Superman Faces His New Kryptonite (and Reveals His Truest Self)

Kryptonite is the ultimate silver bullet in comic books. The term has become so widespread that even those outside of comic book circles use it when describing something that is a major weakness, or will have an immediate effect that you can’t ignore on someone. The original Kryptonite is easily the most surefire way to bring down the Man of Steel, and he’s run into plenty of different variations and versions of the irradiated green rock in his many years of fighting for the world. Yet, for as weak as Kryptonite is supposed to make Superman, when a new color pushes him to his absolute limit, what it reveals is exactly how strong the world’s greatest superhero really is.

Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum started when the Man of Tomorrow discovered four brand new types of Kryponite, and decided that the only thing to do was to test their effects on himself so he could know exactly what the universe had in store for him. The first issue was a beautiful exploration of Superman’s struggle to live in the moment through Purple Kryptonite’s time-perspective rending abilities, and now Cobalt Kryptonite, meant to rip Superman apart, actually shows us why he’s the most human hero around.

New Kryptonite Creates Big Problems

The effects of Cobalt Kryptonite, powerful enough to leak out of the containment casing, caused Superman to grow ginormous. In just moments, he was large enough to shatter through the roof of the Fortress of Solitude, and soon became big enough to look Godzilla dead in the eyes. Batman told Clark that they needed to fix this within minutes, or Superman’s massive size would alert every nation on Earth to him, and they would use the new potential danger he posed as an excuse to try and take him down. Upon hearing how people would be terrified of him, however, Superman suggested the most Superman thing of all time.

Read Next

Absolute Superman Is One Step Away From Becoming a Killer

Superman said that because it was inevitable that everyone would learn about him, given that his massive size would start setting off radars and international airspace alarms, he should go to Metropolis and show everyone that he’s just as harmless as ever. Even though Lois just broke up with him, he wanted to go to her because he trusted her to report the truth, no matter how much it hurt him to do so. So Superman flew to Metropolis and announced to everyone that he meant them no harm, even being tall enough to rest his arms on skyscrapers, because he believed if he explained himself the people wouldn’t be afraid.

Superman’s Greatest Strength in His Weakest Moments

Superman had become so massive that he could tear down a city by moving the wrong way, and yet he chose to put his faith in the hearts of people. Superman’s greatest power has always been his heart, his hope and faith in the good inside of everyone, and it’s demonstrated perfectly here. Batman calls out how naive Clark’s plan is, saying how easy it would be for everyone to be afraid of a Giant Superman, but Superman chose to believe people wouldn’t despite all logic suggesting this was a bad idea. Superman always feels like an outsider, like he’s living in a world he can shatter, and Cobalt Kryptonite made that fact impossible to ignore. Superman is already at an emotional low after Lois dumped him, and now his very existence is giving people a reason to be terrified of him, but he still smiled and calmly explained himself, showing everyone that fear won’t help anything, but stepping forward with hope can.

It beautifully captures Superman’s eternally hopeful nature. It’s often called naive, but in reality Clark is choosing to believe that everyone wants to do the right thing, and we just have to trust them to do so. Superman is the gold standard for heroism for a reason, and this belief in the common person is exactly the type of hope that he inspires in everyone. It even seemed to be working, as nobody actually freaked out about Superman until Lex Luthor infected him with Red Kryptonite. Speckled Kryptonite returned Superman to normal size, but now he’s been transformed back into a teenager, which perfectly sets up what can only be a poignant and emotional rollercoaster of an adventure with Billy Batson, Captain Marvel. What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!