Superman #48 - Review

Ok. So this comic was a little weird and fast paced. Too fast actually.

So basically we start off by having Clark (no, Superman is not even nearly back) going after Steve Trevor, because he needs a favor from him. We get a few action scenes, nothing special, and then they're both off. And on a side note just in case you missed the most recent issue of Superman-WonderWoman, Clark is now at level zero. His powers are totally gone. He's no more powerful than the average human. But take this in mind because later on this is gonna create a mental s*** storm. At least it did to me.

And here's when things get weird, in more than one way.

First weird thing. Clark out of nowhere basically explains to Trevor why his powers aren't working has they should. He explains to Trevor that the upper layer of his body cells got mutated and now they're unable to process sunlight like they should. But he believes his healthier cells just need the damaged cells to be removed in order for him to get his powers back. Or to put in a simpler way, the cells closest to his skin and even his skin cells are all damaged, but the cells below those one's are healthy and only need the damaged one's removed. But here's the problems with that theory:

1. Normally our cells get replaced at a regular pace. And seeing Clark has been operating at extremely low levels of power, he's basically just like any other human. So if that was the case his damaged cells should've have died off already and been replaced by healthier cells.
2. Normally damaged cells and healthier cells don't simply choose a convenient place to be at. Or to put it more simpler, healthy cells and damaged cells should be layed out randomly and not conveniently have the top layer cells damaged and the one's below it healthy. This goes against everything biological.
3. And last but not least important, how he managed to get to that conclusion totally baffled me. Because until now Clark pretty much was clueless as to why his powers no longer worked properly. All he kept saying was that he got his powers stolen, when we know that only the energy stored in his body was stolen, not his powers. And now out of nowhere, boys and girls, we got a answer. A stupid nonsense answer, but a answer all the same.

Second weird thing. What Clark wants from Trevor is that he gives him access to A.R.G.U.S. cache of kryptonite. Because Clark believes the radioactivity from the kryptonite will kill off those damaged cells. He calls it a hunch based on his recent experience with the kryptonite powered armor Steel built for him.

And so Steve indulges Clark wishes and on the way down, they have a nice little chat about how Diana is now Clark ex-girlfriend. We even get this really weird moment where Steve admits that initially he was angry that Diana left him for Superman, but as time went on he began to see why Superman worked better for Diana, than he did. That they could understand each other in ways that other regular normal people can't. And that he was happy that they made each other happy. Yeah! Has I was reading this, for brief seconds I believed my mind was playing tricks on me.

So they arrive at A.R.G.U.S. lets call it, storage level, and we get to see what happens when the big box holding like a one ton of kryptonite, opens. And to my surprise what happens is pretty much what would happen if Clark was powered up. He starts to feel weak, can't even really stand up.

Steve immediately pulls Clark away, and here we get another weird dialogue. Not only Clark insists on continuing to be exposed, but he asks Steve that if for some reason that doesn't work and Clark basically kills himself that he tells Diana that in Clark's dying moments his thoughts were of her. At this moment I had my own personally mob screaming inside my head, demanding blood.

And at this moment another of Vandal Savage sons arrives with his new body, provided by HORDR_ROOT, calling himself the Puzzler. Really who in their right minds comes up with this crap!? And starts trashing A.R.G.U.S. defenses like they were nothing.

So before continuing lets examine this:

