Comic Book / Superman (Phillip Kennedy Johnson)

This looks like a job for Superman... and the Authority.

"For years, I fought for truth and justice on a world that had become my home. Some opposed me in this. Others joined me. In the words of another writer, we were the ‘champions of the oppressed’, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Such feats may be beyond me now... but the work goes on."

— Superman

After Bendis' run on Superman, and the events of Future State, Superman and Action Comics were taken over by Phillip Kennedy Johnson. Beginning under the DC Infinite Frontier initiative, Johnson's aim was to focus on the SUPER side of Superman, thrusting him into a bold new era of cosmic adventures.

An old name with a new owner consolidates power on Warworld as Superman finishes training his young son Jon Kent to take over his duties. Clark Kent has never felt weaker, after exposure to a "Breach" in space has left his powers fading. Unfortunately, early retirement isn't an option, for Superman has learned that among the long-suffering slaves of Warworld there exists descendants of a Kryptonian off-shoot race called the Phaelosians. When one of their number arrives on Earth, Superman resolves to put together a rescue mission aimed at liberating Warworld from the tyranny of Mongul. After an international intervention by Superman turns the world against him, he can't call on the Justice League to help, so he builds a new team capable of accompanying him to Warworld. With the Authority backing him up, Superman is confident he will triumph once more over Mongul. But this is a new Mongul, and he has made plans of his own...

Johnson wrote the main Superman title for issues 29-32 before the book ended to make way for Tom Taylor launching a new Superman book starring Jon Kent as the Superman of Earth in his dad's absence. Johnson was also the writer of Action Comics, up until December 2023, which followed the adventures of Clark Kent and the Authority out in space. Aside from a brief two-part crossover between Superman #29 and Action Comics #1029 which covers Clark and Jon dealing with the Breach, the two series were separate and neither was required reading for the other.

Starting with this as part of the Infinite Frontier relaunch, a backup comic was added to both this series and PKJ's issues of the Superman title that spotlighted other DC characters. These including, so far, Midnighter by Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad, Tales of Metropolis by Sean Lewis, Martian Manhunter by Shawn Aldridge, Home Again by Dan Jurgens, and Head Like A Whole by Leah Williams.

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Tropes:

• And I Must Scream: The fate of those possessed by the Shadowbreed. Their consciousness are still retained as part of the Hive Mind but they are unable to exert any influence over the Shadowbreed's actions. When the Shadowbreed tries possessing Superman, he hears billions of voices all screaming in terror.
• Angrish:
  • Midnighter's reaction when The Unmade, one of Mongul's goons, wounds Apollo.
  • Lex likewise loses his cool when Metallo taunts him.
• Apologetic Attacker:
  • Thao-La asks Superman to forgive her before she attacks him and his family. She doesn't want to attack them, but she's terrified of Mongul punishing her loved ones if she refuses to do his will.
  • Metallo is genuinely remorseful towards a guard whom he's forced to kill after the guard stumbles upon his breakout from Stryker's Island, especially since said guard was one of the few staff members who addressed Corben by name and treated him kindly. Corben goes out of his way to assure his victim that he didn't do anything to deserve this fate besides being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Metallo's clearly furious at Luthor for putting him in that position after the deed is done.
• Applied Phlebotinum: Genesis, a mysterious substance that comes from Warworld. It fueled the Phaelosians spaceship, and Atlantean mineralogists identify the fragment brought to Earth to be older than their tests can recognize. It also restores Superman's powers after his defeat at Mongul's hands, granting him a measure of his full strength even without yellow sunlight.
  Maric: This little thing holds the power of a star... and the visions of a sleeping god.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: The Empire of Shadows rule over an Earth where Batman took control of the League of Shadows and led them to dominate the world. It's leaders are Batman, Talia, and their offspring. Needless to say they have no problem engaging in everything from murder to Cold-Blooded Torture to get what they want.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Midnighter asks one of Superman after Superman tells Middy he still plans on trying to help the Warzoons free themselves, rather than write them off as a lost cause. Rather than falter, Superman gives an Armor-Piercing Response:
  Midnighter: Are their lives really worth more to you than ours?
