Kistler's History of General Zod

This essay features the history of General Zod as he has been interpreted in various stories and media. He is a Superman foe so feel free to also check out my Superman Files if you wish.

OUR VILLAIN IN A NUTSHELL

General Dru-Zod, descendant of the legendary Kryptonian conqueror Admiral Dru-Zod, was a patriot who believed his world was the greatest in all the universe. He was also merciless and unforgiving, an attitude he engendered in those who followed him in Krypton's military guild.

When the great scientist Jor-El attempted to warn the Council of Science that Krypton was dying and needed to be evacuated, the Council wouldn't listen, unwilling to leave their perfect world or risk being contaminated by the "lesser races" of the universe. They also forbade public announcement of this possible impeding destruction. Zod decided that the Science Council was unfit to lead Krypton, allowing xenophobia to condemn the rest of the population to death.

Zod led an insurrection against the Science Council but were finally defeated. Sympathizing with Zod and not wishing to see more death, Jor-El asked that he and his followers not be executed. The Council agreed to send them to the Phantom Zone instead, a twilight dimension Jor-El had discovered which was used to imprison the worst Kryptonian terrorists, but only if Jor himself acted as jailer. Before being exiled into the Zone, Zod swore vengeance against Jor-El and his entire bloodline. In the Phantom Zone, Zod existed only as an ageless spirit, unable to physically interact with his fellow prisoners, left to wallow in his hatred and resentment towards the planet he had tried to save.

When the planet Krypton blew up not long afterward, its prison was accidentally projected into the Zone but a freakish accident ensured that time could pass within its walls. Thus, Zod was able to become a physical being once more and he and Ursa had a child, Lor.

Meanwhile, the son of Jor-El grew up on Earth and became the hero called "Superman." Superman learned of Zod through data-recordings and later fought an alternate version of the villain in a parallel dimension. Years after that, Superman fought a maniacal Russian super-human who had been mutated by Kryptonite and considered himself to be the heir of Zod, convinced that the villain's spirit spoke directly to his mind. This red-armored Russian later died in battle.

After years of abusing their child, Zod and Ursa learned how to use him to escape the Phantom Zone. The General led a small army against Earth and so Kal-El finally met and battled the true Dru-Zod for the first time. After several battles, Superman and his allies finally defeated Zod's forces and exiled them all back into the Phantom Zone.

But Zod is not an evil that ever truly goes away. And he will not rest until the son of Jor-El, and all of the universe, swears obedience as they kneel before Zod.

That the basics. Want to learn how this character evolved over the decades? Read on ...

SCOURGE OF KRYPTON

By the late 1950s, the beginning of the Silver Age of comics, there was a big focus in DC on sci-fi based adventures and Superman had become more of a space-faring adventurer than he'd ever been before, fighting aliens and cosmic menaces on a regular basis. Part of this was due to his continually discovering more and more about his home, the dead world of Krypton, both in his adventures as Superman and in the adventures that depicted him as a younger hero called Superboy.

In 1961, "The Phantom Superboy" story introduced the “Phantom Zone.” Superboy discovered some artifacts from Krypton, including a red device that looked like a spotlight and was called a "Phantom Zone projector." Young Kal-El learned that long ago on Krypton, his father Jor-El wound up discovering the existence of a "twilight dimension" where time and physical matter didn't truly exist. Later on, we would be told that Jor-El had actually been trying to discover proof of parallel universes when he had accidentally stumbled upon this "Phantom Zone."

Jor-El suggested the Phantom Zone as a new prison for the worst Kryptonian criminals and terrorists. A press of the button on the Phantom Zone projector and the criminal it was aimed at would be exiled into this other dimension, existing as a ghost-like being who could only get glimpses of the reality they had left behind. Now ageless and unable to interact even with fellow prisoners, it was thought that the Phantom Zone exile would be left mainly with their own thoughts and forced to reflect on their crimes. They could be observed from the safety of a Phantom Zone window and the projector could then be used to isolate a prisoner and release them when their sentence was up.

It's curious that Kryptonians considered death to be too harsh yet would find the Phantom Zone a preferable alternative. One could argue that being exiled to existence as a ghost for years - forced to watch friends, family and enemies go on with their lives - could be considered a fate far worse than death.

Several years later, writer Steve Gerber and artist Gene Colan emphasized the Zone as a hellish place of mist where physicality had no meaning. As Gerber described it, people were only echoes of their physical selves when they entered the Zone and their communication was not verbal but actually a transmission of basic thoughts to each other. Gerber stated "thought is not only communication but the sum total of existence in this endless nowhere."

