Superman: War Of The Supermen

Superman: New Krypton Saga #7

by Sterling Gates, James Robinson, Eddy Barrows (Illustrator)

The final chapter in the critically acclaimed, best selling NEW KRYPTON storyline.

A war is coming, and all that stands between Earth and 100,000 vengeful supermen is one Superman! The storyline the SUPERMAN books have been building to since 2008 has arrived. The Man of Steel must stop the two worlds he loves from destroying each other, while General Sam Lane and all of Earth’s heroes make one last stand against General Zod and his army of super powered Kryptonians. The fate of two worlds will be decided here. In the end, can Superman save either?

Collecting SUPERMAN: WAR OF THE SUPERMEN #0-4 and materials from SUPERMAN #700.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superman, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Sterling Gates has written stories featuring some of the biggest superheroes in the world, including Superman, Supergirl, Spider-Man, Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash. He is the cowriter of the New York Times best-selling "Superman: New Krypton Saga" graphic novel series, including SUPERMAN: NEW KRYPTON, SUPERMAN: THE LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON, and SUPERMAN: WAR OF THE SUPERMEN.

Gates was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and studied filmmaking and art at the University of Oklahoma. He moved to Los Angeles in 2006, where he worked first as a writer's room production assistant and later as personal assistant to comic book legend Geoff Johns.

Gates' critically acclaimed run on SUPERGIRL with artist Jamal Igle redefined the character for a new generation and was named one of the "100 Greatest Superhero Comics of All Time" by The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. ADVENTURES OF SUPERGIRL Vol. 1 was selected by YALSA as one of 2017's "Great Graphic Novels for Teens." Gates and artist Matthew Clark contributed a Supergirl story to the Eisner and Ringo award-winning anthology, LOVE IS LOVE.

Gates has written for various other media, including the independent superhero film THE POSTHUMAN PROJECT, Marvel Animation Studios' SPIDER-MAN, and The CW's SUPERGIRL and THE FLASH.

A proud Eagle Scout, Gates currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

You do realize that this means WAR!!!



Hail, hail, New Krypton!

Or

What’s left of New Krypton under the command of General Zod vs. The Earth.

And it’s not pretty.

Lex Luthor has one last surprise and it puts the situation even further beyond the chance for a peaceful resolution. Hint: stuff gets blown up.



Now everyone’s pissed and things won’t end well.



Neither side gets off unscathed, but the resolution here is just a little too pat for me.



Issue #700 provides a nice coda that examines the relationship between Superman and Lois Lane (at this juncture in the old continuity – Mrs. Superman).



Bottom Line: My decision to read this series was brought about by a series of discussions with my good friend, Anne, on the merits of Superman as a viable comic book character.

Me: Superman sucks.
Anne: Ass!

She loves him (not to the extent she loves Aquaman or Green Lantern, but still…); I’ve always been somewhere south of the middle of the road, so I set out to find a decent Superman event that would prove me wrong. I choose this one because my library has a high percentage of the collected volumes (I’ve read and reviewed a total of eight and I believe there’s twelve. Searching in Goodreads using “New Krypton” as your criteria isn’t helpful to find the entire collected saga on one page, so don’t bother trying).

This was the last big Superman event before DC went New 52 and it has its moments; it’s fairly coherent and fun, but ultimately forgettable. Definitely recommended for Superman fans (Hi Anne!). For anyone else, it’s not an unpleasant way to pass your comic book reading time.

Overall: Three and a half stars.

It seems to be doggie superhero gif week for me, so:



Kryptonians taste like chicken by product.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was surprisingly good.

The final war between Krypton and earth is here and Superman goes to stop Zod but well he has plans of his own and well Clark may not be able to stop them meanwhile somewhere else Reactron has done something that will change Clark's life and when it hits too close to home, its upto the entire Super family to stop it. General Lane and General Zod, two leaders of two warring factions unleash their plans and what happens and how Superman's world is changed forever is revealed here and its epic.

I loved this volume particularly for the character moments and the choices they make, the tough ones they have to make and yeah its emotional for sure but its really good and changes this character in a profound manner for sure. Its a must read volume for Superman fans. The emotional beats, the art and the fights are some of the best here and truly shows the personification of hope that Clark is.

[William Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know how some people will judge you, you in your entirety based on this one question: Beatles or Rolling Stones? It's the same thing with which side you take in the Superman or Batman question.

