Plot Summary
A local farm couple is traveling home as a spacecraft crash lands into the cornfields not far from their truck. The couple rushes from their truck to investigate the crash. Upon arrival they discover an infant child. Miraculously, the child is unharmed and decide to take the child home with them. Not long after, a black ops government squad apprehend the child from the family.
The child is explained to be alien which looks eerily human. President Carter acknowledges that the child is an orphan and "should be raised by the state." The government goes into an extensive program of training the perfect American. They name him, Mark Milton, place him in a quaint American home, and give him a dog named Spot, all while under the supervision of the Government. The foster parents soon learn of Mark's abilities as he vaporizes the family dog. We see how Mark is raised with home schooling and pro-America proganda throughout his childhood.
When reaching the George Bush, Sr. era, the government updates President Bush on the program with Mark and a crystal excavated from Mark's pod. The crystal bends an individual's will to reality. The president is, also, shown a final broadcast, from what is actually an escape pod, explains Mark's arrival to Earth as his former ship what attacked and destroyed.
Mark begins to discuss some of his abilities with his father and infers to how he wishes to interact with the outside world. His father explains how he is "different." Mark asks his father if he loves him and if his parents love him that he will stay. Mark explains this while floating above the ground saying, "I don't have to stay." If they love him, that's the only reason he would stay.
President Bush soon realizes a possible issue from the Mark's arrival to Earth. If mark is the first of his kind then there should be more. The first book ends with a child playing his dog outside. He dares his dog for a race and leaves him in the dust.
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Enter Mark Milton, who possesses all the characteristics on DC Comics Superman, without the fantastical story. Hyperion, as he is eventually known, falls from the sky and is picked up by a farmer couple who take him in as his own. However, minutes later, the United States government shows up and takes the child. At a round table discussion, they decide that the best interest for the country is to raise the child themselves and brain wash him as a patriot.
Hyperion is put in a home with two fake parents who raise him behind giant walls of barbed wire. On Hyperion's third birthday, the couple give him a dog, who he incinerates with his eyes. This is the first act by Hyperion that displays his vast powers. The couple who are raising him fear that they might be next, but are forced to stay by the government, and end up living in fear for the remainder of their tenure with the child.
Over time, Hyperion discovers the many characteristics that will he will eventually be known by, such as flight, super speed, and incredible resilience. Marvel goes to great lengths to intricately infuse the story with Superman-esque similarities and succeeds quite well in doing so.
The story of Hyperion, in my opinion, is much more well done than that of DC's Superman. Because of it's MAX rating, Marvel was allowed to take Supreme Power to the lengths necessary in order to tell a believable and grandiose story. Many more realistic elements are used in Marvel's storytelling, which isn't always (and oftentimes strays greatly) from being a happy tale.
The biggest downfall to this comic, and the series in general, is it's slow pace. Don't expect to pick up a copy and get right into the action. In fact, you won't see any of that at all in the first 5 comics, and then sporadically throughout the remaining 13. This isn't to say the comics are uninteresting, just more geared to a mature audience, especially considering the vast amounts of dialog.
