Superman: The Man of Steel #112-113

Superman: The Man of Steel #112-113

Originally released in 2001

Written by Mark Schultz (#112) and Marv Wolfman (#113)

Art by Yanick Paquette (#112) and Paco Medina (#113)

It was confirmed yesterday that Krypto the Superdog would play a part in James Gunn's upcoming Superman movie.  I had been hoping to cover Krypto's early appearances, but DC Universe Infinite didn't seem to have many consecutive issues from that era, let alone ones featuring Krypto, so I went with a more modern story.

This appears to be one of Krypto's first appearances post-Crisis; Krypto appears to be new to Superman's life, with it being mentioned that he recently followed Superman out of the Phantom Zone from some kind of Krypton from an alternate timeline. (it seems like a rather convoluted way of introducing him, though I'm pretty sure that his pre-Crisis origin is "Jor-El put the family dog into a test rocket and launched him into space", which doesn't seem great for Jor-El)

A pair of powerful but dim-witted criminals have escaped from prison, and with Krypto having gained powers under Earth's yellow sun, Superman uses Krypto's superior senses of hearing and smell to track them down.  It's a straightforward introductory story for Krypto; the only detail left unresolved is where Superman will keep Krypto.  A dog with Kryptonian levels of strength isn't a good fit for a Metropolis apartment building. (I'd assume that the Fortress of Solitude had been introduced by this point, though given that it took fifteen years or so to reintroduce Krypto, maybe it hasn't)

In contrast with issue 112, which is light-hearted and episodic, issue 113 is the third part of a storyline that seems like it was spread out through Superman's various books at the time.  A being called Viroxx is spreading out the universe, possessing some beings, converting others to energy, and destroying entire civilizations.

One of the people that was possessed was Lois Lane, so Superman is trying to track her throughout the depths of space.  It speaks volumes about Superman that his mere presence causes some groups of people to call for help and interstellar criminals to flee at the simple act of him flying through their section of space.

Along the way, Superman encounters an alien named Korsa Majalis, who has become so obsessed with stopping Viroxx and avenging his wife and child that he has converted half of his fleet into a superweapon and is ignoring his surviving child in his pursuit.  Superman's focus on saving Lois is contrasted with Korsa's obsession with killing Viroxx.

As the third part of a four part story, this was a little difficult to follow at times; I wasn't entirely clear on what Viroxx was aside from a virus-like entity, and that was partially due to the name.  Still, it didn't take long before I picked up on the key details.

While I had been looking forward to seeing Superboy's adventures with his superpowered dog, this was still enjoyable.  I'm looking forward to seeing how Krypto is used in the upcoming movie; it feels like it's embracing a less grounded approach that previous adaptations mostly seemed to avoid, and it helps to set this apart from the other Superman movies that we've seen.