  Superman: No. Not more. But not less.
• Artifact of Doom: What Genesis seems to be. Sure it's a resource of unlimited power, but it also transformed the Atlanteans who studied it into monsters.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Superman realizes that the bloodpriests don't know how to read the writing on the walls by observing that they "read" the language top to bottom, when the writing actually reads bottom to top.
• Badass Bystander: Bibbo Bibbowski doesn't sit around when the Metropolis Zoo comes under attack by the New Gods after the Fire of Olgrun. While Superman is fighting off the threat, Bibbo rallies Otho-Ra and Osul-Ra to help him find anyone caught in the crossfire and escort them to safety. Despite being hopelessly outclassed, he's willing to throw down with Kalibak and Orion to try and buy time for the others. Luckily, this isn't necessary due to Superman's intervention.
• Bait-and-Switch: During the final fights, Midnighter and Manchester Black are attempting to fight Apollo and get him free of the devices making him Mongul's slave. All of a sudden, the Justice League busts through in a Big Damn Heroes moment, but it even looks like that's going sour as Apollo blasts Cyborg in the face. It was actually an illusion by Black to give Apollo a chance to free himself and it works.
• Bat Family Crossover:
  • Kal-El Returns will be a six issue crossover (Action Comics #1047-1049 and Superman: Son of Kal-El #16-18) between PKJ's Action Comics and Taylor's Superman: Son of Kal-El about Kal's return to Earth post-Warworld and reunion with his son.
  • The back-up World Without Clark Kent story features Steel, Lois, Kara, Kon, Jon, and Kenan teaming-up against Conduit who is attempting to steal a fragment of Genesis for Amanda Waller.
• Big Damn Kiss: Midnighter and Apollo share one in Superman: Warworld Apocalypse to celebrate the rebellion's victory.
  • Closing out the Warworld Saga is one between Clark and Lois as they finally reunite.
• Bizarre Alien Psychology: Thakkramites are said to experience emotions very differently from humans or Kryptonians. Superman tells Jon that they don't seem to share the human concepts of love, affection, or pride, and that the parent/child relationship is more of a rivalry than a loving bond. Qarath tells Jon that Thakkramites view kindness as breeding weakness.
• Bittersweet Ending: Mostly on the sweet side for the Warworld storyline: Warworld is fully liberated from Mongul, but not without casualties. Apollo and Lightray are freed from Mongul's hold, but OMAC sacrificed himself to save Lightray and Leonath sacrifices himself to power the star forge, restoring Superman's power. Kryl-Ux has claimed Mongul's power and the tribes that refuse to follow Superman's ideals and is vowing bloody vengeance towards the United Planets and its Premier.
• Bookends:
  • The first and last arcs of the run deal with Superman suffering from reduced power levels.
  • Superman begins his time leading the Superfamily with a speech about how he wants to inspire Metropolis to see themselves in their heroes, and thus want to be heroes themselves. The last issue of the run has Glen, a former criminal who Superman helped reform, talk about how proud he is of Metropolis and it’s heroes and how he sees himself reflected in both, showing that Superman has succeeded.
• Boxing Lessons for Superman: During his time as a slave on Warworld, Superman receives training in melee and hand-to-hand fighting from Kryl-Ux.
• Brain Bleach: Jon discovers that his dad's Warzoon slave outfit in a closet while looking for board games to play with Osul-Ra and Otho-Ra. When Jon asks his mom about it, he quickly realizes what Clark and Lois are using it for and covers his thoroughly embarrassed and blushing face with one hand.
  Jon: Ohhhhhhh my god.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Apollo and Lightray are transformed into obedient servants of Mongul through this method.
