Free Comic Friday: All-Star Superman #1

All-Star Superman #1 Superman Day Special Edition
“...Faster...”
Written by Grant Morrison
Pencilled by Frank Quitely
Digitally Inked & Colored by Jamie Grant
Lettered by Phil Balsman
Cover: Quitely
Editorial assists by Brandon Montclare
Edited by Bob Schreck
Cover Logo Design by Chip Kidd
Published by: DC
Released: April 18, 2025

James Gunn has cited Grant Morrison's “All-Star Superman” as an inspiration, at least tonally, for his new “Superman” movie, now in theaters. It's something I'd been meaning to re-read one of these days. And since today is Friday, and the first issue has been reprinted multiple times as a free giveaway, well, it seemed a natural fit for #FreeComicFriday.

I remember when this was released in 2006, DC's All-Star initiative was supposed to be a next big thing. In addition to Morrison and his frequent collaborator Quitely, we had “All-Star Batman and Robin” written by Frank Miller and drawn by Jim Lee. I can't judge that one because I never read it, but what I heard didn't exactly endear it to me.*

But I heard good things about All-Star Superman, and when I finally got around to reading it, I wasn't disappointed. Well, maybe a little with Quitely's art, which is not to say he's not extremely talented. His style just doesn't click with me, particularly the faces. Your mileage may vary.

The story opens with a four-panel recap of Superman's origin, which is probably the only way that story should be retold for at least a few decades. I understand Gunn wisely decided not to make the new movie an origin story. It's a classic tale but it's been done many, many times. So let's focus on something else.

Morrison chooses to focus on Superman attempting to rescue the first manned mission to the sun. One of the genetically engineered crew members accompanying inventor Leo Quintum has been replaced with or turned into a living suicide bomb by – who else? – Lex Luthor.

Back on Earth at the Daily Planet, Lois Lane has already written the headline for her article, proclaiming Superman's success. Editor-in-Chief Perry White discusses the next day's front-page story, exposing Luthor's plan to tamper with the sun and profit from a global water shortage, a spiritual successor to his cinematic real estate scheme.**

It turns out Luthor is remotely piloting his suicidal saboteur from a U.S. Military facility where Lois' father, Gen. Sam Lane, is shocked to learn Lex is trying again to kill Superman instead of serving his country, the reason for which he was released from prison. Luthor sums up his motives and all-consuming envy by saying he recently realized he was getting older and Superman wasn't.

Superman enters the sun capsule and removes Luthor's rapidly expanding Trojan horse of mass destruction, then … um, extends his bioelectric field to shield the spacecraft from solar radiation. Back on Earth, Quintum and his genetically engineered staff run extensive tests that determine Superman's powers – including the newly discovered bioelectric field thing – have expanded greatly thanks to the infusion of massive amounts of solar radiation. Unfortunately, that's more than even his sun-absorbing system can take, and it appears he's dying – an outcome anticipated by Luthor.

OK, that's one way to start off your Superman saga...

Superman asks Quintum, who appears more and more like the Willy Wonka of science, to keep the news a secret for now, so he can take care of some things. At first all we get is Clark stumbling into work – after stopping a kid from getting hit by a truck, of course – before Luthor surrenders to authorities while hinting his plans for Superman aren't over yet.

But in an epilogue, we get a comedic take on the Clark and Lois relationship while confirming that in this story, she does not know his dual identity. At least she didn't before Clark removes his glasses and pulls open his shirt to reveal that trademark S-symbol.

The first time I remember encountering Morrison's work is on his “JLA” run, which I personally rank right up there with Lee and Kirby's early work on “Avengers.” He has an ability to go high-concept iconic and mind-bendingly weird, both skills that are on full display here.

In many ways, this is a timeless Superman story: Superman vs. Lex, a daring rescue, Daily Bugle life with Clark maintaining a disguise that runs much deeper than just a pair of glasses. But Quintum's talk of “anaerobic meganthropes” and “the infinitesimal yoctosphere” are vintage Morrison. I have no idea if they're any more accurate than Lee's references to Iron Man's transistor technology or the wonders of gamma radiation, but they feel like there's plenty of science to go along with the fiction.

The idea that this “timeless” Superman story might also be the last is striking. While I haven't ventured into some of Morrison's less mainstream fare, like the Invisibles, I do know from his work that he has a genuine appreciation for goofy comic book story elements, for example, going so far in his Batman run to make campy concepts like the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh canon. My recollections of the rest of this series have him mixing in some of the crazier aspects of the Superman mythology with his hyper-sci-fi sensibilities.

The latest reprint was offered on this year's Superman Day celebration, although I also have a copy or two of a promo reprint that came out*** around the time of “Man of Steel.” While I'm hoping Gunn's film is a lot closer to my idea of Superman than Zack Snyder's, the fact that it's a go-to for introducing wider audiences to this character everybody knows to some extent is yet another mark in its favor as a truly timeless tale of the character.

*- And I went into the 2015 Fantastic Four movie optimistic.

** - R.I.P. Gene Hackman.

*** - Through Sears.