Superman for Kids

Stone Arch Books has recently published a series of kid-friendly books based on classic DC Comics superheroes, including Superman. The origin story volume is of especial interest for its revisions to the mythos:

Dahl, Michael. Last Son of Krypton. Illus. John Delaney and Lee Loughridge. DC Super Heroes: Superman. Minneapolis and San Diego: Stone Arch Books-Capstone, 2009. 56 pp. 978-1-4342-1370-9

The DC Super Heroes line is created for reluctant readers, but Dahl’s Last Son of Krypton seems to have missed the mark a bit in focusing not on the exploits of Superman but, rather, on some of his earliest adventures as a child. 

Dahl’s narrative combines both old and new elements of the Superman mythos and details how young Kal-El of Krypton (the future Superman) survived the destruction of his home world and found a new family with the Kents on Earth. Of interest, Jor-El, Kal-El’s father, faces opposition by the supercomputer Brainiac in his efforts to warn Krypton’s populace of the plight of their world. Brainiac, who is aware of the impeding cataclysm and merely seeks to be the sole survivor of the planet and its advanced civilization (thus setting up his motivation in future conflicts with Superman), escapes Krypton just before Kal-El. 

Also of note, Kal-El, now Clark Kent, is depicted as absorbing solar radiation from the sun while a small child and, in accordance with the pre-Crisis origins of the character, displays his super-human (and solar-powered) strength while a toddler as opposed to the now canonical approach that his powers developed more slowly and did not fully manifest until his teenage years. 

A brief epilogue concludes the work and addresses Kal-El’s other powers and his efforts as a costumed hero upon reaching adulthood. Appendices include a glossary, discussions questions, and writing prompts.