In the same story, Superboy learned of some of the criminals who had been exiled to the Phantom Zone long ago. The first prisoner of the Phantom Zone had been the criminal Jax-Ur. This man was a criminal scientist who intended to use his creation of nuclear missiles to overthrow the Kryptonian government.  During his initial test, his missile collided with a spaceship piloted by Jor-El and went off-course, hitting Krypton's moon of Wegthor and destroying it entirely.

Another Phantom Zone inmate was General Dru-Zod, former Military Director of the Kryptonian Space Center. His basic origin story was given in that same issue and, over the years, more and more of Zod’s history would come into light. It would be revealed that Dru-Zod had actually known Jor-El when the scientist was young and just beginning and had recommended him for Krypton's space program.

General Zod was a patriot in his own way but he was also a fanatic who believed that his specific view of Krypton and its way of life had to be preserved at all costs. After the destruction of Wegthor led to the Science Council cancelling Krypton's space program (in order to prevent a similar tragedy from ever occurring again), the ambitious General decided he wasn’t about to be transferred to a less important department. It was time for him to seize his destiny.

Zod created a legion of robotic duplicates (all of whom strangely resembled Superboy’s imperfect double Bizarro). With these soldiers, Zod attempted to take over Krypton, believing that the Science Council had lost their bravery and courage and that he was the only man suitable for the job running the planet. But General Zod was eventually defeated and exiled to the Zone for his crimes.

Seeing that Zod's sentence was now up, Superboy felt it was only proper to release the criminal as he would have been by the Science Council if they had still been alive. To his dismay, the general immediately attempted to conquer Earth with the new powers he gained under the yellow sun. Superboy defeated Zod and returned him to the Zone, but it was clear that this villain was too clever and would be back soon enough.

Other Phantom Zone criminals would occasionally pop up as well. Quex-Ul, who later actually reformed and finally sacrificed his life to save Kal-El. There was Foara Hu-Ul, a woman who could fire psionic bolts and who imprisoned men in her death camps where she tortured and experimented on them before eventually killing them. There was Dr. Xa-Du, who conducted illegal experiments that killed many. There was Jor-El’s cousin Kru-El (now there's a ridiculously implicative alien name) who created forbidden weapons. There was Gaz-Or who, old and dying, had tried to take all of Krypton with him into death with a quake machine, a plan that would have worked had Jor-El not stopped him.

At times the villains would be accidentally released from the Zone. Other times, they would use Jewel Kryptonite (which increased mental abilities) to influence people in the real world into freeing them.

Different folks had different favorite Phantom Zone criminals, of course, but Zod just stuck out a little bit. Whenever a group of Zone villains escaped, Zod was almost always their accepted leader. Maybe it was his personality, how he acted as the formal general rather than just a scheming criminal plotting revenge. Maybe it was because his motivation was somewhat more understandable, as he genuinely believed that the Science Council were spineless cowards who needed to be replaced. Perhaps another reason for his popularity was the Nazi implications of his uniform and his belief that all other life-forms were beneath Kryptonians in both mental and biological prowess.

This latter explanation is interesting to me in particular, as there were several Nazi like villains showing up in comics and sci-fi during the 60s. A few years after Zod showed up, Stan Lee brought back the Red Skull, Hitler’s right hand man. Rather than keep him as a communist, as had been shown in a story in the 50s, Stan Lee said screw it, this man’s a Nazi and loving it. In the show Doctor Who, which began in 1963, the first true villains the Doctor faced were the Daleks, who were very much the alien equivalent of Nazis. So it seems that in the 60s, we had had enough time to recover from the fear of just how scary the Nazis had been and were now free to use them as templates for villains we loved to hate.

YOU SHOULD LOVE TERRENCE STAMP

Zod’s popularity soared in the late 70s when a little movie came out called Superman, starring Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman. In the opening scenes of the movie, we see Jor-El not just as a scientist but as a jailer. Standing before three Kryptonian criminals, he argues a prosecution case against them, naming each criminal and their crimes. The criminals were General Zod, a woman named Ursa and a mute brute named Non. Neither Ursa nor Non had ever existed in the comics beforehand and were created for the film.

The rest of the Kryptonian Science Council vote guilty on the three criminals who had attempted insurrection. The final vote comes down to Jor-El. Zod says that the vote has to be unanimous for them to be exiled to the Zone, so if Jor-El votes yes then it will be him and him alone whom Zod holds responsible. Jor-El is unmoved and Zod tries a different tactic.

“Join us. You have been known to disagree with the Council before. Yours could become an important voice in the new order, second only to my own! I offer you a chance for greatness, Jor-El. Take it! Join us!”

Jor-El turns and walks away and then Zod explodes into fury.

“You WILL bow down before me, Jor-El! I swear it! No matter that it takes an eternity! You will bow down before me! Both you … and then … one day … YOUR HEIRS!”

