My personal designs on a modern Superman. An attempt at blurring/merging the Man of Steel, with Smallville, and his original 1938 origin.

Feedback requested. :)

quote:
The Legend of Superman

- The Last Son of the planet Krypton, the baby Kal-el is rocketed into space, barely escaping the destruction of his home planet. Ageless in a stasis-chamber, his rocket would travel aimlessly for centuries, until falling into a localized wormhole.

Re-emerging near the Sol system, our Sun's gravity would slingshot his trajectory into Earth's atmosphere, crashlanding in Smallville, Kansas, in the year 1969. The Kents, a young couple who were never able to have children, would be returning from an orphanage in Metropolis, just having adopted their first child that night. A two-year old named Alex. Finding the ship, and the baby Kal-el inside, the Kents decide to keep Kal's true origin secret from the world, and raise him along with his adopted brother. They name their baby Clark, after Martha Kent's maiden name.

Clark and Alex Kent grow up together. Alex is diagnosed early in his life with a strange disease that robs him of his hair, and keeps him somewhat sickly. Clark idolizes his slightly older brother. But, Alex is jealous of Clark's seemingly perfect health.

By the age of 18, Alex, or just 'Lex', as his friends call him, uncovers the identity of his real parents, finding out that he is the illegitimate heir to the fortune of one of the most powerful family's in the world, the Luthors. Having never heeded Jonathan Kent's love and wisdom, due to his irrational jealousy of the attention his parents paid his brother, Lex legally changes his name to Luthor, secretly causes the murder of his real biological father, and claims the family fortune for himself.

Meanwhile, Clark grows up to be a stable, rational, kind-hearted man, who respects all aspects of life, and the humble nature of the life of a farmer. It is only a year or so after his brother moved away, did he begin to realize his strength, speed, endurance, and stamina was growing exponentially, and how different he was from normal men. His father finally reveals the truth of his alien heritage, by showing him the ship he had kept hidden all of these years. Clark finds himself weakened as he nears the strange ship in the storm cellar, Jonathan Kent believing it is merely the shock of the revelation. It would be many years later before anyone would guess that the small, green fragment of Kal's homeworld, lodged in the side of the ship, was the cause for not only this weakened state, but for the strange disease that Lex had acquired from exposure at his infant age that dark, fateful night the ship had come to Earth.

Running a tyrannical business empire, Lex soon begins to systematically buy-out all the land of the family's in Smallville, targeting only those whose children had tormented and made fun of his physical condition all the long years growing up. When Jonathan Kent goes to Metropolis to confront his adopted son of the wrong he is doing, a heated argument of ethics, and resentful pain long-past-buried is brought to the surface. Subsequently, Jonathan's frail heart cannot handle the stress and heartbreak of seeing a child he loves be corrupted so, and dies of a heartattack in the arms of his prodigal son.

With the death of his father, Clark confronts his step-brother, physically pushing his way into his office, emotionally outraged. Lex, so contorted and twisted in his own lifelong grief, proves that he can best Clark legally at every turn, and has a restraining order placed upon him. Now, Lex is the powerful one. He is stronger than anyone, as he controls the system with money and intelligence.

From this point on, Clark and Lex will become enemies.

Realizing the only way to oppose such criminal behavior as this, and vowing to never allow the common man to be oppressed like Lex has done to so many families, Clark makes a promise on his father's grave, and creates a new identity for himself. Taking after the legends of the Golden heroes of World War II, Clark dons a costume that represents his beliefs, and idolizes the aspects of life that matter most to him:

Red, for the blood of the innocent common men spilled throughout history.

Blue, for the glorious planet Earth, that he has always called home.

And Yellow, for the light of the Sun, the source of his amazing gifts.

He will stand for those that cannot. He will fight the fights that no normal man can. Because, he is more than a man.

He is the uber-man. The ultimate man.

The Superman.

Faster than sound. More powerful than a tactical nuke. Able to leap one-hundred miles in a single bound.

Superman fights for moral truth, common justice, and peace for the planet Earth.

His face rarely caught on camera, due to his impossible speed, Superman becomes a 21st Century icon of hope; a legend that is glimpsed only when there is injustice, no matter how small. Corruption on the highest level of every government is forced into the open through his actions. Social injustice, and domestic abuse, get paid a heavy hand of retribution, as Superman defends those that cannot, with equal force. Never taking a life, unless it is neccessary for the greater whole, Superman spreads his ideals throughout the populace of the planet, showing that any and every man can be a superman, if they have enough courage and determination to do the right thing. And, as Clark Kent, he continues the tradition of his father before him, taking care of his mother, and tending to the family farm. Producing life from the Earth, and caring for that life, is the cornerstone from which he is shaped.

And, even though Lex Luthor recognizes the actions of what can only be his brother, he refuses to acknowledge it. He will not attack his brother outright, as he has no wish to ever bring harm or death to his mother, and the memory of the only family he has ever known. But, this 'Superman'. This being that stands before the public eye, and dares to attempt to grasp, what he believes, is his 'righful' power of control. This, he vows, will be undone. No one shall take his power. No one. And, he will not rest until this Superman is dealt with, once and for all.

Thus, the legend of Superman.