Spoilers for Legion of Super-Heroes #10 ahead!
The planet the Legion of Super-Heroes. In issue 10 of their title, by writer Brian Michael Bendis (Superman), artist Ryan Sook (Seven Soldiers), inker Wade Von Grawbadger (Starman) and colorist Jordie Bellaire (Moon Knight), a few Legionnaires take a trip to New Krypton to track down Mon-El, and they meet some of its denizens, including a man named Zod and a creature bearing a strong resemblance to Doomsday. Meanwhile, we gain some fascinating insights into Mon-El’s backstory.
Just about every comic book fan knows Krypton, Superman’s home planet, was destroyed when Superman was a baby, but New Krypton exists in the 31st century. Legion of Super-Heroes #10 sees the Legion travel there to talk sense into Mon-El, who fled to New Krypton before the Legion’s trial in the previous issue. Now cleared of any wrongdoing, the Legion arrives to retrieve Mon-El, and that’s when they first meet some of New Krypton’s citizens.
The leader of the group introduces himself as Zod, and it is strongly implied this is the General Zod, somehow rehabilitated. Another member of the welcoming party resembles Doomsday, although he is brown-hued. Two of the other New Kryptonians also wear outfits resembling those from John Byrne’s Man of Steel. Zod expresses disappointment he could not meet Jonathan Kent, who the Legion deliberately excluded from the mission, saying it has been almost a “thousand years.”
Zod goes onto refer to Mon-El as his “grandson.” He then takes the Legion to Mon-El’s house, and they are shocked to discover he has not one, not two, but three kids! When the Legion informs him the trial is over, he promptly abandons his children, telling Zod it was his turn to feed them, while his stunned teammates look on.
This issue raises many questions and provides few answers. First and foremost is the apparent retcon of Mon-El’s origin. In all previous versions, he hailed from the planet Daxam, whose inhabitants all had Superman-like powers, despite his costume and name implying a Kryptonian origin. Now it looks as if Bendis and company have made Mon-El a full-fledged Kryptonian. Zod has shown signs of rehabilitation in Bendis' Superman series, so it makes sense that he may be sincerely peaceful in the future, but he's also a storied warmonger who's prone to conquest. At the end of the new Legion of Super-Heroes’ first year, Bendis has set up some intriguing possibilities for future stories, as well as resurrecting Krypton far in DC's future.
