I am Superman

Book title: I am Superman
Author: Brad Meltzer
Illustrated by: Christopher Eliopoulos
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Published: 2022
40 pages
Reviewed by: Allen Klingelhoets

This quick reading book is different from Ordinary People that Change the World book series also wrote by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos. This is about fictional character Superman. The book talks about early foundation days of how child who would become Superman was sent to Earth by his parents from planet Krypton. The book told how planet Krypton exploded shortly after Kryptonian child was sent by rocket ship to planet with a yellow sun which we know as Earth. The yellow sun gave in teen’s child super powers. His parents that found him on Earth were named Jonathan and Martha Kent.

They named child Clark Kent. They taught Clark many values which helped him into adult life. His Mom made him his first costume. It was made from baby blankets that were in rocket ship.

The book also told how his adopted Dad taught him not to use powers for glory like being star player on high school football team in his home town.

The story also told how Clark was hurt deeply by death of Jonathan or Pa while he was in high school.

The book also showed difficult decision to leave his Mom and go into world when finished high school.

The book showed examples of first times in costume when moved to Metropolis. Some of Superman’s powers were x-ray vision, super heat, super vision and super breath. Superman was pretty invulnerable except magic and Kryptonite, which are green pieces of of his home planet that fell to Earth.

Superman had plenty of enemies: Brainiac. Twelfth-level intellect. Metallo. Kryptonite heart, Doomsday. Mindless creature from Krypton. Bizarro. Flawed copy of Superman. Speaks in opposites. And others. One of his nemesis Earth villains was Lex Luthor. The book concludes with saying: In my lif, people cheer me for being powerful, invulnerable. They say nothing can stop me. But my greatest strength does not come from my superpowers.

It comes from the heart---

From the values my parents taught me.

The most important thing about this story isn’t Superman,

It’s Clark Kent.

Why?

Because we’re all Clark Kent:

Ordinary people who are capable of being amazing, every day. All you have to do is help one person—be kind to one person…and you’ll change the world. The book also tells how Superman was created by two teenagers. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Jerry wrote the idea, then ran to his friend Joe’s house and Joe started drawing. Christopher Eliiopoulos also drew picture of house that Superman was first created in Cleveland. The mention was also made to visit it next time in Cleveland.

The last two pages showed time line for Superman. The actual creators of Superman were shown in black and white picture. Next to photo was text: These are the creators of Superman--- Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. They weren’t popular.

They were dreamers.

And they were so poor, they used to draw on the back of butcher’s paper. But they were two friends with one dream. At the brink of World War II, in the midst of the Great Depression, these two Jewish kids from Cleveland didn’t just give us the world’s first Super Hero. They gave us something to believe in.

It also showed when Clark started to work for The Daily Planet newspaper in Metropolis. Lois Lane, Perry White, and Jimmy Olson were some of people shown that he met as Clark Kent while working as reporter for The Daily Planet newspaper.

The books opening starts on inside cover saying: Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…

Yet before he was Superman, he was rocketed from the planet Krypton and raised as Clark Kent by two of the kindest, nicest people in Smallville. And even before that, he was simply an idea in the minds of two creative teenagers, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, at seventeen years old, they gave the world something to believe in.

This adventurous and fun introduction to Superman comics from the team that brought you the New York Times bestselling biography series Ordinary People Change the World. Now they’re featuring the fictional characters who have sparked the imaginations of generations of kids.

From great stories come great heroes!

Allen Klingelhoets

There is also another in series just published called: “I am Batman”