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Including more praise for that one page "synopsis", which, as I have pointed out before, works only if you already know the story. Somewhat typically, Morrison is writing here for those who are already in the club, not offering anything that would serve as an introduction for new members.

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He's more or less on the money. As a kid, I quickly grew tired of Superman moping after his lost life on Krypton. Sometimes it actually made me uncomfortable, the way he seemed to reject so much of what Jonathan and Martha would have given him.

I wanted to paint Superman as the ultimate immigrant, someone who (not unlike me!) achieved far more in his new world than he would have if he had stayed "home".

I think what I enjoy most about Man of Steel is how streamlined it is. I liked that JB removed conicidences which strained even comics' suspension of disbelief, like Luthor and Superboy both growing up in Smallville and then both travelling to Metrpolis, dozens and dozens of similarly surviving Kryptonians, and that it seemd like sometimes there was more Krypton on Earth than any other element. It's one of the most well-told origin stories in comics.

I don't recall who did the above, but it does speak to anyone already familiar with the origin. It's succinct, but I can't imagine someone coming to superheroes cold having an understanding exactly of what it means.

Reading more DC Comics than ever in my life, especially from the 1970s, I was struck with what should be the most important aspect of the Writer in regards a comic book:

In the '70s and '80s, the splash page generally had a quick written summation of the character's origin. Nothing too specific, just a well-written and almost poetic summation. Marvel did the same, such as this one (perhaps my favorite):

How is this not more than sufficient for any new reader anywhere? What more do you need to know?

If the Great Writer has one job, it's to relay this type of information as a kind of support for the images/action/drama/ect. The Writer should be a writer, as interchangeable (in the world of comics) as ball point pens.

Listen, I love good writing, and I love good comic books. I know writing has an impact, because Roger Stern and Steve Gerber and Steve Englehart can be said to have "their" comics. But never was there such a schism (as now) between the artist's contribution and the writer's contribution. The fact is, the artist IS the comic book, the very being of it, while the writer is the clothing, a couple of scars and a penny from 1941.