The Supergirl Saga
Is she Kara or isn't she? For the last six months, the Supergirl sub-plot has been building up to the big reveal. The writers have been cruelly playing with the emotions of Supergirl fans still mourning her death from Crisis on Infinite Earths. This is only a 3-part story, but every page is a double-page spread, which makes it feel epic in scope.
Part 1 of the Supergirl Saga
Supergirl and Superman meet in the sky, and while Superman utters the line "Great guns!" from the famous introduction of Kara Zor El back in Action Comics 252, it quickly becomes apparent this encounter is not going to go down the same way as before. Supergirl changes shape into Lana Lang and displays other new powers like a psycho-kinetic blast and invisibility. Still suffering from amnesia, she mistrusts Superman and seems to think Lex Luthor is a hero. Superman takes the girl to Metropolis to meet Luthor, who she doesn't recognize at all. At this point, Superman suspects that this Supergirl is a visitor from the pocket universe where Superboy came from (back in Superman #8). Suddenly, Supergirl regains her memory and takes Superman back to her universe to meet her (red-haired) Lex Luthor. In between the action, Jimmy Olsen convinces Perry White to send him and Lois to Ireland to investigate the Silver Banshee.
Part 2 of the Supergirl Saga
Superman recounts how the Time Trapper created the pocket universe, and Lex Luthor tells Superman the story of what happened on this earth since the death of Superboy. The Time Trapper had prevented any other superheroes from existing in this universe, but Lex goes to Smallville and finds Superboy's secret lab, hoping to find some way to bring back the Boy of Steel. He accidentally finds a way to communicate with some surviving Kryptonians trapped as phantoms in what they call "the survival zone." The phantoms instruct Lex how to free them, and he naively assists. Once free of the Phantom Zone, however, they reveal that they were really the Kryptonian criminals General Zod, Quex-Ul, and Zaora. The Kryptonians easily conquer Earth with no Superman to stop them. Frustrated that the weaker humans try to resist them, they turn Earth into a dead planet, with only the few humans (including Bruce Wayne, Hal Jordan, and Oliver Queen) sheltered in Luthor's protective dome surviving. After hearing the whole story, Superman decides it's time General Zod and his accomplices were made to pay for their crimes. To be continued.
The post-Crisis rule dictating Kal El can be the only surviving Kryptonian will remain in effect until 2004. Until then, other non-Kryptonian versions of Supergirl, as well as General Zod and the Phantom Zone criminals, would come and go until more or less being retconned away. Under the post-Crisis rules, this seemed like the only opportunity they would ever get to use General Zod as a villain, and the climax of this story would haunt Superman for years.
Lois Lane flashes back to when she tried to get a job at the Daily Planet at age 15. Turned away by Perry White, she decides to get the editor's attention by breaking into Lexcorp to get some dirt on Lex Luthor. Unfortunately, she gets caught stealing some papers from Lex's desk and Luthor's female guards tear her clothes to shreds searching for evidence. Lois manages to get out of the building with one paper hidden in her mouth, which impresses Perry and gets her a job. This creepy Donald Trump-inspired Lex Luthor re-watches the tape of the teenage girl being strip searched, and sends Lois a copy when he recognizes her later in life. The creators couldn't have known how close to the perversity of the real Donald Trump they really were.
Superman #21
Supergirl and Superman meet in the sky, and while Superman utters the line "Great guns!" from the famous introduction of Kara Zor El back in Action Comics 252, it quickly becomes apparent this encounter is not going to go down the same way as before. Supergirl changes shape into Lana Lang and displays other new powers like a psycho-kinetic blast and invisibility. Still suffering from amnesia, she mistrusts Superman and seems to think Lex Luthor is a hero. Superman takes the girl to Metropolis to meet Luthor, who she doesn't recognize at all. At this point, Superman suspects that this Supergirl is a visitor from the pocket universe where Superboy came from (back in Superman #8). Suddenly, Supergirl regains her memory and takes Superman back to her universe to meet her (red-haired) Lex Luthor. In between the action, Jimmy Olsen convinces Perry White to send him and Lois to Ireland to investigate the Silver Banshee.
Adventures of Superman #444
Superman recounts how the Time Trapper created the pocket universe, and Lex Luthor tells Superman the story of what happened on this earth since the death of Superboy. The Time Trapper had prevented any other superheroes from existing in this universe, but Lex goes to Smallville and finds Superboy's secret lab, hoping to find some way to bring back the Boy of Steel. He accidentally finds a way to communicate with some surviving Kryptonians trapped as phantoms in what they call "the survival zone." The phantoms instruct Lex how to free them, and he naively assists. Once free of the Phantom Zone, however, they reveal that they were really the Kryptonian criminals General Zod, Quex-Ul, and Zaora. The Kryptonians easily conquer Earth with no Superman to stop them. Frustrated that the weaker humans try to resist them, they turn Earth into a dead planet, with only the few humans (including Bruce Wayne, Hal Jordan, and Oliver Queen) sheltered in Luthor's protective dome surviving. After hearing the whole story, Superman decides it's time General Zod and his accomplices were made to pay for their crimes. To be continued.
The post-Crisis rule dictating Kal El can be the only surviving Kryptonian will remain in effect until 2004. Until then, other non-Kryptonian versions of Supergirl, as well as General Zod and the Phantom Zone criminals, would come and go until more or less being retconned away. Under the post-Crisis rules, this seemed like the only opportunity they would ever get to use General Zod as a villain, and the climax of this story would haunt Superman for years.
The World of Metropolis #2
Comments
Post a Comment