Two weeks ago we saw the end of ¨The Oz Effect¨ story arc, which saw the boy scout meet his biological father – yes, you read that right - after a somewhat underwhelming revelation that Jor-El had in fact survived Krypton´s demise. Yes, turns out everyone was wrong, Mr. Oz was not Ozymandias, nor Superboy Prime nor Lex Luthor from an alternate Earth. It was Jor-El all along, who supposedly was saved by Dr. Manhattan –or at least that’s where the evidence points to- for reasons yet to be revealed.
However when he came back, he didn’t do it as the peaceful, good-hearted scientist that you would imagine him to be, instead he came back as a way darker version of himself. Having been observing his own son save humanity time and time again, only for us humans to continue fighting amongst ourselves for stupid reasons, without stopping to look up and solve our differences together. Jor-El saw that as a sign that mankind was ungrateful, primitive, and undeserving of the Superman. So he put a plan in motion to set up humans to commit mistakes and take selfish decisions hoping that his son would see humanity the way he sees it, and most importantly, lose hope. But Jor- El also says his goal was to protect his son, and then speaks of a coming threat that´s ¨bigger and more powerful¨ than Supes himself.
After Superman refuses to lose hope on humanity, and refuses to accept the man in front of him is his actual father, we see a misterious blue light take Jor away and transport Superman back to the fortress of solitude, where he wonders whether his father was right and humanity is lost.
In this week’s Action Comics #992, writen by Dan Jurgens and beautifully illustrated by Will Conrad, we get the aftermath to the incredible story arc. We see Kal-El ask himself what would it mean for him if his father wasn’t the good man he believed he was. Going all the way to Oa on Hal Jordan’s invitation, he is shown recordings of the final moments of Krypton, learning that the recordings, and time itself, were altered by someone.
Back on Earth Superman decides he needs to see for himself what happened in Krypton, by using Flash’s cosmic treadmill. Right after he dissappears into the time stream we see Booster Gold, arrive to the Watchtower, failing to stop Superman from using it. It is then implied by Skeets that the timeline is in danger of collapse.
This story arc, and the aftermath to it given in this week’s issue is a really well written piece of art, and one of the greatest and most anticipated stories of this year’s comicbooks. Yes, Mr. Oz being Jor-El could be considered underwhelming, but it is undeniable that it was surprising, and it worked perfectly. We were presented with a moral conflict instead of a physical conflict, which is very refreshing, since when it comes to Superman stories we usually see spectacular fight scenes, full of destruction. This isn’t to say the story was boring or that it didn’t have any action in it, believe me, it’s there, but as I said, seeing superman in a moral conflict is refreshing and paves the way to what’s probably what we will see in Doomsday Clock once Supes and Dr. Manhattan face each other (come on, we all know it won’t come to blows, Manhattan can evaporate him without lifting a finger).
The art was done by Dan Jurgens himself and Viktor Bogdanovic, except for the aftermath issue, drawn by Will Conrad. Throughout the arc, the art is beautiful and manages to capture the characters’ emotions perfectly, although in my opinion Conrad’s art would be better for the whole story arc.
Overall, this story was gripping, exciting, and every issue left me wanting more. The ending was satisfying and left me eager to see what’s to come for the Superman family and the DC Universe itself.