It's Superman!

By: Tom De Haven

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 16 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Acclaimed novelist Tom De Haven recreates the early years of the Man of Steel - the world's most popular and enduring superhero.

Opening with the young Clark Kent on a date, the novel takes an entirely fresh approach to the emergence of his superpowers and the start of his newspaper career, following him from rural 1930s Kansas across America to Hollywood in its golden age and then to New York City. He meets a worldly Lois Lane and conniving political boss Lex Luthor, and begins his battles against criminal masterminds, mad scientists, and super villains inspired by fascists.

This fun and fast-paced novel of thrilling invention, heroic escapes, ill-fitting costumes, and super-sized, coming-of-age angst is sure to appeal to devoted fans.

©2005 DC Comics (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"Comic noir with a super-keen edge, in De Haven's best book yet." (Kirkus Reviews)
"One of the finest interpretations of Superman in any medium." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
"Delightful....De Haven's cartoon world will entertain readers for a long time to come." (New York Times Book Review)

Super middle america

Shazam! (Sorry wrong hero)
Interesting perspective, realistic but a trifle slow.
Clark is a simple person but raised on a farm in the depression, would be accurate but having a superior intellect and an alien mind, maybe demonstrated more sophistication.
Lois is written like she is a modern woman but it was refreshing that she was more realistic and not a cliche virgin. A meaner/uncleaner Rosaline Russell.
Could of used a little more action overall but never-the-less enjoyed it.

Hurrah for Superman

What a fun book! I admit to being a big fan of comic books but I have never been a huge fan of Superman. I always had a hard time with the fact that he is virtually invincible. But I took a chance because I was looking for something diverting (I had just slogged through a couple of long nonfiction works) and I am very glad I did. Scott Brick does his usual fine job of bringing characters to life and the pacing of this novel was very comic book like. It proceeds quickly and Superman's dual identity, as a man and an extraterrestrial, is actually quite compelling. This is not great literature but it doesn't pretend to be. What it is is a fine story, expertly narrated and of the ideal length for long commutes. I'm hoping for more like this!

Listen at 1.25 times speed.

Way better when reader sped up a little. 1.25 times speed made the reading more like an old radio broadcast than a eulogy

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore

It's Superman in ways we might have imagined, but never before read or saw. This Superman has sex, has to learn to fly, has to go through umpteen costumes before being given (from an unlikely terrestrial source) an indestructible one, and has wounds that bleed literally and metaphorically. The novel is absolutely empathetic to the original story and yet leaps out of bounds with inventive twists and turns. It's Clark Kent's Bildungsroman as he leaves Kansas on the road to self-discovery and, ultimately, his place in the universe. His place, by the way is a very specific, richly detailed and textured metropolis: New York City in the late 1930s. Lex and Lois are there, but far more interesting than they have ever been before in comics, films, or television. One probably has to have a fondness (but not a compulsive fanaticism) for the mythology of Superman to love this novel. I do love It's Superman and I love its astonishingly stylish reading on audio.

I didn't want the book to end

Would you consider the audio edition of It's Superman! to be better than the print version?

Tom DeHaven has captured depression era America to the point I feel like I was there. Scott Brick is perfect for the material. Recommended.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Clark. I like how he was written with that inherent desire to fit in and how he looked for something in common with people he met.

Which scene was your favorite?

The chapters as they cross the U.S.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

somewhat lame

had so many ins and outs, character's that weren't developed and hard to follow when Clark was superman.

It's perfect, It's Smallville. America. 1930's.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It's Smallville. America. 1930's. The Kent Farm has no phone, & no electricity. A Model-A Ford truck driving down a county road finds a baby-boy out in the middle of no-where. No-one no-where to report this lost child to. In a society that's fighting smallpox & dust storms, no-one who could even afford to care.

What did you like best about this story?

In a society that's fighting smallpox & dust storms, no-one who could even afford to care about 1 orphan boy? Them; the Kents. And they taught this caring to the boy, Clark, who would grow up to become …Superman. Saying the "Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag" in "Citizen-Ship Class" because Europe & the Pacific was tearing it-self apart in a WORLD War so violent it seemed like the coming of the next Dark Ages.

Which scene was your favorite?

This is a red spot on Clark's smooth teenaged face from him stepping into the cruel path of a bullet meant for a young black friend.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

This is SUPERMAN written by RAY BRADBURY in golden-vintage-comic-books fluttering along endless Mid-Western summer dandy-lion-dotted grassy plains, as thunder-storms march along the horizon like purple-monsters.

Any additional comments?

Best yet, this is a young Clark Kent reading an issue of "Weird Tales" featuring strange-green aliens & heroes rocketing from Phantom Zones through a fresh imagination into a mid-century Mid-America seamlessly creating a new reality where a teenaged boy gains super-powers. It's perfect, as if it's all carved from the same piece of strange-green Krypto-nite.

A different characterization

This was a fantastic story that I really enjoyed. It does a great job of setting the timeframe and historical contexts. Sometimes however, it feels like a book that fits right in with the Grapes of Wrath or the Great Gatsby and then forgets it's a Superman story. Don't get me wrong, the Superman elements are really spectacular and very golden age which is really fun and feels like something Jerry and Joe created, but sometimes the characterizations feel a little off. I was trying my best to put aside my expectations for these characters as I know them in the modern age but sometimes it was a struggle. The ending is a little dower but the mystery and visualizations are really great. So I would recommend this because the story is beautiful but be open minded and ready to accept some differences to the Superman mythos you know.

WOW!!!

This novel is extraordinary.
On long journeys as a representative for my company I have listened to many audio books, my favorites have been "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell and "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" by Michael Chabon (both unabridged). A third now joins these two, "It's Superman" by Tom DeHaven.
If it is the superman of the comic books, the big screen action hero you admire then this book is not for you, for this is a complete and utter reinvention of the superman mythos. Gone is the broadly drawn world of Smallville and Metropolis and the cast of one dimensional characters, instead we have Clark Kent, a boy learning to be a man, a person set apart searching for a place in the world.
If it is action and heroics you desire, then you will not be disappointed, but be warned in this superman, action is not the star.
This is a character driven story. The four main players, Clark Kent, Willie - replacing the Aw Shucks, Gee Whiz Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor, are all exquisitely drawn complex human beings.
The writer takes us on an epic journey through the backwaters of 1930's USA to a New York placed at the centre of the world.
Through the trails and tribulations of the four main characters (and an inspired cast of bit players), the writer weaves a complex plot, slowly but surely bringing all the various threads masterfully together, leaving us at a thoroughly satisfying conclusion.
This story is about friendship, love, redemption, life and purpose. It is about growing into adulthood and all the difficulties this implies.
The pace of the narration is perfectly pitched.
Through the voice of the narrator, the characters are fully realized, a place in time is established. The nuance of conversation between characters is outstanding.
This is superman as I always hoped it could be, but never was. I loved this book, why did it have to end?

Excellent narrator however

The book takes too many liberties with well known entities. And it sort of me understood is there through the back stories of Clark and Louis