Superman Returns: The Prequels

A brilliant collection bridges the gap between Superman and Superman Returns, exploring the lives of three of the most important people in Superman's life--Lois Lane, Ma Kent, and Lex Luthor--and how they dealt with his long absence.

The movieSuperman Returns picks up with Superman coming back to Earth after a five-year absence. These prequels give glimpses of the same five years in the lives of the three most important people in his life. In the first, Martha Kent reminisces about Clark's formative years. In the second, Lex Luthor bides his time in prison, nursing a grudge and vowing revenge for Superman's "theft" of five years of his life. The final episode shows Lois Lane, heart in turmoil, pressed to write another article about the Man of Steel. Frustrated and wanting to move on, she writes a story that earns her a Pulitzer, "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman." The stories' various creators draw dialogue, visuals, and incidents from the 1978 Superman movie (e.g., a condensation of the destruction of Krypton), linking the new film to its predecessors, except for most of the disappointing third and fourth movies. These stories, well told and necessary to the Superman mythos in general, should interest fans of the movies, in particular. Tina Coleman
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