1. Time and time again we've been shown not only in the New 52 but throughout almost all versions of Superman, that when his powers are down, and in this particular moment they are at zero, that kryptonians in general aren't affected by kryptonite. That kryptonite becomes really deadly to kryptonians mainly because it interferes with the power processing ability of their superpowered bodies. But if their powers are down, then kryptonite affects a kryptonian much like it would a human. So has I see it, that scene makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
2. When DC came out and said we were gonna get a kryptonite fueled Superman, I always thought "Well, whatever altered his DNA will now most likely allow him to do has Ultraman does, and his cells will absorb the kryptonite radiation and restore at least some of his powers." I even thought for a moment that DC would play with the kryptonite powered thing and show Clark having his physical abilities back, but his other powers would come with a twist. Like for example his super-flare power, would become his main power, but again with a twist. Clark would not only be able to release energy, but absorb it from his surroundings, mold it much like a green lantern molds his green light, and that he'd be able to a certain degree expand the range of his super-flare power much like a magnetic field, that would allow Clark to control objects at a distance. But no. We get Clark reacting just like his powers had nothing wrong with them.
3. The scene with Steve was a little far fetched. So DC is breaking up Clark and Diana, but at the same time they're saying why they shouldn't do it. I'd do a water check on the building at DC because these actions almost reach schizophrenic levels. If they want those two together then stick with them, and not gives us this lameass excuses. Like Clark smug face when he said "I broke things off" like he was proud of it. Honestly Clark face on that scene, I only felt like punching the smug right off.
4. And why does DC insists on kryptonians becoming like mummies, is beyond me. In Clark final efforts he looked like a vampire had drained him nearly dry. So the excessive kryptonite that shouldn't be doing anything to him, starts to turn Clark into a freaking mummy.

And so we arrive at the end with Clark dragging his mummified body inside the kryptonite box and sitting on it like some king on his kryptonite throne, waiting to die.

Honestly to me the scene with the kryptonite box was done all wrong. If I was writing that part, I'd show that the kryptonite initially had no effect whatsoever on Clark. And it would be only during Puzzler great entrance that I'd show him grabbing Clark and throwing him inside the box. We'd see one of the kryptonite crystals pieces piercing Clark body, there would be a big yellow light explosion, and we'd see Clark in full super-flare mode. Only this time he'd be in total control and we could see him one-shot turn Puzzler into pieces. And we could've gotten a closing line of Clark saying "Well this was unexpected, but it will do." he'd thank Steve and the final image would be of Clark flying towards somewhere.

Basically showing with those scenes that Clark was ready for the final fights that are ahead of him.

So my conclusion of this comic is this.

It was too fast, poorly planed, and most of the dialogues were weak, almost down right irritating.

Savage Dawn is not going well. And if it keeps up like this, I fear for Superman comics in general.

Here are the scans...

Yeah, this story surprised me a little about Steve, but on the other hand, maybe he just needed to motivate Clark to bite the bullet. Still, it was like out of the sky how Kryptonite was supposed to fix him. Residual Doomsday spores would make more sense, maybe. At least then the excuse would be him getting a form of chemotherapy to fix that. Just saying this because I never saw any way to be sure he was "cured" of Doomsday, they could have mentioned it that way and said that Doomsday spores were giving him some kind of cancer. It just doesn't seem like anyone is familiar with past Superman lore who actually writes it.

@suemorphplus209:

Exactly. Anyone that knows anything about Superman, knows that his vulnerability to kryptonite is mainly due to his powers. No powers, no vulnerability.

Also Steve's trying to cheer Clark or make him see reason, while at the same time admiting that he still believes Diana is worth all the effort, is like watching a bad joke unfold. It would be like you had an ex which you still loved, and when talking to her current ex, you'd point out how stupid he was being. That's not real, that's not even believable. It would've been more credible if Steve simply said something like "It's your loss" and nothing else.

And one more thing. How did his cells supposedly mutated?! It would've been cool to point out the 'why' and not just the 'how'. Although given the explanation for the 'how' I can't even imagine the craziness that would come from the 'why'.

This. So very much, they never conclusively proved that Clark was "cured" of Doomsday. NEVER DID. Frankly, though, at this point, this particular writer doesn't seem to get much at all of DCYou Superman lore, so what could you really expect? IIRC, this was the same writer who couldn't get that Clark didn't start off at the Daily Planet, and had Superman be a dick to Jimmy for watching out for him. Seriously, I can put up with a lot writers right now more than I can with Yang, who seriously needs to read the Grant Morrison stories that restarted and rebooted Superman's story. The New 52 Superman started off as an interesting story of how Superman could have been different because of different events and different decisions, but now we have a writer who doesn't get his backstory, and either doesn't get his supporting cast, or makes Superman be a dick to them for rediculous reasons?

@heavenlydarkdragon

"And one more thing. How did his cells supposedly mutated?! It would've been cool to point out the 'why' and not just the 'how'. Although given the explanation for the 'how' I can't even imagine the craziness that would come from the 'why'."

