A Horrifying Fight Forces Superman to Reveal His Secret Weapon

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The following contains major spoilers for Action Comics #1070, on sale now from DC Comics.

The latest threat to emerge from the Phantom Zone has just forced Superman to unleash the one weapon he always hoped he would never use.

Rather than the likes of Brainiac or Darkseid, Action Comics #1070 finds the Man of Steel facing off against a whole new kind of threat that is as grotesque as it is tragic. When several Kryptonians escape from the Phantom Zone, all having been fused together into one superpowered monstrosity, Superman finds himself completely outmatched against such an erratic foe. Knowing how much damage this particular menace could do, Superman takes it upon himself to retrieve the single piece of Gold Kryptonite known to exist, putting his own powers at permanent risk in the hopes of stealing away those of his most recent enemy.

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Action Comics #1070

Written by MARK WAID
Art by CLAYTON HENRY
Colors by MATT HERMS
Letters by DAVE SHARPE
Main cover art by CLAYTON HENRY & TOMEU MOREY
Variant covers by WES CRAIG, EDDY BARROWS, DANNY MIKI & TOMEU MOREY, and MARK SPEARS

Originally conceptualized as K-Metal by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel for an unpublished comic book storyline, the Kryptonite fans know best would make its first appearance in the franchise in an episode of the 1940 Adventures of Superman radio serial entitled "The Meteor from Krypton." Though Kryptonite has been seen in a wide variety of colors and types over the years, it is most often seen in its Green Kryptonite form. This common variant of Kryptonite weakens a Kryptonian and slowly poisons them over time, with extreme or prolonged exposure resulting in death.

Gold Kryptonite was introduced decades after the original in Jerry Siegel and George Papp's story "Superboy: The Unwanted Superbaby!" from the pages of 1962's Adventure Comics #299. Unlike Green Kryptonite and others which usually have temporary effects, Gold Kryptonite near instantaneously strips a Kryptonian of their ability to synthesize yellow sunlight and, by extension, robs them of their superpowers on a permanent basis. In the majority of appearances it has made, Gold Kryptonite has only appeared in alien or synthetic forms. As such, the effects of the Gold Kryptonite in these instances have always proven to be reversible, if not temporary in their own right.

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In one of its earliest appearances in Edmond Hamilton and Curt Swan's story "The Super-Revenge of the Phatnom Zone Prisoner!" from the pages of 1962's Superman #157, the imprisoned Quex-Ul tried to use Gold Kryptonite to strike back against the titular hero and secure his freedom from the dreaded Phantom Zone. As it turned out, Quex-Ul was acting under the control of the malevolent Rog-Ar, and when he broke free of the villain's control, he sacrificed himself to save Superman from the dangerous wave of Gold Kryptonite radiation. Not only did Quex-Ul lose his powers, he also lost his memories, though the latter aspect of Gold Kryptonite has seemingly been shed from its list of side effects.

Action Comics #1070 is on sale now from DC Comics.

Source: DC Comics