SUPERMAN DOOMED #1: A group of fighter jets on an island to take down Doomsday, but the planes are destroyed, forcing Superman to save the pilots. He drops off the pilots on a nearby aircraft carrier and demands that they retreat. When Superman returns to the island, he finds the area ruin and Doomsday is gone. Returning to the Fortress of Solitude, Superman has a discussion with Dr. Veritas about Doomsday now having the ability to enter and exit the Phantom Zone at will. Lois and Lana end up in Smallville where the entire population has fallen into comas. Lois has a telepathic conversation with Brainiac while Lana finds her comatose parents. Doomsday appears in Botswana where he does battle with Steel, which is short lived as his toxins overpower Steel. Superman and Wonder Woman arrive but Doomsday escapes through a Phantom Zone portal. Later, the Justice League meets to discuss the threat. Lex Luthor arrives via hologram and suggests Superman leave Earth to draw Doomsday away. Superman confronts Doomsday in India, but the battle ends up on Venus where Superman thinks he has been defeated. Returning to Smallville, Doomsday suddenly appears through a portal causing Superman to rip Doomsday in half before collapsing.
Okay, so how strong IS the Man of Steel? Strong enough to tear the alien that once killed him into two pieces. Now THAT is a comic book moment. And for those of us who lived through Superman’s death and resurrection, it’s seems pretty satisfying! For all of us who lived through the speculator boom and crash, Superman ripping the beast in two was just what we all wanted to do. Yeah-I remember having a Platinum SUPERMAN #75 go for $10.00 at an auction with people laughing hysterically when they saw it. So we get a decent story from Scott Lobdell. Charles Soule and Greg Pak that sets up the next few months in the life of the man of Steel and the art by Ken Lashley is pretty rocking too!
ACTION COMICS #31: CHAPTER 1 of SUPERMAN DOOMED(INFECTED) We begin with Superman dreaming that he has transformed into Doomsday and feels the need to kill. In actuality, all he did was kill Doomsday. Wonder Woman and the justice League arrive and carry Superman away, realizing that that he's not the same boy she dated in high-school anymore. Lex Luthor, sanctioned by Senator Lane, tells Superman that he will have to place Superman under quarantine. That’s when the fantasy of him killing Lex takes hold. Superman flies off to Alaska where he is greeted by Krypto. Later poachers shoot down a wolf and our hero tears their helicopter in half as anger grips him. He feels no remorse-he notes how good it feels. Back in Virginia, Senator Lane contacts John Henry Irons who enters a pool of organic steel which prevents cellular degeneration. When Doomsday exploded, Lane believes that Superman inhaled some sort of mist that came from Doomsday and is turning him into Doomsday. In Smallville, Lois warns Lana that she should leave. But Lana insists that can’t be any danger because Superman wouldn’t have left them if there was danger. Meanwhile, Superman is locked out of the Fortress of Solitude as his DNA doesn’t match. He notes his fists have become bony like those of Doomsday. Despite this, he realizes he will find a way to save the world, even if Doomsday is now within him.
So, Doomsday is dead but is in the process of making his resurrection via Superman himself. What that means is the strongest man on the planet and the strongest beast on the planet has merged. That could be bad-very bad! The next chapter in the Superman crossover epic takes shape via Greg Pak, Aaron Kuder, Rafa Sandoval and Vicente Cifuentes. I mean, we all know that everything will work out in the end. But half the fun is seeing how much this creative team will mess with our hero until then. Fun reading for the whole family!
SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #8: CHAPTER 2 of SUPERMAN DOOMED(INFECTED) Wonder Woman arrives at Clark Kent’s apartment door, noticing gouging and scrapes around the doorknob. Clark calls out that the place isn't ready for visitors. Eight hours earlier, Diana Prince met with Cat Grant, who admitted Clark had not been himself lately. Six hours earlier, Lois Lane got a call from Diana, asking a similar question. She flatly tells her she has no time for that and begs Diana to tell Perry White her location and ask for help. The help arrives in the form of the Goddess of War, who orders the soldiers to release Lois, which they do. Lois tells Diana that she had heard from Clark recently had called Lois late one night sounding drunk. Two hours ago, Batman met with Wonder Woman and explained that a sample of Clark's blood from Smallville was the same as Doomsday’s DNA. They decide that Superman inhaled the mist to save everyone’s lives, not knowing that it would transform him into Doomsday. At this moment, Diana realizes that Clark has been infected. He admits that and then takes her Lasso of Truth, wrapping it around his own neck. Months ago, he told her he loved her. She has yet to say those words to him. He begs her to kill him now before he gets too strong, but she refuses. He attacks her, forcing her to fight him. Ultimately, he fights to resist the change and does…for now.
I’m not a big fan of this title mostly because I have issues with these two being together. I’m sorry: I grew up in a world where Lois loved Superman and, in later times, married Clark. Having the two of them with other people bothers me. That having been said, Charles Soule and Tony S. Daniel do a great job with this issue and probably do on every issue. The title looks great and I like Soule’s work on almost everything I’ve reads from him. Can’t we just make the relationship between these two mega powers go away and give us a SUPERMAN LOIS LANE comic instead?
BATMAN SUPERMAN #11: CHAPTER 3 of SUPERMAN DOOMED (INFECTED) Batman travels to Superman’s Fortress of Solitude to find a cure Wonder Woman and Steel arrive and find a sick Krypto; effected by the same sickness that Steel had acquired when he fought Doomsday. Once inside, the ailing Krypto leaps through the Phantom Zone Portal in search of Doomsday. Batman and Wonder Woman follows, ordering Steel to stay behind to close the portal behind them if something goes wrong. They find the ground covered in skulls. They find Krypto and Mongul and Non, who are trying to keep a tear in the Phantom Zone closed otherwise it will kill everyone in the Zone. Wonder Woman helps to close the rift and asks where Zod and faora are. Non claims he lost track of them after Doomsday attacked. Mongul attacks Diana and Batman but are saved by Ghost Soldier who teleports them to another part of the Zone. He explains how he used to work for The Tower and it was they who set Doomsday loose because they felt Superman was dangerous. Meanwhile, Krypto has found a second tear in the Zone and, while investigating, are attacked by Xa-Du. He explains that Harrow from The Tower with a plan. When that failed, he found and released Doomsday. In the Fortress, Steel opens the portal for Batman and Wonder Woman, but it is Non who comes through. Wonder Woman comes through and sends him back to the Zone just as Batman, Krypto asnd Ghost Soldier make their way out, with a captured Xa-Du in tow.
The next chapter of the Superman “event” storyline continues, courtesy of Greg Pak and Tom Derenik. It was nice to see very little of the infected Man of Steel and more of the team that’s trying to save him. Nicer still was having Wonder Woman and Batman end up in the Phantom Zone and seeing all the baddies from the past float through. Throw in Non, Mongul and Xa-Du and it’s like a villains family reunion. The fun continues next month too, as the infection gets worse and the most powerful being in the universe looks to be a transformed Superman.
SUPERMAN #31: CHAPTER 4 of SUPERMAN DOOMED (INFECTED). Superman has turned himself in to the authorities because his infection grows worse and Batman, Cyborg, Luthor and others try to find a way to stop the disease. Lois visits him, but Brainiac takes control of her and tells him that the Teen Titans are in danger, causing him to break out and try to save them. He finds them fighting Detritus and quickly helps defeat him. The Titans are worried concerning his condition and that causes Superman to come to the understanding that everything is wrong with him.
In the fourth chapter of this mini-saga, Scott Lobdell, Ed Benes and Jack Hebert manage to deliver the weakest chapter thus far. Lobdell writing is typically Lobdell and the art combo of Benes and Hebert is just okay, relying on a bunch of Image style renderings. This absolutely did nothing to move the story along except that Brainiac is really good at mind-control and Superman realizes he is very sick. Wake me when the next chapter starts!
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