Rogol Zaar has a team. Unfortunately for Superman, that team includes Jax-Ur and General Zod. Why did Zod team up with the creature that claims to have killed Krypton? Why did they attack Jor-El’s ship? And why did Superman and Superboy end up in the middle of a three-way battle in the middle of space? Is Jor-El to blame for all of this? Or are there other forces at work, pushing everyone into the conflict?
(Spoilers Incoming)
We begin in the Phantom Zone. As Zaar sits next to a fire, Zod wakes up from the beating Zaar gave him after Superman was pulled from their fight. Despite Zod’s clear intention to fight Zaar to the death, Rogol stops him and tells him that they have the same goal, in the end. He tells Zod that he wants to destroy the man who created the Phantom Zone: Jor-El. In space, Superman and Superboy gaze upon the massive battle before them. Superman uses his enhanced vision to decipher the combatants and finds that the battle is made up of Thanagarians, the Trillium Collective and the Khunds. As he finishes surveying the battle, he sees a small ship speeding away, piloted by Rogol Zaar. Zaar’s ship escapes before Superman can stop him, so he does the one thing you would expect Superman to do: he ends the fighting. Before a single life is lost, Superman flies to each leader of the three forces and gets them to stand down. As the battle ends, Superman and Superboy enter Jor-El’s ship.
Inside, Jor-El reveals that it was Zod and Zaar that orchestrated the attack on the ship and the three-way battle. As Jor-El explains that the attack on his ship was telling of Zaar’s motivations, the ship is attacked again. However, this time, the attack is from Rogol Zaar himself. As Superman flies out to fight the creature, Zod and Superboy begin to battle. Jor-El tells Superman that when they are ready, he can use his ship to jump them away, but before they can, Zod slams Superboy into the ship. Superman lets this distract him for just a moment, giving Zaar just enough time to attack him from behind. As Zod and Zaar seem to take the advantage in the battle, the tide shifts. Arriving in the middle of the battle are Supergirl and Krypto.
It seems the odds may have finally been evened between the Super family and Zaar. The question is, why is Zaar targeting Jor-El? What did Superman’s father do to this creature that put him in his crosshairs? Could it be simply because Jor-El created the Phantom Zone? Or is there more going on? Either way, the battle has just begun. Now that Superman and Superboy are joined by Krypto and Supergirl, they may stand a chance against Zaar and Zod. Unfortunately for them, they have no idea that the despotic duo has a Phantom Zone army ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice. So I have to ask, how far will Zaar let this battle go before he unleashes his army upon the House of El?