‘Superman: Year One’: Frank Miller And John Romita Jr. Take On Man of Steel

Geoff Boucher

Frank Miller delivered a milestone masterpiece in the 1980s when he took Gotham City’s caped crusader back to his beginnings with Batman: Year One. Now, the restless creative mind behind The Dark Knight Returns, 300, Sin City, Ronin,Elektra: Assassin, and Give Me Liberty is taking the Man of Steel back to his ground-floor days with Superman: Year One, which will be published by DC Comics under its Black Label imprint.

The first issue arrives in June in a large-format periodical version, followed by issue No. 2 in August and issue No. 3 in October. The complete three-issue story arc will be collected up into a single volume that will hit bookstore shelves in November.

John Romita Jr., the respected, longtime Marvel artist known for his work on Amazing Spider-Man, Daredevil, Uncanny X-Men, Iron Man, and Kickass, is handling the interior art on the limited series, working with inker Alex Sinclair. The art of Romita and Sinclair graces the three periodical covers, which can be seen below. The fourth cover below, with art by Miller and showing Superman from behind — that’s the one that will accompany the collected-story version of Superman: Year One that arrives in November.

The project synopsis from Warner Bros.-owned DC Comics: “Superman: Year One is a coming-of-age story for the future Man of Steel, featuring a young alien-boy just trying to find his place in a new world. Faced with the need to hide his heritage and powers in order to survive, Clark will find his humanity through the grounding of the Kent family and the relationships that will define the man he will become. Told by two of the most revered voices in comics, Superman: Year One is more than a superhero story – it’s about the choices made by Clark Kent on his path to becoming a legend. It’s a testament to the importance of choosing to become a hero.”

The “Year One” title connects the new Superman project to one of Miller’s career peak achievements. In 1987, Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli delivered Batman: Year One, which revisited the formative days of Bruce Wayne’s caped alter ego in a four-issue run of the monthly Batman comic book series. The sublime result has rippled through Batman mythology and high-profile adaptations ever since, most notably Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins and the Fox series Gotham, which is now in its fifth and final season. Batman: Year One was also adapted in a namesake, feature-length animated home video release in 2011.

Below, three cover images by John Romita Jr. for the Superman: Year One bimonthly comics and a fourth by Frank Miller for the collected story arc version that will reach stores in November.

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