And I've always been into the Stones and the Batman. Whatever you think that says about me, it's probably true.

I've always thought of Superman as a Nancy. A watery, weepy type of superhero. And that's a very unfair characterization, but to me he's like the Jimmy Stewart of superheroes when Batman is the Lee Marvin.

But once in a long while I read a great Superman book like this and get all revved up to start picking up his single issues. Disappointment immediately ensues because I realize that Superman gets by most of the time on his name alone, and that quite a few writers are very lazy in the monthly books. I do however think he is always written pitch-perfectly in the JLA books.

But I loved this book for it's return to the mythology of Krypton and it's incorporation of a new insidious villain on Earth, one that trumped even Lex Luthor and collaborated with Brainiac. Namely, Lois Lane's father. On top
Of this and Zod returning for another attempt at conquering Earth, it was a supremely enjoyable experience.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was...a whimper of a ending. So right off the bat the story starts with Superman busting through a wall claiming he'll stop Zod. That's right. Just burst through the walls while Zod's entire army is there to stop you...what? Then have Supergirl do something dumb and cause the death of the entire race. Not a spoiler, we knew it wasn't going to last. Then people fight...a lot...yeah. Everything wrong with Zack's vision of Superman is present in this story.

The Good: There's a bitter sweet moment with Clark and Kara. There's also a cool moment with Superboy (So weird there's ANY good moments with him) and that's about it...

The bad: The fights are bland and boring. The ending feels wrapped up and silly. The Zod planning makes no f'ing sense and when they get to earth it just comes down to kill everything but with no planning. This is supposed to be a general...right? RIGHT!?

Yeah overall this whole event wasn't great. Some moments of fun to be had but if you never read this you won't be skipping much.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a turd called War of the Supermen, the finale to the awful New Krypton storyline! General Zod decides to invade Earth ‘cos he’s a prick and General Sam Lane (Lois’ pop) tries to commit genocide, also ‘cos he’s a prick. Superman flies around punching people because that’s always fascinating, some second-tier characters “die” because death means so much in superhero comics, and James Robinson does what he does best: blandly resetting things back to normal without any consequences for anything that happened before.

What a load of crap! There was build-up to a big battle and it culminates in something crummy called “the 100 minute war”, an appropriately rushed-sounding affair because it’s exactly that. I suppose it’s cool seeing that many Kryptonians flying towards Earth but it’s a lot of visual spectacle for nothing as it’s dealt with very anticlimactically. Robinson careens from one big set piece to the next without a single one feeling significant despite their scale. The sun’s been turned red somehow – look at the Kryptonians die! Oh wait, it’s gone back to yellow again – thanks Deus Ex Machina!

I’m a Superman fan but there wasn’t anything in this one I liked at all. The one positive about this book is that it marks the end of the New Krypton arc. Wow, Airboy really is the only James Robinson book worth reading, eh?

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like the conclusion to the New Krypton storyline a lot. Unfortunately, the 100 minute war failed for me. The results of what happened to Thara, Chris, Faora and Non seemed either too brief or too much happened off panel. The added issue might be that Robert Kirkman (of Walking Dead fame) pretty much did this war story in Invincible with a mildly surprising outcome.

There is at least one thing writers James Robinson and Sterling Gates do better than Kirkman. The sheer amount of damage. There were very few Viltrumites left in Invincible, less than 100 (hell I think about 25 it has been awhile since I read it). Here Kandor has a population of 80,000, and most of it is wiped out by page 20 (or so). The devastation to Earth is the same in both titles.

So credit for the war's toll, but demerits for how the characters bits, much of it built up for year played out. Especially, General Sam Lane's final fate.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have started reading DC comics and I have to say I’m quite fond of the Superman ones.

In this comic,we see Superman as he loses a Kryptonian city he had helped to save and develop.Considering he lost Krypton when he was a baby,it’s more harrowing to see him struggle with the loss of so many thousands of his people when they decide to invade earth,and he is forced to defend it.Quite a few heroes fall to save it.

I will be reading more from Clark Kent.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's over. Sigh of relief. It was a huge investment of time and resources; but, finally, the New Krypton story-arc is over.

Of course it was a predictable ending, and I think that's what made the whole series an exercise in patience: with Supes, you always know exactly how it is going to end, so there really is never any mystery or suspense... You always get what you'd expect with The Man of Steel.

