Who Is Superwoman?

The identity of the new Superwoman is revealed at last, which of course raises more questions that will soon be answered.  Superman continues to be absent from his own books except for World of New Kyrpton, where Kal El now wears a military uniform instead of his superhero costume.  This story arc seems to be trying to re-capture the magic of Reign of the Supermen.  But when Superman's four series were taken over by imposters in that story, Superman's presence was still felt in every issue even though he was dead at the time.

Superman: World of New Krypton #2

On OA, the Guardians notice the appearance of a new planet in Sector 2814 and decide they should dispatch Green Lantern Hal Jordan to investigate New Krypton.

General Zod puts Kal El in charge of a unit of unmemorable characters who will have to serve as his supporting cast for the time being.  A herd of Kryptonian thought-beasts is rampaging across New Krypton and threatening the city, so Kal's unit is called to stop it.  Rather than kill all the animals like his fellow Kryptonians would have done, Superman instructs his unit to dig a pit and herd the beasts into it.  A member of Kal's unit comments how the thought beasts are just like them: extinct but they don't know it yet.

Meanwhile back in the city, Alura and other elites are taken hostage by members of the Labor Guild who are demanding equality.  In retaliation, Commander Gor rounds up thirty innocent members of the Labor Guild and threatens to execute them unless the hostages are freed.

Action Comics #876

At the Fortress of Solitude, Christopher and Thara Ak-Var fight Ursa as Nightwing and Flamebird  Although Ursa is Chrstopher's biological mother, she doesn't show her son any mercy.  The Kryptonians are evenly matched under Earth's yellow sun, but Ursa has the advantage with a Kryptonite knife.  Chris uses one of his unexplained Phantom Zone powers to knock out his mother and take the blade from her.  Thara tells Chris to kill her, but he says he won't because Superman wouldn't.  Thara replies that Superman isn't here, before she collapses from Kryptonite poisoning.  Christopher says goodbye to his mother and flies away with Thara, leaving the Fortress to collapse on Ursa.  At her apartment, Lois Lane says a blur outside her window and thinks Clark has returned for a visit, but she's shocked to see her now-grown foster son Chris flying outside with the wounded Thara.

In pre-Crisis continuity, Thara was the wife of Ak-Var, a Kryptonian who operated as Flamebird.

Supergirl #40

Who Is Superwoman? part 4

Supergirl suspects her childhood friend Thara Ak-Var is behind the mask of the new Superwoman.  This red herring has been slightly spoiled because we already know Thara is really the new Flamebird in Action Comics, which explains her suspicious absence during Zor El's murder.  Major Lucy Lane alerts Supergirl to Superwoman's location, but it turns out to be a decoy to lure her into a fight with the Gold Kryptonite-powered Reactron, who killed her father.

Cat Grant, Lana Lang, and Jimmy Olsen attend a Metropolis public school journalism awards banquet.  Lana tells Cat she's worried about her "niece", but when Cat asks the simple question of whether this niece is her her brother or sister's child, Lana doesn't have a backstory prepared to explain Supergirl living with her.  While Supergirl and Reactron fight, Lana is attacked by Superwoman.  Reactron gets away, but now Supergirl is convinced of Superwoman's true identity.  Supergirl rushes to the banquet and reveals Lucy Lane is behind the Superwoman mask.

Superman #687

Though the title still has Superman's name, there's no effort made to explain the Man of Steel's absence or mention him at all.  

Mon El tries to balance his superhero identity with his new identity as a police officer.  This story shows why it's not really a good idea for a superhero to have a day job in law enforcement, and because his commanding officer, the Guardian, knows his secret it doesn't make much sense for him to be there in disguise.  The Guardian is looking for members of his team to volunteer for a mission to free the time-lost Legionnaire, Tellus.

Jimmy Olsen pays a visit to Zatara to try to get information about the magic that was used to blast Supergirl during the fight with Atlas.  Unbeknownst to both of them, Jimmy is being followed by the Parasite.  John Henry Irons gives a private tour of the Metropolis sewer system to a friend he just met at a bar, and who he doesn't recognize is really the villain Atlas in hiding.  Black Lightning also emerges on the scene as a defender of Metropolis.

Mon El is being followed and observed by Project 7734.  Just when Mon El is starting to think things are going well, he inexplicably loses his powers mid-flight and plunges into the harbor.