Free Comic Book Day Brings the War of the Supermen

Three years ago Superman director, Richard Donner, and DC Comics messiah, Geoff Johns, released a Superman story called “Last Son.”  It involved a Kryptonian boy coming mysteriously to Earth.  Lois & Clark adopted the boy and gave him the name Chris.  Soon they find out he is the son of General Zod and Ursa, and Zod has come out of the Phantom Zone to reclaim him and destroy the Man of Steel.  Johns continued his crusade into Superman with “New Krypton,” in which Superman rescues the bottled city of Kandor from Brainiac, and it opens right next to the Fortress of Solitude.  This sets free Zod, Ursa, Supergirl’s parents, and 100,000 Kryptonians. 

Ever since then the Superman world has been on full speed leading to the beginning of “The War of the Supermen” which starts on May 1, a.k.a, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY.  Each year comic book stores around the U.S. shine their windows and sweep under the rug in hopes of luring in new customers with FREE COMIC BOOKS.  The comic companies usually donate to the retailers some big comic event to give out for free on this day.  Marvel has got some Iron Man comics they're supplying stores with and this year DC has its War of the Supermen #0.  In this issue Lois Lane will recap what’s been going on in Superman comics for the last two or three years, so that new readers can jump right into War of the Supermen #1 the following Wednesday.  This is also being called the100-Minute-War because with 100,000 beings that can move faster than a speeding bullet it can’t possibly last too long.

Now for your pleasure I’m going to give a little break down on some of the key players in the Superman world, and who may play a role in the War of the Supermen.  Hopefully this will also entice you to find your nearest comic book store on Saturday and pick up A FREE SUPERMAN COMIC!!!

Superman:  Clark Kent; the Man of Steel; the Man of Tomorrow; Earth’s Greatest Hero; and no longer the Last Son of Krypton.  Now there are 100,000 Kryptonians all with his abilities currently residing on the other side of the sun, on a place called New Krypton.  Kal-El has spent the last year off of Earth trying to learn more about his people and why they love the villainous Zod so much.  After helping train the New Krypton military to use their new powers he also helped to defend New Krypton when Brainiac returned to re-capture the Kryptonians.  Clark is right in the middle of a 100-Minute-War as Zod makes his move to attack Earth.  Can the Man of Steel save Earth from 100,000 supermen?

General Zod:  New Krypton general; and now the savoir of his people.  All the Kryptonians saw him take down Brainiac without using any super powers and they love him for it.  With Ursa and Non at is side, Zod looks towards his next mission; having all of planet Earth kneel before Zod. 

General Lane:  Lois Lane’s father; military general; the guy who has been pulling the strings in secret for the last few years by trying to turn all humans against Kryptonians.  General Lane was assumed dead in “Our Worlds at War” but he has teamed up with Lex Luthor to try and take out the Kryptonians before they attack first.  He’s got Luthor to help him scheme, along with super villains Metallo and Reactron as muscle.  Don’t assume 100,000 supermen can take over the planet so easily.  Lane’s also got all of Earth’s super heroes to help him out.

Supergirl:  daughter of Alura; cousin of Kal-El.  She is child of two worlds.  She was raised on Krypton, but has come to call Earth her home.  When her family and friends of Kandor returned she was torn between her old life and her new duties.  With her father dead at the hands of Reactron Kara must choose between sticking with her mother, who is the last living member of the New Krypton council, or helping her cousin defend Earth from her people.

Nightwing & Flamebird: Chris Kent & Thara Ak-Var; Mythological heroes from Krypton legend come to life.  At the end of “Last Son” Chris Kent was pulled back into the Phantom Zone where he was born.  There he aged unnaturally fast and was rescued from the Phantom Zone by a young woman claiming to be possessed by the Kryptonian religious figure, Flamebird.  Since then they have been hunting Kryptonian fugitives on Earth while General Lane hunts them.  They have teamed up with Thara’s childhood best friend, Supergirl, to try and take down Reactron.  Recently they encounter a being claiming to be Rao, The god of Krypton, and had to embrace the full power of Nightwing and Flamebird to stop it. 

Superboy:  Kon-El; Connor Kent; the Boy of Steel.  He’s got half the DNA of Superman, and half the DNA of Lex Luthor, and he’s recently come back from dead to find everything different.  To the Kryptonians he’s an abomination, but he swears to help uphold the values Superman has set for him.  Superboy is the third part of the super-trio, along with Superman and Supergirl; one that I hope to see throw down with Zod, Ursa, and Non in the 100-Minute-War.

Lex Luthor:  He’s the ultimate Superman villain who has dedicated his life to bringing down The Man of Steel.  He’s broken a deal with General Lane to help take down the Kryptonians in exchange for a presidential pardon on every bad thing he’s ever done, and that’s just the first part of their plan.  Toy Man designed Lex a robot look-a-like that set one of Brainiac’s bottled cities free, hoping it destroyed New Krypton as it enlarged.  He was last seen standing over Rao’s body with a smile on his face.  That’s never a good sign.

I didn’t find “Last Stand of New Krypton” to exciting.  I think a lot of it had to do with all the characters in it, but at I think it ended well enough to be a great lead into “War of the Supermen”.  Now the final chapter of this epic Superman saga is about to conclude; one where we’ll see the fate of Superman and the rest of Kryptonians.  In May none of the regular Superman titles will be released, and instead you will get one part of the War of the Supermen each week.  So head towards your nearest comic book store for some FREE COMIC BOOKS, pick up a graphic novel while you’re there, and enjoy the 100-Minute-War.