I don't know, but way back at the beginning of Truth, they could have, as @suemorphplus209 said, just said that the Doomsday spores were never removed from Clark, they just went into temporary remission like some diseases or cancer does, and now they are killing him. Then he needs some kind of chemotherapy that counteracts Doomsday's evolutionary factor. My own theory has been that some kind of blood infusion from a Kryptonite immune Superman from an alternate Universe could do the job (Earth-22, All-Star Superman, etc.) because such an alternate universe version Superman could be explained to have their own evolutionary factor in their bodies that hardened them against Kryptonite. Such wouldn't give him permanent Kryptonite immunity with the blood transfusion, but would give him enough to neutralize the evolutionary factor of Doomsday spores and allow his immune system to take it out. Yeah, it's fanfic territory, but it's a bad day when fanfic ideas make more sense than a comic writer.

I didn't liked the dialogue nor the pace and you are right the explanation they gave about why he is depowered didn't make much sense. The scene with Trevor on the elevator was horrible to me, the part where he used the justification of them having matching colors and powers made me laught and I am not sure it was completely intentional.

@black_arrow: You're talking about a writer who demonstrated an awful knowledge of the New 52 backstory for Superman, such as not realizing that he was at another Newspaper before the Daily Planet, and had him be a dick to Jimmy. Basically, Superman is written at his worst when his name is the title, which is pretty bad.

If it was a consequence of the Doomsday virus then it couldn't be handled as it as been. Or explained as it as been explained.

True that they never shown or explained how Superman simply cured himself from the Doomsday dna, but if it was the D-dna then things in Truth would've had to happen quite differently.

For one Clark abilities would need to hint on which of it really was. Either somehow Clark dna absorbed and added a portion of the D-dna to its own during the curing process. Or the D-dna became dorment.

And it would be during Clark depowered phase that we'd know which was which.

If Clark physical abilities started out at a low level and then started to grow gradually, without people falling around him and dying, then we'd be able to assume, that a part of the D-dna was added to his own, and the fortress didn't recognized him because when he arrived on Earth after his 60 days absence in space, his fortress was pretty much trashed. That's when he initiated the self-repair protocols. And now that the fortress had rebuilt itself and was up and running, only now it detected the change in Clark kryptonian dna.

But seeing one of the D-dna main characteristics was the ability to evolve to become better in every aspect. Then so too would Clark powers gradually grow and most likely he'd manifest some or complete changes to his other powers. Like the inability to fly. Just like Doomsday.

If the dorment D-dna became active once again then we'd have seen Clark growing increasingly more like Doomsday. Starting to manifest the null-field and all that.

Either way Clark would not have become so weak, and even if he at first had only a fraction of Doomsday physical abilities, it would still make him one badass wrecking train on anyone in his way.

So to me it has nothing to do with D-dna, but something else. Not long ago I proposed using the fact that the meteor that gave Vandal his powers, came close to Earth during one of Superman depowered phases and it was it's unique radiation that somehow altered Clark kryptonian dna.

But that would've implied his whole dna, not just the top layer of his body cells.

That mutation would cause Clark altered dna to now absorb and process kryptonite radiation instead, and later on when possibly he depleted that energy, the combination of both the meteor radiation that had caused the mutation from the start plus the kryptonite radiation, once Clark depleted his kryptonite fueled powers, his dna would revert back to its original form and his powers would return.

The Doomsday arc should've brought to Superman, some of Doomsday characteristics. Characteristics that only after Superman having used the Flare power so many times would begin to manifest. It could even be explained that the D-dna had somehow bonded with Superman dna, and that both the inability to fully control the Flare power and his later subsequent lost of power was all due to his dna new characteristics.

Just like Doomsday apparently went through evolutionary phases, just like Dr Veritas explained during the Doomed arc, so to this power loss was simply that. A preparation for a new evolution of Superman powers.

One where he would not only never be left depowered by the use of the Flare power, but that power itself could evolve to something better. And in better I'm thinking of All Star Superman story where his overdose of solar energy gave him the ability to manipulate and expand his bio-aura outside his body to form force fields and his energy release through either his eyes or hands. These two combined in the Flare power.

