DC's Absolute Universe just reintroduced Superman's mother as a powerhouse superhero unlike any other.
Absolute Superman #3 brings readers back to the days of Kal-El's youth on Krypton, though not to any particularly happy moments from his childhood. Instead, the issue finds the future Superman racing home to his mother with news of his father's arrest. Fortunately for both of the men of the House of El, their matriarch is more than capable of carrying out a brazen jailbreak, especially when she is packing more heat than half the soldiers on the planet.
Absolute Superman #3
Written by JASON AARON
Art by RAFA SANDOVAL
Colors by ULISES ARREOLA
Letters by BECCA CAREY
Main cover art by RAFA SANDOVAL & ULISES ARREOLA
Variant covers by DECLAN SHALVEY, CHRISTIAN WARD, and MIKE PERKINS & MIKE SPICER
Lara Lor-Van, also known as Lara-El, has long been a part of the overarching Superman mythos. The first iteration of Kal-El's biological mother was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster for the 1939 Superman comic strip. The wife of Jor-El, Lara is frequently presented as a kind, caring, considerate figure who would do anything to ensure her family's safety. As such, she was more than willing to help her husband develop the rocket which they used to save their infant son from the fate of their dying homeworld.
In the decades since the character's debut, Lara Lor-Van has been reimagined and reintroduced dozens of times across a variety of media ranging from comics to animated series to live-action feature films. Tragically, Lara has rarely escaped the destruction of Krypton, leaving her to just as rarely have any greater role to play in the story than standing as an inspirational figure for her son. Among the few versions of the character to get a chance at being fully fleshed out was the Lara-El of The CW's Smallville, who was portrayed by both Kendall Cross and the star of 1984's Supergirl, Helen Slater, who took over the role in the series across Lara-El's scant five appearances.
From the looks of things, the usual fate of Lara-El is far from what was experienced by the Absolute Universe's take on of the character. This isn't just because of her fierce fighting skills and superpowered suit of armor, but because she and Jor-El were right there with their son for the trip to Earth. Rather than only being able to save Kal-El, the Absolute Universe gives the entire House of El the opportunity to escape the destruction of Krypton, opening the door for all three characters to experience entirely new futures that had previously been denied them time and time again.
Absolute Superman #3 is on sale now from DC Comics.
Source: DC Comics
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