Just have to say, Terrence Stamp did not look like Zod, was not dressed like Zod, and was not given the somewhat sympathetic back story of having his military career halted by the Science Council's xenophobia. But dammit if he still didn’t make that character larger than life and simply terrifying. When he screamed, it didn't seem like just the empty threats of a criminal being sent away. It was more like a Shakespearean villain making a vow of revenge, one he intended to fulfill even if it took 100 years. Brilliant work by a fine actor.

Jor-El activates a machine and a flat crystal resembling a floating window flies down and absorbs the three criminals into it. We see them, seemingly trapped within the crystal, fly away into space. The Council later congratulates Jor-El on exiling the three to the Phantom Zone. Apparently, in this continuity, the only link between the Phantom Zone and the real world are these strange crystal windows. What's more, being exiled into the Phantom Zone was not done with a projector. Instead, the prisoners were contained within two large rings that revolved in the air around them and these rings were possibly what altered their bodies to be immaterial exiles.

We would not see Zod and his crew again until Superman II. In the beginning of the film, Superman tosses an atomic bomb planted by terrorists into space. By sheer coincidence, it hits the Phantom Zone crystal/window that is still floating through the void (and has inexplicably drifted very close to Earth’s moon) and shatters it. Zod and his crew were released now and realized that near Earth’s yellow sun they got amazing powers. They then head down to Earth and Zod explains, simply and formally, in no uncertain terms, that he is taking over.

"In return for your obedience, you will enjoy my generous protection. In other words, you will be allowed to live."

He forces the President of the U.S. to kneel before him and seems to have succeeded in his bid for power. But then, Terrence Stamp and Dick Donner (who directed several parts of Superman II, along with all of the first film) bring us an interesting new side to the villain. He gets BORED. Ursa tells Zod, “You are master of all you survey.” And Zod merely answers, “So I was yesterday. And the day before.” This was not merely a power-mad dictator but a conqueror, a guy who thrived on warfare and on proving himself through combat.

Eventually, Zod learns of Superman and what happened next was the first super-hero/super-villain knockdown battle ever in cinema. Superman tackled Zod, Ursa and Non, doing his best to not let them overwhelm him while also trying to protect the civilians caught in the crossfire. Zod notices this and remarks to Ursa, "I've discovered his weakness. He cares. He actually cares for these Earth people." Ursa frowns and asks, "You mean like … pets?" Zod grimaces and admits, "I suppose so."

Wonderful illustration of just how different Zod and Kal were in personality. One views Earth as his home, his people. The other can’t even picture humans as equals to Kryptonian life.

Naturally, Zod was defeated at the end of the movie, even rendered powerless. He was not seen again in film or television, but fans never forgot him or the phrase "Kneel before Zod." Years later, filmmaker Kevin Smith actually had his character Jay attack a security guard and then proclaim, “Son of Jor-El … KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!” In an episode of the series Supernatural, a super-powered boy attacks other children, proclaiming that they will call "Kneel before Todd!" There have been many other references to Zod peppered throughout pop culture. Terrence Stamp made him that memorable.

FROM CONQUEROR TO SPREE KILLER

The 80s came and Crisis On Infinite Earths was published, an event which reordered a lot of continuity and history for many characters, not the least of which was Superman himself. For more details, go to my Crisis Files.

After the crossover was done, a few new mandates were handed down by DC. One mandate was that Superman had begun his true super-hero career as an adult. Thus, he had never been Superboy nor had enjoyed costumed adventures when he was a teenager. Another mandate was that Superman was, and always had been as far as history was currently concerned, the LAST son of Krypton. No other survivors, period. It was believed that if there were other survivors, even ones floating around in a twilight dimension, this made Superman's status less special. So Zod and the Phantom Zone criminals were all dropped from continuity.

John Byrne, the main architect behind the Superman reboot, later decided he wanted to bring back Supergirl, who had been Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El. He couldn’t just bring back the same Supergirl, though, because that would go against the "no other Kryptonians" mandate. So Byrne took a roundabout way of bringing in a new version of the character who wasn’t technically Kryptonian.

After the Crisis, Byrne had written a story involving Superman finding a parallel Earth in a "pocket universe." On this Earth, a younger version of himself had become a hero called Superboy and lived in a version of Smallville that was (intentionally) nearly identical to the Pre-Crisis version of the town. Soon after Superman returned to our Earth, this pocket universe Superboy died on a mission.

A while after this adventure, Byrne had Superman meet a young blonde woman dressed in a female version of his costume. This shape-shifting lady had telekinetic powers and the ability to become invisible. She called herself Supergirl and explained that she was also from the pocket universe. She was an artificial being called "Matrix" (since she was composed of a "pseudoplasm matrix") who had been created by that Earth’s version of Lex Luthor as a new protector following their Superboy's death.