The Flare power would now allow Superman to create shields of that yellow energy or even weapons, basically he'd be able to mold that energy, and simply release it as a form of pure offensive attack.

But immediately after the use, Superman powers would begin to recharge at a fast pace, that way Supes would not only never be left depowered, but he'd be able to use it much more often.

Has a side bonus. Said evolution IMO could also remove the red sunlight vulnerability altogether.

Superman has already too many vulnerabilities as it is.

@heavenlydarkdragon: Yeah, I got lost on that one. But still, if it is the "Savage" change, they could do a better job by sharing notes between the various writers on this Crossover arc so that they arrive at the end with some explanation as to how he goes back to normal.

You mentioned Superman having too many weaknesses. But that's why I liked All-Star Superman, Kingdom Come, and JSA- Thy Kingdom Come, and other Elseworlds, Earth-22 Superman evolved immunity to Kryptonite and became resistant to magic (I am not sure what a form of Omega beam from Gog or his lightning attack counts as). There's Elseworlds versions of this character that are still interesting and don't have as many weaknesses, but still have challenging battles.

@diehard200904:

You mentioned Superman having too many weaknesses.

It's almost ridiculous the number of ways you can take Superman down. At least for the so called most powerful being on Earth, that even Batman never gets tired of refering him has.

He's got red sunlight radiation, that depending on the dosage he takes can degrade his powers slowly or almost imeadiately.

He's vulnerable to psychics. And New 52 version seems to be vulnerable to basically anyone with a good amount of psychic power. Doesn't even need to be a powerhouse like Martian Manhunter to take him down.

Magic... I can understand. Magic by its very nature is the breaking/manipulation of the very laws of reality. But still I wouldn't mind if writers put some limits to its effectiveness. For example if Superman is hit by magical lightning then that lightning hurts him, which shouldn't happen seeing the magician is using magic to create lightning. Basically using a form of mystical power to create something that naturaly exists. And as such Superman should be invulnerable to at least all magic that was elemental in nature. Only pure magic should be able to affect him.

And of course Kryptonite. Now kryptonite has I see it, the main problem stems from the sheer quantity that writers pull off their a****. It's like it grows on trees or something. And it makes sense that Superman is vulnerable to it. Actually more so now since the New 52, than before.

Before I always found it hard to believe why Superman would be affected by a element that was created on the very moment his planet is destroyed. If anything it shouldn't do anything to him, seeing his species never got gradually exposed to it and grown some kind of genetic vulnerability to it.

Now in the New 52, it was shown that not only kryptonite already existed naturally on Krypton, but it also was used as their main power source. All their tech was powered by it. During the H'El On Earth arc, it was even shown that kryptonians had taken normal green kryptonite and took it quite further in terms of power by creating what was called Quantum Power Crystals. That apparently was a limitless power source.

With this data one can assume that if kryptonite existed naturally on Krypton then all kryptonian lifeforms in one way or another have in their atomic structures, some other non radioactive isotope of kryptonite. And that that's what makes kryptonians physiology so unique and what allows their bodies to gain those powers under more powerful types of stars. And if it's in their bodies then that would make them susceptible to the radioactive form of kryptonite.

But that's why I liked All-Star Superman, Kingdom Come, and JSA- Thy Kingdom Come, and other Elseworlds, Earth-22 Superman evolved immunity to Kryptonite and became resistant to magic (I am not sure what a form of Omega beam from Gog or his lightning attack counts as). There's Elseworlds versions of this character that are still interesting and don't have as many weaknesses, but still have challenging battles.Yes all those versions in some way or another did gained a certain degree of resistance to kryptonite at least. But it was either because of higher age, has they said that as the years went by Superman cells became more efficient at processing solar energy, making him not only more powerful but also less vulnerable to things he was in his younger version quite vulnerable to. That or like in All Star, he got a overdose of solar energy that permanently increased his powers, even gaining new one's.

Yes. But in almost every take the main factor is either age or solar overdose. Like in the One Million version. Where it was combination of both. The 70.000 years he spent traveling throughout the cosmos and then the 15.000 years he spent inside the sun.

Either way it has been shown in some occasions that if Superman wanted he could become permanently more powerful and even gain new powers that would completely remove his red sunlight weakness and reduce his vulnerability to psychics, magic and even kryptonite.

