Absolute Superman Spotlight with Rafa Sandoval

We hope everyone got a chance to enjoy out our chat with Jason Aaron about the Absolute Superman series overall and issue #5 specifically. If you haven’t you should definitely hear what he has to say by clicking HERE.

In addition to chatting with Jason, we got a chance to check in with Absolute Superman artist Rafa Sandoval and get his thoughts on issue #5, the difference between this version of Krypton and Earth and how fans are responding to the series.

With such a fresh take on Kal-El, a survivor of the destruction of Krypton who lived through the catastrophe and remembers it vividly, it wonderful to see that the creators on the book, as well as fans, are so invested in the story. This is a Superman whose perspective is so different, having left Krypton at an older age after having had the time to be influenced by his Kryptonian parents. Absolute Superman #5 brings all this action to the forefront and provides excellent context for this version of the iconic DC superhero.

Absolute Superman #5 is available in comic shops and digitally March 12, 2025.

(The responses below have been edited for clarity)

THE COMIC SOURCE: Now that we’ve had a chance to see the character designs and visual worldbuilding. Can you talk about the differences in the brightness of Krypton vs the darker feel of the Absolute Earth?

RAFA SANDOVAL: Krypton is a planet with a more evolved civilization than Earth, and that can be seen at all times, Absolute version or previous versions. Its cities are more spectacular, but here, in reality, darkness lies within. In this Absolute version; Kryptonian society was more divided, in a model closer to Aldous Huxley’s “A Brave New World” than to the Earth’s civilization of the present time. In contrast, Earth is mired in a dark reality. There is corruption and injustice, but Earth is still much less advanced than the level Krypton reached. Superman cannot help but compare what is happening to Earth with what the history of Krypton was like before reaching that extreme point that led his planet to destruction. Now, Earth is his new home and Kal will do everything possible to prevent it from following the same path of destruction as his home planet.

TCS:   The composition of the panels themselves feels very dynamic. Much more so than in your previous work, are you intentionally pushing yourself on page layout? In what other ways are you trying new things on the book?

RF: Yes, I have selected different panel layouts or compositions for this project. In this book we are dealing with different timelines and I had to do something to make that stond out. For example, for the moments on Krypton the panels were red with the Superman logo in the first panel. This helped with clarity for the reader to understand what time point we are in.

I am also applying new techniques. I’ve added more grey tones and more special effects to achieve a result that is very difficult to achieve with ink alone.

TCS:  When it comes to Krypton and its design and feel, did you look back or reference any previous stories or eras? If so which do you think influenced you the most?

RF: Jason had a pretty clear idea of ​​what Krypton was like, we were looking for a Krypton that was similar to Earth in many ways. In both you see a big difference between cities and villages and farms. On Krypton, all the buildings and homes are more connected to nature. It is easy to see that the cities have a very dark design, with a lot of pollution. The buildings have very totemic and forceful designs. So my reference was Earth itself, but with an evolution, with a more exaggerated degree in certain areas.

 TCS: Fan reaction for the series seems tremendous, have you heard from fans specifically about your designs? How has the response been for you?

RF: I’ve had the nice opportunity to go to several comic conventions and talk face to face with many readers. I’m delighted with the positive reaction from all of them. I was very eager to hear from readers. It’s great to hear what they think about the various aspects of this series. I wanted to get their impressions of the new designs and the response has been that they are very happy. One of the comments I’ve heard most, is that they have been waiting for something like this from DC Comics for a long time. Many readers wanted to see something new and different, but still feel like they were experincing stories with the familiar superheroes. For that reason, I feel very fortunate that they are enjoying it and that DC has given me this incredible opportunity to be part of such a large-scale project.

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