Superman III was not a good movie. But it gave us an evil Man of Steel who took shots and generally gave no fucks whatsoever. The jerkhole Superman who shows up in a new comic this week feels almost exactly like the one in that terrible 1983 threequel.
The asshole Superman in Superman III is the result of a dumb plot involving Richard Pryor, an evil supercomputer and fake Kryptonite that splits Kal-El into good and bad versions of himself. The jerk Superman in Justice League: Darkseid War: Superman isn’t a doppelganger. He’s the real deal, just a lot darker. Like, he’s black all over.
Spoilers follow.
Superman’s latest transformation happened after absorbing negative solar energy from the fire pits of Apokolips earlier in DC Comics’ ongoing Darkseid War event. In that storyline, various members of the Justice League have been elevated to godhood after the death of cosmic arch-villain Darkseid. Last week, we saw Batman getting vengeful as the god of knowledge. This week, we see the Man of Steel in his new role of the God of Strength.
Written by Francis Manapul with art by Bong Dazo, Justice League: Darkseid War: Superman opens with Kal-El coming home and plowing through a nameless alien aggressor. The pair crash back to Earth and wreck the Daily Planet in the process. This new God of Steel doesn’t give a damn.
He wants pie.
Seriously, don’t keep this guy waiting.
As the issue goes on, the alien that Superman beat up unleashes a bioweapon that threatens to kill all of Metropolis. Just before he gets totally subsumed by the goopy threat, we see Jimmy Olsen appealing to the buried hero inside Superman.
That’s it, Jimmy. Aim for the co-dependence.
Jerk-El pretty much ignores his best friend. But a dirty pigeon gets through to him.
When Superman dispatches the evil extraterrestrial spooge, he says it’s only because he needs to show everybody that he’s so damn strong. Sure, Clark. Tell yourself whatever you need to. It’s a shame that we don’t get to see the God of Strength guzzle cheap whiskey. That only happens in the movies.
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