Superman: Last Son

KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!!!!
Ok nerdness aside this is a great superman comic, with lots of backstory on General Zod and his lackeys ( )

A contrived, ham-handed piece of crap. Best to be avoided. ( )

The promise of a Superman comic co-written by the director of the fantastic Superman: The Movie featuring General Zod-- and Zod's own son, to be raised by Clark Kent himself-- was more than enough to make me undertake the rare purchase of an in-continuity DC story. And this did not disappoint; it shows the best of Superman, the man who strives, no matter what, and would strive even if he were not "Super"; the scene where he reenters Zod's Phantom Zone fortress to save Mon-El despite the fact that his powers don't work there was fantastic. I only wish we had actually gotten to see more of Clark and Lois as parents; the (fantastic) scene where thet decide to give parenting a try is immediately followed by Zod's invasion, which preempts any plans they may have had in that regard. Just one issue to give this idea some room would have been adequate. The other excellent part of this story was the depiction of Lex Luthor: "So this is what it feels like to kill a Kryptonian," he cackles over the bodies of one of Zod's minions. Johns gets Luthor and all of his neuroses in a way that Jeph Loeb failed to in Public Enemies (an inevitable comparison, given how closely I read the two stories). An exceptional Superman story; I was quite disappointed to read about the way Christopher Kent returned earlier this year, as it precludes the Superman-as-father story I've been robbed of by both Last Son and Superman Returns.

One of the more moving Man of Steel books I've read in a while, in which a young boy of Kryptonian origin rockets to Earth, crashing in Metropolis. Superman takes to the boy, eventually convincing Lois to adopt him in their civilian guises.Later, the boy is revealed to be an innocent pawn in a Phantom Zone escape by General Zod and his minions. Superman is exiled to the Zone himself, but manages to escape with the help of Mon-El, and renews the fight against the Kryptonian criminals. There are several powerful scenes here, mostly revolving around Superman's father-like feelings toward young Christopher, the young Kryptonian boy who eventually saves the day in a self-sacrifice that devastates Superman. Very nicely done story; it's all too seldom that we see how vulnerable Superman really is. ( )