Review: Superman #41

Superman #41 came out this week, the next chapter in the Kingdom of Zod crossover. This is a 9-parter and this is chapter 4 so we are basically at the halfway mark. And this is quite an issue as it takes a hard ... and I mean HARD ... left turn taking this story to two places I was not expecting.

I will say that this whole arc is building off of the  Kneel Before Zod mini-series from 2 years ago. (All those issues are reviewed here at that link so feel free to dive in!) I will remind you that mini-series was supposed to be 12 issues but was cut by DC to 9, so I wonder if some of this plot was supposed to be touched on or even begun there. Also, as pointed out by friend Mart Gray, the opening pages which fill in what happened in that mini are direct lifts from that book. (Hope writer Joe Casey and artist Dan McDaid are getting some compensation.) In that book, I was surprised by how beaten down Zod was initially and how domineering Ursa was. Suffice it to say, we see that play out here.

I will also say that one of my biggest peeves about this whole story is the 'Kryptonite everywhere' aspect when it seems to have little or no impact on the action. Our Kryptonian heroes seem more irritated by being surrounded by Green K than in agony. So I decided to read this issue ignoring the Green K conundrum and I found that it reads better that way. But it seems odd that I can ignore the driving plot element. And I wonder if we will ever learn how Zod got that massive Green K meteor, altered it, covered it in intertron, and sent it on its way.

But enough backstory, Joshua Williamson and Eddy Barrows give us the best chapter of this arc. We get decent action. We get some plot progression. We get to see Superman in action. And we get two ... no three ... major developments and plot twists. I don't know if those new threads will pay off but I am more interested in them than the growing Green K stuff. 

On to the details.

One thing I appreciated is that we start out with a couple of pages discussing the world's response to the Green K crisis. If Green K is growing all over the globe and killing people, there better be a heroic response. So seeing the Atom and Red Tornado on the satellite discussing responses made me happy.

And I am glad to see Power Girl leading a decon team. She is super-team adjacent so glad we got a glimpse.

Last issue ended with Superman and Zod in Kryptonian battle suits and armor finally going toe to toe. 

Zod is enraged and seems to want to punish Superman. 

Interestingly enough, Superman actually holds out his hand hoping for peace. He reminds Zod that there was a truce. He asks about Zod's family. And that doesn't work out well for our hero.

Nice silhouette panel of Zod attacking Superman, in black and deep red.

You will recall that Ursa died in the Kneel Before Zod book and the General exiled his son. 

The battle is brutal and the armors are broken. And then Zod decides to go Old Testament and claim an eye for an eye, burning out Superman's right eye.

You will remember that Time Trapper Doomsday told us this would happen way back in Superman #20 .

So major plot point number one - Superman now has one eye. Hmmm ... how long will this last? I'll be interested to see.

How could heat vision burn out an invulnerable eye? Perhaps the Green K is weakening Superman's body enough to be effected. 

But I will say, again, the two are literally surrounded by Green K but going at it like it isn't there. That is why it is easier to read this without thinking about it.

Just when Zod looks like he is going in for the kill, Conner Superboy and Superboy Prime zip in inside the Supermobile and grab our hero, whisking him to safety.

I will never complain about a Supermobile sighting. And I love that Prime is thrilled to have saved Superman, another notch on his redemption belt.

But the two Superboys being crammed in the cockpit and prickly with each other just adds to the fun.

Meanwhile, in a prison made entirely of Green K, young Superboy and Supergirl are lurking, trying to figure out their next step. If they are in a building of Green K, they should be dying. Instead they seem more irritated by it, tripping because they aren't feeling well. At least he says it hurts bad.

But I like how caring Supergirl is being to young Clark. It is what she was sent to Earth to do. And I like how happy Clark is to learn he has family.

Barrows draws a great Supergirl.

Of course, we can't have a DCU Earth forever covered in Green K. 

We check in on the Irons. Natasha tells us that some original Green K hasn't been activated to grow. Perhaps they can figure out why that happened and 'reverse engineer' the growing green K to stop.

Ahhhh .. comic book science. Will the other grown Green K just disintegrate? My guess is yes.

Ursa was in a Kryptonian Regeneration Matrix (similar to Superman did in the Reign of the Supermen way back when). With his powers returned, Zod is able to use all his stored energy to power a huge Sunstone to power it up.

He resurrects Ursa!

In fact, we learn that perhaps Zod main mission in all this has been to resurrect Ursa. I suppose he needed his powers back to energize the matrix, so he needed to go back to Earth to confront Lois, so he needed to lure her out to someplace where he could get her, so he .... sent a giant Green K meteor?

Ok. Ok. I will hope we learn more.

But then major plot twist number two.

Ursa kills Zod! She basically puts her arm through his chest.

A bit to unpack here. 

One, we know she thought Zod had gone weak back in Kneel Before Zod so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. Two, I guess he is so drained by powering the Sunstone and being surrounded by Green K that he is weak enough for this to happen. But is she strong enough to do this just out of the matrix? 

I could also ask how is she uneffected by the building of Green K around her but I am ignoring that this issue.

Seriously though, Barrows has always drawn a brutally effective, merciless Ursa. I can remember first noticing Barrows way back in New Krypton, especially in Action Comics #876 which also showcased a killer Ursa. 

But this isn't Kingdom of Zod anymore. He's dead.

Getting a lay of the land, Ursa is told by the Eradicatrix (a model based on her) about Booster Gold's time machine which Ursa can use to change her history. 

Just as the villain is about to blip away, Supergirl and Superboy jump in to join the ride!

Major plot twist number three! We are heading back to Krypton!

Now I usually don't like trips back to Krypton in comics. But I will like seeing how Kara responds to seeing her world again. And I definitely want to see how young Clark who knows nothing about Krypton interacts with his homeworld. 

Whew,

That's a lot of changes in this one issue. Our hero is maimed. Our villain is dead. Our new villain is heading back in time with two other heroes in tow. 

This was the best chapter of the arc so far, ratcheting things up and getting me invested. I can't say the earlier issues did that!

Overall grade: B+