Superman 682 [SPOILERS]

[Spiffy]

I would say I'm shocked there isn't a discussion here for this, except it looks like people are fixated on the end of RIP.

Which is a shame, because this was much more interesting--certainly far more shocking in a way. What could be worse than the dead innocents we probably all expected to see as a consequence of the events of New Krypton? Instead, for the kindling to the blaze the story is intending, they've gone one level up in terms of shock value. Innocents would have been bad, but having a detail full of Metropolis lawmen bite it at the hands of the Kryptonians upped the ante a lot more. Innocents would have been "oh, they just got in the way... we're so sorry". This wasn't that. This was the Kryptonians doing something they shouldn't, still not killing on purpose I think, but nevertheless doing so carelessly, in a scenario they caused, and seemingly without much guilt or sense of consequence.

And this isn't some Max Lord scenario. The cops are very definitely NOT shown as "gray" the way General Lane has been--they were definitely shown as being unjustly attacked, with that carelessness and excessive force I mentioned, and on top of that with a root cause that's clearly inadequate for any reader to take the side of the Kryptonians. Sending the message to the readers that the Kryptonians are completely in the wrong here. Something I didn't expect to see in this story, and I confess, perhaps one of the elements I'm a bit less comfortable with. I expected the aspect that the Kryptonians feel themselves above human law, but what I didn't see coming was that this would be catapulted to the front of the story this quickly. I was pretty sure the New Krypton arc would eventually go to the place this issue sends it--dead humans at the hands of Kryptonians--but I didn't see it coming this fast. I expected a bit more shading and the lack of it DOES bother me a bit.

My expectation had been that we'd see the Kryptonians split--that one group would be human-culture loving, throwing themselves into human society, perhaps carelessly, with another group being aloof and superior, and then a third group being the militants. I expected this all to percolate a bit more.

And there's more fuel to the fire that Alura isn't playing on the same team as the rest of the House of El. Is she Superwoman? We still don't know. But at the very least she comes right out and dismisses human law, and the value of human lives--the later with a BIG misuse of the phrase "collateral damage". A phrase that's frequently offensively used, but usually not this badly.

[Karl O'Neill]

top notch issue,love the artwork.

feel bad for mon el, all the villains tossed into the phantom zone! awesome.

I think supergirls mother is zod's mistress. she is so hardned.

Love the moment where toyman is so happy that he is actually considered a superman villain. looking forward to seeing what they do with parasite.

where's metallo i wonder?

James robinson is bringing the A-Game.

[Cytokinesis]

This is really kinda bad in my opinion. I certainly get the whole "Take out people who might hurt us." thing, but their culture is so superior that they won't even ask (or demand even) before they go around killing people to get at prisoners that are presumably locked away already?

Thats... just plain stupid.

[Karl O'Neill]

This is really kinda bad in my opinion. I certainly get the whole "Take out people who might hurt us." thing, but their culture is so superior that they won't even ask (or demand even) before they go around killing people to get at prisoners that are presumably locked away already?

Thats... just plain stupid.

That's just zod's faction that is doing all the demanding.

[Mat001]

That's just zod's faction that is doing all the demanding.

WWZD or What Would Zod Do?

[Binker]

By Nathaniel Ruff (also known as Binker, Binker2 and Nate on many forums)

SUPERMAN #682

Written by James Robinson
Art by Renato Guedes and Wilson Magalháes
Cover by Alex Ross
Variant Cover by Stephane Roux
Edited by Matt Idelson

PLOT:
Unrest between the Kryptonians and humankind rapidly spins out of control. Superman knows it's only a matter of time before widespread violence breaks out between the two cultures. But deep in the heart of the U.S. military, a deadly new Squad K is being organized. Its mission: clean up the "Kryptonian problem" before it gets out of hand!

REVIEW:
"Supergirl" #35 went from Superman's, and the world's, POV and now went to Supergirl's. Mother/daughter troubles are most likely going to happen once again, as the story continues to move forward, even to the upcoming dark areas. The biggest thing from this issue was the explanation to Kara's changing origins and problems we as readers have had on the character for so long. It was a nice way of explaining and still keeping the problems for this diagnoisis, and nothing like retcons. So all that was fine. Plus, we get our first introduction to the character of Superwoman. Who she is happens to still be a mystery, but many of us figure she is Kara's old friend, and the fact that her introduction took place on New Krypton seems to lead toward that theory as the correct answer. Now we are back on with James Robinson and "Superman" with issue #682. Let's see where that takes us!

