Superman: Kingdom of Zod Special #1
Main Story Narrative by Joshua Williamson with Epilogue Stories from Sophie Campbell, Mark Waid, Dan Slott and Joshua Williamsom
Main Story Art by Paolo Villanelli with additional art from David Messina, Rachel Stott, and Bruno Frenda
Main Story Colors by Arif Prianto with additional colors from Tamra Bonvillain, Ivan Plascensia, Giuliano Peratelli and Luis Guerrero
Letters by Josh Reed
Superman: Kingdom of Zod Special #1 not only gives us a big climactic ending to the Kingdom of Zod crossover but provides fans of DC’s Kryptonians with a taste of what's to come within the coming months across all their books. For a crossover that felt a little up and down at times, it was nice to see the Superman family of writers and artists come together for a finale that lived up to the high expectations I had for it. Let’s get into it. Spoiler Warning Now in Effect for Superman: Kingdom of Zod Special #1!
The Kingdom of Zod Comes Crashing Down
This issue opens not with a massive battle, but with an important moment between Clark and his son, Jon, from the past. After scolding his son for goofing off with Damien Wayne, the conversation quickly turns to something more serious as Jon asks Clark if he’s ever done something he regretted. Clark takes a second to think but tells Jon about the time he was forced to lock Zod and his allies back inside the Phantom Zone after they escaped. Clark doesn’t regret locking Zod back up but, as he so eloquently puts it, he regrets that it got to a point where there was no other choice for him to make. It’s a nice moment between father and son before the issue really takes off.
As someone who did not read a lot of Joshua Williamson’s work prior to him being on Superman, I have to say I really love how he writes Superman as a character. For a writer to write Superman effectively, it can’t just be all about the bombastic battles; they have to nail those emotional moments, from conversations with friends and family to him making a kid feel better after he rescues their pet. I’ve read more Superman books in my life than any other hero, and Williamson’s take on the character has been very enjoyable to read, and I’m happy to have him among the pantheon of writers to take on the Man of Steel. With that being said, after that moment between father and son, we get a massive splash page recapping the Kingdom of Zod event before the title card comes up and the finale truly begins.
General Zod, the version from Krypton’s past, has journeyed back to the present with Ursa, Supergirl, and Superboy (Young Clark Kent from Mark Waid’s Action Comics run). Zod wants to rule the Earth instead of going back to the doomed planet Krypton. Superman knows that he can never allow that to happen. A battle for the soul of Earth and Krypton begins as Superman and the House of El fight Zod, Ursa, and all the forces loyal to the mad general. The battle rages throughout the area of El Caldero as Superman and his allies do all they can to hold Zod and Ursa back. It soon becomes clear, though, that raw power isn’t going to win this battle alone.
Lena Luthor has a plan. The daughter of Superman’s most hated rival may now be the source of their salvation. Lena creates a device that’s essentially a time bomb. When it’s activated in conjunction with the time ship, it has the ability to send Zod and anyone else not from the current timeline back to their own times with no memory of what occurred or of the future. The only problem is… Zod and Ursa have a squad of their allies defending the timeship, and someone has to get the bomb to it. Enter Booster Gold, who, as he reminds us, before he was a superhero, was “the future’s greatest athlete.”
Booster jukes a bunch of Zod’s soldiers, with a little help from Connor Kent, Superboy Prime, and Young Clark, and he makes his way through this dangerous battlefield toward the time ship. Once Zod and Ursa take notice he throws a hail mary pass to Young Clark who slaps the bomb down on the time machine and activates it.
One thing that I liked about this final a lot is that it gave the supporting cast their time to shine also. Don’t get me wrong, give me as much Superman as possible, but it’s nice to everyone who has been involved in this crossover get their moment in the sun. The House of El has grown over the last few years with new allies joining the neverending battle and I can’t wait to see what other fun stories a lot of these characters will be involved with.
Endings and Beginnings
Once the time machine is activated, Zod is sent kicking and screaming back to his proper timeline while Young Clark accepts his fate and decides it’s better if he goes back to his own timeline. He understands how cool it would be to stay, but the time ramifications of that are too big to even contemplate. He knows he needs to go back and forget his future adventures, no matter how much he learned and all the people he's learned to care about. Our story seems to be wrapping up nicely, but what's that… someone ripped Young Clark away from the time portal before he could get away!
Ursa has her arms wrapped around Young Clark’s neck and threatens to snap it so Superman is erased from the timeline and she and Zod can finally rule. Supergirl, taking a page from her cousin, is able to talk Ursa down and remind her of her own son and her own motherly feelings, and gets her to drop Young Clark. Before she departs, though, she warns the House of El not to come looking for her. This wraps up the main story of the Kingdom of Zod, but don’t worry, this book ain’t over yet.
The last massive section of the Kingdom of Zod Special is four epilogues that set up the next four main storylines for the Superman family of books. Now, I want to be careful with what I talk about here because I don’t want to spoil too much of what’s on the way, but these four epilogues, each centering on a different portion of the House of El are all very intriguing, and I find myself even more excited about where the Superman books are all going.
Superman: Unlimited will focus on Tomorrow Man (Jon Kent) as he continues to make a name for himself and out of the shadows of his famous father. Something tells me he has some pretty great things in store for him based on a conversation he has in his epilogue story. Action Comics will continue its Young Clark saga with him successfully being sent back to the past, and it appears a very important character is about to pop up in the Smallville of the past. Supergirl gets a new fortress and is set to introduce a new villain who seems like he can do some real damage to her and her allies, and finally, coming up in the pages of Superman, Superboy-Prime seems to be leaving us for a bit, but we get some dark visions of the future and a dark presence whispering in Connor Kent’s ear…
I loved this issue from the main story to the epilogues, and I love that all the creative teams on all the Superman books got their chance to shine. There are some fantastic writers, great artists, and wonderful colorists currently creating these books, and for those who aren’t reading all the Superman titles, this issue does a great job of convincing you to jump on if you haven’t already. I especially can’t wait to see more Young Clark adventures, and I’m very curious about where Connor and Superboy Prime’s paths are going. There is some really interesting stuff coming up for the House of El.
Finally, I can’t end this review without talking about the art teams. From the main story to the four epilogues, this book showcased a wide array of styles and some striking color palettes. The action scenes are as bombastic and kinetic as they should be, and the emotional moments hit hard. The art teams cooked. My personal favorites from the issue were the art styles and color styles of the main story, the Supergirl epilogue, and the Action Comics epilogue, but again, they were all great.
Superman: Kingdom of Zod Special #1 delivers a satisfying ending to the kryptonite-filled Superman crossover. All the writers, artists, and colorists deserve their praise for an issue that also gives us a glimpse into the future of the House of El. Superman is hope personified, and this issue shows us that his legacy in the DC Universe is safe and sound with a family who is just as Super as he is.