I was disappointed with the writing on this series. Near the beginning, I thought that maybe, just maybe, Robinson had learned a thing or two about pacing his storyline. With past series, he has had this problem of stretching out the first issues with exposition and choppy dialogue, and then, in the final issue, realizing he is running out of pages, he rushes the ending , letting it dissolve with confusing and loosely connected fight scenes. However, the New Krypton series started off differently. The dialogue was not very choppy, and there was a lot of action near the start, so I thought he had given up his poor- paced ways. Not so, unfortunately.

This last issue is pure Robinson. Rush job and a half. So little dialogue. Disjointed story boarding. Time doesn't seem to exist because every frame just cuts one into the next, most of the action happening off-panel so all of the events can fit in one volume, poorly described, with virtually no exposition, no meaning, no catharsis. It may as well have read, "C'mon! We have to go here now! Hurry! Now over here! Quick! Now we have to do this! Run!!! Go Go Go!! Phew that was close."

As a whole, the series was average. As a final volume, War of the Supermen left me very unsatisfied. Mostly because it doesn't show us a war!!! It's more like "The Nightly News Recap of The War of the Supermen". 3/5

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK So apparently, Superman: Brainiac, which I just read before this, was the start of a saga, and this was the conclusion.
Interesting.

I like the fact that Superman isn't in control at all, that there's more powerful forces (Zod and Lane) and that while he is of both worlds, he is also of neither, and both his homes have committed genocide against the other.

This would be a great time for him to go apeshit. Really would be.

Other than that, More of the Krypton reborn...sheesh, why can't it be like Alderaan and just stay dead? I mean I suppose that't the thing at the end of the day, how often do you kill/destroy something to have it come back...not everything is like that. Plus, having more Kryptonians makes Superman/Kal-El even less important.

I dunno I guess I should read more in the middle of this but it wasn't too bad on it's own. Nothing earth-shattering for me though.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing end to one of the greatest Superman stories in years.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 4 out of 5]

The epic saga comes to an end. But was it worth it?

The New Krypton saga as a whole has been a real mixed bag. The Mon-El spin off was passable, the Nightwing and Flamebird spin-off was poor at first and came good later, the Supergirl stuff was the best the title has been in years. And the main focus of it all? Well, he was hardly the main focus of it at all, was he? The entire run has been marked by everybody getting meaningful stories and arcs except for the Man of Steel. Once again, people are writing around him. Typical. It seems only Geoff Johns is able to write FOR Superman these days. But that aside, what of the conclusive volume? Did it come good in the end?

The answer is... yes and no.

There are some moments in here that are genuinely epic. Really great stuff. There are some big emotional beats here, too. But again, none of these are really about Superman or Clark. They are stories about Zod, Kara, Alura, and General Lane. Superman features prominently, but he has little to offer the story except as a central figure for people to punch. In this sense, the volume is as poor as the majority of the New Krypton saga. Outside of this element, however, there is real gold to be mined.

Superman fans will have mixed feelings about the end of this saga - my feeling is one of gladness. Glad it's over. It had its moments, and the end is decent, with plenty of big twists and character deaths. Still, it was James Robinson who again let this down. His focus on story is fantastic, his focus on emotion is extremly limited. Sterling Gates fares better, but ultimately it appears that without Geoff Johns, the title is getting by with "decent" stories rather than great ones.

All in all, though, this is one of the better volumes in the saga. If you want to see how it ends, I do recommend you give it a read.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

The New Krypton arc reaches its harried conclusion in this Superman volume. As Zod plans his Kryptonian invasion of Earth, Luthor and General Lane are putting their "defensive" scheme into motion. Superman, Supergirl, and the S-team are caught in the crossfire of defending the lives of both planets' citizens. Aptly dubbed the 100-minute war, that seems to sum up this volume. The collection seems rushed, requiring other tomes to help piece together the entire puzzle of events. As always, Superman's adventures fall a little short of exemplar and remain only superfluous.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh, the story was only ok but I do want to say that the colorist did a great job.

[Emile Rudoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My father-in-law once told me that the only constant in life is change. Change affects us all in different ways, and sometimes we lose sight of what's important. Sometimes we can't let go of the old ways of life. 100,000 Kryptonians came and the were seen as a threat. The were met with suspicion, hatred, and eventually, death. We--humanity--were incapable of accepting what they had to offer, accepting that change, so we lashed out at them. Destroyed them. Someday I hope humankind will be more receptive to change, to living as a "melting pot" of people and cultures. To set aside suspicions and live together peacefully. Sometimes that seems like an impossible goal. For now, though, all we can do is hold on to that hope... and let the dream for a better world sustain us.