Oh boy...

Well, they said there would be problems between New Krypton and Earth, and man, they were not kidding. In this issue, the newest part of the "New Krypton" arc, because of the Doomsday attack last time, most if not every citizen of New Krypton go to every prison and attack out there and round up every member of Superman's Rogue's Gallery, in the process even killing some humans to get the job done, so they can send every villain to the Phantom Zone to be "safe". In every conflict, the one who starts is the one who loses, and is at fault, and since Doomsday is just the case with any and every Superman comic, this move made by New Krypton makes them at fault, and thus they now have blood on their hands. And now, because of this, the U.S. Government and Sam Lane will have no problem in stopping the "Kryptonian problem" once and for all. This issue was great as Robinson pulled out all the stops, and it isn't like I saw this as bad, I saw this move by New Krypton as a concern that got really out of hand. Literally. But, in the process, we learn that Kara's mother, Alura, who has been brought up in every issue by the way, wanted this to happen, and expected deaths to occur. How she says it feels like she was influenced by Zod, not Jor-El or Zor-El. I wonder if there is a connection between the two, and if Zod will return, or if Alura is one of our main villains here.

Overall, I cannot believe what happened in this issue, and how well written it was and that shock from it, shows that it was a great issue from Robinson, "Superman", and "New Krypton". Because of New Krypton's actions, they now have blood on their hands, and that will surely ignite what Sam Lane and Lex Luthor are planning now. Alura shows us what she thought, which sounds more like Zod than the El Family. Her being a villain, and a possible return of Zod from the Phantom Zone, is being discussed. Speaking of that, with every member from Superman's Rogue's Gallery in the Phantom Zone, Mon-El looks like he is going to be in big trouble unless someone saves him. I wonder if Chris Kent will return...

RATING: Yay

Next Issue: "Action Comics" #872! Superman frees other cities from Brainiac's ship. And one of them happens to be the Creature Commandos, the original monster military unit!

[4thHorseman]

Finally a good issue from Robinson, even though I felt he still made Superman somewhat dickish, especially to Ma at the cemetary. Not a bad issue at all though, and feel that New Krypton is finally picking up...6 issues in....

[TuPeT]

What are the issues of New Krypton? Starts with the Special and goes with...

[Magneto Rocks]

It continues to be a case of "Robinson writes excellent issues, except when Superman himself speaks, at which point the issue suffers horribly." Because really, I like everything he's doing except Superman himself. (And was anyone else disturbed that Superman insinuated he'd let Bizarro go because it would be 'easy to find' him later? Yes, you know why it would be easy, Clark? because there'd be a trail of ruin and dead bodies, which is why you should stop him NOW!)

Still, there wasn't much Superman here, so there was a lot to like. The twist with Supergirl's mother is interesting, and the actions of Zod's supporters as well as the main body of Kryptonians is intriguing. It all led up to a GREAT ending which is certain to wreak hell in coming months- my only query being why none of them go after Lex Luthor, other than the fact that it would complicate the plot. Maybe that's coming next.

New Krypton continues to intrigue, and other than the needless slow-down of Supergirl last week, it's getting generally better and better. (Though it would be nice to have them pick up on cliffhangers like Nightwing/Flamebird, Superwoman etc, and not just on a system of 'These characters in this book' etc.)

What are the issues of New Krypton? Starts with the Special and goes with...

Superman: New Krypton Special
Superman #681
Action Comics #871
Supergirl #35
Superman #682
Action Comics #872
Supergirl #36
Superman #683
Action Comics #873

Epilogue: Superman #684

...Technically, there's a 'Guardian Special' in there as part three, but it does not affect the main plot in any way and is very, very skippable.

[Sean Walsh]

I read it late last night and was delighted.

I kinda thought the initial sequence with the Kryptonians grabbing Parasite and killing the Science Police folks was going to sow seeds of splintering the New Kryptonians (since those looked like Zod's followers who, as we'd been told in a prior issue, seemed to be more interested in their own group). But instead, there's an even bigger (and darker) modus operandi for the vast majority of them.

I approve of this entire story so far.

