It's Completely Out Of Left Field -- Yet It Works

Action Comics 9
DC Comics
Grant Morrison, writer
Gene Ha, artist

The history of Krypton from Action Comics No. 5 seemed a little out of place on my first read until I realized the entire thing was being narrated by the rocket in which baby Kal-el arrived on Earth, and that the rocket is "speaking" to Superman when he discovers it while he's escaping from military custody. The story presented in Action Comics No. 9, "The Curse of Superman," seems to have no connection to the unfolding events early in Superman's public life. In fact, the entire tale takes place in another dimension on another Earth -- Earth 23 of the multiverse.

On Earth 23, Superman is a black man. Through flashbacks, we learn that his biological parents, Jorel (no hyphen) and Lara save him from Krypton's destruction by rocketing him to Earth. This Superman's Kryptonian name is Kalel, also without a hyphen, and his secret identity, the name his adoptive Earth parents give him is Calvin Ellis, and that he has recently been elected president of the United States without revealing his dual identity to his Earth's denizens.

The issue opens with Superman in the middle of a battle with Lex Luthor (no obvious differences here from the Lex readers are more familiar with) when they are interrupted by the sudden appearance of three dimensional travelers.

Two of the three travelers are struck down as they appear and the third is left to explain that their pursuer is an evil version of Superman. In their own universe, these three people thought up the idea of a Superman and wanted to make the concept a reality using a machine they had created that could temporarily give ideas solid form. They needed financial backing to improve upon their device, giving their creations permanence, but the ideals of Superman were corrupted along the way by their financial backers. It is this corrupted version of Superman that is tracking them through various alternate universes, slaying other versions of Superman along the way.

It isn't hard to see how Morrison has used this story to introduce the idea of alternate universes to Earth 23's Superman, and how that might be used in the future to bring this Superman into the main DC Universe where most of "our" Superman's stories take place. But there is not a single trace of anyone from that main DCU in this issue. There are also several interesting questions raised about this universe's Superman also being the leader of the U.S. For instance, he is an alien, not even human, therefore not legally able to hold the office of president without committing fraud. But also, any actions he takes in a foreign nation as a superhero also involve covert U.S. action by nature of his being the president. Many of these questions are raised by the Earth 23 version of Wonder Woman, who makes a brief appearance in this issue along with other members of this Earth's Justice League. Whether these questions and characters will be explored again in these pages or perhaps the long promised Multiversity saga from Morrison and DC, or even if they will be addressed again at all, remains to be seen.

Despite that uncertainty, this was another solid issue of this title.