We chat with the writer about his ideal Kal-El and how that fits or does not fit into Absolute Superman.
Welcome to Creator Corner, our recurring interview series in which we chat with the coolest and most thought-provoking creators in the industry. In this entry, we're conversing with Jason Aaron about Absolute Superman. Listen to the unedited audio HERE.
This past Wednesday, Absolute Superman #1 hit shops. It's the third release depicting DC's Absolute Universe, following Absolute Batman and Absolute Wonder Woman, and like the others, it's a real banger of a book. Written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by Rafa Sandoval, Absolute Superman deviates from the character's traditional origin in several radical ways without spoiling the essential element. Which is what? Well, we discuss that very thing with Jason Aaron below.
Aaron has written a lot of comic books. A lot. However, writing Superman puts him in a headspace he's never really experienced before. Kal-El is THE superhero, but with that comes a burden and tremendous excitement. We discuss what responsibility he feels writing Superman and how writing Absolute Superman differs from his short time on Action Comics.
Jason Aaron, Absolute Superman, and The OG
Brad: So Jason, where I wanted to start was whether or not you had an emotional response to writing Superman, going back to your first run on Action Comics?
Jason Aaron: Yes, absolutely. Those three issues I did of Action were the first time I got to put words in the mouth of Superman. I absolutely had a huge response to that in a way... I don't know. I don't know what would compare. Maybe the first time I wrote Spider-Man years ago. So even though I'd been doing this for 20 or so years, getting to write Superman, I was like, "Oh, holy shit."
Part of me has always felt like you're not really a comic book writer until you write Superman. So I felt all nervous. I called Mark Waid to say, "Hey, can I tell you my Superman ideas?" And make sure I get Mark's thumbs up on them.
I just moved. So I'm still putting my new office together, but there's a Superman lamp over there - that I had when I was a kid. My Superman nightlight is sitting in a case right there next to my chunk of kryptonite that I got after cut out an ad in the back of an issue, a DC Comics Presents from the early eighties, and sent off to get that chunk of rock spray-painted green. Superman was a fundamental part of me becoming a comic fan to begin with.
The first books I read were DC Comics Presents, World Finest, Superman, so all Superman books. Getting the chance to write him in Action Comics was a huge, huge thrill. Getting a chance to do this, to do a completely new take on Superman, that was even more exciting to me.
Brad: And were those comics your first experiences with Superman? Do you remember the first time you saw Superman?
Jason Aaron: It would probably have been the Super Friends cartoon. I loved the Super Friends. And I remember loving the movie, and I've still got my Superman: The Movie trash can over there. So it was probably those before the comics. World's Finest was the very first comic I ever read, and it was like a late seventies, early eighties cover date. So around that time, I was probably encountering Superman all over the place.
Jason Aaron, Absolute Superman, and the Ideal Version
Brad: And do you have an ideal version of Superman? When you think of Superman, is there a version that you think of first over the others?
Jason Aaron: That's a good question. Of course I loved the film. I loved the Super Friends. I loved like that Super Powers: Galactic Guardians cartoon was great. Crisis [of Infinite Earths] was a big touchstone for me as a kid just getting into comics. And I did read and love the John Byrne Superman stuff that came right after that. I think none of those things are exactly like what I'm trying to do with this. I've taken pieces here and there and changed things from all the different new, fresh takes on Superman that we've seen over the years.
Brad: This is about taking Superman and stripping him down to his core. Changing his circumstances, changing his accoutrements, but still highlighting what makes Superman Superman.
Jason Aaron: I think that's absolutely that. It started with me and Scott Snyder talking about just this universe in general. He didn't know what book he wanted to write. I didn't know if I wanted to be a part of it all. And he had some ideas about Batman and we started talking about what if we were making these characters today, in 2024, what choices would we make that are different than the choices you'd make in 1938 or '39?
And for me, for Superman, really a fundamental part of who that character is is - you got Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, these two young immigrants who are writing this idealized, immigrant story. Kid comes here like Moses, a baby down the river, and gets raised by this happy, loving couple in the scenic landscapes of Kansas, and just has this ideal upbringing, and then goes off to the big city and gets this great, high paying job at the world's most popular newspaper.
If I'm making up Superman today, how is that different? If I'm telling the story of an immigrant coming to this country, 2024, it's a bit different than the idealized version. Once I started to figure out one piece, everything clicked into place for me. And part of that is Krypton and how this version of Krypton is different, and Jor-El and Lara are different, and what they do. Their influence on young Kal-El. When he comes here, how he comes here, what happens when he does land on Earth, all that stuff is different in a way that tells one specific story.