Quiero comenzar diciendo que, aunque le puse cinco estrellas, quizás sería de cuatro y media. A mi me gusto, no nada mas por este texto que pongo que salió publicado al final del último número de "War of the Supermen". Me gustó ya que esta historia/compilado cierra de una manera increíble todo lo que habíamos estado viendo en los títulos de Superman desde que entró James Robinson. Tuvo acción, tuvo sorpresas y obviamente momentos como este. En particular me sorprendió la explosión de Krypton y cuando apuñalan a Krypto. No recordaba ninguno de estos detalles y para mi fueron increíbles. He leído muchas historias, muchas, y la verdad es que una gran parte de ellas se terminan cayendo al final. Aquí no. Se cerró la historia en todo lo alto. Si, quizás hubo algunos detalles que me hubiera gustado se desarrollaran mas/tuvieran un final diferente, pero en general este compilado cumplió.


------------------------------------------------

Quiero aprovechar este mismo espacio y poner unas pequeñas conclusiones sobre toda la historia. Obviamente entiendo que a mi me gusta como escribe James Robinson y además soy fan de la Legion of Super-Heroes, así que entiendo que mis comentarios podrían estar un poco "viciados". Se que obviamente no todo está increíble, pero tampoco es tan malo como mucha gente opinó en su momento. Creo que, sin conocer a James Robinson, así como Grant Morrison extrapoló sus ideas de veganismo y de los derechos de los animales tanto en "Animal Man" como en "We3", aquí Robinson nos presentó lo que opina de las guerras y de los militares en particular. Tanto Zod como Sam Lane terminaron siendo los principales villanos. También sentí que intentó presentar su opinión sobre la xenofobia. Ambos personajes tienen demasiados problemas con los "aliens" tanto los kryptonianos como los terrícolas.

Ahora, ya hablando de la historia completa, la verdad es que yo le pondría un 8. Aunque me gustó, sentí que algunas cosas terminaron yendo hacía ningún lado (lo de los Creature Commandos), otras como que se terminaron muy rápido (lo de Atlas y Steel, lo de Guardian) y otras que no se si vinieron en los compilados (yo leí los números sueltos) como lo de Captain Atom que la verdad no tuvo demasiadas repercusiones sino que mas bien estaba pensado para otra serie. Creo que, como comenté en la entrada de otro de los compilados, no ayudó nada que hubiera cuatro series regulares y tres escritores diferentes. Hablando en particular de lo que yo estaba interesado en leer, si, lo disfruté mucho y creo que es lo mejor y siento que la parte de Greg Rucka fue mas bien un work for hire de el (como si hubiera tenido un contrato y tuviera que escribir lo que le pedían pues). Algo similar me sucedió con Supergirl. Creo que, apenas hubo la oportunidad, buscaron desmarcarla de las otras series y entonces por ejemplo hubo un arco donde cerraron la historia de Lana Lang que nos podríamos haber evitado ya que no tenía nada que ver con lo que estábamos viendo.

Y obvio, como también ya comenté, no se si no tuvo las ventas esperadas, o ya había la intención de relanzar las series con el "New 52" que se dio al poco tiempo de que estas series concluyeran, pero si se sintió bastante apresurado todo una vez que terminaron los doce números de "Superman: World of New Krypton". Aún así, si obviamos eso y solo nos enfocamos en lo que tiene que ver con Mon-El, creo que sus números son muy sólidos y, aunque difícilmente veremos a Robinson volver a escribir al personaje si valen mucho la pena.

En fin, para mi fue una buena lectura. Logró su cometido (en particular emocionarme) y puedo decir que si siento que si fue una muy buena decisión de mi parte haberlos releído.

[Paul Riches · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was the last great pre-TheNew52 Superman storyline. It was supposed to entertain and enlighten and energize the Superman books for years to come. It was one of the most massive, interconnected tales of Kal-El ever told.

And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

And I think I was one of the few who did.

And that is a complete shame.

Superman New Krypton is a storyline that takes place over almost two years worth of Superman, Action Comics, Supergirl, Superboy, World of New Krypton, Adventure Comics and various one shots and mini-series. One of the slight modifications after Infinite Crisis to the mythos was opening the floodgates to plenty of other Kryptonians being alive and well, and this concept became a tidal wave when Superman faced off against Brainiac for the “first” time and freed the kidnapped bottled city of Kandor.