[Mat001]

Bizarro is mourning Jonathan because he has Clark's memories and knows that he cared for him as well. And it wouldn't be hard to find Bizarro because he'd go back to Htrae, aka Bizarro's World. That's where he has been since we last saw him in Action Comics #857.

[Magneto Rocks]

Bizarro is mourning Jonathan because he has Clark's memories and knows that he cared for him as well. And it wouldn't be hard to find Bizarro because he'd go back to Htrae, aka Bizarro's World. That's where he has been since we last saw him in Action Comics #857.

...Or alternatively, he might go on a murderous rampage. Since, y'know, he's Bizarro, and predictability and logic are not generally considered his defining character traits.

[SeritoNiN]

I thought this was the best issue of New Krypton, it's gotten off to a very, very, very slow start in my opinion and this issue finally helped heat things up.

I'll also say once again, I find myself surprised (like with the jsa:kingdom one shot) to be enjoying the issues Johns isn't writing more than the ones he is here.

[Doc Goblin]

Man, this here was the chapter where New Krypton really started getting interesting.

I'm shocked Dubarry got taken out in this issue. I mean... didn't Robinson spend most of his first issue building this character? It seems weird to then kill him off so quickly, having not really done anything with the character. I wonder if some of Robinson's plans have changed or if it's not really the last we seen of Dubarry.

Bizarro at Jonathan Kent's grave was a touching little scene.

I don't really see what's stupid about the Kryptonians grabbing all those Superman villains, even ones who are already imprisoned. It's not like Superman villains ever stay in prisons for long. But the way they went about getting Parasite? Yeah, stupid.

It's interesting to see that instead of Zor-El being kind of a bastard it's Alura That's good. Because honestly, Kara's parents had been pretty boring so far.

[Cipranzi]

This was definitely the best issue of the arc so far. This issue shocked me way more than Batman 681, that's for damn sure.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I'd have preferred them not to push too hard on the Allura villain angle so soon.

They just ditched the potentially interesting idea that Zor-El was a douche bag, only to revert to a retro Silver Age Jor-El type, to swap it so Allura is the heavy is unfortunate.

Granted, she's a vast improvement upon Lara, whose characterization in the comics has been abysmal. Suzanna York's Lara is the only one who had a pulse as far as I'm concerned.

This was a vast improvement on Robinson's previous Superman issues. It helps that the Superman he's writing is in shock from the death of his father and the return of Kandor, so it's a completely different take on Superman from the Atlas arc.

[Retro315]

I think it definitely stands to reason that Zor-El is a LOT like Jor-El and Kal-El. He's definitely an idealist and sees the "human potential" even if he's not quite drinking the human kool-aid like Superman is.

I mean, Zor looks like Jor-El, thinks like Jor-El ... we're talking brothers here and from the sounds of it, they weren't the "I hate you"/sibling rival/Shakespearean kind of brothers.

Which is why it shouldn't really surprise anyone to see that where Zor-El is a bit of a cock-eyed optimist, Alura is kind of more a skeptic. In fact, that's probably why they compliment each other so well as scientists and leaders of Kandor. You have the idealist and the realist, and together they solve any problem.

So of course, Zor-El is shocked at the actions of a few of the teams - because he and a few others snatched up Superman's rogues without a hitch, and in fact ... all of use reading into the art noticed that it was members of the House of Zod who crossed the line and killed humans.

You get an interesting juxtaposition of thoughts there - the Kryptonians aren't exactly crying over spilt humans, but they're definitely not that keen on wanton killing. And they'd definitely want to believe "okay, well ... self-defense, I'll take the word of a good Kryptonian" ... but Superman is going to have to drill it into their heads that self-defense is NOT an excuse when you're being juiced with yellow sunlight and are on his level.

And just when they come around to that way of thinking, of course, it's too late, and Sam Lane has a batallion of men equipped with K-Rifles and Red Sun Lasers and so forth and excuses about self-defense don't mean jack anymore because humans can act in self-defense too.

Very interesting.

As for the plot points ... Supergirl's memories and poisoning-curing kept her following her parents all issue, but hearing about Zod's men will shift things back.

