characters are and at putting them in new situations. Fresh and accessible, complex and chewy, this launch has been an absolute success in every sense. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart