Trade Tales! - Superman: Earth One Volume 3

Next up for the month is one of the big ones: General Zod. To make a long story short, he’s powerful, likes black, and loves long walks on the beach that he himself created with all the destruction he caused. 

In all seriousness, Zod has been a go-to villain ever since his introduction in Adventure Comics #283. Whatever version of his story you follow, he’s always been a rogue general who rebelled on Krypton. For his punishment, he and his followers were sent to the Phantom Zone. There have been other Kryptonians locked in the Zone, but Zod is the mainstay for the franchise. The guy’s especially been an important role in the movies since he's one that can go toe-to-toe with Superman.

Today’s story is the 3^rd volume to the Superman: Earth One series. I’ve covered the previous two volumes, so it’s time to finish it out. While the J. Michael Strazcynski-written series hasn’t been great, it has been an interesting re-telling of the Superman mythos. JMS is back at it with the story. Sandra Hope also returned to do the inking. This time, Shane Davis isn’t on the ride for the pencils. The penciling was being handled by Ardian Syaf, an artist who recently got himself into some trouble. That’s all I’ll say on that. So, what trouble has this version of Superman gotten himself into this time?

Superman: Earth One Volume 3

Writer: J. Michael Strazcynski

Pencils: Ardian Syaf

Inks: Sandra Hope

Colors: Barbara Ciardo

Letters: Rob Leigh

SYNOPSIS

The story takes place a week after the previous volume. Because of Superman’s actions on the island of Borada, The United Nations is worried that they can’t rein him in. Meanwhile, Lex and Alexandra Luthor are giving a presentation to members of the government. Through research, Lex realized that Superman is actually weakened by red sunlight. While Lex is actually hesitant on using this weapon, Alexandra and the rest are pretty happy.

Meanwhile, Clark is living life and trying to balance his personal life, his professional life, and his superhero life. At the Daily Planet, Clark finds out about Lois’s investigation on him through Jimmy. He confronts her about it and it’s revealed that she ended the investigation because Clark was truly on the up and up. Later, he meets her as Superman on the rooftop and she tells him about the UN trying to find ways to take him down. Meanwhile, a Kryptonian ship that was traveling through space has now landed in a desert. An occupant comes out and gains abilities. The Kryptonian gets surrounded by soldiers and takes them out with his new powers. Later, this mysterious occupant reveals himself to Superman during a crisis. He is Zod-El, Jor-El’s brother. He tells Clark that he’s been searching for him ever since the destruction of Krypton.

Zod: And those heirs, too! Not your ass! I can enunciate, you know?

Superman is happy that he’s not alone but he is a little suspicious. Those suspicions are proven to be correct since Zod later goes to the UN Council and tells them that Superman is a threat. He tells them that he alone will take care of him and that no one on Earth should aid Superman. Later, Lois finds out about the UN decision but she’s not able to warn Superman. Later, Zod lures Superman to his ship and exposes him to Kryponite. Zod has protection from the rock and tries to beat up Superman. Superman is able to get away and finds out about the UN’s decision. He then heads to the Fortress and finds out the truth about Zod. It turns out that he was the mysterious benefactor that helped destroy Krypton.

Definitely the dumbest moment in the comic. "This guy looks so trustworthy in black and with a matching hood to boot!"

Superman then realizes that Zod is going to go after his loved ones. He heads back to Metropolis and the two fight some more. Superman does get the upper hand but Lex and Alexandra Luthor use their red-sun gun on Superman which weakens him. Zod then beats the living crap out of Superman. Lisa sees this and goes to help but gets injured. Lex, who wasn’t keen on killing Superman, decides to help and uses the ray on Zod to even the field. Unfortunately, he gets killed by Zod. Alexandra ends up shooting Zod dead and almost does the same to Superman. His powers kick back in and he flies off.

