World of Krypton #6 – Robert Venditti, Writer; Michael Avon Oeming, Artist; Nick Filardi, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: The final act of this flashback series wraps up the story of Krypton in the way we all know—Kal-El will be headed for Earth—but it still has a lot of surprises. I don’t think we’ve ever gotten a series that goes as in-depth into the culture of Krypton in its dying days as this one, covering the different ways the three core clans cope with the end. Zor-El has become so obsessed with finding a way for his family to survive that he’s withdrawn from any interaction with them, essentially losing them before he has to. Zod has slipped completely into an obsession with order, believing that disaster can be pushed away one day at a time and brutalizing anyone who disagrees. And Jor-El responds to despair in a completely different way—doing what he can with the time he has, including confronting Zod as the latter’s violence and hatred for the opposition quickly turns him into an increasingly mad radical.
There are some major changes to the mythos this issue that were hinted at last issue. The twist that Lara is the one who finds the path to Earth among the stars is a great twist, giving her a much more active role in the salvation of her son. The final battle between Zod and Jor-El has a shocking twist as well—namely, that Jor-El was the one who sent Zod to the phantom zone, instead of it being a judicial sanction. This makes the eventual feud between Zod and Superman much more personal. While Zor-El and Kara’s story feels a little unfinished, cutting out before the resolution, this is overall a fantastic mini. It’s a great look at what people do when they know the time is running out, how some people allow it to destroy them and others allow it to motivate them. Venditti continues to be one of the most underrated Superman writers of the modern day, and I hope he gets to follow this up somehow.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
