IT’S SUPERMAN!

It's Superman all right, but not one most fans have ever seen. Tom De Haven's realistic story explores how a nervous Superboy becomes a confident Superman in a very adult story. Scott Brick lays out a good yarn that begins in 1935 and ends in 1938, when Superman goes public. Brick's trademark delivery, with sentences ending in upturned final syllables, works well in this story of a fumbling Clark Kent learning to shed his Smallville skin. Superman purists may object to Clark’s smoking and drinking, and to his leaving Pa Kent alone on the farm while he takes up wandering the country like Woody Guthrie. Likewise, Lois Lane is surprisingly slutty, and Lex Luthor is almost unrecognizable as a Manhattan alderman. M.S. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 07]