Warning! Spoilers ahead for Crime Syndicate #1
Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's All-Star Superman is widely regarded as one of the greatest Superman stories of all time; its iconic opening page just got filtered through a dark and twisted new lens in the new Crime Syndicate series. If Watchmen is a book about superheroes at their worst, All-Star Superman is a book about superheroes at their best. Published from 2005 to 2008, the mini-series focused on a strip-downed take on Superman very much in line with god-like Silver Age version of the character. It was sincere, optimistic, and a little bit silly.
While the world of All-Star Superman is set in the brightest corner of the DC Omniverse, the Crime Syndicate of Earth-3 undoubtedly make their home on one of the darkest. This evil version of the Justice League features a line up of Ultraman, Owlman, Superwoman, Emerald Knight, Johnny Quick, and Atomica. They serve as dark reflections of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and The Atom respectively. The Crime Syndicate rules over Earth-3 like gods, with Ultraman standing as the most fearsome of all.
Crime Syndicate #1, written by Andy Schmidt with art Kieran McKeown, Dexter Vines, Steve Oliff, and Rob Leigh, reveals that Ultraman and All-Star Superman have very similar origins. Right down to the same page layouts in fact. All-Star Superman's first page consists of 4 s and 4 very simple lines of narration. Ultraman's origins are nearly identical, except one key bit of narration regarding his not-so-kind version of the Kent Family. It's a mean-spirited and funny little bit of parody that sets the tone for the hellscape that is Earth-3.
The switch from "kindly couple" to "duplicitous bastards" sounds like it came right out of Ultraman's mouth. It's also an incredibly poignant way to demonstrate just how different Earth-3 is from the mainline DC Universe. This is a world where Batman and Alfred gleefully murder the people they rescue to help build up this version of the Caped Crusader's sense of mystique. A world where Superman came out like that little psycho from Brightburn and the Justice League that he leads is a bunch of dysfunctional, but insanely powerful psychopaths.
Nature vs. Nurture is a theme that comes up pretty frequently in almost every Elseworlds Superman story. Little Kal-El and his escape pod have landed everywhere from Soviet Russia to Nazi with varying results. The fact of the matter is, Superman has a pretty big chance of turning evil if good old Jonathan and Martha aren't there to raise him. Part of what makes this twist in Crime Syndicate #1 so twisted is that it creates a version of the Kents that are just as bad as the world they live on. It's tragic and cynical, and flipping around the opening of the most hopeful Superman story of all is the perfect way to tell Ultraman's origin story.