No follow-up on Nightwing and Flamebird ... but my money is on Alura as Flamebird. I mean, back in the New Krypton Special, when Superman showed up in Kandor after the funeral ... Alura was playing with a pet ... orange bird ... of some kind ... it looked very phoenix-like. Which is probably a Kryptonian flamebird. At any rate, Alura's not a character to take as "Zor's wife" face value. There's more to her. I'm not even certain her seeming Zod sympathizing is accurate - because if she IS Flamebird then she was the one who shut down Gor and Mur when they tried freeing Zod from the Phantom Zone!

Plus ... just who has access to the Fortress of Solitude anyway? Faith in his people is one thing, but letting them just chill in his house while he's not home?

I felt the sympathy pang for Bizarro this issue, and for Mon-El as well. Hell, I felt a sympathy pang for Doomsday a few issues ago ... I must be getting sentimental in my old age.

The Science Police, this Rachel running things, Jim Harper 2.0 ... I want more information on them. Giving us a jam-packed with information pair of specials is great for getting us curious in the Guardian, but Robinson just dumped the Science Police on us (although as I say that I realize he probably introduced them in ATLAS and I missed out on it ... so I'll go back and get acquainted).

Anyway ... we get a big chunk of the central conflict of the New Krypton storyline here ... the plot definitely takes a step ... and it's heaping ideas on. This arc with three writers is certainly not suffering from decompression issues.

But I feel a little short-changed on motives. Re-reading it I see the characters were all acting in character ... Alura was a bit arrogant, Zor was compassionate, Supergirl just wanted to help, Superman was PISSED, Jim Harper was all mysterious and trying to infiltrate things ...

Must just be me falling prey to the "... to be continued" curse. I can't wait for next week and Action! More Luthor and Brainiac!

[Retro315]

A quick look at Flamebird on Wikipedia and I see that in the Silver Age, Superman and Jimmy were inspired by Batman and Robin but since Krypton didn't have bats or robins, Superman used two native Kryptonian birds - the Kryptonian nightwing and flamebirds. Even altered to a "legendary pair of vigilantes" Superman remembered, the origins of their names don't need retconning ...

So the phoenix-like bird Alura was playing with was almost 100% a Flamebird. A hint that she is Flamebird? Could be (not to mention the fact that they do look like they could be the same person).

Nightwing ... originally in the Silver Age, a guy called Van-Zee who looked a lot like Superman took over being Nightwing. The new Nightwing? Sure enough does look a lot like Superman - although younger, and more like our teenage Superboy, Conner Kent. Not only that, Van-Zee was Superman's cousin.

Originally, Thara Ak-Var's husband Ak-Var was Flamebird. We might get a switch-up now, with Thara's husband Ak-Var being Nightwing instead ... or Thara might be Flamebird, just female now (as all recent Flamebirds have been female). Which makes the only real mystery how she goes from short brown hair as herself to long blonde hair as Flamebird.

Pretty good odds on Nightwing and Flamebird being modern equivalents to Van-Zee and Ak-Var though. Although I'm still hoping "cousin Van-Zee" turns out to be Con-El.

[Mat001]

...Or alternatively, he might go on a murderous rampage. Since, y'know, he's Bizarro, and predictability and logic are not generally considered his defining character traits.

Except as we see, Bizarro is leaving Earth when he's attacked and as he tells the Kryptonians, he's still sad. So he wasn't there to cause destruction.

I don't really see what's stupid about the Kryptonians grabbing all those Superman villains, even ones who are already imprisoned. It's not like Superman villains ever stay in prisons for long. But the way they went about getting Parasite? Yeah, stupid.

The thing is that the Phantom Zone isn't an option for them. Clark never wanted to put them through that hell, which is why he's never done so. He's perfered to rely on it for Kryptonians since that's the safest place for them and the world. Especially after his trip into there and knowing what Chris went through, he wouldn't wish that on anyone. It's also how they did it. Hurting Robin, Nightwing and Black Lightning as well as killing the Science Police and prison guards. If the government asked him to do it, he might've considered. But they just went off on their own accord and made matters much worse.

I'd have preferred them not to push too hard on the Allura villain angle so soon.

I don't think she's a villain. Rather she's just a Kryptonian like most of the others. If you will recall, not all of them had the same compassion for life that Jor-El did and obviously it runs in the family with Zor-El. Her attitude is just like those who feel that the ends justify the means. Doesn't exactly mean they're bad, but rather short sighted.

Plus ... just who has access to the Fortress of Solitude anyway? Faith in his people is one thing, but letting them just chill in his house while he's not home?

