Superman: H'el on Earth

Superman (2011) #3 + Tie-Ins

by Scott Lobdell (Writer), Various (Illustrator)

H'El has come to Earth! A figure from Krypton's past has come to Earth, hoping to revive the dead planet--in place of this one. Superman, Superboy, Supergirl and the Justice League stand ready to fight, but whose side is everyone on? As hero fights against hero, will the Kryptonians be able to defeat H'El, who is their equal in every way?

The first Super-crossover in the New 52 is here in SUPERMAN: H'EL ON EARTH, written by Scott Lobdell, Mike Johnson and Tom DeFalco, with art by Kenneth Rocafort, Mahmud Asrar, RB Silva and more.

Collects: SUPERMAN #13-17, SUPERBOY #14-17 and SUPERGIRL #14-17.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superman, Dc Comics, Comic Book, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

328 pages, Hardcover

First published December 3, 2013

About the author

Scott Lobdell (born 1960) is an American comic book writer.

He is mostly known for his work throughout the 1990s on Marvel Comics' X-Men-related titles specifically Uncanny X-Men, the main title itself, and the spin-off series that he conceived with artist Chris Bachalo, Generation X. Generation X focused on a number of young mutant students who attempted to become superheroes in their own right at a separate school with the guidance of veteran X-related characters Banshee and Emma Frost. He also had writing stints on Marvel's Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix mini-series with artist Gene Ha. He wrote the script to Stan Lee's Mosaic and an upcoming film from POW Entertainment featuring Ringo Starr. He also participated in the Marvel Comics and Image Comics (from Jim Lee's WildStorm) crossover mini-series WildC.A.T.s/X-Men.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 2 out of 5]

(C+) 66% | Almost Satisfactory
Notes: Black hole of bother, it’s all busywork and bickering, a bona fide snoozer: seriously stagnant, slack and short of story.

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This world has plenty of hope...and his name is Superman!


I got this on its paperback TPB edition and since it is constructed by several issues of three different DC titles, I think that it was the easiest way to buy it.


H'El on Earth is a multi-title story arc composed of 14 comic book issues: Superman Vol.3 #13-17; Superboy Vol.5 #14-17 plus Annual#1; Supergirl Vol.6 #14-17.


Creative Team:

Writers: Scott Lobdell (Superman), Tom DeFalco (Superboy) and Mike Johnson (Supergirl).

Illustrators: Kenneth Rocafort (Superman), R.B. Silva & several others (Superboy) and Mahmud Asrar (Supergirl).


WHERE THE H'EL CAME FROM?

The character of H'El was an unintentional incident. They were doing sketches to came up with the Bizarro for the New52, and while they opted for other design for Bizarro, they liked so much how looked this yet unnamed character, that they at the end decided to invent a whole new villain. Enter: H'El.


WHO THE H'EL ARE HERE?

Superman

This is the New52's Superman. he has been around during 5 years, he is 25 years old or so, and the public is divided about him, some think of him as the greatest hero of Earth, while others think that he is some kind of scout of an inminent alien invasion.

Superboy

Recently he found out that he is a clone made, by a secret organization known as N.O.W.H.E.R.E., to become a living weapon, apparently to fight against Superman if needed. His DNA is a combination of Kryptonian and Human. Currently, he is part of the Teen Titans, but the NYPD has an order arrest for him.

Supergirl

Kara Zor-El, cousin of Superman, recently reached Earth. She was already a young adult when she left Krypton while Kal-El (Superman) was still a baby. However, due unexpected problems on the route of her ship, she arrived like 27 years later than planned. Kara is uncomfortable on Earth and she isn't doing any attempt to try to adjust to her new foster world.

H'El

He is the villain of the story. He is mysterious and you only know about him what he affirms it's his true story. He was supposed to be a lab assistant of Jor-El, on Krypton, and he left in a supposed "big event" on a space ship with a public mission of exploring space but that supposedly to be an early attempt of Jor-El to preserve the lore of Kryptonian culture aboard the database of the ship. He is far stronger than even Superman and posses mental powers and other abilities like some kind of teleportation.

The Teen Titans have a brief appearance, while the Justice League have a relevant and long presence in the story.


WHAT THE H'EL HAPPENS?

H'El comes to Earth with a clear plan to save Krypton by traveling back in time. Always a villain with a seeming honorable quest is good angle. However, in the process to accomplish that, he may destroy the entire Solar System.