In all classic and neo-modern versions of this tale, these fellow Kryptonians become jolly good friends of Superman and benevolent helpers to him. Those stores would always bore me to tears. Even when they enlarged and got their own planet, I couldn’t have cared less.

This time, this contemporary version, they range from arrogant to somewhat ungrateful to outright hostile to all sorts inbetween. It is made abundantly clear that one of the points of New Krypton is that a great part of makes Superman “Super” is the parentage of Ma and the now late Pa Kent. Early on the now powered up Kandorians relish “their” new planet, and view the current inhabitants, namely us humans, as like pets. The part with the whale illustrates this dichotomy so precisely, it is downright prescient of what future troubles are brewing.

Tensions immediately escalate when Lois’s presumed dead father, General Lane, enacts Project 7734, with the goal of fulfilling his genocidal hatred of all things Superman. Plots within plots within plots, each met with large body counts, becomes the constant theme here. Anyone and anything that gets in the way of eliminating these filthy aliens must be abolished. The massacres the Kandorians have to endure, and their counter measures to ensure their safety, cause global tensions and bring about a huge cadre of superheroes to sort the situation out.

At this point the preamble is done, the Kandorians see the welcome mat yanked away, which makes them launch their city off into space, create a crystalline planet for themselves, and take up orbit on the far side of the sun. Goodbye you crazy humans!

At this point, Kal is still trying to fix all the myriad problems that have come about here, and so with a heavy heart he talks to wife Lois and mother Martha and goes off to outer space and New Krypton.

The stage is set and the players are now in place.

Kal-El is now world building, society changing and evil plot solving in the World of New Krypton comic by James Robinson, Greg Rucka and Pete Woods. Guest stars like Green Lantern, Adam Strange and Jemm pop up here because of the new galactic power this planet represents. We also see the creators reinvent Krypton by incorporating as many different previous versions as possible, and somehow keeping internal logic. Kal learning about how things work here does not make him a happy Superman, and brings out the social revolutionary in him.

Meanwhile, back in Metropolis, new protectors have emerged in the Superman comic, by James Robinson and Renato Geudes. Through a series of flukes, Mon-El has been plucked from the Phantom Zone and managed to be cured, while another clone of the golden age hero The Guardian has come to town. These two bring truth and justice and subplots galore here every month.

But what of all the subterfuge between the two planets? Action Comics by Greg Rucka and various artists plays with this concept by showcasing the hunt for Kryptonian infiltrators by Nightwing and Flamebird. This crime fighting duo, and potential couple, are also Kryptonians and fighting against the evil General Zod’s plans for Earth.

The tale of someone genuinely torn between the two worlds is in the Supergirl comic, by Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle. Whether she is on New Krypton endlessly arguing with her mother – and leader of Kandor, or learning about humanity while living with Lana Lang back on Earth, Supergirl is constantly challenged. She is also subjected to relentless yellow journalism by Daily Planet gossip hound Cat Grant, trying on the secret identity of Linda Lang, and recovering from Kryptonite poisoning, which by the way, is a brilliant pot device to fix the many many problems plaguing the character over the years. Supergirl 43 is the absolute best of this series, featuring her birthday and choosing a guild.

Joining in on the fun is Adventure Comics, by Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul. Starting with Superboy slowly becoming a part of everything, the series than evolves into telling the tale of how the time travelling Legion of Super Heroes are involved with this crisis.

Along the way with this sweeping storyline, we get some one shots giving us the journey of Jimmy Olsen as he investigates General Lane, and another one shot at a critical junction of everything. A personal favourite is the World’s Finest miniseries, by Sterling Gates and various artists, which has several very important plot developments. But the real reason this is a classic part of New Krypton is that these four issues have a literal whackload of Superman and Batman supporting characters teaming up, arguing, bantering, and just giving us readers a grand old adventure. Come on, Guardian and Robin Damian taking on Mr Freeze and the Parasite, what more can you ask for?

The only downside to this undertaking is the midway point. You can tell the gears behind the scenes were being shifted slightly, with some ideas, like Mon-El’s powers or what to do with Guardian’s “kid”, becoming increasing sidelined. By the time of the epic ending with The Last Stand of New Krypton comic, you can feel the lethargy kicking in. This is not to say the conclusion, which reaches its final crescendo with the War Of The Supermen mini-series, was not good and gripping and emotional, but it is obvious the fatigue from creating all those stories had taken it’s toll.