The N52 shown us by way of H'El and his starchamber, and even Luthor's solar fuel from Unchained.

With starchamber it was shown that stellar energy could be absorbed to basically a limitless degree, its energy condensed and then focused to permanently increase a kryptonian power. Of course with H'El because he wanted the power to timetravel he needed to drain so much energy from the sun, that it would explode in the process. Superman on the other hand wouldn't need timetraveling powers. That would be too much. But telepathy, telekinesis, and teleportation could come in handy.

And Lex solar fuel, that in Unchained if Superman had used it, it would've overloaded his cells to such a point his body would self-destruct. Given Superman brain capacity he too should be able to produce something similar, only not so extreme. A kind of serum that would allow his body to grow more powerful and adapt to that power level.

In the pre-New52 we had, other examples like Kryptisium. Basically kryptonite radiation filtered through another form of energy, that in that one case only situation, recharged Superman powers instantly and later on, made his powers start to grow ever more powerful, to the point where Superman could for the most part barely control them at all. Even his body started to grow in size, to the point he made the Hulk look medium in size. And of course professor Emil Hamilton theorized that if Superman didn't stopped the process, his powers would continue to grow until his body could no longer contain them.

The anti-sun. Basically a sun made of anti-matter, which sunlight gave Superman a immense instant power boost.

Blue sunlight. And of course focused and redirected solar energy, making Superman powers go way beyond normal.

So has you see Superman doesn't need to wait to grow older to grow more powerful. And although H'El powerset minus the chronal powers, would be a good addition, I've read some complaints about that option. Saying, Superman would become too much OP and a copy of characters like Martian Manhunter. Which is funny actually, seeing that MM and other characters like him are first and foremost, rip-offs of Superman and not the other way around.

Take MM and remove all the powers clearly copied from Superman. And he's reduced to shapeshifting, telepathy, telekinesis and density control over his body.

Take Shazam/Captain Marvel, take away all the powers copied from Superman, and he'd be reduced, to lightning powers and the wisdom of Solomon.

@heavenlydarkdragon

do you know what is the most silly thing for me in the new 52? In Batman Endgame Superman is easily defeated by a kryptonite spit or kryptonite dust and in Superman 48 he can survive a whole 1 ton fridge and is even healing from that. That is more than clear that dc has absolutely no idea and no legacy and no respect of that character. The books are not connected in any sense. Some writer has an idea for a story and he must not stick to any rules and we can either love or hate it. The bosses on dc have no respect for the story and i think they don't read the comics. I only buy batman and detective comics. batman and robin eternal , robin war and any other comics they can keep that. I only read these 2 comics, they are the best for me now and even harley looses weight. Marvel i don't even dare to say anything about them, with their childish characters, they are even worse.

It's why I stopped partway through Truth. Even at a point, it was clear that there wasn't consistency between writers as to what was going on. I can accept the story that Lois Lane panicked, but they couldn't stick to that, it kept changing. I can accept that Superman reacted out of feeling traumatized by his situation, but the writers kept writing him off as a douche to everyone who was trying to help, and he didn't stop. What's worse is that he didn't even feel that sorry for it at times. It was just too much for me. You understated it IMHO, because why would you cycle from one writer to another within a story arc? How does that make any sense? And why would you keep writing Superman off as nasty to about everyone who is trying to help him? Maybe do some parting ways with his friends, but being mean to them is just rediculous for Superman.

One of Yang's best issues. That's not saying much though. Just that I didn't feel the need to bash my head through a wall when I finished it.

as to say it in no nice words : our fans are dumb as **** , we can write shi**y stories, destroy his legacy, his character, put absolutely no effort to consistency and must not read what other writers made and our fans would buy superman anyway so why don't make holiday and look how our pockets get filled.

Normally our cells get replaced at a regular pace. And seeing Clark has been operating at extremely low levels of power, he's basically just like any other human. So if that was the case his damaged cells should've have died off already and been replaced by healthier cells.

I guess you can just explain this away as "Clark is an alien so his body isn't the same as ours". Wish there was an explanation for the rest of the horrible stuff this arc has produce.

Also, Clark looks like he is about to "Hulk-out" in some of those scans.