Superman, Superboy and Supergirl were the "Team Superman" before, but now we are in the New52 and they aren't a team at all. Superman and Supergil are always arguing, Supergirl is disgusted by Superboy for being a clone, and even Superman will meet Superboy until this very story. Their loyalties and positions about what they consider "home" will be put to the maximum test.

One of the best moments is when Lex Luthor (imprisoned in a jail designed by himself) attests that Superman is the closest thing that he has as an equal. If you really want to know what to think about a hero, ask to the villain. Always people think that Superman isn't smart, that he's all muscles and no brain. But Lex Luthor, easily the living smartest man born on Earth, considers that Superman is the only worthy to put on his level. Do you think that Lex Luthor respects to another person for any powers he or she may have? He only respects one thing: Intellect. And just think that Superman has knowledge and understanding about several alien technologies that even the best scientists in the world haven't even conceptualized as possible.

The downside of this story is that you don't get to know anything relevant about H'El. Why is he strongest than Superman? Why does he possess such vast mental powers? Why did he carve with his own nails a reverse emblem of the House of El on his own chest? And why he wanted to keep it hidden from Superman and Supergirl?

Even while the story has an ending, harldy it's a conclussion since you will be left with a cliffhanger-like final scene to be taken in some future storyline.

Still, it's an enjoyable reading for Superman fans. Kenneth Rocafort's art is awesome. And it's a fair option to get introduced to the New52's inner universe of Super-titles (related to Superman) of DC Comics, with the introduction of a totally new villain.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

This could have been worse.
I was certainly assuming it was going to be worse.
How sad is it when you throw in half a star just because the suckage was less than expected?

Supergirl was a total douche in this one. I mean, why did they make her so willfully stupid? Her total disregard of everyone's warnings about the impending apocalypse that H'el was going to unleash was the low point of the story. It would have played out better if Lobdell had worked it so that H'el kept her completely sequestered from all the other players in the game. He didn't. So she acted like a douche.

I'm seeing complaints about Superboy, but he honestly didn't bug me as much as Kara. After all, he's always been kind of a douche. Not much of a change, in my opinion.

Anyway, H'el is a survivor of Krypton (Seriously? Another one?) that has spent a lot of time floating around in space, trying to find a way to restore his home planet.
He's finally got a plan.
Yay!
He's going to destroy our galaxy to power his time-travel machine.
Boo!
He cleverly 'tricks' Kara into helping him...by lying to her.
She's evidently an idiot, so it's not hard.
Off-page he somehow takes over Superman's Fortress of Solitude, turns it against Clark, and then proceeds to suck the life out of our sun. Of course, Supes calls in the Justice League to help out, but they are held at bay by Supergirl.
I kept wondering why nobody thought to blurt out that he was going to make the freaking universe explode instead of punching her?! Am I being silly here, or don't you think it would be a fairly easy thing to yell around the corner?
"Hey, Kara! He's going to blow us all up!"
See?
Was that so hard?
But then we wouldn't get to see the requisite fight scenes.

So was H'el a Bizarro wannabe? I'm still not sure.
He an evil Kryptonian, his face is all scarred up, and he's got a sort of weird (backward?) S symbol burned into his chest.
Am I overthinking this?
Anybody?

In the end, the day is saved by The Powerpuff Girls!
Kidding.
But that would be cool...

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seriously had to push myself through this. So many things wrong with this story but unfortunately I don't think it's one you can miss because too many things happen and it would be confusing not to know the origins.

I want to tell people to skip this but only if you can find a good tl;dr somewhere.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this collection embodies most of what I don't like in the New 52 style: constant fighting, constant cliffhangers, poor attention to supporting cast, and angry, arrogant heroes. Both the Superman and the Supergirl are pale shadows of the heroes they used to be, though surprisingly the Superboy is coming around (and Supergirl gets a moment of redemption too, but only at the end).

The Superboy Annual was the worst in the collection. It was a pointless digression full of pointless fights with the heroes speaking in slogans. Its only redeeming feature was that it was one of the first substantive meetings between nuSuperman and nuSuperboy.

Overall, there are a few nice elements here (primarily the Krypton backstory) and the art of a few of the issues is very nice, but this generally was a relatively mediocre and generally dull crossover containing a villain with a massively dumb name.

