Action Comics #988 is an issue of the series Action Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 2017. It was published on September 27, 2017.
Synopsis for "The Oz Effect, Part Two"
Superman does not believe that Mister Oz is in fact his father from Krypton, Jor-El. He tries to have Kelex confirm Mister Oz's true identity, but it turns out Kelex listens instead to Mr. Oz over Superman. Kelex then asserts that Mister Oz is Jor-El. Jor-El then uses the Kryptonian crystals to show Superman flashbacks to the final days of Krypton. One particular scene includes Jor-El being dressed down by Lor-Van, the father of Superman's birth mother Lara Lor-Van, because Jor-El was working on "Project Stardrive" to save many Kryptonian. Lor-Van commanded Kelex to destroy all data about the project. Then a flashback shows Kal-El leaving Krypton as the planet dies, but Jor-El is "saved" by, as he calls it, "a being able to bend reality to his every whim."
Jor-El then describes being left on Earth, possibly in the Middle East or a part of Asia, where he is reluctantly cared for and nursed back to health by a poor family living under the thumb of Kassam, a local warlord. When Kassam's men take too much from Jor-El's sheltering family, he takes it upon himself to sneak into the warlord's base and steal food back for the family. However, one of the sons in the family rats out to the Kassam about Jor-El's existence, perhaps in hopes of preferential treatment. Instead, Kassam orders the young man to kill his own family, which he does with Kassam's help on the trigger of a automatic rifle. Jor-El, getting power from Earth's sun for the first time, dispatches Kassam's men and is about to also kill the young man when Jor-El is teleported away.
Imprisoned and forced to watch all the atrocities of men, Jor-El becomes disappointed with humankind. When ultimately released for his captor (with no word on how or why), Jor-El tells Superman that he must now let the humans succumb to their evils because it is now Jor-El's task to take Superman away from Earth.
Appearing in "The Oz Effect, Part Two"
Featured Characters:
- Mister Oz (Jor-El) (Flashback and main story) (Also as an hologram) (Also as a statue) (Origin)
- Superman (Clark Kent) (Flashback and main story)
Supporting Characters:
- Aazim's family (Single appearance) (Hologram) (All die)
- Kelex (Flashback and main story)
- Lara Lor-Van (Flashback and main story) (Hologram) (Also as a statue)
- Lor-Van (First appearance) (Hologram)
Antagonists:
- Doctor Manhattan (Watchmen Universe) (Unnamed) (Behind the scenes)
- Kassam (Single appearance; dies) (Hologram)
- Aazim (Single appearance) (Hologram)
- Kassam's Army (Single appearance) (All die) (Hologram)
Other Characters:
- The Crusaders (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Dismas (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Gesmas (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Jesus Christ (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Jonathan Kent (Statue only)
- Ku Klux Klan (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Martha Kent (Statue only)
- Nazi Party (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Pirates (Unnamed) (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Roman Army (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- United States Army (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Jax-Ur (Mentioned only)
- Jon Kent (Mentioned only)
- Kryptonian Science Council (Mentioned only)
- Lois Lane-Kent (Mentioned only)
- Mister Mxyzptlk (Mentioned only)
- General Zod (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Earth 0
- Earth (Flashback and main story)
- Africa
- Aazim's Village (Single appearance) (Unnamed)
- Arctic Circle
- Asia (On a TV or computer screen)
- Europe
- North America
- United States of America (Flashback and main story)
- California
- The Siegel Motel (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Kansas
- Smallville
- Kent Farm (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Smallville
- California
- United States of America (Flashback and main story)
- Africa
- Krypton (Hologram)
- Kryptonopolis (Hologram)
- Earth (Flashback and main story)
- Mister Oz's Lair (First appearance chronologically) (Hologram)
- Sphere of the Gods
- Phantom Zone (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Green Kryptonite
- Kryptonian Crystals
- Mister Oz's Staff
- Super-Computer
Vehicles:
- Kal-El's Spaceship (Hologram)
Concepts:
- Anti-Crisis Energy (Unnamed)
- The Crucifixion of Jesus (On a TV or computer screen)
- The Crusades (On a TV or computer screen)
- Mister Mxyztplk's Attack (Mentioned only)
- Project Stardrive
- Vietnam War (On a TV or computer screen)
- World War II (On a TV or computer screen)
Trivia
- The death of Lara and Jor-El appears as almost a homage to the classic nightmare scene from Watchmen known as "The Nuclear Kiss".
See Also