When we meet Superman in issue one, he is on the run. He's alone. He does not have a place in this world. He does not have family connections. He is a little bit rough around the edges. He has seen the beauty of this planet, and he's also seen the worst it has to offer.
And again, that all kind of starts from just that fundamental version of who is this guy and what does that look like today? And then everything kind of builds from there.
Jason Aaron and the DNA of Absolute Superman
Brad: Is it easy to describe what is fundamental about Superman then?
Jason Aaron: To me, in vague terms, it's the heart of Superman. Who is he? What does he do? Why does he do it? If anything, as much stuff as I've changed about his origin, from the version we're used, to me, it only reinforces his heart. This guy did not grow up in this idealized Smallville. He has not grown up surrounded by loving parents and the best this planet has to offer.
If anything, he's seen more of the opposite. He's seen the worst of what people do to each other here, yet it somehow still comes out of that wanting to help us, wanting to do what he can to help those people around him, and willing to risk his own life for others. Even though he doesn't seem welcome here, he doesn't seem wanted, he doesn't have connections or anchors here. He still fights to be Superman. So if anything, I think the more we change about that, the more it reinforces what's special about this guy.
Brad: I asked this question of Scott, and then I asked this question of Nick, and I feel like I have to ask you this question as well. If we were going to do a genetic test of this Superman, the Absolute Superman, would it come back that he has the same DNA as the main continuity Superman?
Jason Aaron: You mean like literal in-story DNA or you're talking about story-wise?
Brad: Genetically, is this the same Superman just with a different circumstance? Just with a different universe built around him?
Jason Aaron: Yes. Yeah. In my opinion, yes. Same guy. His upbringing, his life story, radically different. Same guy. So if you'd switched the babies at birth and put him over in the other universe, you would've gotten that same version of Superman, and vice versa.
Brad: So then what does-
Jason Aaron: Wait, what did Scott and Nick say?
Brad: The same thing. They both agreed. In the case of Absolute Batman - I haven't read Absolute Superman yet - there are characters that definitely don't have the same genetic code. Like Killer Croc and Barbara Gordon.
Jason Aaron: Right.
Brad: But when Nick and Scott were talking about Bruce Wayne, this is the Bruce Wayne.
Jason Aaron: Yeah. Yeah, I think our book will be the same, that there'll be characters who are fundamentally that same person, different circumstances, different life experiences, and others who will be very much completely different.
Jason Aaron, Absolute Superman, and Legacy
Brad: And talking in a bit more of a broader context, Superman obviously holds a legacy within comics that's unmatched. But what is his function today? Why do we still need Superman stories?
Jason Aaron: That's a great question. I don't know if I can answer a question that grand. To me, I think everything I'm trying to do with this book and the choices we've made and the changes we've made, to me only makes this character more relevant to today. And more inspiring. It makes his life and his journey much more fraught and filled with hardships than Superman has been in the past.
My hope is that it only makes it resonate more. What does it mean to him to be Superman. I'll give you a tidbit I haven't told anyone else yet. Is that, and I'll try to say this without saying everything. But this version of Superman has no affectations. So, the traditional version of Superman we know, there's always the question of like, "Well, who's the real guy under that? Is it Clark Kent? Is it Kal-El? Is it Superman?"
How do I say this? Well, I think regardless of where you fall in that debate, one of those parts is an affectation. The classic version is the film, of course, where the Clark Kent persona is kind of fake, and phony, and pretending to be bumbling, and to just throw people off the scent. This version doesn't have that. Yet, at the same time, he has all of those things together. I felt like something never sit quite right with me, with the idea of Superman pretending to be something he's not.
People are more than one thing. I think for me, I would put it, like in my original series Bible I wrote, I put it in football terms. As a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, Troy Polamalu is one of my all time favorite players. If you don't know football, you know him mostly these days as the guy in the Head and Shoulders commercials. Got super long, beautiful hair.
As a player. He was ferocious, super hard hitter, flew around like a demon on the field. Off the field, really quiet, soft-spoken guy, deeply religious, incredibly sweet. But come game day, you blow the whistle and it's like a switch flips, and he becomes what he is on the field.
So I like those versions of characters. You can be different things without any of them being fake. I think with this version of Superman, it's who is Kal-El and what does that mean? Who is Superman? And what does that look like? What is his earthly persona? What does that look like? And he can be all those things without pretending to be any of them. They are all who he is. Hopefully that becomes pretty clear right away in issue one. And we can see that continue to develop as a story goes.
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