Superman Unchained Recap: Issues 1-8

In June of 2013, Superman Unchained #1 was released. Written by Scott Snyder with art done by Jim Lee, Superman Unchained was set to be a nine-issue story arc with issue #9 given a planned release date sometime in the late summer or early fall of 2014.   Due to publication delays, the epic conclusion to this arc is set to release Wednesday, November 5th. In order to get everyone caught back up to speed, here’s a quick recap of the past eight issues.

Spoilers Ahead!

#1 The Leap (6/12/13)

The first issue starts with the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. It appears as if one of the bombs dropped by the United States military contains a superhuman.

The issue then cuts to present day, where Superman is saving the world from impending doom due to attacks by an unknown terrorist group. The attackers have programmed eight outer space satellites to crash into different locations around the globe.

Superman is able to stop seven of the satellites and decides to let the eighth continue on course and crash into an abandoned military base.

The next day, Clark Kent writes his article on the events that unfolded and the heroics of Superman. After submitting this article, Lois Lane tells him that he better check his facts, because Superman did indeed stop the eighth satellite. Lois tells Clark that Superman was able to redirect the last satellite, causing it to crash into the ocean and leaving the abandoned base unscathed.

Upon investigating the crash site, Superman realizes that another superhuman was clearly behind the redirection of this satellite. Suddenly, submarines launch torpedoes at Superman and the wreckage, and we learn that General Lane, Lois Lane’s father, is working for a secret branch of the United States military. Apparently this branch has been hiding an unknown superhuman for nearly 75 years.

In the epilogue, we get a foreshadowing piece when a couple of fishermen retrieve a man from the depths of the sea. The man is barely clinging to life and is only able to say a few words to his saviors: “Get me Lois Lane.”