Warning! Spoilers for Superman: Red and Blue #3 ahead!

In Superman: Red and Blue #3, it’s revealed that Superman would have died with Krypton if it wasn’t for his mother’s calculations. Superman: Red and Blue is a new anthology series in the spirit of the highly successful series Batman: Black and White. The conceit of this series is that the only colors the creators are allowed to use are red and blue.

Limiting the page count and coloring to the most essential elements makes the series feel like a boiling down of what the character truly represents. The formula works well, generating an impressive amount of heartwarming and inspiring stories. The story in which this revelation about Kal-el’s mother occurs is no different. It takes place in issue #3, in a story called “Something To Hold On To,” by writer Nick Spencer and artist Christian Ward.

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A tale now 80 years old, Superman’s origin story has been told many times through many forms of media. Kal-El was born to parents Jor-El and Lara on the doomed planet Krypton just before its destruction. In the very first panel of Action Comics #1, Jor-El is given the credit for saving their son in a caption that reads, “As a distant planet was destroyed by old age, a scientist placed his infant son within a hastily devised space-ship, launching it toward Earth!” That ship would land in Smallville, Kansas and the rest is history.

 

The story within Red and Blue #3 starts with Superman reminiscing on his final moments with his parents. Here readers see some of Lara and Jor-El’s final words before sending Kal-El off-planet. When Jor-El emphasizes the urgency of launching the rocket, Lara reminds him it was in fact her correction of his calculations that determined the collapse of the planet was imminent. His calculations were a full four years off. Without her correction, Kal-El would not have survived and Superman would not have come to be.

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Although this is a slight change to Superman’s backstory, it is an interesting addition as it gives both of Kal-El’s birth parents a part in his survival. Most beloved comic book characters were introduced decades ago in a very different world. In order for these characters to remain timeless, it is crucial for creators to not shy away from shifting the history of the characters to more accurately depict the equality comics of past never portrayed. When Action Comics #1 was released in 1938, it was unlikely to think of the wife in a marriage as being the scientist. By adding Lara’s correction to the lore, it makes her an equal and essential part of Superman’s survival.

Superman: Red and Blue #3 is available now in print and digital platforms.

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About The Author


Amal Desai
(30 Articles Published)

Stationed out of the Chicagoland area, Amal Desai letters comics, edits comics, writes comics, and writes about comics. Outside of comics, his primary interests are comics and comics. More details of his comic-related work can be found at https://lettersbyamaldesai.crevado.com/

Everything he does is dedicated to his incredibly supportive wife and son.

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