Superman: Last Son

Bizarro, General Zod, Lex Luthor, and the Superman Revenge Squad battle for control over the Kryptonian child who crash-landed in Metropolis and who is being raised by Clark Kent as Christopher Kent.

Grade 7 Up—When an asteroid that he recovers proves to be carrying a living Kryptonian boy, Superman is initially overjoyed, even going as far as to convince his long-suffering lover, Lois Lane, to adopt him. Although Kryptonian-hating Lex Luthor attempts to kidnap the child with the help of the grotesque Bizzro-Superman, he is easily defeated, and all seems well until it becomes apparent that the boy's parent—the fiendish General Zod, freshly escaped from the limbolike Phantom Zone along with a host of henchmen—is intent on finding the youngster and turning Metropolis into his own personal kingdom. Once Zod imprisons Superman in the Phantom Zone, the hero must break free and turn to the one person he despises most for help—Lex Luthor. Detailed enough for longtime Superman fans but also accessible to new readers, this is a fast-paced and well-written work, and fans of the classic 1981 Superman II film will enjoy the return of evil General Zod. Furthermore, the conflict between Superman's loyalties to the human race and his pride as a native Kryptonian are explored in a nuanced and interesting way. Although the book includes a pair of difficult-to-remove and easy-to-lose 3-D glasses, this still is a fine first choice for most collections.—Dave Inabnitt, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
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Coauthor Richard Donner returns to the character he depicted in the 1978 movie Superman, which he directed, but it’s hard to tell just how much he contributes, for Johns is a veteran comics scripter. Nevertheless, the conception of the Man of Steel on view harkens back to Christopher Reeve’s embodiment, and so does artist Adam Kubert’s rendition of Clark Kent. The plot centers on a child from Superman’s native planet, Krypton, who arrives in Metropolis in a space vehicle and is seized by the government. Superman rescues the youngster, and, giving him the hat-tipping secret identity of distant relative Christopher Kent, Clark and Lois take him in. Johns and company employ such elements from the films as Superman’s conversations with his Kryptonian father in the Fortress of Solitude and the Phantom Zone criminals, who escape other-dimensional prison to wreak havoc on earth, forcing Superman to team with Lex Luthor, Bizarro, and other archvillains to save the planet. The return to fundamentals pays off in one of the more satisfying Superman story arcs of recent years. --Gordon Flagg