• Break Them by Talking: Mongul attempts to do this to Superman after he defeats him, gloating over how he has done what his father and Superman's other foes could not, telling Superman that soon he will bring war to the United Planets and to Earth, and also listing the various horrible fates in store for Superman's companions. Then he hands Superman an axe and orders Superman to kill a Warzoon who has failed him, promising to resurrect Superman's fallen companions if he does so, and threatening to kill Superman's son if Superman refuses. Superman uses the axe to cut down Lightray's body from where it was strung up and tells her he knows that he'll see Lightray alive again, right before Mongul strikes him down again for his defiance.
• Brought Down to Badass:
  • Clark notes in his journal on Warworld that the feats he was able to perform with ease at full power, "may be beyond me now" in his depowered state, but that doesn't stop him from kicking the asses of two giant monsters that threaten to kill his fellow slaves.
  • After losing his powers to the Blue Earth member Dorian, Clark turns to John Henry Irons for help. Irons builds him a suit of power armor and a sword to make up for his loss in strength.
• The Bus Came Back:
  • A Superman Rogue not seen since his death in the 90s makes his return in the back-up of Action Comics #1044: Conduit, aka Kenny Braverman, has returned and is seemingly teaming up with Amanda Waller to retrieve the Genesis that John Henry Irons aka Steel is experimenting on.
  • After a long period of absence, Kenan Kong, the Super-Man of China, has joined the cast of Action Comics, first in the backups and after issue 1051 as a member of the Superfamily team Clark forms.
• Call-Back:
  • Orion is the ruler of Apokolips around the time Superman returns to Earth, and brings Kalibak and Desaad with him to confront Superman.
  • When Orion demands Superman hand over Osul-Ra to him, Superman flashes back to when Jor-El demanded to take Jon with him. This time he refuses to allow that to happen.
  • Action Comics #1052 has Jon asking Clark to play Coneyball with him due to feeling animosity towards the twins, a reference to Superman (2018) #29 where Clark plays it with him right before he leaves for Warworld.
  • After Superman realizes that Norah was one of the Al Ghuls from the Empire of Shadows, we get a brief flashback to the events of the Batman/Superman & The Authority Special.
• Came Back Strong: Osul-Ra dies trying to escape Mongul's attempt to coerce Superman into giving away the Fire of Olgrun. Superman saves Osul-Ra by gifting the boy the Fire of Olgrun. This restores Osul-Ra to life and gives him a fragment of the power that can bring even a New God like Desaad to his knees.
• Came Back Wrong: Lightray is resurrected thanks to Mongul using the corpse of Mother to bring her back, but she's returned as a twisted monster under Mongul's control.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Half of the reason Mongul refuses to kill Superman off for good, stating his plans for the United Planets won't work if Superman is dead.
• Captain's Log: In issue 1039 Clark starts keeping a secret journal that doubles as this, recording his thoughts on the various events he witnesses and participates in as a slave on Warworld.
• The Chessmaster: Mongul is being built up as this. Observing that his father's old foe, Superman, has been weakened by the Breach, he provokes Superman into traveling to Warworld without the backing of the Justice League. On Warworld, he changes Warworld's power source to run off of red solar radiation which further weakens Superman, stacking the odds of victory even greater in his favor.
• Chores Without Powers: In Superman's Warworld Rising arc, Kal-El gets enslaved, and ends up fighting as a gladiator. He's depowered as long as he remains on that planet, as the engines powering Warworld run off of red suns.
• Co-Dragons: Teacher, Mother, Orphan, Darling, and The Unmade are Mongul's Champions and his counter to Superman's Authority team.
  • Teacher is Mongul's old mentor and a master of forbidden science
  • Mother is a planet consuming vampire-witch-abomination who likes to collect "children" to feed on
  • Orphan and Darling are a bonded duo where the infant organic Orphan controls the technofamiliar Darling
  • The Unmade is some kind of undead warrior who has strength and speed on the same tier as Superman
• Continuity Nod:
  • While explaining to Osul who Metallo is, John Henry Irons refers back to how he and Luthor both had a hand in transforming Corben into a super villain in the first place.
• The Corrupter: Norah aims to be this to Otho, trying to turn her against the Superfamily by exploiting her past as a killer on Warworld, her struggle to stand out amidst the large Superfamily, and her protectiveness towards her brother.