Superman learned that the young Superboy he'd met had not been the only survivor of the pocket universe version of Krypton. There had been three villains who had survived as well, having been preserved in that universe’s version of the Phantom Zone. They were General Dru-Zod, a woman named Zaora (I see no reason why Faora had to have her name altered slightly) and the man Quex-Ul.

The pocket universe version of Luthor had freed the three terrorists, believing they had been innocent Kryptonians who needed his help. Now, the three were raining death and destruction on planet Earth. But this was not the same villain older fans or movie watchers were familiar with. Whereas the Pre-Crisis and film versions of Zod had been a conqueror who wished others to serve under him and to prove his might over other warriors, John Byrne's Zod was a maniacal spree killer, nothing more. He and this two allies went about systematically killing everyone on the pocket universe version of Earth, even going so far as to destroy the atmosphere so that none but they could survive without a space-suit. Zod's too followers completely shared his bloodlust and saw no problem in completely annihilating the entire human race.

Since Supergirl was not powerful enough to fight three Kryptonian killers, she had come to get OUR version of Kal-El to help her. Superman fought the three terrorists and found that, while they had the same abilities as he, each was stronger than him in their power levels. They were stronger, faster, more resistant to injury (essentially, they still had the Pre-Crisis level of power Kryptonians had whereas Superman's power levels had been turned down following the Crisis). Despite his efforts, Superman was unable to defeat them nor was he able to prevent the deaths of the last surviving humans. Finally, Lex Luthor was left as the last human being alive on this dead Earth.

About to die himself, the pocket universe version of Luthor told Superman the location of a sample of Gold Kryptonite, which capable of permanently robbing the Kryptonians of all their powers (it would have no effect on Superman since he came from a different universe and his race had evolved differently). Superman asked why Luthor hadn’t used the gold-K before now and the scientist explained it had been hubris. He had been responsible for freeing the criminals, he wanted it to be his hand that brought them down.

Personally, I think that explanation is pretty dumb since Luthor still would've gotten credit as the "hand that brought them down" if he'd taken out the gold-K and defeated Zod and his crew before they had, you know, destroyed all life on Earth!

Anyway, Superman used that universe's gold-K to render the three villains powerless. He considered leaving them on the dead Earth, but Zod promised that he and his two soldiers would find a way to regain their powers and then find a way to Superman's universe to do to his Earth what they'd done to this one. Superman decided this was too great a risk. Since literally everyone on this Earth was simply dead (not counting Supergirl), he decided he was the sole judge and jury left to pass sentence. Not wishing to risk his own planet, no matter how unlikely that possibility seemed, he used that universe’s version of green Kryptonite to execute the three terrorists. They fell to the ground, reaching out and pleading to him as they all died. Superman was distraught and would be haunted by this act for some time to come, but he didn’t believe he had any other choice.

John Byrne left the Superman titles after that and many fans were ticked. While some were glad that Supergirl was back at least in some form, many claimed that it made no sense for Zod, a man who was always interested in conquering and enslaving, to literally kill every living thing he saw. How does one rule a world of corpses?

What’s more, many believed that the whole story had simply been a contrived means to force Superman to actually kill villains for once, making him more in tune with the dark age of comics which was beginning in the late 1980s, following the influential releases of stories such as The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen. To their credit, the following Superman writers, Roger Stern in particular, dealt with the psychological aftermath of Superman's actions very well and logically.

Around the same time, the Phantom Zone was re-introduced in the main Superman books as a twilight dimension that Superman’s ancestor Kem-L had discovered. It was said that following Kem-L's discovery, the Zone had been used as a storage facility for Kryptonian artifacts. This allowed Superman to retrieve many artifacts from his dead world, items which then decorated his new Fortress of Solitude. In this new version, it seemed that the Phantom Zone was still a timeless void dimension but that you no longer lost your physical existence when you entered it.

To their credit, DC kept the pocket universe Zod dead and did not come up with some bizarre way of having him resurrected. Over a decade later, though, a new spin on Zod was introduced.

THE MAN IN RED

As the new millennium approached, writers Jeph Loeb (also a producer on the TV show Smallville) and Joe Kelly were restructuring the Superman books and bringing back some classic Pre-Crisis elements as well as incorporating ideas from the films, such as the data-crystals seen in Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie starring Christopher Reeve. Loeb wanted to bring back a more classic version of Krypton and also re-introduce the Pre-Crisis Zod.

In one of Loeb's first stories, "Return to Krypton", it was implied that everything we'd learned about the Post-Crisis Krypton's society had been a lie. Basically, Jor-El had not wanted Kal to miss his home that much, so he'd programmed holographic recordings of a planet that was emotionally sterile. In fact, Krypton was much more like the Pre-Crisis version of things, a fantastic place full of impossible technology.

