Superman: Last Son of Krypton

Geoff Johns is the definitive modern Superman storyteller. His work in the late 2000s remains arguably the best Superman run of all time. He teamed up with legendary director Richard Donner to deliver Last Son of Krypton, a deeply layered story about nature versus nurture. It starts with a familiar trope of a rocket crash landing, but instead of hitting a quiet cornfield in Smallville, it crashes directly into Metropolis. The boy inside is not found by the loving Kents, but by the United States government.

Clark instantly fears what that means for the child. He knows exactly what a sterile, unloving environment full of scientists poking and prodding an alien child looks like. His fears are not unfounded, and there is a brilliant layer of self-reflection beneath the surface of the script.

Clark is essentially looking at a terrifying alternate reality of his own life. When the government predictably starts acting in its own militaristic best interest, Clark takes the boy to the only experts he knows. He brings the child to his parents to figure out exactly how they raised him. Johns always knows how to make Superman feel vulnerable, even when Clark himself is not in any physical peril. By making the boy innocence personified, Clark will do everything in his power to preserve him. Lois, on the other hand, is highly hesitant. She is simply not ready to be a mother.

Naturally, Lex Luthor sees an opportunity to mold and manipulate an impressionable alien youth. He sends Bizarro to retrieve the boy. When the monster grabs the child, he instantly breaks the boy's arm. Believing a true Kryptonian would not shatter so easily, Bizarro throws the fragile boy away and starts brawling with Clark. Lois aggressively steps up to protect the child in the chaos. When the dust finally settles, that protective instinct overrides her hesitation, and she tells Clark she is ready to be his guardian. They name the boy Christopher, which is an incredibly sweet nod from Donner to Christopher Reeve.

Of course, the bliss doesn't last. The Phantom Zone's most famous residents break out. General Zod, Ursa, and Non escape, and Zod reveals that the boy, Lor-Zod, is actually his and Ursa's biological son. Zod's very first order of business is infiltrating the Fortress of Solitude just to narcissistically review Krypton's historical archives about himself.

Then they hit the skies to track down the boy. While Zod and Non deal with Superman, Ursa confronts Lois. Her cold demand to return the boy simply because she still has a use for him perfectly encapsulates the unsettling, emotionless Kryptonian demeanor. It is a stark reminder that no matter how technologically advanced they were, Krypton suffered from massive societal and emotional failings.

Zod manages to trap Clark in the Phantom Zone. Clark briefly reunites with Mon-El before managing to escape back to Earth, where he is forced into a desperate alliance with Lex Luthor. Lex, acting entirely out of self-preservation, gathers a squad of villains outfitted with kryptonite weapons. Metallo, Parasite, and Bizarro reluctantly fight side by side with Superman to save the planet. It leads to an epic, knockdown drag-out brawl. The thematic parallels here are fantastic. The entire fight revolves around the concept of the sins of the father. Chris stands up to his evil biological father to protect his adopted one, while Zod attacks Clark to punish him for the perceived sins of Jor-El.

During the chaos, Lex actually manages to kill Non. But we get no real fallout from that here.

Chris realizes the only way to stop the invasion is to open a rift back to the Phantom Zone. The portal consumes Zod and Ursa, but it refuses to close. As Clark hangs on for dear life, Chris realizes he is the only one who can shut the rift, but he has to do it from the inside. He sacrifices himself, tumbling through the void and sealing it behind him. A heartbroken Clark begs Mon-El to track the boy down in the Zone, but to no avail. Everything wraps up with Lois writing the Daily Planet exclusive, spinning the events to ensure Chris gets the credit for saving Earth, which infuriates Lex.

Perry White then foreshadows future arcs by asking when Clark and Lois are going to have kids of their own.

From head to toe, this is one of the best, most genuine Superman stories ever put to paper. Everything works. Geoff Johns and Richard Donner nail the script, and Adam Kubert delivers phenomenal artwork that perfectly captures the scale of the action and the quiet emotional moments. It is exactly what you want out of a Superman book, and it perfectly sets the stage for the legendary Brainiac arc that follows.