• The Corruption: Genesis. Grants you incredible power but those who make heavy use of it seem to lose control of both their bodies and their minds.
• Corrupt Politician: Lord Premier Thaaros who manipulates the rest of the United Planets into ignoring Superman and his mission on Warworld for initially unrevealed reasons, implied to be related to covering up the existence of Phaelosians. The Superman: Warworld Apocalypse one-shot reveals that Thaaros was working for Mongul and had even offered up Kryl-Ux's people to Mongul for appeasement. With Mongul dead, Kryl-Ux is vowing vengeance against him and the United Planets.
• Crazy-Prepared: Lex once built a series of satellites over Metropolis armed with anti-Superman weaponry, but discarded them once he judged them too slow to use against Superman. After inheriting control of Lexcorp, Superman decided to keep them in reserve for use as surprise weapons against foes like Zod and ends up using it to neutralize the agent of Blue Earth who attempts to steal his powers and identity to frame him for murder.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Mongul crucifies many Phaelosians and leaves their bodies as a trail for Superman to follow.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • What the Authority's first fight against Mongul and his minions turns into, with half of the Authority killed.
  • Superman vs. Luthor ends up this way, with Supes' greater power levels easily taking apart Lex's armor after getting in a few licks.
• Da Editor: Lois steps into this role after Perry suffers a heart attack during the events of Action Comics 1050.
• Dawn of an Era: In her article Winds of Change, Lois writes about how Metropolis historians delineate the city's history into two eras: before Superman arrived and after. With the help of the Superfamily, Clark is aiming to begin another new era, one where Steelworks will deliver tech capable of solving various existential crises, while Superfamily will work together to protect Metropolis.
• A Day in the Limelight:
  • Action Comics #1041 follows Midnighter as he attempts to build a rebellion against Mongul, and rescue his fellow Authority members.
  • Action Comics 2021 Annual follows members of the House of El from DC Future State as they attempt to escape the Phantom Zone.
  • The Knight Terrors tie-ins focus on Kenan, Kon, Natasha, and the Super-Twins trying to survive being trapped and hunted by Cyborg Superman in a shared nightmare.
• Dead Guy on Display: Mongul has seemingly hundreds, if not thousands, of Phaelosians' corpses put on spikes leading to his gladiatorial arena.
  • Following the Authority's defeat Lia's body is one of the new bodies on display.
• Deal with the Devil: Teacher offers one to OMAC: surrender control of the nanotech in their body to Mongul in exchange for Lia/Lightray's resurrection.
• Defiant to the End: Manchester Black, hooked up to the Project Blackout device and moments away from dying, tells Luthor that Superman never spent one iota of time thinking about him, meaning Luthor just didn't really mean anything to him. He spends his last moments laughing in an enraged Lex's face before dying.
• Deity of Human Origin: Or Phaelosian origin in Osul's case, but Superman using the Fire of Olgrun to resurrect the boy had the side effect of turning him into a New God. Other New Gods are not happy about this turn of events.
• Didn't Think This Through: Batman points out a big flaw in Superman revealing his identity and a big reason why Superman should just keep the identities secret again: they were losing out on what made the Kents great.
• Don't Create a Martyr: The other half of the reason Mongul is keeping Superman alive still, instead of simply killing him as Chaytil urges.
• Don't Look At Me: Metallo develops a Berserk Button towards being looked at out of self-hatred fof what he's become. When an Evil-Detecting Dog barks at him he immediately assumes there's something wrong with his regrown face and later he kills a scientist for staring at him.
• Dramatic Irony: With their identities secret again, Superman is worried about how Jon'll take it. Jon's taking very well, actually, glad to have an identity away from being Superman.
• Due to the Dead: Superman repeatedly makes sure to show respect to the dead that he comes across, from Thao's companions who died on Earth, to the corpse of an unknown unfortunate strapped to a satellite in Warworld's orbit, to Lightray after she falls in battle.
• Easily Forgiven: After helping the Superfamily defeat Henshaw, Metallo goes to live in Steelworks Tower which previously he had blown up.