[Koen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, I'm being generous and giving it a 2 star, although I didn't like it all that much..
Well, Lobdell f§%£ed things up again: The main story actually showed promise, but it was the characters that made this issue into the abbomination that it was..
Superman is a total jerk and superboy was totally lame... The only (slightly) interesting character in there was Kara, according to me..

Not sure if I'm going to read another (new 52) Superman after this :(

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I entered this an extreme skeptic because, other than the first volume of Supergirl, I haven't really loved any of the new 52 Super-family titles; however, I came out the other side of "H'el..." pleasantly surprised.

As others have pointed out in their reviews, there is nothing remarkably original about this crossover story. It is very predictable in many ways. But that is why it worked for me. In general, I have had a hard time recognizing characters in the Superverse since the reboot; everyone, especially Supes, Superboy and Lois Lane are such different variations of the heroes I once knew. It was nice to see all of these drastically tweaked characters in a typical, run-of-the-mill Superman story! It helped me to find some of the characteristics that I had been missing in characters since the reboot, such as Kara's naïveté and Supermans' dependence on his friends and family. In a few ways, this crossover was a return to better times for me.

I thought H'el was H'ot. That is to say, I thought he was a well thought-out foil to the Super-family and he maintained a high-stakes struggle right up to the end. There was a good balance of him using brute force to get what he wanted and him using psychological trickery to inflict damage. And there were just enough unanswered questions about him that, should he return one day, he will still have some intrigue and mystery about him without the need of a flimsy retcon.

It's a story that will validate a ripple-effect through all of the Super-titles. All three of the Super-family members will undoubtedly refer back to the events of this crossover for months to come and my guess is that H'el will become a canon villain. Which would make this a mandatory read for Superman fans.

3.5/5

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay I will admit it I thought this was a pretty good Superman crossover story arc, especially since I have not been reading and of the current Superboy, Supergirl or Teen Titan books. I usually do not like Supes that much as a charcter because it is so hard to write a really ggod challenge for such a almost perfect and powerful character. I applaud the writers over the years who have tried.

I really enjoyed this new villain H'el. I understand that DC often has to find foes worthy of the hero and H'el does not disappoint. But to me the relationships between Super girl, Super boy and the rest of the Super family is what drives the story. At its heart is a story about appreciating the family we have and letting go of those we have lost. Our hero really makes a sacrifice here that well surely change how we see Superman forever.

[Chantay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love SuperGirl. This is why this is getting another star.

[Ricky Ganci · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the first year of Superman family storylines were pretty problematic. I’ve not read any Superboy comics, but both Superman and Supergirl had all kinds of inconsistencies, with DC’s flagship character basically fighting a bunch of space monsters month-to-month and, at one point, going bungee jumping with Lois Lane’s sister. His cousin Kara Zor-el came to Earth, also fought some space monsters, but had some interesting character stuff happen–include a sweet subconscious fight with a dragon–and ultimately came out better in the end. With all of the space monsters unconscious (with even more on their way), the Super-family comes together to confront H’el, another superpowered “last” survivor of Krypton with two objectives: 1) to hit on Supergirl as much as possible, and 2) to bring Krypton itself back from the dead.

STORY AND SCRIPT
The premise of this crossover is simple: H’el, a Kryptonian astronaut who has come to Earth to steal both Superman’s cousin and his collection of space artifacts so he can fuel a machine to go back in time to prevent the destruction of Krypton. This “fuel” comes in the form of the Earth’s sun, so Superman and his “family” fight to stop him. Overall, the story comes off as unremarkable with its fairly stock Superman premise, mixing a threat against the Earth with some Kryptonian lore, and unfortunately, it evolves in a pretty traditional manner as well. There are a lot of fights, some interesting cameos from a handful of Justice League members, and a few flashbacks to the Krypton That Was. I regard the pacing of the story as neither a strength nor a weakness, as the most successful parts of “H’el on Earth is in a few character moments.

The first of these is the appearance of Lex Luthor. If you’re not reading Action Comics, this is the first time you’ve seen Lex Luthor post-Flashpoint, and he’s awesome. Calm, self-assured and totally opposed to Superman, he works as kind of an oracle in his half-issue appearance in the middle of the crossover. His insight into the H’el situation, and the creepy feeling you get that he’s not telling you everything he knows, presents the kind of Lex Luthor that would force a Superman to elevate his game and perhaps show a little character development.