Clark found that it was somehow possible to journey to Krypton's past through the Phantom Zone, which, by definition, was a timeless place. So he and Lois journeyed to Krypton of the past and met Jor-El and Lara (who did not yet have a baby). Soon enough, they also met General Dru-Zod. Along with introducing us to a new actual Kryptonian alphabet, Loeb gave Zod his own cool Kryptonian seal. Zod was dressed up in his classic Pre-Crisis look but now the outfit was completely black rather than gray.

This version of Zod attempted to discredit Jor-El and then engaged him and Kal in battle. During the fight, he was apparently disintegrated.

Shortly before this story was done, Loeb and Kelly showed in other stories that a man in red armor with green eyes had taken control of the fictional Eastern European country Pokolistan. For months before and after the "Return to Krypton" story, this armored superhuman (known only as "The General") staged various attacks on Superman, infecting him with a Kryptonite cancer and later mutating that same tumor into an actual living creature called Kancer. He was also assisted by couple of super-human soldiers named Ignition and Faora. Finally, he attacked Superman himself, breaking Kal’s jaw with his first punch. Superman's robot Kelex immediately panicked, registering this enemy as a "Doomsday level threat" and forced Kal to retreat.

When Superman met the General again, the two fought viciously and with his hands around Superman's throat, the General proclaimed that the hero would "kneel before Zod!" Superman was shocked by this statement. He said this was a trick, since the only versions of Zod he'd met were both dead, one having been disintegrated and the other killed by Kryptonite. Before the question could be answered, the villain Imperiex made an attack on Earth and Superman had to put the mystery of the man in red aside so that he could engage in the crossover called "Our Worlds at War."

It was assumed by some readers, myself included, that this red-armored General Zod was the same one who had seemingly disintegrated in Loeb's "Return to Krypton" story. No doubt, he hadn't been atomized but somehow transported away, eventually taking power in Europe and making this armor for himself. And I do believe that was the original intention. But then Loeb left the books and DC began reversing some decisions. It was revealed that the Krypton Lois and Clark had time traveled to was actually a fake world existing only in the Phantom Zone. A few months later, a story came out revealing the "true" origin of this new Zod.

It was shown that many years ago, a Russian space satellite had been manned by several cosmonauts, two of whom had a child while stationed there. When Clark's rocket came to Earth, a few Kryptonite meteors came in its wake.

Post-Crisis, we'd been told that only one sample of Kryptonite had come to Earth. But over the years, different writers had revealed previously unknown Kryptonite rocks that had landed elsewhere on Earth. The TV show Smallville then popularized the idea that Kal's rocket had brought a full-on Kryptonite meteor storm in its wake and that some human beings were mutated by the strange radiation of these meteorites, gaining powers. DC decided they might adopt the same idea (though to a lesser extent) in their own continuity.

As Clark's rocket entered Earth's atmosphere, several Kryptonite meteors crashed through the satellite and killed most of the crew. The survivors were mutated, including the infant boy. The boy, called Zed, now became weak and sickly when exposed to direct sunlight. With experimentation, the Russian scientists discovered that light and radiation of a red sun caused Zed to become incredibly powerful, more so as he got older.

Zed trained with other super-agents, such as the KGBeast (a Batman villain). When Zed was in his late twenties, he saw Superman on the news and realized that he had an opposite number, one who had been birthed from the same planet whose remains had killed his parents and turned him into a freak.

At this point, the story becomes a bit muddled. According to Zed, he heard a voice in the darkness calling to his mind, a voice he claimed to be the spirit of the General Zod from the pocket universe, demanding vengeance. Zed grew a new identity and a new purpose. He designed his suit of armor, which protected him from yellow sunlight and bathed him in red solar radiation, making him Superman’s equal now. He even apparently underwent reconstructive surgery, giving himself an appearance identical to the Man of Steel.

With the origin explanations out of the way, the two fought and Zed tried to blanket the Earth in red solar radiation, turning the tables on how he and Superman lived. In the end, the sun was restored and Zed, not realizing this, rammed into Superman at top speed just as his powers went away. He died from the impact and Superman was saddened by the death of an enemy whom he believed had been twisted by circumstances beyond his control.

A rather lackluster ending. I think that after Loeb left, the other writers just weren’t sure what to do with this new version of Zod, not realizing the great potential of now having essentially a Kryptonian version of Dr. Doom on their hands. Ah, well.

THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

With SUPERMAN: Birthright, Mark Waid presented a version of Superman and Krypton that melded what he believed to be the best elements of Pre and Post-Crisis history. This was considered the new official origin of Superman, so writer Brian Azarello followed up on some of the ideas from that story in his own year-long arc "Superman for Tomorrow", illustrated by Jim Lee.