Afterall, besides everything I have mentioned, New Krypton also stars Lois Lane on a quest for the truth about her father, Perry White trying to guide her, Lex Luther being the master manipulator, Atlas being a brute, Steel helping out in Metropolis, the Creature Commandos making a comeback, Reactron being a ruthless murderer, Doomsday terrorizing everyone, Captain Atom playing a role, Daxam history getting re-explained, Codename: Assassin getting a dust-off, Silver Banshee giving a shout out, Insect Queen crawling about, Rao gaining new followers, and a partridge in a pear tree. With all this, and so much more, is it any wonder that everyone involved probably needed a nice long vacation when it was all said and done?

One issue that was present from the start, as related in interviews by writer Greg Rucka, is that New Krypton was very much behind schedule right from inception. Playing catch-up was always a present concern for all creators, who all want to do their best, but are facing a super deadline looming before them.

Because of this rushed nature of the series, and despite the promotional push from DC Comics, fans seemed slightly jaded before New Krypton even began. I myself got every issue, but only read them all last month. Because of this malaise, I firmly believe sales of the entire storyline were far below expectations, which is most likely why virtually all aspects of it were promptly ignored as soon as it ended. And this failure was also the most probable reason why the major surgery was committed on Superman’s history with The New 52 Relaunch. Think about it, this massive sweeping tale of epic proportions with far reaching ramifications vanishes from continuity a year later? Such a shame.

Everyone has a favourite Superman. Mine is the From Crisis To Crisis era. This storyline, with a nip and tuck and a bit of mental rewiring, can still fit somewhat gently into that beloved version of the Man of Steel. Yes, some leaps are harder to take than others, and I am looking at you Lucy Lane, but so many of the basic concepts are still present and accounted for.

So many thoughts and ideas are expressed here. The Clark Kent of Ma and Pa Kent faces off against the Kal-El of Krypton, nature versus nurture on a planetary scale. Earth and New Krypton on a collision course caused by madmen, people who know nothing of what Superman stands for. All this encompassing something like 150 comics in total.

A Super tale for a Superman.

[Christian Oliverio · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final part of the New Krypton story ends here in the "100 Minute War", which is a super dope title that they should have used instead of the equally cool, but not as epic one we got.

Like all crossovers, this is jammed with characters, big moments, and constant fighting. Unfortunately, a lot of the strong character work has already been done. Now we're just dealing with the consequences. That being said, there are some great big moments that fully lie in spoiler territory, most of which are returns to status quo (deaths and whatnot). Superman and Louis have some touching moments at their reunion after being apart for so long. However, the biggest highlights here are Supergirl (who is a beast and full of rage) and Superboy, who kinda saves the day while Superman solos four kryptonian soldiers and Zod in a series of repetitive moves (you would think they would come up with some more creative moves after two tries of the exact same move combo).

I also enjoyed that the other tie-ins were important. Namely Nightwing and Flamebird from their spin-off along with Superwoman from the Supergirl titles, neither of which I read. Thankfully Lois provides a "the story thus far" to get everyone up to speed, including us the reader. Now I know who those mysterious new superheroes were who showed up. Superwoman is somehow Louis's sister, which is a nice personal touch, but we should probably know how she got her powers; and Nightwing (not that one) is Chris Kent returned with twelves years of growth hormone infused into his tiny body.

In short, this is just an extended finale. Good, but not great. BUT when taken with the whole series, this is a solid ending.

[Zach · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dumb.
New Krypton was an interesting premise to take Superman in the late 00s, and I wish it had turned out better. It seems that writers wanted to be done with it as quickly as they had set it up, and it shows through the series. Characters become too assumptive too quickly that leads to mistakes being made that could easily be prevented. Superman joins the Krypton army to keep a close watch on Zod, only for it to be immediately seen that he is in fact, still evil. Shocker.
This turned into a pure action comic from the first issue to the last. None of it was particularly interesting or complex, Zod just decides now's the time to war against humanity, and Superman has to save the remaining Kryptonians from their impending doom. I think its just kind of dumb.
I will say that I think the loss of Chris Kent was actually a smart way to handle things. A character that's been largely ignored since his inception back in the late 00s, I'd be interested to see Clark at least reference his sacrifice or losing his first child. This story isn't nearly as popular as something like Batman's death in the family or even Captain America losing Bucky, but I think that it'd be cool to see Clark mourn the death of a person he was incapable of saving.
The arts good though.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

And it's done. Pretty solid and gripping finale - but again, I find the ease with which many Kryptonians were killed distracting. And frankly, I find it antithetical to my opinion of Superman as a hero that he could fail to colossally to save nearly all of the lives on New Krypton. Saving lives is what he does, even against impossible odds.

