One of Batman’s Most Personal Foes Just Became a Huge Problem for Superman

Absolute Superman shocked the comic book landscape when it reimagined Batman’s classic villain Ra’s al Ghul as the main antagonist of its first few arcs. In now classic Absolute Universe fashion, it kept the core of the Demon’s Head’s character, but gave him an entirely new coat of paint to better fit the much darker and more dystopian Earth he inhabited. Instead of the leader of an organization of secret assassins, Ra’s was the CEO of Lazarus Corporation, which controlled more of the world than any one nation. Instead of wanting to recruit the Dark Knight to his cause as his heir, this new corporate Ra’s set his sights on the Man of Steel, who he wants to make his son and use his power to cleanse the world of people. Now they brought in yet another of Batman’s rogues to bring down the Man of Tomorrow; Talia al Ghul is here, and she’s actually been here for a while.

An Uneasy Alliance

In his struggles against the evil and endlessly greedy Lazarus Corp, Superman has been forced to fight alongside the Omega Men, a group of terrorist insurgents who are bent on bringing Lazarus down by any means necessary. While they’re fighting against great evil, their methods are often just as brutal and inhumane as Lazarus’s, and Superman could feel their hatred infecting him, making him hesitate to save the life of an enemy soldier. On top of that, the group’s leader Primus is guided by a Father Box, a weapon she says is from God, but we know was created by Darkseid. The sentient box has plans for Superman, and it appears they involve making him a monster. Either way, when Jimmy Olsen was taken captive by Lazarus, Superman put aside his misgivings with the Omega Men and helped them raid the base he was being held.

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Superman tore his way through the Lazarus army, and although Metallo nearly killed him before, this time Kal-El was through playing around. He beat Metallo to a pulp and left him a broken mess on the ground in about four seconds, but he still refused to break his principle and kill anyone. Primus, who Boom Tubed her people inside the base and told them to leave nobody but Jimmy alive, arrived and berated Superman, demanding that he give into his hatred and fix the world with blood and fire. Then Ra’s ah Ghul himself arrived, and said the same thing. He declared how Superman was his son, if still unwilling, and how he was holding himself back from doing what he was meant to. Metallo moaned that he was supposed to be the heir to Ra’s and how he never got to fire his Kryptonite bullet, to which Ra’s responded by shooting him with it. Superman attempted to block the shot, but even though he’s faster than a speeding bullet, he couldn’t stop Kryptonite from ripping through his arm and into Metallo’s head. Superman stood and prepared to fight back, only for Primus to stab him with a Kryptonite blade, as she revealed herself as Talia al Ghul, Daughter of the Demon, Superman’s new sister.

The Omega Men of Lazarus Corp

This revelation of Talia’s identity completely recontextualizes the Omega Men. Instead of being a group of people going too far in their efforts to save the world, it becomes clear that they were created by Ra’s to direct revolts in the way that he wanted. Talia took in those who wanted to stand against Lazarus’s tyranny and turned them into monsters to give the very idea of revolution a bad name. Instead of freedom fighters, she directs them to be terrorists more interested in death than liberating people. She was poisoning them with the ideals that her and her father subscribe to, the ideals of Darkseid, revealed to them through the Father Box. And once Superman, the embodiment of righteousness, arrived on Earth, Ra’s had Talia try and have him unleash his rage by appealing to his deep care for the people Lazarus destroyed. It almost worked, the Omega Men almost completed their mission, but Superman held fast to his morals, and so they decided to force him to comply.

The Father Box started to ping after Superman was stabbed, and the final panel of the issue showed him vibrating, energy coursing off of him as he convulsed. It could be that they’re forcing the solar energy from his body to leave him powerless, or they could be trying to influence him to follow their regime. Either way, Superman is in the hands of the enemy and their charade is down. Superman is in more danger than he’s ever been, but now he knows exactly who his enemies are. He’s not done yet.

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