Superman vs. Lobo #2 is an issue of the series Superman vs. Lobo (Volume 1) with a cover date of January, 2022. It was published on November 9, 2021.
Synopsis for the 1st Story
As the major news outlets on Earth report the disappearances of Superman and Lobo, Lois asks Batman whether the Justice League knows where Superman is, but Batman knows as much as Lois does about the situation. Suddenly, Batman gets a telepathic call from Martian Manhunter, who has discovered that the planet Krypton has returned to its former orbit. At the same time, Hal Jordan reports that planet Czarnia is also alive and well. When Hal attempts to gain access to the planet, however, he hits a mysterious forcefield that prevents him entrance to Czarnia.
As the Justice League attempts to make sense of this situation, the cosmic entity Numen relays a telepathic message to the people of Earth. It was he who brought Krypton and Czarnia back from obliteration as gifts to Superman and Lobo for saving his life and asks the people of Earth not to disturb Superman and Lobo as they seek to rediscover their birth cultures.
Superman finds himself powerless in Czarnia, with only an elderly woman called Tribb offering him a room in house. Despite his predicament, however, Superman takes the time to appreciate the peace and kindness of the Czarnian people, finding hard to believe that Czarnia was the birthplace of a man as immoral and ruthless as Lobo. Miss Tribb asks Superman not to speak of the “evil one” in the presence of other Czarnias, for Czarnia was always a menacing place, even before Lobo was born.
Meanwhile, Lobo has found employment as a scientist in the towers of Krypton. Bored of the peace and intellectualism of Krypton, Lobo is planning to cause the same catastrophe that previously destroyed Czarnia, for no reason other than his own amusement. Dr. Flik, observing Lobo for scientific purposes, wonders if the sociological consequences that the resurrections of a dead culture would have on that culture's last survivor. Suddenly, Lobo comes across a group of radical Kryptonians who reject Krypton's utopian peace and would rather return to their old lives as a savage warrior, a proposition that interests Lobo.
Sometime later, Dr. Flik visits Superman on Czarnia, finding him in the middle of manual labor. Flik tells Superman that despite the lower intensity of Czania's sun, he should be replenishing his powers, which makes Flik wonder why Superman has not been recharged yet. Later that night, Superman investigates Miss Tribb's equipment and finds a vial filled with traces of his blood.
Lobo’s day of pleasure is interrupted by the arrival of General Zod, Faora and Jax-Ur, criminals previously imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. With Krypton's resurrection, Zod wishes to take revenge on Jor-El for imprisoning him but first, he will kill corrupt scientist Fel-Kar for stealing his revenge against Jor-El. Looking forward to a fight, Lobo easily kills the Kryptonian criminals, who possess no superpowers under Krypton's red sun. Activating a small cluster of grenades, Lobo sets off a huge explosion that destroys the building he finds himself in.
Back in Czarnia, Superman discovers that Miss Tribb has been using his blood to construct weapons to fight her own neighbors, who have also armed themselves to fight Miss Tribb and each other. Miss Tribb admits that Czarnia has always been a violent, savage species and Lobo was the only person who embraced violent self instead of trying to hide it under a veneer of decency.
As Lobo recovers from the explosion he caused, he discovers Fel-Kar’s secret lab, which contains an army of clones created from Lobo's genetic samples. In his quest to return Krypton to its old warrior culture, Fel-Kar intends to use this army to conquer neighboring planets, including Czarnia. News of this event reach Jor-El and the Science Council.
As Fel-Kar begins his invasion of Czarnia, Miss Tribb is killed in the crossfire. Superman vows not to let her death go to waste and seizes her weapon, a bioengineered creature that can both absorb and release sunlight. Modifying the creature, Superman regains his powers and makes his way to Krypton, hoping to stop this disaster and meet his parents. Flik's conscience gets the better of her and she visits Numen in his home dimension. She asks the cosmic entity to undo what he has done, and while Numen does listen to her words, Flik can only wonder if she just made things worse.
Lobo, insulted that Fel-Kar stole his genetic material to create his army, kills Fel-Kar and uses a portal to travel to Czarnia, if only to indulge in the violence he enjoys so much. Once there, he comes across Miss Tribb, who possesses the same regenerative qualities Lobo does. While they don’t exactly enjoy keeping each other company, they can at least amuse themselves by killing every Lobo clone they can find.
Superman reaches the home of the Els and meets his parents, Jor-El and Lara. Both possess their memories from before Krypton’s destruction, so they have been laboring to prevent a war between Krypton and Czarnia. Lara had previously infiltrated into Fel-Kar's renegade cell and sabotaged his plan to create an army of Czarnian clones by making them deathly vulnerable to Czarnia's venomous rain. Superman is horrified that his parents would sentence an army of newly born people to an early death, but Jor-El justifies his actions by saying that they always knew that the lives of both Krypton and Czarnia would be limited.
Indeed, Flik meets up with Superman and confirms Jor-El's suspicions: Numen has decided to undo his actions and both Krypton and Czarnia will cease to exist. Jor-El and Lara disappear before Superman's eyes but not before expressing pride that their son had become a much better man that they could hope for. Meanwhile, Lobo must endure the death of Miss Tribb all over again, just when he was starting to like her.
With their planets and their peoples dead yet again, Superman and Lobo believe the crisis to be over, but Flik reveals that this wasn’t the first time Numen has interfered in events of intergalactic importance. Survivors of dead universes manipulated by Numen, a Revenge Squad, want Numen’s head and now, Superman and Lobo must protect him.
Appearing in the 1st Story
Featured Characters:
- Superman
Supporting Characters:
- Semedea Flik
Antagonists:
- Lobo
- General Zod
- Faora
- Jax-Ur
Other Characters:
- Miss Tribb
- Numan Revenge Squad (First appearance)
- Zealot
- Union
- Maul
- Helspont
- Mr. Majestic
- Justice League
- Batman
- Green Lantern
- Martian Manhunter
- Lois Lane
- Jor-El
- Lara
- Fel-Kar
Locations:
- Earth
- Czarnia
- Krypton
- Phantom Zone (Mentioned only)
Items:
Vehicles:
See Also
Links and References