Aside from my philosophical differences, however, it's a pretty gripping ride, with some interesting individual conflicts - Guardian vs. Codename Assassin, Steel vs. Atlas, and of course Superman vs. Zod. Superboy comes up with the brilliant endgame, using the Phantom Zone Projector to capture Zod's forces, including Ursa and Non.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superman: War of the Supermen

As General Lane and General Zod gear up for war, Lara and Kal-El must face up to a devastating loss while trying to end what humanity will remember as the Hundred Minute War.

The 'New Krypton' storyline had to end this way. It was inevitable for storytelling purposes, but Gates and Robinson have ensured that the end feels painful and the shame and despair felt throughout the story pulls no punches.

[PJ Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was like reading a summary of an actual story. Also, how is Superman still relevant if everyone and their brother now has weapons that decimated an enormous army of Kryptonians.

[Mohammad Aboomar · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst in comics is concentrated in this volume. The cheesiness, false grandeur, lack of coherence, and even a naive shot at romance are all here.

[C. · Rating 1 out of 5]

*exasperated sigh*

[Jake Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it

[Sud666 · Rating 3 out of 5]

War of the Supermen is an interesting story. Apparently, Superman managed to regrow Kandor on Earth. But humans did not take to a bunch of Kryptonians (Kandorians?) living on Earth and so the Kryptonians create a planet and call it New Krypton. Then in a feat of brilliance the NK (New Kryptonians) decide to free and make General Zod the head of their military. Zod takes his 100K NK's and starts a war against Earth.

Gen. Lane, Lois Lane's dad, manages with Luthor's help to destroy New Krypton and this gives more fuel to Zod's fire for the invasion. As the 100K NKs approach Earth, Luthor manages to use a Kryptonian god named Rao to turn Earth's sun red. The Krytonians flying through space are now normal humans. Then some characters named Nightwing and Flamebird (no relation to Dick Grayson) sacrifice themselves and turn the sun yellow again. Now there are apparently 7k of the 100K NKs left. They are defeated by Superman and friends.

That's the gist of the story. While nothing in that plot excited or amazed me, I can honestly say none of it was awful either. I am not sure who this writer, James Robinson, is but his work isn't anything amazing. There are certain issues with the plot namely in regards to the power levels of Kryptonians. I mean, one Superman is quite a powerful character. 2-5 Supermen is an enormous problem. 1,000+ Supermen.....wellllllllll if they have almost the same levels of power as Kal-El..there is not much realistically anyone can do. So the concept that (a) humans drove them from Earth (b) were stupid enough to commit xenocide on NK and (c) tried to fight a defensive battle against a NK army just does NOT compute.
In the story they talk about "surgical strikes" and had some world leaders die. Also some Super groups attempted to halt the invasion, but not all that successfully. I suppose it revolves around the power levels assigned to the NKs. If they are equal or almost the equal of Kal-El then...even a 100 of them could destroy the Earth. Heck 50 of them could do it. 7K of them are unbeatable. Period.
In certain tales Superman's powers are great but within some boundary, this is one of those tales. In others he has godlike abilities, this is not one of those tales. Were that true then just 3 or 4 NKs should be able to tear the world apart-literally. That's the problem with this story. The other being the odd reactions of Superman and other Kryptonians to humans exterminating their fellow Kryptonians. I mean at the end-when Superman and Lois are babbling, it is hard to tell from Superman's reactions that almost 100K NKs died, New Krypton was annihilated, etc.. all by the humans- and Superman seems only a bit sad about it all. Does that make any sense really? not to me.
What did I like? It was a good action oriented story. The art was solid. For being short, and not knowing the whole storyline I never felt very confused by this simple plot. I would not go out of my way to recommend this one. Perhaps only a true Superman fan would like it, but it is not an awful story either. I just would not add this to my collection.

[NullusAnxietus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted at http://twonerdstalking.com/tnt-comic-...