The second of these high points is the character development that Supergirl undergoes as a result of her fight with and against H’el. She’s been presented by her creative team(s) as a trauma survivor, displaced and in shock on an alien world with all the power of Superman for the first year, but after her run-in with the Silver and Black Banshees, she has enough connections to Earth to make her role in this story interesting. By the end of the collection, it’s clear that the Supergirl we’ll be seeing in the next arc will be a different, more developed sort of heroine.

ENCILS AND ARTWORK
This is where the different issues in this collection really separate themselves. Mahmud Asrar and R.B. Silva submit good work, but the arrival of Kenneth Rocafort onto the scene as the artist on Superman is a welcome alternative to the inconsistent artwork in the book during the first year. Having left Red Hood and the Outlaws to join Lobdell, Rocafort’ gives Superman and his suit of Krpytonian armor a detail-rich makeover. Lois Lane is striking in her supporting appearance, and Supergirl hasn’t looked better in the New 52. Lex Luthor’s manic genius is alive, wishing that he would take up the mantle of super villain and turn Superman back into the hero that started it all. Looking forward at seeing Rocafort’s work in the next two volumes of Superman is a very positive thing, and the final issue of this collection is better than its abrupt conclusion thanks to his contributions.

BACKLOG PRIORITY
5.5/10 – For readers of Supergirl or Superboy, this collection will come as more necessary than for readers of Superman or Justice League, as Superman’s role in this story is exactly what we’ve seen up to this point. Lobdell et al. tell a familiar, unremarkable Superman story that goes on a bit longer than is necessary thanks to a lot of fights. Still, there are some moments that that work okay, and after finishing this I’m very excited to see where Michael Alan Nelson and Mike Johnson take the series from here on out. Superman fans will likely find something to enjoy here, but this collection is far from a must-read for most.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

H'el On Earth is the complete collected volume of the entire H'el story arc in all three superfamily of the New 52: Superman, Supergirl, and Superboy. H'el is a Kryptonian entity that has been watching Superman since he first took flight, having arrived on Earth around the same time as him. However, H'el looks down on Superman as he has adopted the Earth people's ways, even getting himself cloned in the process (aka. Superboy). He attacks and snatches Superboy without much effort and convinces a homesick Kara, Supergirl, to join forces with him, under the promise of reviving Krypton. Superman knows the questionable actions of his fellow Kryptonian and the impacts Earth will face upon his methods of returning Krypton, so he calls up help with the Justice League to make a standoff against H'el before his destruction of the entire solar system.

Reading Superman: Fury at World's End may make this one repetitive, but this collection allows the story to be fully fleshed out, as there are events that occurred with Supergirl's and Superboy's comics that makes reading each one's own comics be full of cuts and plot holes. In doing so, I am introduced to the characters related to Superman: Kara is his cousin and while she's the "older" of the cousins, she still has a teenage mind and homesickness, as she had a recent arrival; Superboy is the hybrid clone of Superman, possessing his own unique powers while being incredibly snarky due to finding out his origins as a weapon.

Overall the story is just good, not excellent, but enjoyable. Through the entire thing, there is a quality of allowing readers to see the dynamics Superman has with Kara and Superboy, both of which are uneasy, but grows into a stronger bond between them through the course of the arc. For H'el, he seems interesting, but there's a lot to his backstory that is left a mystery that he doesn't get fleshed out much other than being a Kryptonian fanatic. The art varies with each because each comic has a different illustrator but they compliment each issue well. There were at times I felt the story was dragging in some areas, but it holds up well enough to keep interest. The ending implies that H'el's story is not finished and that he will face the Man of Steel real soon again.

[Kayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this. Unfortunately, I didn't. The pacing was really slow. Most of the time, it felt like nothing important was happening. Usually I can finish a graphic novel in about an hour. However, this one took me over 24 hours because I was so bored.

[Arturo · Rating 1 out of 5]

When you can't wait for it to be over and notice you're not even close to being halfway done.. 13 issues is way too long for such a thin (and annoying) plot. The art in the Superman issues was great, but that's the only good part.

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

Nice to see that there were more people alive that were from Krypton. Poor H'el. Hope he will be able to get Krypton back without killing anyone. Also hope to see more of Clark, Kara, and Superboy. Nice to see the Justice League too.

Can't wait to read more Superman crossovers!!!

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this was the 'complete' story I was looking for when I muddled thru the mess of Superman Vol 3: Fury at World's End.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.. however, I really enjoyed the fight between Wonder Woman & Supergirl.

