Understanding Superman In DC Rebirth

DC Rebirth. Who Is Clark White?

 

Today we are going to go over the role of every super character that is connected to the man of steel himself. We got the Chinese superman, super Lex, super woman, new 52 superman and of course the current guy I call Clark White.

There is a lot to go over and I went over this topic a few times to trim the fat and to keep it as direct as possible so you know what’s going on when you pick up a super title in your local comic book store.

First off, to understand superman’s role in 2016, we got to go back in time to before the new 52. I’m bringing us back to the flashpoint to be precise. This event ended the universe we all knew and loved. We then move into the new 52 where we are introduced to a younger, brasher man of steel that has kryptonian battle armor. One of the strongest over powered indestructible superhero now comes with even more protection.

New 52 superman joined forces with the justice league for the first time ever when Apocalypse invaded. The team was successful in repelling Darkseid’s invasion but what they didn’t know was that they had a superman standing by watching everything. This doppelganger would have come to their aid if they needed the help.

[Related: Click Here To Read Superman Comic Books Online]

So now we move onto the doppelganger superman. This superman is the guy that you have been reading ever since the mid 1980’s. He is the guy that fought superboy prime along with earth 2’s superman. He is also the guy that went toe to toe with Doomsday and won but died due to his injuries. To keep things simple, he is the post Crisis superman. This now begs the question, how is he in the new 52? How did he survive the flashpoint when no one else did?

In 2015, the event convergence revealed that Brainiac had stolen cities from across the multiverse and across time before their destruction. He placed these cities in his planet outside of time and space. This is where post Crisis superman stayed powerless for about a year. This is also where he and his wife, Lois Lane, conceived their child. With the help of Thomas Wayne from the Flashpoint Universe, their son, Jonathan Samuel white was born.

Superman, along with the heroes from across the multiverse, banded together to defeat their jailer. But the multiverse is again in turmoil. Superman along with a few other heroes went back to the first crisis to defeat the anti-monitor. Once their work is done, Superman and his family relocated to the new 52 reality where he witnessed Darkseid’s invasion and the formation of this world’s Justice League. We are now back to square one and the beginning of the new 52.

From here on out, New 52 superman spent time learning what it truly means to be a hero and the post crisis superman lived away from the limelight to raise is son and be with his wife. He managed to get a hold of a black suit through his wife’s military connections. With this, he continues his heroics and he did this in secret because he believes that by revealing himself, he would endanger the lives of his family. Post Crisis Superman and his family even took on the last name White to remain anonymous due to the fact that new 52 superman got his identity exposed by this world’s Lois Lane.

With his identity exposed, new 52 Superman also lost his powers, stolen by Vandal Savage. To regain his powers, he enlisted the help of ARGUS agent Steve Trevor. The goal: to use the ARGUS Kryptonite chamber to burn off the mutated cells in his body that is blocking him from absorbing solar energy. The strategy worked and superman regained his powers to defeat Vandal but the kryptonite continues to eat away at his healthy cells. This combined with his exposure to the pits of apocalypse and his battle with RAO culminated in his death at the end of superman issue 52.

Death Of New 52 Superman

When new 52 Superman finally met his maker, he exploded releasing an energy field that caught Lois Lane in its wake. She started showing powers resembling the man of steel’s. You can follow her story in the new rebirth title Superwoman.

With new 52 Superman dead, and the post Crisis Superman dealing with issues outside of his city, Metropolis now has a missing superman. Lex Luthor, backed up by Apocalyptian technology, bought the Daily Planet and claims the title of Superman, the protector of this great city. You see, this isn’t the same Lex Luthor as his pre new 52 version. This Luthor is still a sociopath but he now has a purpose: To earn the respect of his sister Lena Luthor. To be a brother that she can be proud of. You can follow him in various DC Rebirth titles such as action comics, justice league and even in the new superwoman series.

So let’s take a quick recap, New 52 superman is dead, the energy from his body gave new 52 Lois Lane a portion of his powers making her the new superwoman, Lex Luthor dubs himself superman, the protector of metropolis and Post Crisis Superman finally dawns the classic red and blue and publicly reveals himself as Superman. His son Jon is starting to exhibit kryptonian powers and his wife post crisis Lois Lane is always there by his side. Just to be clear, there are currently two Lois Lane’s. New 52 Lois Lane has superman’s power and is the current superwoman. And there is Post crisis Lois Lane that is just a normal human. She is married to Post crisis Superman and they have a son named Jon.  I hope you guys are following me on this.

[Related: Click Here To Read Superman Comic Books Online]

Ok let’s continue on. We now also have a Chinese Superman named Kong Kenan. He isn’t your typical super hero. Kenan is a brash young man who got offered to take part in a secret operation to create a superman for china.

There is also the unknown civilian Clark Kent. All we know so far is that he truly believes that he is only Clark Kent the reporter as if he is suffering from amnesia. So far, the civilian Clark Kent hasn’t exhibit any of superman’s power set.

And finally there is Mr. Oz, very mysterious hooded gentleman that has been observing superman and his closes friends from the comfort of his own secret lair.

He appears obsessed with Superman’s growth and potential and he only appeared in front of post crisis superman once to offer a very strange warning. He says to Clark: you and your family are not what you believe you are. And neither was the fallen superman. After this, he acquired the monster doomsday. He is neither friend nor foe to the man of steel and there are a lot of awesome theories online as to who Mr. Oz truly is.