The Origin of Zod

We finally learn the origin of the new Zod who's been ruling the nation of Pokolistan for the last couple years.  It seemed to me that Joe Kelly really wanted to bring back the original Zod in the beginning, but editorial still wouldn't let him break the post-Crisis "no other Kryptonians" rule so he had to come up with something else instead.  It probably would've been better if they'd never given this Zod an origin at all, and you don't need to remember it because it will never be mentioned again after this.

Action Comics #803

After they turn the sun red, Superman falls to Earth and Zod is nowhere to be found.  The victims of the metagene contagion go back to normal, but it turns out all metahumans who were in the U.S. during the outbreak have also lost their powers now, leaving the planet defenseless.  After recovering from his injuries, Superman wraps himself in an American flag and goes to Pokolistan to fight Ignition and Faora.  After Superman defeats the villains, President Luthor gives Superman access to the entire U.S. Military.  Luthor privately reveals to Superman that he knows the knowledge of his secret identity was erased from his mind, but Superman just listens, like he doesn't know what Luthor is talking about.  Suddenly, Superman turns on Luthor and lets Ignition and Faora into the secret facility, and we find out that this Superman who fell to Earth was really Zod all along.  The real Man of Steel is still floating in space around the red sun, imprisoned in Zod's armor and powerless.

We finally get the origin of the new Zod, and it's a convoluted mess.  This Zod was a child born to Russian cosmonauts in space during the Cold War.  With unusual powers from this experience, he was trained by the KGB to become the Soviet answer to the Man of Steel.  However, he was imprisoned for killing his superiors, but while in confinement he communicated with the ghost of the General Zod from the pocket universe who Superman had killed.  Taking on the name of Zod, he changes his face to look like Superman's and conquered a country to set his long-game, master plan in motion.

Adventures of Superman #616

The author whose writing brought the Hollow Men to life is, for reasons that don't entirely make sense, brought to Heroville to type another chapter of his book in which the Hollow Men can be defeated.  Superman battles the Hollow Men in the streets in front of him while he types.  Superman nearly succumbs to the anti-chromatic syndrome, and he has a black and white dream in which Lois Lane is married to Lex Luthor.  He refuses to accept this is real, and after confessing to Lois that she inspires him, she whispers to him not to give up, and to believe.  Back in the real world, there's an explosion around Superman that destroys the Hollow Men, and all the heroes affected by the anti-chromatic syndrome are instantly recovered, as the writer finishes his new chapter.  The end.

This issue was trying to be meta, before that was a common thing in comics.  However, it didn't really make sense why the writer had to be in the same location as the fight, or why he had to write an entire chapter instead of just ending it in one sentence.

Superman #193

To avoid exposing his secret identity, Superman takes Cir-El away from Metropolis to speak in private.  She explains that she's his daughter from the future, but then she gets angry that he won't just instantly accept her story and so she starts to fight him.  

Suddenly, the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion consumes Metropolis and Superman rushes back only to find out that it was just an illusion.  The villain Radion emerges from the nuclear reactor where the new Supergirl dropped him, but Superman finds himself fighting more illusions.  The city's newest hero, Viceroy, joins the fight to avenge his father who was believed to have been killed by Radion, although Viceroy's robotic owl sidekick reminds him that the original Viceroy was not actually his father.  

During the fight, a rival TV reporter is injured and asks Lois to take her microphone and finish covering the story.  That night, Lois and Clark re-watch the story on the news and ponder if Lois should be on TV, and also if the new Supergirl could truly be their daughter from the future.