scans_daily

Enter your cut contents here. The story begins with Terry, Bruce, and Ace stalking Metallo and the Jokerz. The investigation turns towards a drug laced with kryptonite, which ultimately leads Terry into a criminal mission to the Fortress of Solitude, undercover of course. Eventually the mastermind is revealed to be Lex Luthor who wanted to draw out Superman for a final confrontation before he dies. Lex uses his tech to turn his lackey into Superman's replacement. The end result of the battle is predictable, but what happens next is a little unexpected...

Earlier in this issue, Terry visits Lois Lane's grave (it's implied that Parasite killed her) and we get a hint that an event similar to Kingdom Come occurred when we see Clark's KC costume hanging with his other costumes in the Fortress of Solitude. All of these events have left him cold and tired of fighting for this world.

Mon-El intervenes and defends Clark's actions despite Zod arguing back at the Daxamite.

Apparently the Kingdom Come-ish event that occurred here ended very differently because Superman's patience with villains does not seem to have recovered at all. He has imprisoned criminals in the Phantom Zone indefinitely and gives Terry the controls, asking him to act as the parole board and release the Earthlings if he believes they have learned their lessons, but also requesting that the elderly Luthor remain imprisoned in the PZ forever.

He goes on to explain to Terry that he is leaving Earth to fight for peace on other worlds. He wants to feel the starlight of other worlds before he dies, because even though he will outlive everyone he loves he senses he is not immortal. However, before he goes, Superman has a gift for Batman.

Most of the story was focused on Superman and his rogues. It was an alright introduction to the new Batman Beyond mini starting this month, but it seemed like they wanted to get Superman out of the way for the mini even though that didn't really seem necessary. I don't know exactly how to explain it, this annual just was so overwhelmingly about Superman. However, the art was great and they did a great job of recreating the Nu-Gotham atmosphere and look.

Suggested Tags:
char: batman/terry mcginnis
char: lex luthor
char: superman/clark kent
char: zod/dru-zod
creator: jose wilson magalhaes
creator: paul levitz
creator: renato guedes
publisher: dc comics
title: superman/batman