In the aftermath, Clark sees Lisa in the hospital and the two share their feelings for one another. Later on, they end up going to visit Ma Kent in Smallville. Alexandra blames Superman for Lex’s death, so she makes it her mission to kill Superman and steals the Kryptonite from Zod’s ship. Superman comes to the UN and pretty much chastises the delegates for almost getting him killed. Superman and Lois talk about the situation later and he asks her to help him in these political waters. The story ends with him heading out as Superman while Lois shines the Super Signal high in the sky.

"Nana, nana, nana, nana, Superman!"

OPINION

So, what did I think of this third undertaking? While it has some issues, this was another decent outing for the Earth One Superman. While I had some problems with the story, there were things I liked. I liked seeing Clark continue to deal with both sides of his life. This version of Clark grew up being pretty introverted, so seeing him finally let people like Lois and Lisa into his life was good. It was also nice to see the ramifications of his actions from last volume. That definitely caught up with him quick! Also, while some may think it to be out of character, his scolding of the UN was kind of awesome.

While it is weird, seeing Superman yell at politicians is funny.

I also liked the supporting characters here as well. Lisa was much more likable here than in the last volume. It was nice to see Ma Kent back and providing some support for her son. Lois was cool as usual and it was nice to see where she’d end up with Clark/Superman. As I said before, it was nice to see what Superman did last volume effect how people treat him. He does have support but there are those who still distrust him. This comes up in a major way when we get to the villains.

As for the villains, they ranged from fine to interesting. The subject of this post, Zod, was pretty much the guy we know him to be. He did have aspects of his backstory changed with him being Clark’s biological uncle and the fact that he wanted Krypton destroyed. There is one part I’m really not a fan of when regarding Zod, but he was fine for the most part. Then we get the Lex reimagining. Having Lex actually be the good half while his wife, Alexandra, be the dark half was actually pretty refreshing. Seeing those two interact was pretty cool. I am interested in seeing how Alexandra (now Lex) would fare as the antagonist in future stories.

The artwork was pretty good for the most part. While I did miss Shane Davis at the pencils, Ardian Syaf was a nice substitute. While his style was different in some places, he does have some of the same quirks that Davis had. Hope and the rest of the team do their best to make it all mesh with how the previous volume looked. The small, quiet moments between characters were pretty good. The action, at times, was as bombastic as it had been in previous volumes. You can rarely go wrong with a Superman vs. Zod fight.

Now, there were things that I wasn’t a fan of here. The dialogue was weird again at times. It’s weird because I’ve read other stuff by JMS and I liked the dialogue there. I don’t know what it is with these books that make me not like the dialogue as much. Then, there’s the plot of the world turning against Superman. The UN taking Zod’s word without any proof makes no sense. I’d think they’d be more afraid of him than Superman since he’s dressed in black and never takes off his hood. That aspect could have been dealt with better. It did make Superman’s speech at the end work, though.

I also thought some of the pacing felt a little off. So much was thrown into this volume with Zod, the Luthors, and the UN stuff. I kind of wish most of that got fleshed out a bit more. Then, we get to the artwork. While I liked Syaf, there were points where it didn’t look too good. I mostly saw this during the action scenes where Superman and Zod were facing off. Other than those things and other nitpicks, this was fine. Oh yeah, what was up with the Super Signal? The GCPD should sue!

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Overall, this was a decent volume for the Earth One Superman. If you’ve enjoyed the previous volumes, than you’ll probably like this one. I don’t know if DC is going to continue with this version of Superman. If they don’t, then this would be a nice conclusion for this version. If I had to guess on what my favorite of the three is, it would probably be Volume 2. Some good stuff got set up there and while Vol.3 paid off in those places, it did slip in a couple of others. As for Vol. 1, it was nice but a bit brief. Also, the Daily Planet staffers need to get their eyes examined.

While most see him to be a bit one-dimensional, I like Zod. I like it when writers try to add more to him than the whole “I want to rule” shtick he has. That’s probably why I think Zod from 2013’s Man of Steel was one of the better versions of the character. Well, that’s all I got for “Mr. Kneel.” Next time, I’ll be looking at another villain. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and don’t leave your superhero costumes in the laundry hamper for your cute redhead to find. It could go either way is what I’m saying.