Will Zod Ever Be a Superman Rogue?

[Magneto_X]

He's an incredibly under-rated enemy in Superman's rogues gallery, Post-Crisis.

I heard Brubaker bought him into the Post-Crisis DCU in his run with JIm Lee (got to get that!), will DC ever bring that version back?

If they do, I hope they don't kill him again.

If rogues like Brainiac and Metallo can torment the Boy Scout for decades I think Zod could, too!

[Ontir]

I think that's the whole point of the Donner arc.

[CYOTI]

He's an incredibly under-rated enemy in Superman's rogues gallery, Post-Crisis.

I heard Brubaker bought him into the Post-Crisis DCU in his run with JIm Lee (got to get that!), will DC ever bring that version back?
!

That was Azzarello actually as for Zod, I thnk he was the superman villain with most versions post-crisis since we had the Soviet Dictator, the one living in Brainac's fake Krypton, the one in the Phantom Zone introduced in the Lee/Azzarello Superman and the version that Superman killed in the Supergirl/Matrix Saga.

[Magneto_X]

I'm talking about Azzarello's Zod then.

I did like the idea of the Soviet Dictator version but DC really missed the ball by killing him. And in such a lame way.

[Ontir]

I think that Zod is toast, post-IC.

[Alan2099]

There's been quite a few attempts to make Zod into a major threat but every one of them sems to ignore what people liked about him.

Terence Stamp.

If you're going to do Zod, he really needs to be done like the movie version. That's really the only version most people care anything about and he was such a nice villian.

[TROUBLEZ]

Ya, he played a good Zod. Wasn't Zod not even a big villain in the Silver Age? Wasn't it Jax-Ur?

The Lee/Azzarello was was weak. He had Supermans powers right? Except he needed chain mail and armor to be tough? And he looked like a buff bum. I always kind of assumed that Superman was built due to good genetics and a little help from the sun, but that if another Kryptonian came to Earth, who was skinny, he would still be strong or as strong, just not as built.

The Soviet one I didn't like either. The name alone sounds like he could be a better villain than Lex Luthor, if only they get the characterization right!

[PatrickG]

Ya, he played a good Zod. Wasn't Zod not even a big villain in the Silver Age? Wasn't it Jax-Ur?

Exactly. I think an attempt to make Zod work in the comics needs to acknowledge the other classic Phantom Zoners as more than simply one note cronies of Zod.

Do THAT and there's some chemistry to play with.

Superman vs. Zod solo is too evenly matched anyway. I think the cool thing about the PZ is having Superman face a mob of equally powered opponents. Three is a good number for a movie (SFX concerns) but I'd like to see 10 or so.

Batman gets to cut loose on 10 or more highly skilled, peak physical condition enemies all the time.

I'd like to see Superman do the same.

[Ontir]

There were a number of Kryptonese villains in the Silver Age, Jax-Ur and Quex-ul are the two that stand out the most in my memory. Later, in response to the Superman movie, we got a trio which included Zod, Faora, and another cousin of Superman's Kru-el.

[marshal99]

Evil Kryptonians were never so much of a threat in pre-crisis , they always ended up back in the phantom zone.

There's like a whole bunch of them all trapped in the phantom zone where sometimes they combine their will power and able to influence somebody to do things from the zone.
I remember one pre-crisis story when superman had contracted kryptonian leprosy and wanted to exile himself in the phantom zone , all the villains inside there joined their willpower together and psychically forced superman out from entering the phantom zone.

[PatrickG]

Evil Kryptonians were never so much of a threat in pre-crisis , they always ended up back in the phantom zone.

There's like a whole bunch of them all trapped in the phantom zone where sometimes they combine their will power and able to influence somebody to do things from the zone.
I remember one pre-crisis story when superman had contracted kryptonian leprosy and wanted to exile himself in the phantom zone , all the villains inside there joined their willpower together and psychically forced superman out from entering the phantom zone.

I fail to see how that's "not a threat".

Batman's enemies wind up in jail or Arkham.

I find it to be a disappointment that Ra's or Shiva never wound up captured as far as I can recall.

[marshal99]

Not a threat in so much as making regular appearances like Brainiac or Luthor who threatens superman fairly regularly.

I honestly cannot remember one kryptonian villain who stood out in a memorable story in the comics. We all know General Zod but that's only because of Terrance Stamp in the movie who made Zod his own.

[Syphre Zero]

Exactly. I think an attempt to make Zod work in the comics needs to acknowledge the other classic Phantom Zoners as more than simply one note cronies of Zod.

It looks like you're getting your wish; check out Action Comics #845.

Personally, I can't think of a worse direction to take the Superman franchise than this. I suppose if you got creative and wanted to make a REALLY tacky and pointless move you could, oh I don't know, give him a kid or something.

Oh, wait.

[Ontir]

"Jason" isn't tacky, and he's far from pointless.

[Syphre Zero]

"Jason" isn't tacky, and he's far from pointless.

To each his own, I guess. I find the concept of Superman as a father (particularly as it was implied in Superman Returns) distasteful, in part for the same reason that some readers don't care for Supergirl, Power Girl, Kandorians, Zod, etc: it takes something away from Kal-El being the Last Son of Krypton.

Conceptually, I have always imagined Superman as the ultimate big brother (not to be confused with the more sinister Big Brother), not as a father figure.