Dismissing the Post-Crisis explanation that Superman's ancestor Kem-L had discovered the Phantom Zone, Azarello said it was Jor-El who had actually created the Zone as an other-dimensional prison for a man deemed too dangerous to be locked up in any other way, a man whom he considered to be his mortal enemy: General Zod.

This version of the Dru-Zod considered himself to be "Krypton's greatest visionary and its greatest threat" and was somewhat honored the Phantom Zone had been created specifically for him.

In "Superman for Tomorrow", Clark tried to create a utopia for Earth people, a haven in case their planet was ever lost, by altering a portion of the Phantom Zone. Since it was now said to have been "created" by Jor-El, that meant that it could be altered and reprogrammed. He also populated it with robots duplicates of his biological parents and a robot who mimicked his Clark Kent identity. Superman called this place Metrotopia but then abandoned it.

A version of Zod existed in the Phantom Zone who may have been the same man Jor-El had imprisoned or may have been a corrupted echo of that man. Either way, this Zod decided to populate the paradise Superman had created and caused many people from Metropolis to be transported into the Phantom Zone. It was nearly a year before Superman figured out what had happened and went after them.

Soon after finding the lost citizens of Metropolis, including Lois, Zod attacked Superman, sporting a new suit of armor that was meant to portray him as a parallel to the Devil just as Kal-El was often seen as a parallel to an angel or Christ.

The Kryptonian villain was enraged that the son of his jailer was had been trying to turn his prison into a paradise for others. As retribution, he had decided to bring in innocent victims whom he could then conquer, disrupting the paradise. This had been his only world for many years now and he liked it the way it was, a Hell designed just for him, not a Heaven for lower life forms to use.

After a vicious battle, Metrotopia was destroyed and the Zone turned into a strange void once more. This version of Zod drifted helplessly into the outer reaches of the Zone, never to be seen again.

"Superman for Tomorrow" was controversial for many and confusing for others, though it also had its share of fans. The fact that it was supposed to take place over a year caused conflict with many of Superman's other stories, particularly since no other comics mentioned Lois Lane as having vanished, much less missing for a full year along with half of Metropolis. Superman's behavior seemed out of character in several instances and, other than the fact that he got a new Fortress at the end, this story has not been referenced since, with the small exception of one character showing up again in the series Countdown (which of which is, itself, questionable in terms of continuity).

After a couple of years, it seems that "Superman for Tomorrow" is no longer really in continuity. I personally was not a fan of the story. Azarello's version of Zod, while scary looking, seemed more of a brute than a strategist and how often have we seen Superman fight brutes already? Also, I don't think Superman would attempt to create a paradise for humanity all by himself. That seems to me to be anti-thetical to his whole purpose of inspiring humanity to rise above itself and fix their own world.

Lovely artwork, though.

ANIMATION AND SMALLVILLE

Although a couple of Phantom Zone villains (Jax-Ur and Mala) showed up in the animated Superman series on WB, Zod was not among them. He did show up though in the Superman Adventures comic that was meant to emulate the Animated Series and its continuity. This version called himself the "Butcher of Argo" and the "Merchant of Death." He was a loud and boasting conqueror, revelling in power and violence.

In the TV show Smallville, Terrence Stamp portrayed the voice of Jor-El (an interesting switch). In the season premiere of this season, two Kryptonians landed on Earth, each sporting a tattoo of the same symbol Zod had worn in the "Return to Krypton" story (not surprising, since Loeb was a producer on the show). These two Kryptonians claimed to be followers of Zod and they fought Clark before he tricked them into falling through a Phantom Zone portal.

Later, when the Smallville version of Brainiac confronted Clark, our hero learned that in this continuity Zod had been a ruthless dictator Jor-El had opposed. Their war, evidently, was what helped bring about Krypton's destruction. Clark then learned that the Phantom Zone was another dimension where Krypton sent terrorists. Here, the Zone was a vast desert that had no day or not, just perpetual twilight. It earned its name because some prisoners were sent only as spirits, their bodies destroyed. The haunted the Zone as vicious phantom-like creatures.

Zod was one of these phantoms and needed a body if he escaped the Zone. Brainiac caused changes to Lex Luthor's physiology, giving him Kryptonian traits so that he would be an appropriate vessel. The Kryptonian villain then left the Zone and entered Luthor's body, meaning that actor Michael Rosenbaum is the only actor who has played both Zod AND Lex Luthor. Not bad for the resume.

Clark fought Zod and defeated him with a device his father had left behind, forcing the phantom out of Luthor's body. Existing outside of the Zone without a proper vessel, Zod's essence seem to disperse. In the moments when he was being exorcised from Luthor's body, we saw a brief glimpse of a phantom who looked vaguely like Terrence Stamp. This was the last we saw of General Zod in the live-action TV series.

