I don’t proclaim to have read them all, but I’ve yet to encounter a DC Elseworlds that I haven’t enjoyed. I’ve always loved the idea of the non-continuity alternate dimension comics such as Elseworlds and Marvel’s What If? books because they offer free reign for a creator to be as imaginative as they want to be. The Last Family of Krypton, the first Elseworlds title in quite some time, uses this freedom in wonderful ways to create an imaginative and engaging Superman story, even if Superman himself never appears once in the issue.
The plot of Last Family is fairly simple. How would the world be different if Kal-El’s mother and father had come to Earth along with him instead of sending him by himself. Within short order, however, Earth has completely been changed from how it normally is in the DCU as the El’s adjust to and become a part of Earth society. Soon after arrival, Jor-El and Lara become Superman figures in their own right and quickly become celebrities across the planet. Jor-El starts a company to better human society and Lara founds a Kryptonian religion on Earth, while young Kal-El is voluntarily adopted by a familiar couple to learn how to better integrate into himself into Earth. This particular part read as a very organic way for Clark to grow up with his biological parents while still able to be raised as the Superman readers know him as. Admittedly, it did seem odd that the El’s would be so willing to hand their child out to adoption, but they do keep in frequent contact so it’s not all that bad. In fact, the dual-parent aspect is one of my favorite parts of the issue as Clark must try and form his own values based off of two completely different cultures being fed to him. It’ll be entertaining to see how this affects Clark in his adult life.
Cary Bates creates some very real, fresh voices for each of his characters here without throwing out the characterizations we’ve seen in the past. Though Jor-El has been dead chronologically since before Superman ever appeared, readers have gotten glimpses of his personality here and there and the Jor-El in Last Family reads exactly as those interpretations would have you expect him to. He is kindly towards the people of Earth, but also seems to hold himself above them as well. There’s a sense of hubris about him, but not one that is overbearing or that makes him unlikable. If anyone seemed out of character, it was the general population of Earth who seemed almost too accepting of the Kryptonians, though that could just be the pessimist in me speaking. I especially enjoyed how Bates chose to end the book, with a delightful new development for the El’s that uses his scripting freedom to its fullest while still feeling like a natural path for the story to take. It could certainly lead to some very interesting scenarios in the next two issues.
I haven’t encountered artist Renato Arlem many times before, but I can officially be counted among his fans now. His work on Last Family is simply gorgeous. Though human in appearance, his Lara and Jor-El have a distinct quality to them that clearly sets them apart from any other characters every time they appear; it comes off making them feel powerful and both alien and human. I especially loved the constant costume changes the El’s had an each outfit looked great. He has a truly splendid attention to detail and no panel was lacking background. It really felt like Arlem put as much effort as he could muster into every panel. If I had a complaint with his work here, it’s that, at times it seems like his faces’ only have two emotions: happy and serious. Everyone just sort of fluctuates between these and it makes some scenes look more awkward than they should.
I didn’t really have any expectations going into The Last Family of Krypton. I was hoping it would be as good as other Elseworlds tales that I had read, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been awful. There was certainly room for this series to be awful, but the combination of Cary Bates and Renato Arlem keeps the quality level high. If you came here looking for Superman-class action, you’ll be sorely disappointed, but if you want some in-depth characters and a well thought out, engaging plot, then you came to the right place. I very excited to see where Bates takes this story in the next two issues. Literally anything could happen, I just hope that the it stays this interesting the whole way through.
Overall: 9.0/10
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