Apparently, War Really Is Good For Absolutely Nothing
I'm surprised to admit this, but I'm getting pretty sick of all the death in DC comics lately. Between this and Cry for Justice, the body count DC writer James Robinson alone has must be well over 100,000 and probably over 200,000. It has all become very desensitizing. After all the deaths in Star City, the destruction of so many faceless Kryptonians along with New Krypton at the start of this story barely registered.
This issue continues upping the body count with more recognizable faces. It's hard to feel the drama of any of these deaths when it's so obvious that this is the "clearing of the house" of all the New Krypton concepts to return Superman to his usual status quo. Most of us knew it was going to come to something like this when the 100,000 Kryptonians first appeared. It had to be a temporary situation, and these Kryptonians had to go away sooner or later. But all I feel for this story is disappointment that DC has chosen to go with this route, the easiest and least creative, to clear things out. The death of one character in particular, one of the most developed of the new Kryptonians, feels like such a pointless waste.
Besides the excessive use of death, this is not a bad story. General Zod and General Lane do genuinely feel like two intelligent leaders one-upping each other on the field of battle. Just when one seemingly has the other in checkmate, the other turns it around in a surprising move. Though this time, General Zod's salvation came in the form of something he couldn't have planned for. The issue ends with successful setups to the big battles for the final issue.
But the real question is whether War of the Supermen feels like the satisfying conclusion to the New Krypton direction the Superman titles have been in for over a year now. The answer is a great big hell no. It feels more like an abortion of it rather than a conclusion. This is not a story concluding the various story threads that lead up to this point. The Guardian does not finally confront Commander Gor. Alura does not finally get over her grief for Zor-El and stand with her daughter. Nightwing and Flamebird do not finally fight their way to the top and confront General Zod and Ursa. Superman's Red Shard unit does not rise up and support him. In fact, as just another of 100,000 Kryptonians, the attempt to show that Superman remains special and powerful ultimately falls flat as he is shown to have no influence or impact upon his people in the end. Rather than conclude anything, War of the Supermen is washing away everything in a flood of death.
