Today, Mikyzptlk and Drew are discussing Superman Unchained 2, originally released July 10th, 2013.

Mikyzptlk: The concept of the superhero is obviously a very compelling one. There are stories of superpowered beings throughout all of recorded history, but the idea of the colorfully clad, modern myths that we know of today have been going strong for 3 quarters of century. There is no question that these heroes and their powers are fun, and hell, who wouldn’t want to have a superpower of their own? As amazing as these powers can be though, they can be equally terrifying. Superman Unchained 2 explores what happens when enemies and allies begin to express their fears of the Man of Steel. 

Our story begins 18 seconds before the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, collapses. Fortunately for the the citizens of Dubai, this is the perfect job for Superman. He inventively handles the situation and saves the building from a total collapse, while simultaneously taking down the Apollodorus, a prototype construction mech that has been taken over by the terrorist group known as Ascension. Clark then treks over to Wayne Manor, where Batman reveals a new Bat-suit designed to hide from Clark’s senses…all of them. Breaking news changes the subject as Ascension reveals their plans to “go to war with the modern world.” Bruce gives Clark the results of tests he’s run on the broken satellite piece collected in issue 1, which confirms the handprint was formed by a solar-powered being even stronger than Superman. Picking up a lead from Lois, Superman then heads over to the Salt Flats to find out what General Lane has been up to. Lane is talkative but not exactly revelatory, but their conversation is cut short by the reveal of some pretty nasty anti-Superman weaponry that does quite the number on Supes. However, before too much damage can be done, the world’s “first” Superman makes his debut.

I’ll get to our mystery “Superman” in a minute, as he’s certainly got me intrigued, but first I’d like to get into just how much I’m enjoying this series so far. This issue continues to be just as fun and creative in the treatment of Superman as it was in issue 1. That issue found Superman handling threats in clever and inventive ways. Issue 2 is no different. The opening scenes introduced us to one hell of a ticking clock with Superman have only 18 seconds to save a building from collapsing. Scott Snyder had Superman considering all the options he had, which was fun and intense. Using this power might kill this many people, using that power may kill this many more. Superman found himself in a seemingly no-win situation, but he’s Superman, so that’s not really in his vocabulary. Using a combination of super speed, flight, and ice-breath, Supes provides a cushion of ice that prevents the building from collapsing completely. Bravo Superman, and bravo Snyder. This is the kind of action I expect from Superman. Sure, he’s got incredible powers, but he’s also smart. Hell, Superman is a genius, and it’s clear that Snyder recognizes this.

Let’s move on to the themes presented in this issue, which I imagine is what we’ll see in the remainder of the arc as well. Power. Control of said power, and those who are afraid of those who will lose control of that power. Batman has a well documented case of being weary of those with superpowers. Regardless of if you are friend or foe, Batman will have a plan to put you down. He’s even got plans to stop himself should the need ever arise. The suit you see above is just another example of the plans he has in place to fight back against superpowers gone rogue. In this case, it was Clark’s idea to have Batman create a cloaking suit, except that he had already done so before the two grew close. The question is brought up of whether Batman will now destroy the suit, which Batman replies with “any day now.” Even with the bond between these two firmly in place, the very idea of someone as powerful as Superman is somewhat off-putting. It’s a good thing they are best buds right?

General Lane, on the other hand, is not so much with the “buds.” The dude has spent billions, or even trillions of dollars just to take out one guy. I mean, black hole lasers? That’s some serious shit. These weapons have been created because of fears that Superman will one day lose control or go rogue. The funny thing is, that’s exactly what they make Superman do!

Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately?) the first Superman shows up and puts a stop to this whole mess, as you see illustrated in the first pic I posted above. I assumed that the two Supermen were going to be enemies, but this issue has me questioning that now. First of all, he stops the onslaught of General Lane’s black hole tanks, and then makes the following comment: “I’ll deal with Superman. I’ve been waiting a long time for this.” Sure, that sounds bad, but it might not necessarily mean he wants to punch a hole through our hero’s S-shaped chest. I mean, this guy has been working for the U.S. government for 75 years right?  I’m assuming there’s going to much more to this guy than what appearances make it seem.

Drew, there’s quite a bit that Snyder is giving us here. I haven’t even gotten into the shenanigans of Lex Luthor. I’m not sure what he’s up to, but it certainly doesn’t look good. Additionally, Ascension seems to be shaping up quite well (read: horribly). What do you make of them? Do you think there might be a connection between Lex and the terrorist group? The group is at war with the modern world and, hey, isn’t one of Superman’s sobriquets “The Man of Tomorrow?” That can’t be good.

Drew: I doubt Luthor has anything to do with Ascension — I think Snyder is piling on the problems to really test Superman to his limits. The Dubai scene does this perfectly without resorting to the old standby of kryptonite. Instead, Snyder introduces a problem that actually needs solving. This isn’t something Clark can just be strong enough or fast enough to stop — he needs to be smart enough, and Snyder is great at writing smart characters.

Which brings me back to Luthor. This is obviously not the first time in fiction we’ve seen a seemingly innocent object repurposed to help in a prison escape, but this may be one of the most complicated. This isn’t just a prototype Iron Man costume; he’s preprogrammed it with his own consciousness — a very Superman-y idea. Moreover, both the model city and the suit were actually functional. It’s one thing to make up a story about why you need all of these materials, but it’s another to actually use them for the thing you say and then use them for something entirely different. It helps that it is quite clear that Luthor’s solar tree will play a significant factor in the story going forward — this is the second time in as many issues he’s brought it up, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Bruce was talking about power levels in terms of gigawatts of solar energy. Perhaps Luthor’s plans can be repurposed again to help Clark defeat this other Superman?

Oh, right: the other Superman. Between Bruce’s talk about absorption of solar energy (in truly absurd numbers — at any given moment, these two Supermen would absorb over a quarter of all solar energy hitting the Earth) and General Lane’s black hole weaponry, it’s clear that this fight is going to come down to amount of sunlight absorbed. The difference between the two doesn’t seem huge — other Superman is only 14% more powerful — but without a great sense of what a gigawatt is, it’s tough for me to abstract the difference between the two. Turns out, a nuclear power plant operating at full capacity puts out about 1 gigawatt, which means this other Superman is about 20 nuclear power plants more powerful than ours.

It’s a good thing, then, that Clark has so many resources at his disposal. Luthor’s solar tree is one, but I’m most intrigued by Bruce’s cloaking suit. What’s good for hiding from one Superman must be good for hiding from another, right? The backup finds Bruce handling a large chunk of kyrptonite, which could also come in handy. A backup seems like an odd place to introduce Checkov’s gun, but it also seems odd to introduce the kryponite there for no reason. Maybe it just illustrates Bruce’s cynicism, but that cynicism may come in handy when Clark needs to fight someone with similar physiology.

While so many other writers are concerned about how Superman is too powerful, it’s a fascinating trick that Snyder could get me worried about what kind of help Superman might need. Any one of the foes Clark is facing here — another Superman, a terrorist group that can weaponize anything, the US Government, Luthor — would be enough to drive the conflict, but with all of them going on at once, it sure looks like he’s going to have to think fast. Good thing he’s Superman, huh?

For a complete list of what we’re reading, head on over to our Pull List page.  Whenever possible, buy your comics from your local mom and pop comic bookstore.  If you want to rock digital copies, head on over to DC’s website and download issues there.  There’s no need to pirate, right?