History ComicBook / SupermanBirthright

%%* DeathByOriginStory: Jor-El and Lara.

* AlienInvasion: Luthor [[spoiler:fakes one.]]
* AlternateContinuity: Intended to be this but was then made {{canon}}, then went back to being this when ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' retconned Superman's origins.
** What made it particularly problematic as canon was that it showed Superman over a decade younger but in a completely contemporary setting with up to date technology. At best, you could infer that there's been some sort of ModernStasis over the last decade of DC continuity.[[note]]Waid's own thoughts on it was that the infamous sliding timeline of the DC Universe meant that in a few years the "modern" references would seem dated and period piece anyway, so it didn't matter.[[/note]]

* BadBoss[=/=]{{Jerkass}}: Mr. Galloway.
* BewareTheSuperman: Luthor and elements of the media fuel this sentiment in Metropolis.
* BigBad: ComicBook/LexLuthor, who else?

* ClarkKenting: Martha and Clark go into detail on his new "[[ClarkKentOutfit disguise]]". Never wears clothes that show off his physique, unkempt hair, his mannerisms and Martha even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s the fact the glasses aren't there so much to hide his face as to tone down his "unique" eye color.
** It takes him some time to fully get into the groove of it though. Martha advised him to keep his voice softer and higher, but at first he makes himself too soft, with multiple characters telling him he needs to speak up. However, he eventually gets so good at it that he starts getting ignored at the office, with the cleaning crew not even noticing he's still there.

* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: Krypton is portrayed this way.

* DeathByOriginStory: Jor-El and Lara.

** It's related to the TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget example above. All Lex wanted was to talk to an alien, which he believed would be the only being intelligent enough for him to relate to. But when he meets an actual alien, he's not supremely intelligent, but supremely ''compassionate'' - and is disgusted by the immoral Lex. This rejection of his cherished intellect is what drives him.
* TheDragon: "Van-Gar" to Luthor.

* EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether: Superman and Lex Luthor.
* EvilFormerFriend: Lex was once a childhood friend to Clark.

* InsufferableGenius: Lex, from a very young age.

* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: Averted. It's implied the same piece of kryponite that Kal-El's ship inadvertently took with him to Earth is the only one Lex has in his possession. [[spoiler:Though Luthor certainly uses that one rock to devastating effect.]]

* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Infamously gave Superman the ability to see auras around living creatures.

* RealMenEatMeat: Averted. ''Superman is a vegetarian.''
* SmallUniverseAfterAll: Luthor says that Krypton is in the Andromeda Galaxy.
* StockStarSystems: As mentioned above, Krypton is said to be in the Andromeda Galaxy.
* SubspaceAnsible: The wormhole that Luthor uses to communicate with Krypton.

''Superman: Birthright'' is a 12-issue limited series published by Creator/DCComics, lasting from September, 2003 to September, 2004. Written by Creator/MarkWaid and drawn by Lenil Francis Yu, ''Birthright'' brought Franchise/{{Superman}} and his origins into the 21st Century. Originally intended to be an alternate continuity, until the events of ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', it was actually retconned into Superman's {{canon}} origin, replacing John Byrne's ''Comicbook/TheManOfSteel'' miniseries. Waid described the project as being an "[[UltimateUniverse Ultimate]]" take on the the Superman mythos. He wanted anyone, be it long-time fans or newcomers, to be able to pick the comic up and enjoy the story. Waid also placed emphasis on making Superman much more relatable and avoiding him being seen as "dull".

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Superman fires a gun point blank at an arms dealer who illegally sold to a school shooter. He catches the bullet before it hits but it lets the guy know exactly what kind of trauma children received because of his actions.

* {{Heavyworlder}}: Goes back to the explanation of that Superman gets powers because of Earth's lower gravity as well as its yellow sun.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Superman just barely sees his birth parents for the first time and learns his birth name, but Luthor's sub-space communicator is destroyed before he even knows if his message to them made it. Luckily, it did, and Jor-El and Lara see that their beloved son has survived and accept their fate in relief.]]

* AlienInvasion: Luthor [[spoiler:fakes one]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Superman just barely sees his birth parents for the first time and learns his birthname, but Luthor's sub-space communicator is destroyed before he even knows if his message to them made it. Luckily, it did, and Jor-El and Lara see that their beloved son has survived and accept their fate in relief.]]