• Eldritch Location: The Phantom Zone. It's actually a product of the mind of a god named Aethyr. As long as he's sleeping, the Phantom Zone is a place where you can't age or die, a realm of nothingness. When Aethyr wakes up however, the Phantom Zone becomes a very different place.
• Endangered Species: A factor motivating Kal to save Thao and the Phaelosians is because the destruction of Kandor at the hands of Rogal Zaar has only further reduced the number of Kryptonian survivors in the galaxy, something that weighs heavily on Kal in the opening of the Warworld Rising arc. Meeting Thao and learning her story gives him an opportunity to help save more of his people.
• Enemy Mine:
  • Superman and Metallo form a temporary alliance in order to rescue Metallo's sister, and put down their mutual foe Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg Superman. Superman also enlists help from the Eradicator, who has tried to kill members of Superman's family in the past, in tracking Henshaw down and put a stop to the Unmade.
  • Later, the Eradicator also helps the duo due to Henshaw's use of Kryptonian DNA being an abomination in the Eradicator's eyes.
• Enfant Terrible: Orphan, one of Mongul's champions, has the appearance of a yellow-skinned baby. It appears to be in a symbiotic relationship with another of Mongul's champions, Darling.
• "Eureka!" Moment:
  • Osul's offhand comment that Metallo sounds like an Unmade causes Superman to realize that someone is manipulating Metallo into attacking him and his family.
  • Lois pointing out that Norah bears a semblance to Batman clues Clark in regarding her true loyalties and mission.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Metallo has a sister named Tracy who still loves and visits him at Stryker's Island, bringing him books to read and letting him know she still cares about him. Of course, this makes it all the easier for Luthor to manipulate Corben by effectively taking Tracy hostage and blackmailing Corben into doing his bidding.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
  • After Superman uses the Fire of Olgrun to resurrect Osul, Mongul is utterly stupefied.
  • After his actions killed Manchester Black and hospitalized Perry White, Superman is thoroughly pissed at Luthor and ploughs through everything to get to him. Lex in his grasps pleads not to be killed, to which Clark scoffs that he would think that of him.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Despite outwardly looking like a normal human being, complete with cloned skin grafts, dogs know Metallo is not human and greet him with hostility.
• Evil Is Petty: Similar to how Luthor flipped his lid back over in the finale of The Black Ring, Lex's motivations for erasing the world's memory of Clark and Jon's identities stem back to the fact that Clark willingly hid the fact that he was an alien from the world then revealed it to the world before him.
  Luthor: What do you know of hurt? When you and I were in Smallville together… I was so alone… I felt like there was no one in the universe who could understand what I was going through… and you lied. You hid who you really were… that you were also alone… an outsider… when that could have helped me. For years. And instead, you gave your identity to them! And if I wasn't good enough for the truth… no one is.
• Evil Matriarch: Mongul's mother is this in Action Comics Annual 2022, constantly physically and emotionally abusing the future tyrant for every showing of "softness". Her aim is to mold him into becoming a ruthless warrior capable of succeeding his father one day. She finally achieves her aim when she orders him to kill her as proof of his ruthlessness so that the Khalithengir Warzoon Tribe would accept him into their ranks.
• Evil Old Folks: Chaytil is the oldest living Warzoon, a feat he accomplished by killing everyone else who was in his age group. For his accomplishments he's held the position of Evil Chancellor to four Monguls.
• Expecting Someone Taller: Norah Stone's leadership of Blue Earth despite her youth surprises Clark.
• The Faceless: Someone is aiding Mongul for reasons of their own. They introduce themselves by offering Mongul the heads of all his sons in order to gain his trust, promising also to help Mongul unlock the secrets of Warworld. They greet Superman upon his arrival to Warworld, but so far we know nothing of their identity or intentions. Mongul only refers to them as "little scavenger". Action Comics #1046 reveals that the scavenger is Kryl-Ux.