[Lewis Mcgregor · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the New 52 initially launched, Superman was one title I skipped due to the mixed reactions from readers and critics alike. Considering that in 2011 I was about 20 or 21 years old and freshly out of university with limited funds, I couldn't exactly grab every title on a whim—so the big blue boy scout got the axe.

Now, nearly 14 years later, I’m retrospectively diving back into a lot of the New 52 Superman titles. So far, it's proving to be a somewhat skippable mixed bag, with a few sweet moments sprinkled in. However, H'el on Earth marks Superman's first multi-series crossover with Superboy and Supergirl, as they face off against the Kryptonian vagabond, H'el.

Having read plenty of Superman: Rebirth and more recent titles, it's impossible not to compare today's Superman to this earlier iteration. Despite the title only being 12 years old, it's fascinating to see how differently The Man of Steel was written at that time. It certainly doesn't feel like the classic Superman—a major gripe for many readers and likely why the pre-Flashpoint Superman was eventually brought back. Dare I say it, Superman is actually a bit of a dick here, reminding me almost of Doctor Strange.

The event itself is fairly entertaining. The plot—collapsing the sun to travel back to Krypton—feels more like an Armageddon-style summer blockbuster than a nuanced, Interstellar-like narrative. It's comic junk food, but in a good way. In typical comic-event fashion, the artists from each respective series intertwine, and while I'm sure these styles work individually within their own series, the shifts feel slightly clunky whenever we revert to Rocafort's masterful pencils. Is it skippable? More or less, yes. It's hitting 5/10 for me. But if you've been reading the New 52 Superman (excluding Action Comics) from scratch and find yourself drifting off, this event might offer the jolt of energy you need to carry on.

As a side note, both Superboy and Supergirl were New 52 titles I also initially skipped, and this event has genuinely piqued my curiosity to go back and explore those runs as well. Consider the New 52 Supergirl Omnibus pre-ordered.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superman: H'El on Earth

Superman, Supergirl and Superboy all see the world differently. For Clark, Earth is home far more than Krypton. Kara still grieves her lost childhood home and Kon doesn't know where he belongs. Then, H'El arrives. Claiming to be a former student of Jor-El, he has a plan to save Krypton. But at what cost?

'The New 52' artistic style is bold and vivid and the plot really helps to the the universe together. Questions of grief, hope and working out who you are and what you stand for are central to this collection.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

This actually had some potential in the beginning, but it got squandered before it ever truly got going. The whole plot was almost as bad as the first two volumes of this run. The only positive I can think of at all was the really really good art that was in the Superman issues by Kenneth Rocafort.

1 star for story and 1 star for the art in the Superman issues.

[Keegan Schueler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great Superman crossover story with all the related characters in it. H’el is a good villain with a similar plot to many others with trying to bring Krypton back but in a different way. Good story to enjoy and Superboy really shines in this compared to Teen Titans New 52.

[Thomas Rohde · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I managed to avoid outright spoilers in this, so I'm not going to hide the review, but I do talk about the general storytelling of this collection.
For all of the "action" this collection is pretty boring. It is very much a punch first and then never bother to really ask questions kind of story. H'el could have potentially been a much stronger villain, playing sides against each other as he does, but in the rush to get to the action all nuance (and conversation) is dropped. There are a few self-aware moments in the story between Superman and Superboy, but these more often than not served to point out how thinly drawn the characterizations of these two characters are, as opposed to a jumping off place for greater depth.
And let's talk about the amount of information repetition in these DC crossovers. Every installment opens with a reiteration of who all of the title characters are and a regurgitation of the story to that point in awkward internal monologue or even more awkward dialogue bubbles. And it all feels like filler. I first caught installments of this series in the Supergirl trades (Being more of a Marvel fan, I'm catching up on all of the New 52 at once) and even with these attempts by the writers to allow an audience in at any point (I'm assuming that these are attempts) as a reader I was still lost as to where in the story I was--they did nothing to actually catch a casual reader up. Which begs the question, how many people do they think are just casually reading these crossovers? For all of the new readers you hope to acquire with these reboots and whatnot, how many folks jump in on single issues of these crossover stories, and don't they want to encourage folks to pick up the other titles? Is the best was to do this really incoherent action and constant repetition of basic story points? Marvel has been leading off their issues with a text box, a sort of "previously on" encapsulation of the story that doesn't burden the 22 pages of art to waste time catching people up, but still providing orientation. And I've noticed that the Batman crossovers aren't as overburdened with this repetition (and arguably, there is more weight and more backstory with the Death of the Family story than here, and yet it felt easier to read individual issues).
I gave it three stars because, as an event, it could have been much worse. It would have gotten more if we could have had smarter dialogue between Superman and Supergirl about what the loss of Krypton meant to them individually and why they felt that H'el's plans would or wouldn't work. Instead, we got a Supergirl who bought into, not a plan, but the promise of a plan, without asking the cost of the plan. We got a H'el who concocted a plan that was completely ludicrous and coincidental. And we got that damn insignia carved on his chest that appeared and disappeared and was never explained (and if it was, I completely missed it when everything else was being over-explained.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s pretty annoying when people decide to reject something. Their opinions become twisted by their desire for rejection. Everything they see feeds into it. The New 52 was victim to this phenomenon. There was a lot of interesting material that came out of it, that was summarily rejected simply because it was a part of it. H’El on Earth was one such victim.

