Superman is in a very good place right now. Superman is soaring into theaters and has the kind of anticipation that Marvel Cinematic Universe movies used to get. DC Comics has also been doing everything they can to make the Superman comics better than ever, and the new Superman Unlimited is a key part of that. The book’s first issue had Superman averting a major disaster in the form of a Kryptonite meteor about to hit the Earth. Superman saves the world, and the Kryptonite hits the planet, mostly landing in the country of El Caldero. Kryptonite is everywhere in DC right now, and Superman Unlimited #2 picks up that plotline. Kryptonite has a long history, but Superman Unlimited has changed all of that forever.
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Kryptonite is one of those things that can get a little annoying when it’s overused. The current Emerald Era could easily fall into that trap, but Superman Unlimited #2 actually makes the whole thing work. There are multiple instances in the issue of the new reality of this Kryptonite laden Earth. While there are some things that you’d expect to made of Kryptonite, there’s a few instances that are completely unique to this new era. Kryptonite is about to change the world, and DC Comics will never be the same again.
Superman’s Life Is About to Get Way More Interesting
Superman Unlimited #1 established that the country of El Caldero had flooded the world with Kryptonite technology. Readers see Superboy and Supergirl bruised and bloody from fighting thugs with Kryptonian weapons. We get to see Superman get this sort of treatment at the end of issue #2, as Superman fights against crooks with Kryptonite bullets, knives, and other weapons. His new powers, which make him invulnerable to Kryptonite with a huge caveat, are put to the test and he’s able to triumph with a little help from the Creeper, who saves him from one of the criminals he lost track of. This is all pretty standard; everyone expected to see criminals with Kryptonite weapons fighting Superman, and it’s pretty cool fight. However, Superman Unlimited #2 doesn’t just give people the expected with Kryptonite. The beginning of the issue shows some uses for Kryptonite that no one would have guessed at. Lois Lane is in El Caldero, overseeing the newest branch of The Daily Planet (now a global multimedia news network.) She meets with El Caldero president Castilho, who shows off his country’s new money, made of Kryptonite, and celebrating Superman’s feat of bringing the Kryptonite to Earth. Readers also learn that the El Caldero branch of The Daily Planet has a massive Kryptonite globe that was built for its roof.
When a group of thieves try to steal the globe, the new defense force of El Caldero jumps into action — the Krypto-Knights (get it?) Longtime DC fans will recognize the design of the armor. It looks like the old Checkmate armor, and even still has the emblem of Checkmate on it, which is very, very interesting. They’re armed with powerful energy lances, and are able to stop the thieves from taking the globe. There’s also the question of whether Kryptonite is harmful to humans as well. Now, this used to be the case in DC Comics. Post-Crisis Lex Luthor wore his Kryptonite ring all the time to hurt Superman, and eventually got cancer from its radiation. Superman Unlimited #2 sees Jack Ryder, the civilian identity of the Creeper, talk to a dairy farmer who claims that Kryptonite is harmful to humans, and brings her two-headed goat with her. However, Clark Kent fact checks her (another new aspect of being an employee of The Daily Planet,) proving the goat wasn’t changed by the Kryptonite. Superman Unlimited hasn’t established whether Kryptonite radiation is harmful to humans one way or another. However, the issue does end with President Castilho sending a bunch of Kryptonite to Toyman to “deal” with people who talk badly about his country’s main source of income.
The Emerald Age Is the Most Interesting Superman Idea in a Long Time
Honestly, that isn’t all that happened in Superman Unlimited #2. Knockout, the ex-girlfriend of Superboy, returns, and there’s a couple of sly references to Intergang, the high tech mafia that was created by Jack Kirby and powered by the technology of Apokolips, moving Kryptonite to criminals. However, it’s the Kryptonite that’s the star of the show, and Superman Unlimited #2 shows it in expected and unexpected ways. One of the most interesting things is the Krypto-Knights’ armor. Why does it look like Checkmate armor? Is there some kind of secret relationship between Checkmate and El Caldero? There’s a lot of places Slott can take this.
The abundance of Kryptonite is one of the biggest changes to Superman in a while. Superman does have his own protections against it, but they’re shown to be quite limited — he can make himself invulnerable to Kryptonite, but only for three minutes, and after that he loses his powers. Superhero comics always promise that these status quo changes are going to be huge, and don’t deliver. However, it looks like the Emerald Age is already paying dividends, with even more changes coming in the future.
Superman Unlimited #2 is on sale now.
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(Photo by Bruce Glikas/Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic)
