Note: This series was originally published in 2013 on my old site, www.berkeleyplaceblog.com, which is now devoted 100% to music. I have reprinted the series here, for posterity.
Superman fights Wonder Woman, who is trying to stop him from using the “vanishing device” on himself. It’s no big shocker that the device is the Phantom Zone projector, even though Azzarello hasn’t told us that yet. It was pretty easy to recognize it as such. Again, the “big reveals” in this story are neat and all, but the real meat is in the dialog and the big ideas.
Here, Wonder woman threatens to kill Superman before Superman can vanish himself: Humanity needs its God on Earth, and is willing to kill God to keep him. You could probably teach several college philosophy courses on this idea alone. And, of course, Jim Lee’s great pencil work. He did this right after Batman: Hush, when he was at the peak of his powers.
Next, Superman follows the vanished into the Phantom Zone and meets Clark Kent. We now begin to understand that Superman created a world within the PZ—and idealistic alternate reality—in which there was a Garden of Eden.
But the “Clark” that is here isn’t loved by the “real” Lois Lane who has now joined him. She loves the “real” Clark Kent–from her own reality. Or does Clark’s statement mean that she loves Superman and not Clark, that she loves the God and not the man? This thread isn’t explored any further, really, which is too bad, but you can’t blame Brian Azzarello for that. This storyline was so rich, and had so many opportunities for deep character development, that we can let this little comment slide. I assume that if Azzarrello had stayed with the title after this storyline, he would have delved into this further.