Artwork for DC's new 'Elseworlds' comic 'Superman: Father of Tomorrow' by writer Kenny Porter and artist Danny Earls.

Courtesy of DC Comics

How do you say “Who’s your daddy?” in Kryptonian?

The answer lies in Superman: Father of Tomorrow.

Part of DC’s iconic Elseworlds imprint, the upcoming story from writer Kenny Porter (DC: Mech) and artist Danny Earls (Mumm-ra the Ever Living) imagines a reality where Superman’s father, Jor-El, was the sole survivor of Krypton’s tragic destruction.

“We’ve seen stories where Jor-El has been to Earth before, but I’d never seen anyone do things like, ‘What fundamentally changes if Jor-El is the only one who makes it and decides to become Superman?’ What kind of DC Universe is that?" Porter mused over a Zoom call. “I pictured him as more of a science, pulp hero— kind of like a Tom Strong. How would that ripple out and affect how Batman and other superheroes operate? How does the government view him as an adult alien who shows up? That was the genesis of it.”

Across Superman’s 87-year history, the character has almost always been depicted as a nebulous mentor to Clark, appearing as an impersonal hologram meant to pass on the knowledge of their once-great home orbiting a red sun. Because Kal-El was just a baby, he had no memories of his parents or planet. Jor-El, on the other hand, arrives on Earth with constant reminders of what he lost.

“We’ve only ever seen it from the side of, ‘I saved a member of my family [and now] I just want to instill my knowledge,’” agreed Porter. “This [version] is somebody who’s wracked with survivor’s guilt. He was never supposed to be the one who made it. He’s on a new world, he has to make a new home and family, and he has to think about what his life is going to mean going forward."

Like his more famous offspring, Jor-El crash-lands in the American Midwest where he’s taken in by—who else?—Jonathan and Martha Kent. No matter how far you stray from the established canon, the Family of El will always find its way to Kansas.

“I’ve always seen the Kents as the perfect ambassadors for what the best of humanity could be,” Porter explained. “They’re two genuinely fantastic people who just want to do good by the world, their neighbors, and other people.”

Unlike Clark, however, Jor-El is less of a son and more of an adopted brother, “which completely changes the dynamic of Superman and the Kents,” Porter teased. “It completely changes how they treat him, how they see his problems, and how they approach them. Because it’s not them raising a son, it’s them taking a brotherly figure into their circle.”

Jor-El ultimately decides to reveal himself to the world after realizing his advanced scientific knowledge can drastically improve human civilization. Sure, he can leap buildings in a single bound, but he’s not really interested in the awe-inspiring theatrics of superheroism. The people of Metropolis are less likely to mistake him for a bird or plane when he spends most of his time in the lab.

“He lost a whole planet because the planet refused to improve and now he has a new chance to try to make Earth better,” Porter said. “What’s going to stand in the way of a Superman who legitimately is like, ‘I can stop runaway trains and everything, but what I really want to do, is stop people dying of heart attacks and disease. That shouldn’t be happening.’ But how much is the Earth going to buck back against a man from the stars who just came with a message of peace?"

The writer continued: “Superman is always there to say, ‘Look at what we could be if we aspire to be this kind, thoughtful person who uses their strength to help others?’ I just wanted to put it in a different context of what would it be like in more of a science fiction setting where his adversaries and the things standing in his way aren’t just super-powered villains, but also society.”

Not everyone is skeptical of the extra-terrestrial newcomer, however. For instance, Jor-El’s public debut captures the imagination of a young Lex Luthor, whose envy and hatred of Superman never comes to pass. “Lex sees him as a science hero [because] Lex is so obsessed with science and intelligence,” Porter said. “Superman’s biggest enemy starts out this book as his biggest champion."

He also has a profound effect on a young Lois Lane, who begins to see Jor-El as a kind of replacement for her absent biological father. “A lot of people have done ‘General Lane hates Superman,’" Poter added, “but this is the first time where it’s really personal.”

In his crusade to better the world, Jor-El helps Metropolis realize its longtime nickname as the “City of Tomorrow. “This is where it puts up or shuts up,” Porter affirmed. “We’re going to see a lot of classical-feeling sci-fi elements, [as well as] some Kryptonian influence on things as the world develops. I won’t spoil anything, but we visit some other cities and see how, how Jor-El’s influence affects other parts of the universe.”

A lot of that comes through in the retro-futuristic illustrations of Danny Earls, who drew Jor-El as “a science fiction action hero, somebody who has that science background and has traveled from different planets,” Porter said. “He really poured his heart and soul into developing a unique look for this book.”

Aside from the usual suspects, the writer also teased a number of characters fans would never see coming.

“We are really going to touch a lot of corners of the DC Universe that you wouldn’t expect with a science-based superhero,” he concluded. “If you were to sit down and tell me what characters you expect to show up in a Superman book, there are about 20 you’re not gonna expect, that are gonna show up—either in cameos or playing big parts. I’m really excited about it."

Superman: Father of Tomorrow launches Wednesday, May 27.