Review of Action Comics #23.1 (Cyborg Superman #1)

“Once flawed by nature. Now perfect by design.”

***Contains Spoilers***

If you have been reading the current arc of Supergirl than you already knew who Cyborg Superman really is and who created him. What you didn’t know is how, why and when. Now if haven’t read the current Supergirl Arc then I will explain things a bit first. While the original Cyborg Superman was Hank Henshaw(that is a long story, he was one the villain in the Return of Superman arc back in the early 90’s) this Cyborg SUperman is in fact Zor-El. Zor-El was the older brother of Jor-El and the father of Supergirl. He was changed to the Cyborg Superman by Brainiac.

Shortly before the destruction of Krypton the two El brothers argreed that Krypton’s days were numbered, but disagreed on the what to do about it. We all know Jor-El’s plan of the escape ship, sadly he was only able to build one for his son. Zor-El wanted to use Brainiac technology, similar to the tech used on Kandor, to save the city of Argo. Shortly before the end Zor-El launched his daughter in a ship in order to play it safe.

His plan worked, sort of. The city and many of it’s inhabitants survived for a time. There was severe damage to the city and within 5 months after the destruction only Zor-El and a handful of survovors remained. He sent out a distress call to Brainiac, expecting aid. Well, 4 months later Brainiac indeed did answer the call.

When Brainiac arrived he realized who Zor-El was and decided to “upgrade” him. Using his superior technology he modifies him into the “ultimate Kryptonian” and sends him off across the universe on a quest for perfection. This issue also shows his first mission out into the universe to find perfection. Of course, since perfection does not exist he ends up destroying an entire world when they fail to meet his impossible standard.

This Cyborg Superman is extremely different from the one from the old DCU. His look is fairly different and his attitude and origin is entirely different. I am not sure what his future will be, given that it seems that he was reverted back to normal Kryptonian form in Supergirl #23. However given the nature of the planet he was on things may not be as they appear. iven that I do not know what role, if any, he will play in Forever Evil. I think he is an interesting villain with the potential to be a great anti-hero. If he retains his memories in his cyborg form he could be a great character. Maybe he could join the Red Lanterns(in the old continuity the Cyborg Superman joined the Sinestro Corps)