This volume collects some but not all of the appearances of General Zod. However, he's such a non-player in many of these stories, that DC really shouldn't list Zod on the title of this book.He's not even in the first story included here! Instead, the book should be called Superman: Adventures in the Phantom Zone.
The first story is from a 1961 Superboystory. It introduces the concept of the phantom zone projector which will become a staple of many Superman family related tales.
Zod appears in a couple of stories from the late 70s. But the star of that two-parter is a female Kryptonian named Faora-Ul. She's a precursor to Ursa, Zod's right hand man, er woman, from Superman II. I'm wondering why this character got a new name/identity in the movies? Copyright payments to the creating artist, maybe?
Zod and Faora return for another 2-parter set right around the end of the Pre-Crisis era. Zod's got a slightly bigger role. But really, this episode from DC Comics Presents is more about Jor-El and the creation of the phantom zone projector than about the evils of Zod's military attempted coup.
We don't really see Zod in all his soldierly glory until the last story. It tells of the Science Council's cover-up of the impending destruction of Krypton. Plus it calls the Ursa character Ursa. And there's the tragic character of Non finally!
This all leads up to a big question: why were the leaders of Krypton so eager to deny that the planet was about to explode? Has the reasons for their conspiracy ever been explored? And if so, where can I read this tale?
This was a very good collection of Superman stories. But it offered more questions than answers. Plus, it really doesn't feature Zod enough to be a Zod book. I am wondering if this is why I was able to find a copy of this book at Ollie's for only $2!
Enjoyable but definitely nowhere near anything you'd expect from that dynamic cover pitting the last son's of Krypton in mortal combat.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment