Superman: Earth One – 5 Characters Who Are Comic Book Accurate (& 5 Who Aren’t)

The Earth One line of comics kicked off with Superman: Earth One, a trilogy of graphic novels that present a bold new take on Superman. Written by Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski with art by Shane Davis and Ardian Syaf, the comic eschewed the traditional image of Superman’s world in favor of something new.

With this world being so different, some of the series’ characters are quite different from their incarnations in the mainstream DC Comics. With that being said, some are a bit more on the borderline side than others, as a few have maintained a similar characterization.

Characters Who Are Accurate To The Comics

Ma & Pa Kent

Without his excellent supporting characters, Superman would be a shadow of who he is, but aside from Lois Lane, The Kents play the most important role in his life. The Kents raised Clark and helped him develop his set of morals, something that Earth One maintains.

Jonathan and Martha Kent may have been significantly de-aged and made slightly more modern in Earth One, but they are the same loving parents that gave Superman his sense of hope. The Kents are 100% faithful to their traditional cousins, something that their son can’t really boast about.

Perry White

Long before he created Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczynski was a journalist, which definitely helped flesh out the staff of The Daily Planet. In Earth One, The Daily Planet is portrayed as a struggling paper that is revitalized when they get the first good picture of Superman.

However, it seems Perry White was practically ripped straight from the comics and placed into Superman: Earth One with few changes. His grumpy nature and witty dialogue are kept and it’s a welcome addition to the series.

Parasite

After debuting the original villain Tyrell in Volume One, it makes sense that Volume Two would use a more traditional supervillain. Not only does Straczynski use Parasite, one of Superman’s more underrated foes, he actually used the original Parasite.

A criminal named Raymond Jensen, Parasite gained his horrifying abilities after being exposed to a strange chemical, something that is 100% accurate to the character’s origin. That said, he’s given more depth with his own personal connection to Clark Kent.

Lois Lane

Outside of Wonder Woman, Lois Lane may be the most important female character in DC Comics history. By the end of Volume 3, Superman is in a relationship with his neighbor Lisa, while he and Lois have more or less become friends, though if the series picks back up, there is always the possibility that they could become an item.

While she isn’t Clark Kent’s love interest in Superman: Earth One, the comic maintains her feisty, tough attitude, and go-get-em style of reporting the news. Though she initially shows some suspicion towards Clark, her actions in Volume 3 show a clear trust for his alter ego.

Clark Kent

At its core, Earth One is a Superman origin story, but it’s also an origin story for Clark Kent as well. As posited by Martha Kent in Volume 1, Superman has to show his true face in order to get the people of Earth to trust him, thus his secret identity would have to be a disguise.

In a way, Clark Kent is less of a character than he is a role that Superman plays, affecting a farmboy-obliviousness and a snazzy pair of glasses for his job as a Daily Planet reporter. Clark’s persona feels very accurate, albeit with a more youthful flair.

Characters Who Aren’t Accurate To The Comics

Superman

While Clark Kent was faithfully translated to Earth One, the same can’t be said about Superman. If fans merely looked at the promo art, they’d assume this Superman is a meaner, more angsty Man of Tomorrow. But while that isn’t really the case, he is quite different from the traditional version of Superman.

Superman feels a lot more human here, as well as far less experienced, with this look at The Man of Steel’s early years showing him slowly growing into his role as Earth’s protector. By the end of Volume 3, when Superman makes a speech at The U.N. telling the world’s leaders he is not their enemy, it’s clear that it won’t be long before he truly becomes the hero fans know and love.

Jimmy Olsen

Jimmy Olsen is a tough nut to crack, as it’s hard to make the character cool because his role in Superman’s sillier stories has shaped the perception of the character. It’d be easy to just make Jimmy his traditional counterpart, but Straczynski goes in a different direction with the character.

In Earth One, Jimmy Olsen has this devil-may-care drive to get a peach of a shot, with his cooler demeanor being backed up by an upping in age. Earth One presents a cool modernization of a classic side character, one that could slowly be trickled into the regular comics.

General Zod

General Zod is one of Superman’s deadliest foes, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when one of the last survivors of Krypton was the main villain of Earth One’s third volume. However, Straczynski made some interesting changes to the character, as not only was Zod responsible for Krypton’s destruction, but he’s also revealed to be Zod-El, Jor-El’s brother and Superman’s uncle.

That said, Zod isn’t as wholesome as his nephew, as his machinations soon lead to him and Superman coming to blows. Though he is depowered at the end of the story, his actions have some pretty major repercussions.

Lex Luthor

Technically, there are two Lex Luthors in Superman: Earth One, though the one fans were expecting to be the actual Lex Luthor is actually a red herring. Alexandria Luthor and her husband Alexander are hired by the government to take Superman down, which goes disastrously wrong.

Alexander, who actually has no beef with Superman whereas Alexandria is fascinated by the idea of killing him, is killed by Zod while trying to help The Man of Steel in Volume 3. This leads to a grief-stricken Alexandria developing a deep hatred for Superman before renaming herself Lex Luthor.

Batman

Batman doesn’t appear in the flesh in Superman: Earth One, but he is given a quick mention in Volume 2, which somewhat alludes to Batman: Earth One by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. Anyone who enjoys Superman: Earth One should definitely give that graphic novel series a chance, but don’t expect a comic accurate Batman.

The Bruce Wayne of the Earth One universe was a spoiled brat in his younger days, but when he more or less caused the deaths of his parents, he grew up to become a prototype Dark Knight. He isn’t the best detective, nor is he particularly skilled in technology or combat, but much like Superman, this Batman will one day become The Caped Crusader fans have deified today.

About The Author

Seth Rector
(172 Articles Published)

Ever since he was a young lad, Seth Rector has had a love for all things that reek of geek. Movies, tv shows, comic books, and video games are what he considers his wheelhouse. A writer at heart, Seth says he’s over the moon now that he can write about what he loves. When he isn’t writing for Screen Rant, he is putting his film degree from Lights Film School to good use by working on future film projects.

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