Absolute Superman’s New Costume Comes With A Big Change to His Origin Story

Absolute Superman #2 continues writer Jason Aaron’s bold re-invention of the Superman mythos within DC’s new “Absolute” alternate reality. The first issue of Absolute Superman ended with Superman being ambushed by the Lazarus Corp and its squad of Peacemakers, led by Agent Lois Lane. True to her nature, Agent Lane went for an “exclusive” by slapping a hi-tech pair of handcuffs onto Kal-El!

WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW!

In Absolute Superman #2, Superman and Lois get to know each other in the ‘trial by fire’ sense: Kal-El tries to get the unbreakable metal cuffs off his arm without hurting Lois, while the military forces on the scene try to blast him. It’s a major showcase moment for “Sol,” the Kryptonian AI that functions as Superman’s suit. During the battle, we learn more about the “Sunstone Dust” the armor uses to form Superman’s cape – an element it can manipulate and re-distribute in several ways, even while it controls Superman’s power levels and performs intelligent functions like molecularly undoing the cuffs and using the “cape” function to heal civilians injured in the battle.

How Absolute Superman’s New Suit Changes His Origin Story

Absolute Superman‘s issues have been jumping back and forth between the past and present, and in issue #2 the flashback to Krypton reveals that “Sol” was more than just a costume – it was an AI system developed by Kal-El’s parents Jor-El and Lara-El to be an entire life-support system and assistant. Originally, the Els planned to leave Krypton together if their warnings about the planet’s instability were not believed; we still don’t know the details about why, but only Kal-El made it off-world.

[RELATED: The Major Flaw With Absolute Superman’s Costume]

It’s revealed that Superman’s costume was originally also the rocket ship that brought him to Earth – another big twist by Aaron on the traditional Superman mythology. Kal-El’s space vessel has not only become iconic as a part of his story, it’s often become a pivotal part of story arcs both on the comic page and the screen – like in Zack Sndyer’s Man of Steel. Aaron is doing a slow-burn stacking of the deck by putting a lot of cards in Sol’s basket. Kal-El is currently a bit too reliant on Sol, with the full extent of his personal powers still unclear. Given how fundamentally the AI is tied to Kal-El’s journey to and time on Earth, it could be a deep loss if the two have to part ways, or if Sol turns out to be corrupted somehow.

Absolute Superman is now on sale at DC.