So, Dark Crisis: Worlds Without a Justice League #1 was probably the best stand-alone Superman story I’ve read in a long time. It reminded me a lot of the Alan Moore classic "For the Man Who Has Everything from Superman Annual #11. I did a breakdown of that story here. But the tldr synopsis of that story is that Mongul traps Superman in a fantasy where he has the only thing he can’t have: A normal life with a wife and family.
Dark Crisis: Worlds Without a Justice League #1 told a very similar story. At the beginning of the story, we are told that Pariah has imprisoned the essence of the Justice League members in custom-made worlds created from their innermost hopes. In that way, Pariah has created a fantastic trap for Superman as the world he created has given Kal the years he lost with his son. If you aren’t familiar with recent Superman history, due to some multiversal hijinks, Jon aged from childhood to adulthood on an alternate earth and away from his parents. This robbed Kal of the chance to raise his son into adulthood. Pariah’s world has given those years back to Kal with each chapter representing a year of Jon’s life. However, it has come at a cost.
Throughout the story, everything feels a bit off. It’s like we should be witnessing this happy family life that Superman now gets to experience with his wife and son, but there’s almost this nervous tension you can feel in the background of each scene. It doesn’t feel like this family is very happy but it’s hard to put a finger on why. Eventually, we learn what it is. Darkseid is waging a horrible war throughout the universe and Kal is basically letting it happen so he can live on Earth in peace with his family.
Essentially, he is making the compromises his Silver Age self was always afraid he’d make if he got married and had a family. He’s neglecting his duty, his never-ending battle as Superman to protect the years he originally missed raising his son. This is the tragically realistic crux of the story. Who wouldn’t make compromises or sacrifices for their children? Except, when Superman does it, there are greater consequences.
Even worse, Kal’s compromises may not simply be limited to this artificial earth created by Pariah. The story ends with some emotional words from Superman that seem to suggest that he would not give up these years he spent with his son for anything… even, perhaps, escaping this world to help end Dark Crisis…
In the end, this was a really brilliant Superman story written by Tom King with the kind of wonderful art you expect from Chris Burnham. Some other stray thoughts:
I liked how Aquaman was the back-up story in this issue just like he was often the back-up feature to Superman stories in the Silver Age. Superman’s Silver Age editor, Mort Weisinger, co-created Aquaman.
It was funny that Superman basically had Jon dressing up as Robin. Maybe he envies how many sons Bruce has been allowed to raise?
It was also pretty interesting that this story ended with the current Superman status quo being flipped. In the current Superman books, Jon is the Superman of Earth while Kal is out in space trying to liberate other parts of the universe. At the end of this story, Kal is left behind to protect Earth while Jon goes to rescue other planets.
I definitely recommend picking this book up!