THE LAST DAYS OF KRYPTON

Science fiction writer Kevin J. Anderson published a novel called The Last Days of Krypton which was meant to chronicle the events that led up to Krypton's destruction. Zod was involved, of course, but not in the way people were used to. We were introduced to Commissioner Zod, who worked for the Science Council by examining new technologies and censoring what was and was not appropriate for mass production.

Secretly, Zod only claimed to be destroying much of these new technologies when in fact he was hoarding them for the day he would finally take over the planet. When Jor-El presented his Phantom Zone portal (rather than a projector), Zod said it could too easily fall into the wrong hands and he had it taken away, telling the scientist it would be destroyed.

In this version of events, Zod was helped by Nam-Ek, a mute brutish killer whom Zod had helped raise since he was a boy. Zod also began a romance with a young woman Aethrya, who was described in a way that resembled Ursa. But while Ursa was clearly a threat in her own right, and a killer who seemed to join with Zod later, Aethrya was simply a rebellious archaeologist who stood out very little other than being Zod's girlfriend and accomplice.

In the novel, Zod was a manipulator and an opportunist. He didn't come up with grandiose plans so much as he simply improvised them when circumstances fell into his lap. When Brainiac came to take Kandor, this time it was not as a villain but because the emotionless android wished to preserve the city in case Krypton ever died as his home world Colu did. Zod said Brainiac could take Kandor, so the rest of the planet would belong to him. He sent Science Council members into the Phantom Zone, created his own Council, and renamed himself General Zod as he began his bid for power.

In the end, Zod was defeated and the Phantom Zone portal was hurled into a deep recess in the planet's surface. As it made contact with the core, it created a singularity which caused Krypton's destruction.

As I said, this version of Zod was an opportunist rather than a cunning conqueror. As such, he seemed a pale imitation of the version who had appeared in film, on Smallville and most of the comics. I also saw no reason to create characters who were obviously supposed to be Non and Ursa and yet give them completely different names. Ah, well.

THE GENERAL RETURNS

After the events of the crossover Infinite Crisis, DC made it clear that they were reconsidering many things they'd done after the Crisis. For one thing, they decided to fully lift the ban on other Kryptonian characters. A couple of years before, they had brought back Supergirl as Kara Zor-El, Clark's cousin. They had re-introduced Krypto. At first, they said he was a life-form from the fake Phantom Zone version of Krypton, created to mimic a Kryptonian dog, but after Infinite Crisis they said simply that, as he had been originally, he was actually a dog sent from Krypton in a prototype rocket. And starting with Jeph Loeb, Superman had begun using Kryptonian data crystals like the ones seen in Richard Donner's films, crystals which writer Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek later named "sunstones."

Along with this, we learned once again that the Phantom Zone of the mainstream DC Universe was indeed used to house criminals and wasn't merely a storage facility for equipment and artifacts. Once again, it was said that Jor-El had discovered this place, not an ancestor named Kem-L. Once again, we learned that it was populated by villains such as Jax-Ur (again said to be it's first prisoner), Faora, Quex-Ul and, of course, General Zod.

We also learned that once Krypton had been a space empire and that, in these days long gone, there had been a hero named Admiral Dru-Zod. At first, it was believed by fans that this was a re-interpretation of the familiar villain, but Kurt Busiek later clarified in his story "The Third Kryptonian" that Admiral Zod was actually an ancestor of the Dru-Zod who achieved the rank of General and was leader of Krypton's military guild.

In a story written by Geoff Johns and Superman movie director Richard Donner, Zod found a way to escape the Phantom Zone and it was clearly established that this was the first time he had ever done so. Superman had fought the Pocket Universe Zod and the Russian who called himself Zod, but now for the first time ever in the Post-Crisis continuity, he would face the true Zod from his universe's version of Krypton, the Zod who had been sent into the Zone by Jor-El himself.

Zod was drawn with a new outfit (a Kryptonian prison uniform with the Kryptonian equivalent of the letter "Z" on the front) and an apperance vaguely resembling Terrence Stamp.

Concerning the nature of the Phantom Zone itself, a new note was also added. Apparently, staying in the Zone for a long period of time made one's eyes sensitive to light when they returned to reality. So, along with their prison uniforms, Kryptonian criminals were given tinted goggles before being exiled into the Zone.

With Zod's return there also came Ursa and Non, making their first appearances as comic book characters. In a flashback story, Johns and Donner gave fans the new back story of these three villains.