Spanning five issues, War of the Supermen is the concluding chapter of the New Krypton story-arc and tells the tale of the so-called 100 minute war.

Angered by the actions of General Lane and Project 7734 and fueled by his desire for revenge against the House of El, General Zod has declared war on the Earth. Obviously this doesn't go down so well with Superman and once again he and his allies are all that stands between Earth and her ultimate destruction.

That bothered me a little...I'm not sure where the rest of Earth's Superhero population were at this point, apparently they're all on vacation or some such thing...but I digress...

War of the Supermen is action packed and doesn't let up for a moment. There's some huge twists early on in the book that really surprised me. It was great too to see a little more behind the character of Zod...For all his flaws the man is a great strategist and really does care about the welfare of his people.

A particular highlight for me was seeing the lengths that Superman was prepared to go to protect his adopted planet of Earth. Even after all Project 7734 had done to the Kryptonian people, he still believes in the inherent good of people.

War of the Supermen also wraps up a lot of loose threads, we see the ultimate fate of Project 7734, General and Lucy Lane as well as Nightwing and Flamebird and the infamous trio of General Zod, Ursa and Nom.

personally I feel it this wrapped up the series just a little too neatly. Without revealing any spoilers, after such a long and varied story-arc...this conclusion seemed to be just pressing the reset button. There seemed to be little to no ongoing consequences.

That said War of the Supermen is a decent read and well worth checking out.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 I found the New Krypton arc leading up to this (Kryptonians return and take up residence near Earth) tedious as heck, but this apocalyptic finish (spoiler: Zod's a bad guy!) is lively enough to be readable. However I've seen much better apocalypses, so "readable" is the most I can say. And I'm really sick of Zod being the default Kryptonian villain since Superman II — the trouble is, nobody ever does anything different with him (he's a megalomaniacal Kryptonian super-patriot who wants to conquer/destroy Earth) and that movie's more than 30 years old (there have been other evil Kryptonians, why not use one).

[Richard Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this is a solid superhero romp - lots of action, a few surprises and not an insult, to my old, stuck-in-the-mud preferred version of Superman.

Powerful beings do powerful things, Superman knocks the hell out of lots of people, General Zod and Non knock lots of hell out of lots more things, Supergirl and Ursa go at it somewhat furiously and General Lane impersonates General Ross.

If I have got a problem with this, its that this story is EPIC - for crying out loud, 100,000 Supermen attack the Earth, and do a lot of damage and a whole planet is blown to bits. BUT, all of it is contained in quite a brief volume. Admittedly, the whole thing is supposed to take place in a matter of hours, but despite these enormous events, it all seems a little brief.

Better than the Braniac insult to my intelligence that apparantly starts this "New Krypton" thing off, at least the Shrunken City of Kandor gets a good send-off.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

The build was not worth it. The Superman New Krypton story arc begins with Superman: Brainiac and ends 11 trade paperbacks worth of material and ends with a rushed finale. Characters are seldom shown fighting, just about to fight or arriving to the fight. I thought there was a scene where Zod throws the Daily Planet at Superman but that didn't happen. Characters are saved by last minute attacks by other characters, multiple times.

All the loose ends are resolved quickly without much feeling. There is a cool ending that resonates with previous story arcs, and Luthor's involvement had me excited for a few pages.

Despite the rushed feel and lack of actual combat scenes, War of the Superman is all hype and no bang.

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the inevitable conclusion, there was at least one surprise in here. At least one plot point was clear as day to the reader but apparently not to Superman. Speaking of the year(?) long story of New Krypton, I certainly appreciate the effort and these extended stories can be much meatier and more in depth that most of the monthly arcs. However, I never felt as a whole this rose too much above average. Much of it was very cliche other than the knowledge of Kryptonian society and a few twists to keep things interesting. I didn't read any of the tie-in books because I just wasn't that interested. It'll be interesting to see if this collected in a large omnibus, just how much they include.

[Andy Wisely · Rating 3 out of 5]

100.000 orang Krypton menyerbu Bumi. Tiap satu orang punya kekuatan setara Superman. Ceritanya terlalu singkat untuk plot seperti ini - perang di buku ini hanya terjadi dalam 100 menit, kurang dari dua jam.

Setelah cerita The New Krypton yang memakan waktu dua tahun dan menghasilkan begitu banyak TPB, konflik final ini menurutku seharusnya paling tidak 8 chapterlah (200-an halaman).