‘Superman: Earth One’ and the Parable of the Talents

One of my favorite Superman stories of recent years is J. Michael Straczynski’s excellent series of graphic novels, entitled Superman: Earth One. The “Earth One” imprint was created by DC Comics as a way to give top-tier creators a blank canvas on which to reimagine the origins of iconic DC heroes, unencumbered by decades of previously established continuity. From the character’s first appearance in the late 1930s, the mythos of Superman has been steeped in biblical imagery and symbolism. Whether Straczynski intended it or not, he has continued this tradition. His retelling of the genesis of the world’s archetypical superhero has surprising connections to one of the most familiar parables in the Gospels: The Parable of the Talents.

Superman: Earth One begins as a classic coming-of-age story. The reader meets Clark Kent as a young man in his early twenties. He’s just graduated from college and doesn’t know what to do with his life. He moves to the Big City, Metropolis, to try and find his way in the world, to discover his calling, his vocation.

Clark’s strange and wonderful superpowers would give him an unheard-of advantage in almost any field, and he applies for many top-level jobs. But Clark is not interested in worldly success for its own sake. He’s thinking about supporting his widowed mother. Jonathan and Martha Kent wanted their adopted son to use his superhuman abilities to help people. Clark remembers his father’s insistence that “we all have to serve something bigger than ourselves.” But Martha cautions him, “If you go down that road, you’ll probably lose more than you’d ever stand to gain from it.” The Kents knew they couldn’t push her son to take up the mantle of a superhero; Clark must choose that path for himself. As Christians we are called to imitate Jesus Christ, who gives himself away totally for our sakes, by living lives of self-giving service of God and neighbor. Jesus cautions his disciples, “whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25)

Clark has some experience as a freelance reporter and so eventually applies to work at a struggling newspaper, The Daily Planet. Editor Perry White tells Clark that his articles are solid work but mediocre. His style is missing that elusive spark – “You write like you’re holding something back.” Clark has spent his entire life holding himself back, hiding his true self. Because his unique powers and abilities make him different from every other human, he’s afraid to let people see too much of the real Clark Kent. He’s afraid of rejection and afraid to commit. It’s at this point that we can begin to see the parallels this story has to the Parable of the Talents.

In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus relates the familiar parable: A wealthy man embarks on a journey and entrusts three of his servants with sums of money. The money is measured by weight in talents (Latin: talentum), an amount approximating 80 pounds in silver. Our English word “talent,” meaning a special gift or skill, derives from this parable.

Two of the servants wisely invest their master’s money in the bank so that it will earn interest. But the third servant, fearful that he won’t be able to meet the demands placed on him, goes off and buries his talent in the ground. Upon the master’s return this servant is severely punished for his negligence and apathy.

God desires us to cooperate in his work of building his Kingdom on Earth. For this purpose, he has given each of us a vocation in which we are to use our unique talents and abilities to spread the Gospel message and to make the world a better place for all the children of God. To neglect to use our talents out of fear or selfishness is to squander God’s freely given gifts rather than to develop them for the good of humanity and for God’s greater glory.

Clark visits his father’s grave and unburdens himself. Because he knew he was different, he struggled to fit in as a child. “But now I have a choice,” he admits. “I know how to fit in. How to pretend to be just one of the guys… And I want that. I want that bad. If I expose myself to the world, if I show them what I can do, I’ll always be on the run…. I’ll be alone.” Like the unwise servant in the parable, Clark is allowing fear to motivate him into burying his talent. Unlike the unwise servant, he still desires in his heart to do the right thing. No matter if he decides to use his extraordinary gifts openly or not, Clark senses that his vocation is to protect the helpless and the downtrodden.

Clark wants more time to make his decision, but events soon compel him to take action. Cities around the world, including Metropolis, are attacked by fleets of extraterrestrial ships. The alien leader, Tyrell, delivers his ultimatum: The last survivor of the planet Krypton must surrender himself or Earth will be destroyed.

Clark cannot bring himself to stand idly by while innocent people suffer. Finally embracing the mantle of Superman, he brings the fight to Tyrell. Clark defeats the invader and stops his planet-killing weapons.

In the aftermath of the attack, Clark remembers the wise words of Jonathan Kent: “You’ve been hiding your whole life Clark. But if you do anything other than what I think you were meant to do, you’ll still be hiding, because you’ll never be able to show people who you really are, and what you can do…. Live Clark. Follow your passion, Show the whole world what you can do. Fly, Clark… Fly.”

You may be saying to yourself, But I’m not Superman. I don’t have extraordinary physical abilities. I’m no St. Francis of Assisi or St. Thomas Aquinas. What good are my meager talents? When we think this way, we forget that we don’t need superpowers or genius-level intellect or the ability to work miracles in order to spread the Gospel and improve the world around us. All we need to do is to use what talents we do have in whatever our state in life, living out our Christian faith to the best of our ability. Faith, like talents, is a gift from God. At the end of the parable the master says, “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” (Matt. 25:29) If we strive to grow in faith and develop our talents, God will reward us. As Jesus tells the disciples at the Last Supper: “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.” (John 15:16) But all who fail to utilize God’s gifts will watch as they wither away. Let us pray to God for the wisdom to appreciate all the gifts and talents he has bestowed upon us and the courage to use them for his greater glory.