• Fantastic Nature Reserve: Warworld serves as a dark twist on this, being the place where Mongul and his Warzoons bring the slaves and trophies of species they've otherwise genocided to be preserved. PKJ even describes it as a dark mirror to Superman's Intergalactic Zoo in the Fortress of Solitude.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • Conduit hates aliens as strongly as ever and chides Steel for referring to Thao as a "woman".
  • The Dawn of DC era of the series has a group of humans known as "Blue Earth", who do not want Kryptonian and Phaelosian tech mingling with Earth. Sizable protests sprout up in Metropolis against Superman and his family, with some particularly radical members shooting at the police and attempting to drive a truck through a crowd of counter-protestors supporting Superman.
• The Farmer and the Viper: Mongul intended for Thao to be the "viper". She was supposed to kill Superman's loved ones after he took her into his Fortress and tended to her wounds, but Thao had a crisis of conscience and ultimately defies Mongul.
• Faster-Than-Light Travel: Kryptonians, as per usual, are capable of ludicrous feats of speed. Kennedy's run begins with Clark and Jon flying through space at speeds many times faster than the speed of light to soar through the Andromeda Galaxy.
• Feeling Their Age: Part of this run, as well as the premise of Superman and the Authority and part of the inciting stuff for Superman: Son of Kal-El is Clark and Jon realizing the former's not young anymore and dealing with his mortality.
• Firearms Are Cowardly: Metallo expresses the view that guns act as "a magic wand" that can turn even the biggest weakling into a threat.
• Flight of Romance: As usual for the two, Superman and Lois spend a lot of intimate time in the air, particularly in the immediate aftermath of his return from Warworld.
• Foil: Martha Kent and Mongul's mother are this to each other in the 2022 Annual. Clark starts out as selfish and quick to anger, desiring revenge on a bully who torments him and embarrasses his mother, learning from Martha Kent the value of restraint and compassion. Inversely the future Mongul demonstrates a capacity for empathy and honor in his youth, both of which are beaten out of him by his mother, who instructs him in the necessity of ruthlessness and selfishness.
• Genius Bruiser: The Warworld Saga emphasizes that Clark is incredibly intelligent and experienced in addition to his vast powers. He's the first to realize that the Thakkramites have been overtaken by the Shadowbreed and what's needed to beat them, understands the struggles of the Warzoon to rally them to action, and solves the riddle of the Fire of Olgrun.
• Genius Loci: The Necropolis. Byla states that it hides the things it wants kept safe, including Superman and his forces. Mongul-Who-Is states that the city cannot be mapped as it is constantly shifting its architecture and structure. Stories of the first Mongul speak of the Necropolis denying his efforts to unlock its secrets as well.
• Get Out!: When Luthor shows up to talk to Metallo in custody, all he responds with on the monitor he uses to communicate is "Get out" over and over.
• Godzilla Threshold: Uncertain of who their mystery foe is and Metallo’s sister in danger, Superman is forced to reactivate the one thing he didn’t want to: Eradicator. Kara absolutely hates it since it still has the objective to protecting Krypton’s purity meaning the first thing Eradicator asks is if Kal wants to kill Kon and Jon.
• Goo-Goo-Godlike: One of Mongul's champions Orphan is an unborn alien baby exposed at close range to the explosion of Source energy released when the Source Wall was broken open. Source energy now runs through his veins like blood, and he can manipulate to various effects like an organic mother box.
• Gosh Darn It to Heck!: In the 2022 Annual issue, a young Clark realizes that his mother Martha has been dealing with aggressive cancer and tries to cut his hair in solidarity with her. Unfortunately, his hair has the same Nigh-Invulnerability as the rest of him and he breaks scissors, gardening shears, and a chainsaw. He shouts, "Poop!" in response to all of this.
• Half the Man He Used to Be:
  • Poor Metallo has seen better days at the start of the Kal-El Returns crossover. He's falling apart as a result of his fights with Superman, he's missing both legs and his left arm, one of his eyes is dangling by a wire, and the guards took away his ability to talk because he keeps having "episodes" (implication being he's suffering from mental breakdowns over how awful his life has become).
