With writer Brian Michael Bendis wrapping up his run on Superman, a new threat has entered the fray and challenged the Man of Steel on his home turf. In Superman #26, featuring art by Ivan Reis, a battle which begins in the cold darkness of space quickly descends to Earth, as the two aliens plummet towards the roof of the Daily Planet in downtown Metropolis. As Superman struggles to communicate with his new adversary - even opening his mind to a psychic connection - he’s aware that the massive force with which they’ll hit the newspaper building will be catastrophic, and he has no choice but to activate an emergency phantom zone projector to protect the city.
For context, the Phantom Zone is a purgatorial dimension used by Kryptonians to imprison and torment their worst criminals. As Superman puts it, it's the worst place for the worst threats. The Phantom Zone is where the megalomaniacal General Zod and his cronies were exiled. Different incarnations of the prison dimension have presented all kinds of bizarre and lethal threats inhabiting the doomed place. It’s a fair assumption that, had Superman had any viable alternative, he wouldn’t have opened a portal to the eerie wastes of the Phantom Zone.
Whoever or whatever this creature is, it knew exactly where to strike, aiming its attack at Superman’s heart: his home, his family, his friends. But how, he must wonder? Though, Superman remains in the dark, readers were introduced to the Synmar in the previous issue (Superman #25).
The Synmar are a race of technologically advanced aliens from an uncharted part of the galaxy. Readers discover that, long ago, they observed the destruction of Krypton from their home world. They even witnessed the infant Kal-El being dispatched to Earth and considered intercepting his pod to aid the poor child, but chose to remain neutral observers. Moreover, they immediately reckoned that under Earth’s sun, a Kryptonian would grow to become a “Light-God,” and suspect he may eventually transform the planet into a New Krypton, potentially teeming with superpowered individuals..
The governing council of Synmar agrees that preparations must be made to combat the potential threat Kal-El’s presence on Earth represents, but refuse to intervene until they are certain whether or not the baby was sent as a conqueror. Readers later find out they observe and keep tabs on many other worlds, like Oa (headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps) and Thanagar (home world of Hawkman and Hawkgirl). Moreover, they have devised a deterrent for the yellow-sun-infused Kryptonian: their own Superman, a Synmar called Eisno Alkor. Alkor was designed to be a weapon in the event Kal-El turned out to be a threat, and it is he who has made the long journey across the galaxy to take on Superman.
Though Alkor’s exact motivation for attacking Superman remains a mystery, it is undoubtedly tied to the paranoia which led to his development as a “Light-God” deterrent, as well as the unexplained attack on Synmar. Who knows what revelations await the Man of Steel and readers alike in the next issue of Superman!
