Superman: Earth One Created the Best Version of General Zod in Comic Book History

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Superman: Earth One tells a very epic comic book story for the Man of Steel, the story’s version of Clark Kent forced to come out of hiding to stop an alien invasion, and changing the world overnight with the revelation of his presence. Superman: Earth One Vol. 3 also built upon the Man of Steel’s new origin story with the introduction of General Zod as an antagonist. However, as with all things DC Earth One, the version of Zod appearing in the story was one completely new to the Superman canon.

General Zod’s Backstory in Superman: Earth One Explained

As Superman: Earth One Vol. 3 begins, the United Nations is beginning to develop safeguards to protect Earth from the potential threat that much of the world perceives in the Man of Steel. Meanwhile, General Zod-El crash lands on Earth in a Kryptonian ship and introduces himself as Superman’s uncle, but it gradually becomes clear that he is not interested in a family reunion. It is revealed that the civil war on Krypton, led by factions under the leadership of Zod-El and Jor-El, ultimately ended in Zod’s defeat. Zod ultimately sought to rectify his loss by passing on a planet-destroying weapon to an alien race known as the Dheronians, with Krypton being destroyed as Zod escaped and the infant Kal-El was sent to Earth.

With Superman the last remnant of the Krypton that defeated and humiliated him, Zod-El has arrived on Earth to destroy his nephew, and does so with a smear campaign of Zod destroying a bridge with his heat vision and convincing the U.N. that it was the work of Superman. Eventually, Superman battles Zod, with the formidable general more than holding his own against his nephew, with Zod eventually being killed by Dr. Alexandra Luthor, who uses a red solar radiation machine to de-power the Kryptonian villain. Superman then re-gains the trust of the world and the U.N. (albeit after a stern chiding from Superman to the latter), while the Man of Steel also has a new enemy in Alexandra, who blames Superman for her husband’s death and renames herself Lex Luthor.

Superman: Earth One Makes the Man of Steel Closer Than He’s Ever Been to Zod

While there’s always been a measure of unspoken respect between Superman and General Zod as survivors of Krypton’s downfall, Superman: Earth One gives the two a connection they’ve never had before by making them literal family. In many stories, Superman often welcomes the appearance of other Kryptonians, even those he knows are villains, since they represent the last connection he can have to the home world he never knew. By deepening this into a literal blood tie between them, Superman: Earth One makes Zod a greater threat as an enemy who can and does exploit Superman’s trust (and relative naivete with how young and new to the job Earth One’s Superman still is).

Zod is still very much the physical threat that he’s always been in Superman: Earth One, wielding all of Superman’s powers and having Kryptonian combat training on his side to make him a real challenge for the Last Son of Krypton (a fact emphasized in the book’s highly destructive battle scenes between the two). However, Superman: Earth One is also perhaps the first time in which General Zod has used Lex Luthor-style Machiavellian methods to turn the world against Superman. The fact that Zod is doing so against his own nephew on what he perceives to be an earned quest for vengeance on his part also makes Superman: Earth One’s version of General Zod a cold, ruthless villain even by his own egomaniacal standards.

Superman: Earth One’s Version of General Zod Is Exactly the Kind of Character Elseworlds Stories Are Perfect For

Like DC’s ongoing comic book phenomenon of the Absolute Universe, DC’s Earth One graphic novels were eye-catching and compelling reads because of their dramatic re-imaginings of each character they focused upon. DC Earth One’s re-worked versions of the villains and supporting characters also showed that the makeover mandate extended to every character. General Zod is one of the best re-imagined villains in DC Earth One’s epic but unceremoniously ended run because of how much his re-tooling embraces the possibilities afforded by Elseworlds stories.

While many different versions of General Zod have been presented in comic books, movies, and animation, a frequent trait associated with Zod is his hedonism and egomania, both characteristics that Superman: Earth One re-molds into bitterness, a sense of feeling cheated, and Zod’s trademark refusal to accept defeat. In being re-imagined as he is in his Earth One incarnation, General Zod is a far darker and more ruthless villain than any comic book story has shown him as, and one who is simultaneously recognizable and completely different from what he has embodied before. Superman: Earth One wholly embraced what an Elseworlds story can offer, just like the entirety of DC’s Earth One graphic novel line, and in doing so, crafted the greatest comic book origin story General Zod has ever been given.