  • Metallo gets to pull a Sentry on Henshaw to save his sister.
• Hannibal Lecture: Cyborg Superman taunts Metallo over how for all Metallo's power, he's only ever been a gun wielded by his betters.
• Happily Adopted: Osul and Otha are adopted by Lois and Clark in Action Comics #1051. However, it seems Jon is feeling a bit jealous over this.
• Heroism Motive Speech: Superman gives one in his apartment to the assembled Superfamily, outlining his aim in gathering them together. He wants them to help him guide humanity during this critical juncture, through both superheroics and super science. Ultimately Superman is hoping that what they do will inspire humanity to want to be heroes themselves.
  Superman: We won't save humanity by diverting a flood or outrunning a train. We'll do it by showing them they're the ones with miracles in them.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Leonath ends up sacrificing himself to convert the red sun powering Warworld's Star Forge into a white sun.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: The lead-in toward Clark leaving Earth to save the people on Warworld has Jon doubting his ability to be a worthy heir to his father's legacy. According to him, there is and only will be one Superman and empathizes with Bakki's struggle to live up to his own parents's deeds.
• He's Back!: In Kal-El Returns, Clark returns home to Earth after his ordeals on Warworld to both fanfare and derision. Furthermore, bathing in the light of a white star had not only restored Superman's powers and vitality, but he points out to Orion that he's much stronger than usual. While brawling with Luthor, Superman goes so far as to say that concepts like spacetime, weight, distance, and temperature have largely lost all meaning to him, crossing lightyears in moments after Luthor uses Warworld technology to teleport him away.
• Hidden Villain: Metallo thinks he's talking to his sister Tracy, and she's the one begging him to keep going after Superman. It's actually Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg Superman, who has kidnapped Tracy and is pretending to be her to manipulate Metallo.
• History Repeats: Clark has painful flashbacks to when Jon left with Jor-El when Orion, Metron, and Kalibak demand Osul-Ra come with them so they can extract the Fire of Olgrun. When they repeat their demand that Osul-Ra come with them, Clark stands in the way and says, "Over my dead body."
• Hive Mind:
  • The Shadowbreed are linked by this, and it has access to the minds of every victim the Shadowbreed have consumed.
  • The Necrohive, cyborg zombies augmented by Warworld tech, are also linked together by this. At first they're under the control of Metallo, but then Cyborg Superman takes control.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Members of the anti-alien Blue Earth group were planning another attack on Steelworks Tower in retaliation for Superman bringing alien refugees to Earth. Unfortunately for them, they stumbled across Metallo, who promptly killed one of them and then forcibly drafted the rest into his service.
• Hope Springs Eternal: After they fail to defeat Mongul and his champions, Action Comics #1038 gives a very bleak showcase of Superman and the Authority's situation. Superman is thrown into the slave pens with the Phaelosians he came to save. Lightray is dead, her body displayed as a trophy showcasing Mongul's victory. Enchantress is either dead or imprisoned by Mother. Manchester Black and Apollo are turned over to the Champions to be their playthings. OMAC and Steel II are forced to wear chains and fight in the gladiator arenas. Only Midnighter is still free and he has lost faith in Superman's leadership. Everything seems hopeless... but then the last page shows Khaljo, a former servant of Mongul and a Warzoon whom Superman spared rather than kill him as Mongul ordered, drawing Superman's symbol in the dirt.
• How We Got Here: The Kal-El Returns one-shot explains what happened to Superman between the events of the Kal-El Returns storyline and the start of Dark Crisis.
• Humans Through Alien Eyes: In "Panic at the Parade", Osul and Otho get into a lot of trouble due to their misunderstandings about Earth culture and being too Literal-Minded. They're unimpressed by a glacier-shaped float and decide to flash freeze it to make it more like the actual Arctic. They also fail to understand what mascots are and harass a man in a cartoony Superman costume, resulting in security coming after them. The twins mistake the guards for "berserkers" like those on Warworld and get lost while giving the guards the slip. At the end of the story, Bibbo introduces them to hot dogs, and both kids love the "salted meat tubes" they're given.
