The Last Days of Krypton

Superman is one of America’s greatest icons. Ask anyone about Superman and they’ll mention Clark Kent, Metropolis, Kryptonite, Lex Luthor, The Daily Planet and, of course, Lois Lane. Bigger fans may talk about Smallville, Lana Lang, General Zod, and Braniac. Often left out of Superman discussions is his origin because it has been so loosely defined. Many people forget that he is in fact alien named Kal-El from the expired planet Krypton. In The Last Days of Krypton, Kevin J. Anderson (Saga of Seven Suns), for the first time, fully defines what happened on Krypton that led to the planet’s demise and why Kal-El’s biological parents sent him away to Earth.

At the start of the novel, Krypton is ruled by a stagnant council, which discourages innovation, hides from conflict, and drowns all decisions in never-ending banter. This is much to the dismay of Jor-El a scientific genius who is constantly trying to better Krypton with his inventions such as his phantom zone and Rao beam and his brother Zor-El who discovers that their world was in danger. Both are given complete disregard by the council. When the android Braniac captures the capital city of Kandor, shrinks it and takes it away, Krypton is left in fear without a governing body. The commissioner under the council, Zod, who escapes capture, ceases the opportunity to rule Krypton with promises of defenses against future attacks. In return for marrying Jor-El with the historian/artist Lara, Zod blackmails Jor-El to help him build a new capital city and weapons in which he can rule. Zod claiming rule of the planet and using Jor-El’s inventions for harm angers important figures like Zor-El who begin a rebellion against him. Civil war results in a time when the people’s focus should be on the fate of the planet.

Overall, I found this telling of Krypton’s end a disappointment. Although, it defines the events that lead to the planet’s end, as well as, the reason for Zod’s future hatred of Superman, it lacked depth and emotion. When I picked up the book, I asked myself whether or not I really wanted to read a potentially sad story about the end of a race. I anticipated a gut-wrenching story about the love between Jor-El and Lara and how tragic it was that their lives were coming to an end before they could see their son growing up. Instead, I got a story where I was actually satisfied that an ignorant and stubborn society was coming to an end with a marriage of Kal-El’s parents that lacked romance. The concept that fear can be used to rule the people (as Zod did over Krypton after attack) was a good reflection of how our own country was convinced into a pointless war after terrorist attacks, but it was a little too obvious and beaten to death. Although Anderson creates a story that can possibly be used as a template for future Superman stories (eventhough he underplays Braniac and does not mention Kara (future Supergirl) at all), he does so in a way that would only grab the attention of the hardcore fan and no one else.