It certainly didn’t deserve to be. The brainchild of Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort, whose bold new vision in the pages of Superman might possibly have been seen as such, as Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo were embraced in Batman, if like them they had debuted as the creative team rather than two turns later, it was a chance to see three titles collaborate, in a way the Superman books had never really done.

Which is to say, by combining the separate narratives of Superman, Supergirl and Superboy.

In the New 52, most of DC continuity had been totally rebooted, even altered. Superman and Lois Lane weren’t even a given anymore. Supergirl saw Earth as an alien and unwelcome environment. Superboy’s clone origins left him constantly on the defensive.

And they all converge around a new kind of Kryptonian threat, a would-be savior who promises to bring Krypton itself back (I suspect the plot from Man of Steel combined this and Superman: Earth One, Vol. 1), in the process viewing Supergirl as a natural ally, Superboy (in Kryptonian lore clones were forces of destruction) as an abomination, and Superman only as standing in his way.

Superman comics famously crossed over with one another repeatedly in the ‘90s. This was the “triangle era,” marked with a numbering sequence each week (they even had, eventually, a fifth title for months with five weeks). But they all starred Superman. The Superboy and Supergirl comics from this time were always concerned with separate adventures. Superboy, of course, followed his own story, having begun when Superman was “dead,” and he never really looked back.

So, amazingly, this was a first. Aside from Superboy’s arc kind of being downplayed at the end, each hero has a distinct arc, a role to play. It’s excellent integrated storytelling.

It’s also a preview of things to come. As I’ve said, Superman and Superboy had never really overlapped before. This story laid groundwork for that changing. While the New 52 Superboy sort of vanished after a while, a victim of the massive fan backlash, the Rebirth era brought us two additional efforts. The first was Superman’s actual son. Then the original version of the clone, the ‘90s one, returned, and he showed up in Superman comics as a worthy companion.

Perhaps in later years readers will decide to be kinder to the New 52, and stories, specifically, like this one, that demonstrate worthwhile ambition. Well, stranger things have happened.

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the fact that I have not read any of the Superman, Supergirl, or Superboy New 52 comics I was still able to follow the story line of this crossover event. This book collects issues from the 3 previously mentioned titles and intertwines them seamlessly to tell the story of H'el a survivor of Krypton who wants to use the energy from Earth's sun to travel back in time to before his planet was destroyed.

The first half of this comic was flawless while the second half did tend to drag on a bit. I was also hoping for some type of huge reveal at the end and felt a little disappointed. Throughout the story we see H'el take advantage of Supergirl and do a number of unsavory and manipulative things and there is always this overtone, this hinting, that this guy is super evil. Except he's really not. I wanted this epic villainous ending and that is not really how it goes down.

I did, however, really enjoy the characterization of Superman in this adaptation. Usually Supes is a bit stuffy but in this story he had great moments of humor and human-ness which ends up being a very juxtaposition of Supergirl and H'El. I also appreciated the attempt to make Supergirl more than just a pretty face and loved seeing her and Wonder Woman battle.

Superboy, didn't really bother me, despite his forced snarkiness HOWEVER it did bother me that Superman gives him his suit and spends the rest of the story battling in a t-shirt and jeans...wtf



Overall, very entertaining but not nearly as epic as it could have been.

