REVIEW: Superman: Kingdom Of Zod Special #1

Superman’s returning arc to the DC Universe in Superman: Kingdom of Zod Special #1. After the spectacular show Clark put on in the previous issue to purge the world from kryptonite poisoning, it’s time to square off against Zod for the final showdown for the fate of the world and even time itself.

Dan Mora’s cover gives us Superman with a beard one last time since he’s no longer rocking it in the pages now. Even though we’re passed the kryptonite virus, it also makes on last appearance among the Superboys, which was a really cool gimmick for this story to include all of them. Supergirl and Ursa continues to be the secondary matchup of this event. The Eradicatrix, who was a cool character in this story also makes an appearance in hologram form behind Zod.

KyuYong Eom’s variant is a beast of an illustration of Ursa taking out Cyborg Superman who doesn’t even appear in this story. She’s also doing this in a costume not seen in the pages either and looks like she never missed leg day in her life. She doesn’t even look like she’s punching, she just clawed his head off. Imagine the damage she could do if she kicked. The fake flesh tearing, and robot gore also is surprisingly visceral.

Like I said,  Supergirl vs. Ursa is a great matchup. It’s also poetic –both women knew and loved their home world deeply and only one has accepted that it is gone. Nathan Szerdy brings this to the cover with his variant. All it’s missing the banners advertising the fight.

Karen S. Darboe’s variant featuring Zod looks like it could go on a t-shirt. The simple colors and design make it ideal for merch.

The issue opens with an actually sweet flashback to Clark and a young Jon after he and Damien got in trouble for taking the Invisible Jet (would pay to read that comic). Clark talks about how sending Zod to the Phantom Zone was one of the hardest decisions he had to make. We flash forward to the now with Superman fighting Zod from the past now taking the spot of the deceased present day on. The Super-Family and Supergirl’s friends also join the fight against his forces.

At the heart of the battle is Booster Gold’s time machine  that Supergirl and young Clark had used to go back to Krypton and how Zod returned after Ursa killed him. This is actually all explained in a two-page spread recap after the intro segment. It’s Superman vs. Zod, Supergirl vs. Ursa, and four Superboys against everything in sight as Booster Gold races to his machine undo everything. Special prologues for Action Comics. Supergirl, and Superman Unlimited are done by their respective creative teams after wards.

Wrapping up Kingdom of Zod could’ve been done easily, just a big fight between Superman and Zod that spans pages, but Joshua Williamson tries to cover every character to remind us that this is a mega-crossover of all the Superman comic lines. From the opening scene, there’s hints of the Superman series arc of Jon or Tomorrow-Man –starting off as Superboy then working to find his own hero self. This is followed up later in the issue as well. Personally, I would like more on Superboy Prime, but that wish is being granted elsewhere. It also has a sendoff including who can be considered to be the main antagonist all along. There’s also the Superman-centric themes of making hard decisions. Letters are by Josh Reed.

Artist Paolo Villanelli and colorist Arif Prianto had their work cut out for them following the visuals of the last issue with Superman’s hypersonic planetary rescue. Their solution: spreads. The streets and skies of the Kryptonite Kingdom are crowded with troops and Super-Family members with heat visions flying in all directions. The Superman vs. Zod fight hit the note I was wanting as short as it was –Kryptonians fighting like comets. The cast of the Supergirl comics are always interesting seeing be put in other art styles since some of them originated in that series.

(8/10) Superman: Kingdom of Zod Special #1 sees the final battle against Zod stretched among the sprawling cast of characters. While Superman’s true return was solidified last issue, this issue concludes with a larger “and so” section.