It’s villains month in the DCU as the bad guys star in every issue this month while the Justice Leagues are missing and the rest of the heroes are on hiatus. It’s a chance to get to know these rogues a little better, to learn what makes them tick and why they’re forever evil. (See what I did there? Because all of this ties into the Forever Evil event? Nevermind.) So over in Action Comics #23.2, we get to know General Zod a bit better. No, he doesn’t command anyone to kneel before him, but in this version, he’s so severe he doesn’t have to say it; just looking at him, you know it’s what he wants.
To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what I’m supposed to take away from this issue. While learning a little of Zod’s background is interesting, it doesn’t exactly illuminate a whole lot about what makes him tick. However, there is one thing that is quite prevalent; Zod is a perfect fit for the Darwinian nature of the Crime Syndicate’s view of the world. Zod is obviously a believer in the survival of the fittest, of how the strong should rule and the weak should be weeded out. He is a pragmatic survivor driven purely by the power of evolution. Again, I’m struck how these characters who carry out an evolutionary worldview out to its logical conclusion are portrayed as villains, and yet, whenever some in our culture would dare suggest that perhaps there are other theories for how to view the world, they are often ostracized and scoffed at. Evolution is science and therefore fact, and yet, the fact is if one truly embraced the conclusions and worldview of that view fully, would one’s outlook really be any different than Zod’s? An interesting, and perhaps frightening, question.
Beyond the fact that we learn a bit more about Zod, there isn’t much here that ties this in with the Forever Evil event; or at least I don’t see what insight into what’s happening with that event and the role that Zod will play, if any, in it from this issue. Still, it’s is a good looking issue, and it has some interesting character fodder in so far as we learn a little about Zod’s history with Kal-El’s family on Krypton. So while this is a good issue, I think my main frustration is I would have like to have known how Zod fits into the bigger picture of Forever Evil. I suppose, or hope, that insight will come with time.
A BIG thanks to Astro-Zombies for providing the material for this review. Learn more about them at astrozombies.com.