It was shown that, just as before in the Pre-Crisis continuity, Zod had been a zealous patriot. He had become bitter in his later career, however. He was angry at how the Science Council had banned space travel following the fall of the Kryptonian Empire. He was angry at himself for failing to protect the city of Kandor from being kidnapped by the villain Brainiac, an alien menace he refused to fear.

Ah, but here come some changes. Here when Jor-El learns of Krypton's impending destruction, he is not able to convince the Science Council ... except for one member. His old teacher, Non. Non realizes Jor is correct and that the Council are allowing fear and xenophobia to prevent them from taking action. Non goes public, telling people on the streets that the planet is doomed and they need to begin building space arks to evacuate. Seeing this, Zod and his lieutenant Ursa begin to wonder if Jor-El's warnings have some merit.

But then, Non vanishes from sight. Weeks later, he is found wandering the forest, a mute barely capable of forming coherent thought, his head showing signs of surgical scars. Zod realizes that the Council lobotomized one of their own to keep him quiet and to maintain their control of the populace. Refusing to let these cowards bring Krypton to its destruction, he, Ursa and Non lead a rebellion but are defeated.

Originally, the Council wants to execute the three criminals. But, sympathizing with their cause, Jor-El pleads for mercy on their behalf, asking that they instead only be sent to the Phantom Zone. The Council decides to go along with Jor's request, but only if he acts as jailer, making him the face that Zod holds responsible. As Jor-El sends Zod, Ursa and Non into the Phantom Zone, Zod first demands that Jor-El join him since he believes their cause is the same, that they both want to save Krypton from the Council, and then he swears vengeance on the scientist for his actions.

It was revealed that when Krypton exploded, one of its normal prisons (the Phantom Zone was reserved for only the worst criminals apparently) was somehow transported into the Zone. For unknown reasons, this prison structure maintained normal space-time within its walls. A Phantom Zone prisoner could enter the building and regain physicality.

Here, Zod and Ursa (and presumably others) were able to find occasional respite from the maddening existence of a ghost. Zod and Ursa had a child, Lor-Zod, whom they viciously abused over the years. Lor-Zod, having been born within the Zone, was somehow beyond his power and maintained his physical body even when he journeyed beyond the prison walls. He became the key to Zod's escape.

Now back in the real world, Zod freed the other Kryptonian prisoners and led them as an army against Earth. He was surprised when Superman recognized him and Kal-El revealed he had learned of Zod long ago through sunstone history recordings. The two fought and Superman actually teamed up with several villains before he was able to send Zod and his forces back into the Zone. Months later, readers learned that Zod had made sure that several sleeper agents were able to remain hidden on Earth, biding their time for his return.

NEW KRYPTON

Months after Zod's defeat, Johns wrote storyline called "New Krypton" in which the Kryptonians of the Bottle City of Kandor were freed from their imprisonment. After several confrontations with Earth forces and battles with its super-heroes, the xenophobic Kryptonians, led by Superman's aunt Allura, decided to leave their new home. Using sunstone technology, they built a new make-shift world that would be in opposite orbit around Earth's sun, allowing them to maintain their super-powers.

The people of Kandor remembered Zod as a hero and many of his loyal soldiers were active in the city. And so, because it had been many years since they were all sentenced and because the Kryptonians believed they now needed to be united, the Phantom Zone villains were all released and given full pardons. Allura then put Zod in charge of New Krypton's military.

Superman has chosen to begin living on New Krypton, wishing to keep an eye on the people there and on Zod in particular. Due to his years of combat experience, Zod has named him a commander in the military guild. Meanwhile, Ursa is on Earth attempting to find Lor-Zod, who is secretly working with another to uncover and defeat all of Zod's sleeper agents on Earth, sleeper agents Zod is trying to make sure stay hidden from Allura.

Meanwhile, the Phantom Zone has suddenly vanished, seemingly wiped out from existence. All of this leaves us with many questions.

Is Zod responsible or something else? Who would want the Zone destroyed? What are Zod's full plans? Is he underestimating Superman or has he already considered how to ensure the hero's defeat? How long will Kal-El be able to play along with Zod's schemes before defying him and his vicious methods? Does Zod want to find Lor simply because the child is his son or is there some other purpose intended for the boy?

And what is the hidden menace that exists in the Phantom Zone? A force that Zod is afraid of when he isn't even afraid of Brainiac?

I have no idea. But it's gonna be fun finding out.

This concludes our look at General Dru-Zod. If you'd like to read more about Superman himself, check out my Superman Files. Until next time, cheers!

Comments

[Riccardo]

Hi Alan, great article as usual!
I completely agree with you, Luthor's answer to Superman about the reason why he did not use the Gold Kryptonite before is certainly nonsense.
It is sad to say but that pocket universe had an idiot for a hero; I mean, if that Luthor was the Best hero that earth had, I'am not sorprised that anyone in that world got killed.