[Christopher Rush · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping this collection would fill in some of the gaps from the Superman issues ... but it turns out no gaps existed. The only things added to the story from the Supergirl and Superboy issues are sideplots, irritating character moments (mainly because everyone spends these issues mad at everyone else), and semi-philosophical excursions into, well, lots of stuff that doesn't mean much in the long run. You will likely forget it all moments after you put the volume down. It's just irritating most of the heroes spend so much time arguing with and sniping at one another.
Similarly, the Superboy issues get annoying fairly quickly. He spends most of the time lamenting how he was hatched to be a weapon, and now he's upset because no one loves him (or something like that). We get it about two panels in, but then we have to read it about 36 more times. Could have been better, but that's fairly typical of New 52 material.
Still, the storyline has its moments. The potential of a displaced Kryptonian, driven to resurrect Krypton provides some fine tensions for our characters and, one can hope, future storylines of interest, since He'l, naturally, survives. Lobdell gives us a universe of mighty and inexplicable wonders and dangers. The positives most likely outweigh the negatives, but don't scrutinize the meniscus too closely. Just be grateful Mr. Lobdell has rescued Superman from the doldrums and make yourself enjoy it (for as long as you can remember it).

[MasterSal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes so much of a difference reading this collected volume as I could actually follow the story instead of reading the individual titles only!

The overall plot was exciting and some of the artwork was fantastic. Superboy and superman interaction for me were the highlight and I was hoping for more. He’l was an interesting villain and I felt for him which for me made this an above average title.

Super girl needed a slap on the head which was not so great. Whole I intellectually understand that her desire to return to Krypton is so great that she ignores all the warnings - and she does get warned - usually one panel before someone punches someone else - but a little bit of a slowing down of the punching would have driven that home better.

And the whole cosmic watcher thing confused me. A little too much foreshadowing for my taste. The basic story was strong enough without bringing in this other elements which left me a little confused.

Thankfully these are not a major part of the story and can be safely ignored for one of the stronger adventures I’ve read in the new 52.

Ps. The whole intro about Superboy being a clone and a weapon - does it really have to be done at the beginning of every comic? How stupid are we?

[Sans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this late last night and passed out promptly after, so didn't get a chance to get my thoughts down. I continue to be disappointed by New 52 and am glad I didn't try to get back into comics until after Rebirth (though most of the Rebirth titles I'm currently reading are sliding into "wow, no thanks" territory as well).

I kind of hated everyone in here with the possible exception of H'el. Give me an interesting baddie and I'll probably find a way to root for him. I felt bad for the guy but didn't appreciate his manipulation of Kara. Emotional manipulation of female characters is really overdone and insulting. Though, let's be honest, Kara wasn't a shining example of the best Supergirl (or female character in general) we've had.

Pretty much everyone here was an arrogant dick, sure that they were right and everyone else should just do what they say without any kind of explanation. Meh. Still, it was one of the better stories in N52 Superman so far and I appreciated the change of pace.

[Ashraf Abdillah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid 5/10.
Score Indicates: Average. It's fine. It's not bad, but not particularly good. Perfectly enjoyable.

"Solid" indicates that within the rank of "5/10", it's middle of the pack.

Pros:
- Overall a fun and action packed story. Nothing to write home about but I enjoyed it.
- Kenneth Rocafort's art is absolutely brilliant. Art from other comic series that are included in this story arc are also pretty good (mostly).
- I actually like H'el as a villain. He's a hero in his story and has noble intentions, only misguided in his execution.
- I like Superboy I guess?

Cons:
- Superman is written poorly if you ask me. Though that might just be New 52 Superman in general.
- The story really isn't anything to write home about.

Verdict:
The story's fine. Get it if you find it on sale and are hankering for popcorn fun in a comic book. Other than that, it really is pretty run of the mill.

[John Yelverton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've never liked books in which Superman gets his tail handed to him. I like it even less when you're basically trying to create a "smart" Bizarro. I especially don't like it when Supergirl and Superman can't get along. That is not how these characters are supposed to be portrayed, and that's why I did not like this book.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this story hard to get into. And I find the New 52 Superman difficult to reconcile since he really is jerkish.

I did like the team up of Superman and Superboy.

Guest starting the Justice League. Thanks plotters die disrespecting Aquaman who is not present and who's absence is never explained!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The complete story. I had already read every other comic in this story,so it was good to read the pieces I missed. Great story with some unanswered questions,such as who was the Galactus type guy,and will he return?