Superman: Doomed – Action Comics #33 Review
By Steve Lam
Writer: Greg Pak
Artists: Aaron Kuder
Superman / Wonder Woman #9 Recap
Before Superman: Doomed went on its mini-hiatus, Wonder Woman had enlisted the help of Hessia to heal Superman of his affliction. Unbeknownst to the Amazonian princess, Hessia’s real goal was to kill Superman because he was destroying the earth as Superdoom. Wonder Woman stops Hessia and flies Superman into space, clearing him of the Kryptonite cloud and allowing his true persona to return. There, Superman tells Wonder Woman that he will exile himself until he is cured. Flying off, Superman was attacked by the Red Lanterns — Guy Gardner, Zilius Zox, and Kara Zor-El. Forcing Superman back down to Earth, Superman transforms back into Superdoom. Wonder Woman apprehends Guy Gardner and allows Superman to once again fly off. Wonder Woman then learns that the Red Lanterns were here to help Superman. She allows them to go after him, but had very little confidence they could beat him.
Spoiler-Free Reaction
This issue picks up from the last one very quickly. There is almost no rest or pause and the action is non-stop. There’s a lot of introspection, but it never interferes with the external battles Superman is facing.
Plot Details and Spoilers and Deaths: Oh My!
In Smallville, Steel and Lana board Steel’s spacecraft to investigate the signal being emitted from Smallville’s coma patients. The spacecraft is intercepted by drones which are quickly destroyed when Steel deploys the craft’s weapons.
In an unknown region of space, Superman has been venting his anger smashing asteroids. He’s interrupted by the surprise appearance of Kara Zor-El. She baits him by striking him and making him chase her to the other side of the galaxy. There, Kara makes Superman witness the current destruction of the Char home world by a being known as Harak who’s here to consume the planet’s molten core. Kara goads Superman into helping the Chars. Waiting for the last Char ship to escape, Superman violently strikes Harak. The hit to Harak causes debris to fly towards the escaping ships. In a show of his Doomsday powers, Superman releases his death mists. The death mists destroy the debris allowing the Char ships safe passage into space. As Harak questions who Superman is, Superman, taken over by the Doomsday persona, quickly overpowers Harak.
On Steel’s spacecraft, Lana finds out that the signals they’ve been chasing are now getting an answer heading back to Earth. The coma is now spreading out of Smallville and into Metropolis. Lana desperately calls Lois to have her warn the people. From Lois’s calm and strange interaction, Lana deduces that the person behind the comas is the same person who took over Lois — forcing her to turn the people of Earth against Superman and making him leave.
The final page shows Cyborg Superman flying towards Steel’s spacecraft.
Wrapping It Up
Great, fast-paced, action-filled pages make for a quick read. We have Superman facing off with a powerful entity that consumes planets — Harak. As his Superdoom persona takes over, you actually feel sorry for Harak. The internal conflict never slows the story down and actually complements it nicely. It was a surprise to me that they revealed Cyborg Superman as part of the coma-conspiracy. Perhaps he’s now working as a henchman for Brainiac?