It's home to all Kryptonains. Always has been. When Bruce came to visit in Action Comics #864, there was a scan to identify him. Clark put it up after Zod, Ursa and Non went in prior to then. He obviously adjusted it for his people. Clark is one of the world's biggest optimists.

[heffison]

A quick look at Flamebird on Wikipedia and I see that in the Silver Age, Superman and Jimmy were inspired by Batman and Robin but since Krypton didn't have bats or robins, Superman used two native Kryptonian birds - the Kryptonian nightwing and flamebirds. Even altered to a "legendary pair of vigilantes" Superman remembered, the origins of their names don't need retconning ...

So the phoenix-like bird Alura was playing with was almost 100% a Flamebird. A hint that she is Flamebird? Could be (not to mention the fact that they do look like they could be the same person).

Nightwing ... originally in the Silver Age, a guy called Van-Zee who looked a lot like Superman took over being Nightwing. The new Nightwing? Sure enough does look a lot like Superman - although younger, and more like our teenage Superboy, Conner Kent. Not only that, Van-Zee was Superman's cousin.

Originally, Thara Ak-Var's husband Ak-Var was Flamebird. We might get a switch-up now, with Thara's husband Ak-Var being Nightwing instead ... or Thara might be Flamebird, just female now (as all recent Flamebirds have been female). Which makes the only real mystery how she goes from short brown hair as herself to long blonde hair as Flamebird.

Pretty good odds on Nightwing and Flamebird being modern equivalents to Van-Zee and Ak-Var though. Although I'm still hoping "cousin Van-Zee" turns out to be Con-El.

As much as I want Conner Kent to come back, I'm pretty sure this isn't it, and another El relative in the suit seems pretty likely. Only thing is, DiDio said that this is someone known in the DCU for a little while, but not seen in this costume before. Although it implied that the character had been seen in another costume, this may not be true. So have we met anyone in the New Krypton books who could turn out to be Kal-El's cousin?

And please, so I can sleep soundly, hit me with every possible reason that this cannot be Chris Kent.

[Ilash]

I'm not reading this book anymore but I was wondering: has Robinson improved since his first arc? I finally got around to reading the last issue of the Atlas arc this weekend and it reminded me how incredibly awful the whole arc was with some of the most cringe-worthy dialogue and characterization that I've seen in a Superman comic for a long, long time. Has he sorted that all out yet or have people just become so caught up with the whole New Krypton thing that they don't notice?

[$5 Milkshake]

Has he sorted that all out yet or have people just become so caught up with the whole New Krypton thing that they don't notice?

lol a little of both, I think. He HAS gotten better, but how much of that is due to we the readers just being into the current storyline is hard to say.

[AdamYJ]

Well, the thing about Superman not "stopping" Bizarro is that there was nothing to stop. Superman fights villians when they cause trouble. Bizarro wasn't causing trouble. He was just standing there. I can just imagine it now:

"Okay, Bizarro, I have to teach you the lesson that it's not okay to just stand there!"

:tongue: :biggrin:

Anyway, we're definitely seeing something interesting with them rounding up all of Superman's Rogues Gallery (well, all except Luthor, Braniac, Metallo and minor leaguers like Puzzler and Riot). The Zod followers causing "collateral damage" is really going to cause some problems between the law of Earth and Kandor. Just as problematic, you know those super-villians are going to get out. And when they do, they'll probably give as good as they get. "New Krypton" is likely going to figure out that it's not a good idea to underestimate those guys.

[Mat001]

That's pretty much it there. Clark isn't a pre-emptive kinda of person. The Kryptonians were. This shows the difference between the two.

[Karl O'Neill]

Robinson has brought his A-Game to the Table. His issues are jam packed with great writing, both character, plot and ominous tidings ahead. I am very happy he was brought on to the superman books. great choice.

[coconutphone]

Bizarro at Jonathan Kent's grave was a touching little scene.

I picked this up as part of my annual "Get a bunch of books I normally never read but know/like the characters" sampling when my LCS has a sale after Christmas. I quite liked it. The above mentioned scene I liked the most though. I went back and looked at it several times, feeling some nice empathy for poor Bizarro. It was a nice touch. I liked the PZ twist with the villains and Kara's mom being a bit on the dark side. Glad I picked this up.