THE WORLD OF KRYPTON #1
(Cover by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano)
Published and © by DC, Jul. 1979
“The Jor-El Story”
Synopsis: A tape found on the moon allows Superman to learn the story of his father, Jor-El.
Writer: Paul Kupperberg
Artists: Howard Chaykin and Murphy Anderson
Review: Still recovering from its infamous Implosion, DC got a little creative with its formats. The World of Krypton — the first-ever comic-book miniseries — reportedly makes use of material originally scheduled for Showcase, a long-running title cancelled in 1978. That’s too bad, because this project really didn’t need to see the light of day. Paul Kupperberg mines the Superman mythos’ long history for this story, resulting in a sci-fi mishmash that’s unbelievably dated. Worse still is the art: The credits say Howard Chaykin was involved, but his work is completely incompatible with that of fellow artist Murphy Anderson. Overall, quite dreadful.
Grade: D+
Second opinion: “Paul Kupperberg’s script is appropriately tight, and it is to be admired … . Unfortunately, Howard Chaykin, whether ‘finished’ by Murphy Anderson or Frank Chiaramonte (in issue #3), fares not as well.” — Mike Tiefenbacher, in The Comics Reader #171, Aug. 1979
Cool factor: The miniseries concept is cool. (The execution here? Not so much.)
Notable: This series introduced the miniseries format to comics.
Character quotable: “Rings of Vlador! Who is she!?” — Young Jor-El, seeing future wife Lara for the first time
