The Return of Mon El

The main Superman series has been the only book that has come out consistently since Infinite Crisis,  though it's had to release several fill-in issues to stay on time.  With this month, however, even that series skips a month, and the second book of Camelot Falls is starting to look like it would never be finished, just like Richard Donner's Last Son story.  Fortunately, Superman/Batman came out twice this month, finishing one story arc and starting another. 

Action Comics #851

Last Son part 4

It's been months since the last chapter of this story came out, but when we left off Zod had trapped Superman in the Phantom Zone while he and his army begin to take over Metropolis.  In the Phantom Zone, Superman is reunited with Mon El, the only innocent person trapped there.  Mon El had been erased from continuity decades before this during the "5-Year Later" reboot of the Legion of Superheroes.  He's been brought back along with his pre-Crisis origin where he met Clark Kent as a boy in Smallville, which had been retold a few months earlier in Actions Comics Annual #10.  Mon El would return with the pre-Crisis Legion after Final Crisis.  The pre-Crisis Legion had just been reintroduced in the Lightning Saga, although the "3boot" version was still starring in the current series with Supergirl.  Superman would meet the original Legion again for the first time six months later in this series.

Mon El takes Superman to Fort Rozz in the Phantom Zone and from there helps him escape back to Earth.  Superman seeks help from Lex Luthor, someone he knows has plans and weapons that can stop Kryptonians.  Luthor tells Superman that he will have to team up with his allies: Metallo, the Parasite, and Bizarro!  The finale wasn't solicited for the next issue, however, and the conclusion in Action Comics Annual #11 wouldn't hit the stands until over 6 months later.

Superman/Batman #36

Brainiac possesses a new O.M.A.C. body that he had the Metal Men steal from Waynetech Enterprises.  Bruce Wayne is in the hospital from the fight last issue, leaving Superman to find Brainiac and the Metal Men on his own.  Bruce refuses to stay in the hospital, however, and sneaks out to help his best friend.  They persuade the Metal Men to resist Brainiac's control, and Brainiac disappears without a trace.  Superman questions why Batman had kept the O.M.A.C. technology even after the events of Infinite Crisis, but Batman gives him a flimsy excuse of needed more than one contingency plan. 

Superman/Batman #37

Torment part 1 of 6

A new creative team starts a new story, which starts out similarly to the way the last one did.  Killer Croc breaks into Lex Corp and steals something important to Lex Luthor.  The monster who hired Croc for the robbery nearly kills him when they meet at the docks, but he escapes into the water.  Killer Croc is later found by a fishing boat who presumes he's dead, but this post-Hush version of Croc has deceptive reptilian anatomy for reasons that hadn't really been explained.  Batman investigates the robbery and uncovers that the stolen item was some Kryptonian artifact, and he pursues the fugitive Killer Croc.

After lunch with Pete Ross, where the former Vice President strangely calls Lois "hot", Clark Kent goes back to the Daily Planet.  An earthquake suddenly shakes the building, and wasting no time, Clark dives into an elevator shaft to turn into Superman.  Outside the building, he's horrified to see that the ground is turning into Kryptonite, just like in the last days of Krypton.