Review: Superman: World of New Krypton #2

Superman: World of New Krypton #2 came out last week and continues to explore what it means for Kal to be a 'stranger in a strange land' even if it is his home planet. Written by James Robinson and Greg Rucka and beautifully drawn by Pete Woods, this issue moved things along at a faster pace than I thought possible.

And that fast pace is all the more interesting since the book now sports the line '2 out 15'. That's right, this is now a 15 issue maxi-series.

The issue starts somewhat ominously with the Guardians sizing up what a planet of Kryptonians means to sector 2814 and the universe as a whole. They speak about a prior Kryptonian conquest from a millenia ago. These Oans have a long memory and perhaps know first-hand what 100,000 Superman could do to a galaxy.

They decide to send in Hal Jordan to see what he can find. It will be interesting to see how Zod and his troops respond to a Universal Police Officer telling them what is allowed, etc.

One thing that I like about the book so far is that Superman is shown as having a very pro-active personality. He is not shy about stating his feelings or doing what he thinks needs to be done.

This is crystallized in his intreactions with General Zod. While he might be serving Zod on New Krypton, he doesn't have to like Zod or kowtow to him. When Zod points a new police weapon (double barreled - red sun energy from one, bullet from another, lethal to Kryptonians) at Kal, Kal cooly responds 'this isn't the first gun pointed at me General'. The usual knock against Superman is that he is a pushover, a boy scout. I have never got that feeling from Johns' portrayal and I haven't felt it here either. Kal will stand up for himself, physically if need be.

And as usual, I liked the origin blurb. Now it states he is Kal-El, as opposed to Superman. Very nice.

Zod introduces Kal to his second-in command: Lieutenant Asha Del-Nar. Kal is the commander of the Red Shard Tactical Response Unit, handling law enforcement and civic defense. Kal-El has become a police officer on New Krypton.

Nar then leads him to the Red Shard bunker. There a bunch of his troops are watching as Non battles a Kryptonian Torquat (sort of a mix of large dog and porcupine). Angry that the animal is being mistreated, Kal breaks up the fight and comforts the beast. He then rips into his troops. It is clear that Kal isn't going to suffer fools lightly in his unit. He lets the troops that such nonsense isn't going to be allowed. He then 'punishes' them with a day's worth of flying drills.

This scene again enforces the difference between Clark and the Kryptonians. Cruelty isn't in Clark's make-up.

Zod assigning Non to Kal's unit is also an interesting subplot. Will Non learn to respect Kal? Or simply stay loyal to Zod?

This issue also gives us the first sympathetic look at Alura in a long time. Here we see her break down a little when talking about Zor-El to Kal at an art gala. Alura has been unrelenting in her harsh personality in Supergirl so it was nice to see some of her humanity finally come forward.

Perhaps the best thing about this scene is her little exposition about the guilds. While Zor was in the artist's guild, he was a scientist. These 'artistic scientists' seemed to view science as a branch of philosophy or as the work of god. It was this outlook on life that made him special. It makes a bit more sense that there would be subdivisions within the guilds to explain how Krypton worked.

While at the gala, Kal runs into a couple of people. First he see Tyr from the labor guild who tells Kal that he has heard rumors of some unrest amongst the labor guild. Tyr worries these angry labor members will express their outrage in an inappropriate manner. I am surprised that this subplot came to fruition so quickly. I thought for sure that this would be something handled midway.

Then Kal sees Kara. It was nice to see this happy exchange between the cousins! Their relationship has just grown so much over the last year. I really like the way Pete Woods draws Kara here ... happy, healthy. That said, it is hard to reconcile this carefree appearing Kara with the emotionally distraught hero in the Supergirl title. The last issue there she wished Alura dead. Here she seems happy that Kal, Alura, and her are 'together - a family'. It felt like a slight misstep but maybe she is simply overjoyed to see Clark.

Lastly, Kal gets called to duty by General Zod who states that a stampede of Thought Beasts is threatening some power generators and need to be put down. Kal mobilizes the Red Shard and flies off.

The thought beasts seem to be able to project hallucinations or fear into people who approach them. The squad wants to simply gun them down. But Kal uses some old-fashioned farm know-how to create a cattle run by burning a pen and chute into the ground with heat vision. He effectively leads the group despite the horrible visions the members suffer. Clark sees his father dying and Metropolis burning. Non sees himself pre-lobotomy. Others fear banishment ot the phantom zone or burning.

Thanks to Kal's level-headed guidance, the animals are corraled safely.

Again, the Kryptonian way of 'shoot first and ask questions later' is admonished by Kal. "Easier doesn't always mean better," he tells his troops.

But the plight of this planet is more than just these wild animals. The thought beasts were hunting for the non-existent food on this rock planet. It even makes Nar shiver when she sees the similarity between the beasts plight and those of the Kryptonians themselves.

My guess is the lack of natural resources was never much of an issue in the time-slowed Brainiac bottle. Now that time is running normally, the small amount of workable planet might not be able to sustain all of Kandor/New Krypton.

One quick shout-out to another re-imagined Silver Age concept. Thought Beasts were part of Silver Age Kryptonian lore. Although in those stories, the thought beast had a screen-like head plate onto which the animals' thoughts were broadcast. For example, from Adventure Comics #395, Kara sees the thought beast is thinking about eating her. I don't know if that physiology would fly with the sophisticated comic reader of 2009. So updating the animals to have some crude telepathy was slick.

The tension between Zod and Kal continues to mount. They clearly don't like each other and have no problem letting it be known. I like that Superman isn't hiding these feelings to better worm his way into Zod's plans. I like that he isn't sugar-coating anything to fit in. Kal is here and is watching the General closely.

Well, it turns out that Tyr's concerns were well-founded. A faction of the labor guild has armed themselves with the 'red sun rifles' and are holding some of the gala hostage in hopes of getting equal political recognition on New Krypton. My guess is that Tyr is going to end up being the leader of the Labor Underground.

Kara luckily is not in the gala any longer, but there is Alura held at gunpoint. Before Kal can think of a diplomatic solution, Commander Gor comes up with his own plan ...

If the armed labor guild members don't surrender, Gor will slaughter a bunch of unarmed labor guild members he has cordoned off.

This whole issue has been about Kal's Kansas-raised outlook and contrasting it to the Kryptonian way. He isn't interested in torture or slaughter ... be it animal or man. But those seem to be the first inclination of most Kryptonians. As such, Kal does seem like a stranger here, trying to find his way. Given that theme running through the issue, I like this cliffhanger. This is the flashpoint of these two views on life.

So far so good. I have enjoyed the first 2 issues here much more than I thought I would.

Overall grade: B/B+