It’s a great time for Superman fans, with the Man of Steel soaring into movies, TV, animation and comics. To help us stay on top of it, writer Tim Beedle shares what's grabbed his attention and why in this monthly Super-Family column.
Superman is the world’s greatest hero. I mean that in how he represents the absolute best of us, but also how there are very few superheroes who are as strong, as resilient and as powerful as he is. We need Superman. Anyone who doubts that need only read DC K.O.
So, it’s a bit unnerving whenever Superman disappears, much like he did in K.O.’s finale. Even more alarming is it’s not the only time he’s done that recently. He’s also left Earth for an extended period of time in Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Scott Godlewski’s ongoing Adventures of Superman: Book of El. We don’t yet know why Superman’s flown off in DC K.O. All we’ve gotten is a rather vague remark about how there’s “something” he must do. But we do know the reason for his absence in Adventures of Superman.
In fairness to Clark, his disappearance wasn’t deliberate—at least, not at first. When Smallville is attacked by a Warzoon led by Kryl-Ux, a Kryptonian colonist whom Superman first met when he was captured by Mongul, the Man of Steel is hurtled far into the future. Once Superman realizes what has happened, his first instinct is to try to get back. It’s not until he learns that his adoptive children, Otho and Osul, have also been pulled into the future that his plans change and he vows not to return until he’s rescued them.
No one can fault Superman for wanting to save his children, but it does leave present day Earth without its greatest, most dependable protector. Even with the rest of the Justice League still available, the Earth just feels more vulnerable when Superman’s not around. Ultimately, it begs a question that’s among the most difficult and sensitive ones pertaining to the Man of Steel: If Superman is the Earth’s protector and champion of the oppressed, is it fair for him to place his family’s peril over the peril of the Earth as a whole?
Well, no…if Superman were a robot or AI or any other being that lacks all emotional attachment, but he’s not. He was raised on Earth by humans and among them, so while his biology may be Kryptonian, he is for all intents and purposes as human as the rest of us. That’s what makes him the hero that he is. It’s why we trust him, despite possessing abilities capable of leveling mountains or razing entire armies. He wouldn’t be trusted and beloved by the people of Earth if he lacked the ability to love and care about others.
So, while it may seem a bit unfair to the rest of us every time Superman darts off to save Lois, Jon, Kara, Conner, Otho or Osul, we can’t see it that way. Not if we value his humanity. Plus, the truth that we don’t often acknowledge—probably because to do so would be fairly selfish—is that we all benefit from Clark’s devotion to his family.
That’s one thing that’s become clear to me while reading Adventures of Superman: Book of El. With most of the action set far in the future, we get a glimpse of what life on Earth (and beyond) might be like centuries after Clark, Lois and even Jon have died. And spoiler alert to anyone who hasn’t been reading the series: it ain’t great. Granted, this is a future that directly stems from Kryl-Ux’s invasion of Earth, so the fact that everything’s gone to hell shouldn’t be too surprising. But what also should come as little surprise is this future society’s one source of hope: Superman and his legacy.
Superheroes seem to be in short supply in Kryl-Ux’s future, but two of the most visible are Ronan and Rowan Kent aka Nightwing and Flamebird—Clark and Lois’s direct descendants. Ronan and Rowan operate much differently than Superman. The world they live in is a dystopian nightmare, ruled by Kryl-Ux’s proxy Brainiac. Order is maintained by the Summer Men, a squadron of peacekeepers with Kryptonian-like powers who were human before they were genetically altered by Brainiac. The cruelty and desperation of their reality, where there are clearly not enough super-powered heroes to go around, leads to a schism between the brother and sister that’s made worse by Rowan’s decision to leave Earth to protect a race of sentient constructs known as Lightborn.
The Justice League these two are not. They’re arguably not even allies when we first meet them. But they’re both heroes. Each of them steps in to help and protect the innocent and persecuted of their world without a thought given to their own safety. Over the course of Adventures of Superman’s first six issues, we see Ronan and Rowan exhibit the same qualities embodied by Superman time and again, culminating in Rowan’s willingness to sacrifice her life to save what remains of the Lightborn after Kryl-Ux sends a Sun-Eater to attack them.
Fortunately, Rowan survives and even levels up in the process. But her devotion to protecting the Lightborn, a race of creatures that are routinely hunted down and killed by the Summer Men, and her willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice for them shows that she’s first and foremost a hero. So is her brother, who in staying on Earth, puts his own life at risk each and every day.
Far, far into the future, on an Earth nearly unrecognizable from the one we know today, it’s two young heroes descended from the House of El who are keeping the world safe, embodying the same ideals held by their 21st-century forebear. Superman’s family may mean that all of humanity isn’t fully equal in his eyes. There are a few of us he loves and values a bit more. But that means he’s continually instilling those family members with all his values and beliefs. He’s consistently teaching them what it means to serve and help others and use their gifts to make our world a better place.
That legacy is something that we’ll all benefit from. Our children and our children’s children will continue to have heroes to look up to. That may mean that occasionally, Clark has to disappear for a family emergency, but that’s something we should all support. In the long run, our world will be a lot more super as a result.
Adventures of Superman: Book of El by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Scott Godlewski and Alex Guimarães is available in print and digital, and can be read on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.
Tim Beedle covers movies, TV and comics for DC.com, writes our monthly Superman column, "Super Here For...", and is a regular contributor to the Couch Club, our recurring television column. Follow him on Instagram at @notabard and on Bluesky at @TimBeedle.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Tim Beedle and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
