While Absolute Superman #5 concluded the “Last Dust of Krypton” the sixth issue acted as an epilogue to the opening story arc for the series. With this epilogue we got greater insight into Kal-El’s post-Krypton’s destruction life. Following the way the Absolute Universe has been presented thus far, that life Kal-El had was altered from his iconic origin. As we learned more about Kal-El’s origin story Jason Aaron and Carmine Di Giandomenico introduced an iconic Batman villain as a big threat for the series. Let’s break everything that happened in Absolute Superman #6.
KAL-EL’S TRAUMA OF EXPERIENCING KRYPTON’S DESTRUCTION
The third to final page of Absolute Superman #5 showed us a Kal-El who barely escaped Krypton’s destruction. Due to Krypton’s explosion all those who lucky enough to escape, including Kal-El’s parents, had there ships thrown of course in different directions. In Kal-El’s case he was left alone to wander the galaxy alone in his spaceship.
Absolute Superman #6 picks up directly after Krypton’s explosion with Kal-El’s spaceship wandering the endless galaxy. With each passing day Kal-El’s ship was unable to find a livable planet for it to land safely on. This became a torturous experience for Kal-El as we saw how this endless wandering through the galaxy impacted him mentally. And really you can’t blame him as he spent close to a year and a half locked in his spaceship with constant messages of failure to find a suitable planet to land.
Seeing a teenage Kal-El experience the journey from the destroyed Krypton to Earth put a new light on Superman’s iconic origin. Kal-El didn’t even get the luxury of being suspended in cryogenic sleep to help him on his journey. This creates a greater understanding of Absolute Superman’s being a man of few words. The isolated experience he had completely changed him from a curious kid to a solitary superhero.
KENT FAMILY IMPACT ON ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN
For as traumatic of an experience Kal-El had seeing his home destroyed, separated from his parents, and spending over a year alone there was some hope for him. That is thanks to Kal-El’s ship landing in Smallville near the Kent Family Farm, similar to his DC Universe counterpart.
Right before his landing we learn a little bit about Jonathan and Martha Kent. Jon and Martha are shown to be among the last holdouts not willing to sell their farm to Lazarus Corp, even as their crops have dried out due to the lack of rain in Smallville. Just as they were wishing for a miracle Kal-El lands on their farm.
Showing they are still the caring people we know them to be in most incarnations, Jon and Martha help Kal-El recover. Even without being to properly communicate with each other Kal-El is able to find some normalcy with Jon and Martha. That is until Kal-El’s powers fully developed that end up alerting the Lazarus Corp and attempt to arrest Kal-El. Not wanting harm on Jon and Martha, Kal-El leaves.
Ultimately Kal-El only ended up spending about three weeks with Jon and Martha. This short time was at least enough for Martha to feel a mortherly connection with Kal-El. That is something confirmed in Absolute Superman #3, where in the present Martha is living in a nursing home after Jon’s passing and dealing with late-stage dementia. Even in that state Martha is shown clearly thinking about Kal-El as her son.
ABSOLUTE RA’S AL GHUL FOCUS IN ON SUPERMAN
The experience Kal-El has with the Kents and Krypton’s destruction all build Superman to possibly have the most tragic backstory in the Absolute Universe for the iconic superheroes. The experience he has had has shaped him to view the world around him much differently. Especially with how we’ve seen him react when things go wrong, you can’t really blame his current level of aggression. His life experience has shaped who he is and how he deals with adversity.
That all creates even greater intrigue around the big reveal in Absolute Superman #6. That is with the Absolute Universe version of Ra’s Al Ghul being positioned as the big bad for the series. Ra’s being revealed to be running Lazarus Corp isn’t all that surprising given the name of the company running the world. What is surprising is that Ra’s is targeting Superman as he is one of the iconic Batman villains.
Now this turn for Absolute Ra’s Al Ghul is not something completely out of character. With how new the concept of heroes are it would make sense Ra’s would target Superman. Superman has shown himself to be a big threat to what he’s built with Lazarus Corp having so much power over Earth. Superman’s powers also is something that Ra’s could view as something that can enhance him to achieve Godly status. Especially as it does look like he is using some form of the Lazarus Pits.
Absolute Ra’s Al Ghul being positioned as the big bad also puts into question if or when we will see Absolute Lex Luthor. Because Ra’s is basically serving the role Lex has normally served. With it now officially established Ra’s is running Lazarus Corp it opens the door for a new iteration of Lex Luthor. Lex being heavily altered would play into how we are seeing Joker portrayed differently over in Absolute Batman.
There is no telling what direction Absolute Superman will go as he has to deal with Ra’s Al Ghul. That is on top of there still being questions around what role Smallville will have as solicitations for future issues of Absolute Superman tease returning to the town. Whatever does happen Aaron, Sandoval, and Giandomenico have created a lot of excitement for the future of this series.
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