| Superman: Last Son of Krypton | |
| Author: | Elliot S. Maggin |
| Language: | English |
| Country: | United States |
| Genre: | Superhero fiction |
| Publisher: | Warner Books |
| Isbn: | 0-446-82319-8 |
| Release Date: | 1978 |
| Media Type: | Print (paperback), ebook (html) |
| Pages: | 238 pp (first edition paperback) |
| Isbn Note: | (first edition paperback) |
| Oclc: | 4562020 |
| Followed By: | Miracle Monday |
Superman: Last Son of Krypton is a novel written by Elliot S. Maggin and based on the DC Comics character Superman. It was published in 1978. The novel was published as a tie-in to the release of Superman: The Movie, with an image of Christopher Reeve on the cover and (in its original edition) a section of photographs from the film. The novel is not, however, a novelization of the film, but rather a sequel, diverging from the film's story.
Last Son of Krypton is Elliot S. Maggin's first Superman novel. It tells the "life story" of Superman; from his birth on the planet Krypton, to his childhood in Smallville and his career as Superboy, to his arrival in Metropolis and his career as Superman. The main antagonist in this story is a mysterious alien ruler with ties to Superman's past. Superman and his greatest enemy, Lex Luthor, must join forces to retrieve a document written by Albert Einstein and stop the alien ruler.
From a 1996 amazon.com interview of the author, Elliot S. Maggin[1] (original removed from Amazon.com):
Maggin said in 1997 that he knew that "nobody at DC with any clout" read the book, because no one prevented him from using the Xerox trademark when discussing an extraterrestrial criminal enterprise that smuggles the company's photocopiers (the best in the galaxy) from Earth. Maggin said that "the Xerox Corporation's response, by the way, was to buy fifty-thousand copies of Last Son for their employee book club".[2]
In 2018, Maggin did an audiobook reading of the novel on his podcast, "Elliot Makes Stuff Up".[3]