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As confirmed during San Diego Comic-Con 2024’s “DC Absolute Power Panel” on Thursday, July 25, Jason Aaron has a special claim to fame as a Superman writer. When asked if he was the first person to write Superman who is actually from Kansas, he replied, “I believe so, yeah.” Aaron continued: "That's very important to me. Just know that the Kansas part of it, to me, is very very important.”

Famously, Superman was raised by his adoptive parents Martha and Jonathan Kent in Smallville. This was after his biological parents launched him in a rocket ship so as to allow the infant to survive the destruction of Krypton.

Smallville was originally located in an undefined state (see also: The Simpsons’ Springfield, USA). However, 1978’s Superman: The Movie established that Smallville was located in the state of Kansas. This location was subsequently firmly adopted by the comics in the Post-Crisis era.

And now, Aaron of Kansas will be writing Absolute Superman. Born and raised in Alabama, Aaron subsequently relocated to Kansas City. No stranger to creating alternative versions of familiar superheroes across multiple publishers, Aaron is also especially well-equipped to launch a new version of Superman.

But what effect will Aaron’s personal origins in Kansas have on his work on Absolute Superman? The writer quipped that he’s planning to write issues sitting in the middle of a field of wheat. Only one burning question remains regarding Aaron’s origins: was his mother also named “Martha?”

Get a fuller San Diego Comic-Con experience with a full rundown of our SDCC 2024 stories, as well as all the big SDCC 2024 news, how to make the most out of San Diego Comic-Con, and the real burning question: how much does it actually cost to go to SDCC?