* CanonWelding: Was originally intended as an an AlternateContinuity but DC decided to make it canon and replace ''Comicbook/TheManOfSteel'' .[[note]]Though [[BroadStrokes some elements]] of ''The Man of Steel'' was still canon. It is mentioned that his first public heroic act was saving the space-plane ''Constitution'', but flew away before anyone spotted him.[[/note]]

* ClarkKenting: Martha and Clark go into detail on his new "[[ClarkKentOutfit disguise]]." Never wears clothes that show off his physique, unkempt hair, his mannerisms and Martha even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s the fact the glasses aren't there so much to hide his face as to tone down his "unique" eye color.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Such is Lex's ego, he takes Superman's public shunning of him as a deeply personal slight. Despite the fact Superman was ''completely justified'' in his actions given Lex's direct involvement [[spoiler:in the gunships going berserk]]. So Lex goes out of his way to destroy Superman in typical supervillain fashion.

* DudeNotFunny: Apparently Lex finds a great deal of humour in informing [[spoiler:Superman that his homeworld is gone and that he is all that's left of his people]]. He even takes a picture of his face so he can capture the moment.

* HumanAliens: Kryptonians. Lex goes into detail about how he was able to deduce the kind of alien environment that would create a being that was identical to a human in outward appearance and yet would possess extraordinary powers on our world. [[spoiler: Though he secretly has significant inside information.]]

* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: Averted. It's implied the same piece of kryponite that Kal-El's ship inadvertently took with him to Earth is the only one Lex has in his possession. [[spoiler:Though Luthor certainly uses that one rock to devastating effect]].

* LastOfHisKind: Superman is the last living Kryptonian. Though he is unaware this is the case. [[spoiler: Lex delights in revealing this to him.]]

* RealMenEatMeat: Averted. ''Superman is a vegetarian''.

* StockStarSystems: As mentioned above, Krypton is said to be in the Andromed Galaxy.

''Superman: Birthright'' is a 12-issue limited series published by Creator/DCComics, lasting from September, 2003 to September, 2004. Written by Creator/MarkWaid and drawn by Lenil Francis Yu, ''Birthright'' brought Franchise/{{Superman}} and his origins into the 21st Century. Originally intended to be an alternate continuity, until the events of ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', it was actually retconned into Superman's {{canon}} origin, replacing John Byrne's ''Comicbook/TheManOfSteel'' miniseries. Waid described the project as being an "[[UltimateUniverse Ultimate]]" take on the the Superman mythos. He wanted anyone, be it long-time fans or newcomers, to be able to pick the comic up and enjoy the story. Waid also placed emphasis on making Superman much more relatable and avoiding him being seen as "dull."

* ContinuityNod[=/=]MythologyGag: There's the mention of [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Wayne-Tech]] competing with [=LexCorp=] and we have Superman calling Lex a "''[[Film/{{Superman}} diseased maniac]]''." Not forgetting the panel referencing the cover of ''Action Comics'' No. 1.
** There's also [[ShoutOut Shout-Outs]] to [[ComicBook/BlueBeetle Kord Technologies]] and "You Will Believe A Man Can Fly", the tagline for the [[Film/{{Superman}} original Superman movie]].

* MadeOfIndestructium: The rocket that brought Superman to Earth is also indestructable under a yellow sun.

* CanonWelding: Was originally intended as an an AlternateContinuity but DC decided to make it canon and replace ''Comicbook/TheManOfSteel'' .[[note]]Some elements of ''The Man of Steel'' was still canon. It is mentioned that his first public heroic act was saving the space-plane ''Constitution'', but flew before anyone spotted him.[[/note]]

** There's also {{Shout Out}}s to [[ComicBook/BlueBeetle Kord Technologies]] and "[[Film/{{Superman}} You Will Believe A Man Can Fly]]", the tagline for the original Superman movie.

* CanonWelding: Was originally intended as an an AlternateContinuity but DC decided to make it canon and replace ''Comicbook/TheManOfSteel'' .

* LaserGuidedKarma: Kebile is surrounded by the media after one of the terrorists quickly pointed at him as the one who told him to kill Kobe, out of fear of Clark. He was later forced to resign.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Lana Lang is noted to have disappeared from Smallville at some point before the beginning of the story. That element never comes up again, and the only other appearance she makes is during a flashback to when they were in highschool.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Kebile is surrounded by the media after the hired assassin quickly pointed at him out of fear of Clark. He was later forced to resigned.

** It takes him some time to fully get into the groove of it though. Martha advised him to keep his voice softer and higher, but at first he makes himself too soft, with multiple characters telling him he needs to speak up.

* ClarkKenting: Martha and Clark go into detail on his new "[[ClarkKentOutfit disguise]]." Never wear clothes that show off his physique, unkempt hair, his mannerisms and Martha even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s the fact the glasses aren't there so much to hide his face as to tone down his "unique" eye color.

* AlternateContinuity: Intended to be this but was then made {{canon}}, then went back to being this when InfiniteCrisis retconned Superman's origins.