• If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: Mongul orders the Phaelosian siblings Otho-Ra and Osul-Ra to prove themselves true Warzoons by killing each other.
• I Have Your Wife: Lex has Metallo's sister framed for murder and placed in a Lexcorp prison in order to force Metallo to help him.
  • Later Cyborg Superman reveals he has captured Tracy in order to force Metallo to work for him as well.
• Insult Backfire: The Warzoons who fight Superman in the pits at first derogatively call him Un Bahle'na Gahl, the Unblooded Sword. It's meant to mock Superman for his refusal to kill, except Superman feels no shame about his moral code against killing, and happily wears the title with pride. Eventually it becomes a name the Warzoon spectators chant out of respect.
• In the Back:
  • How Mongul grievously wounds Superman, stabbing him in the back as he was distracted by the death of Lightray.
  • Kryl-Ux ends up killing Mongul the same way, stabbing him in the back after receiving a power up from the Solar Forge, and while Mongul's attention is focused on Superman.
• Ironic Echo: Superman tells Mongul that soon only one of them will be left standing at the end of Action Comics #1035. Mongul gleefully repeats Superman's promise back to him after defeating Superman in Action Comics #1037.
• It Has Been an Honor: Before the majority of the Warworlders depart from Earth back to their homeworlds, Superman gives a speech praising their strength and inner resolve, let's them know they can keep wearing his symbol for as long as they want, and promises them that both he and his family will never abandon them if they require aid.
• It's All About Me: As per usual, Lex Luthor's brilliance is only matched by his narcissism. He offers Superman a chance to save the world with him, but only as a tool under Lex's control. Naturally, Superman is disgusted and refuses. He's deeply offended that Clark revealed his Secret Identity to others before him when they grew up together, motivating him to wipe out all memory of Superman and Clark Kent being the same person. Just prior to this, Luthor was enraged when Manchester Black informs him that for all of Lex's animosity toward Superman, Clark never thinks of Luthor except when he has to.
• La Résistance: By Action Comics #1043 Superman has taken charge of a full blown rebellion against Mongul's rule, gathered together by Midnighter, and composed of rescued Authority members, Phaelosians, and Warzoons.
• Leaking Can of Evil: Hank Henshaw is still stuck in the Phantom Zone, but when Lex tried to reverse engineer his mind he was able to control the machines it was in.
• Legacy Character: What Mongul is revealed to be. Turns out there's a long line of Monguls going back centuries, with even the three Monguls Superman has faced throughout his career being merely the latest to claim the title. This Mongul is specifically Mongul MDCCXCII ^note  1792 .
• Les Collaborateurs:
  • In "The One Who Fell", Qarath o Bakkis strikes a deal with the Shadowbreed to help them overtake the rest of his people in exchange for being left alone, at least temporarily.
  • Thaaros made a deal with Mongul that he would keep the United Planets from aiding Superman if Mongul promised to leave the United Planets alone. Mongul instead invades and conquers a planet that is supposed to be under Thaaros’ protection, threatening to do the same to more unless Thaaros cedes the planet without protest, and hands over ten thousand warships the United Planets was building to protect themselves from Warworld.
• Locked Out of the Loop: In issue #1058, it's revealed that Kong Kenan is acting as a spy for the Bat-Man of China to figure out what caused a major reporter in China to suddenly die. While they both know that the reporter died from Death by Secret Identity, they both fear that Superman might have tried to kill him to save his identity, not knowing about Luthor's mental block. Connor can't tell Kenan because of how dangeorus that block is, but also can't warn Kenan about it when Kenan has Robinbot deduce Superman's identity, resulting in a fatal aneurysm.
• MacGuffin: The Seven Aspects of Olgrun are fragments of the oldest and greatest of the Old Gods who created countless worlds full of wonder. But when he went mad, the other Old Gods banded together to subdue him and divide his essence into seven separate aspects to be hidden away throughout the universe. One of the reasons Superman is on Warworld is that one of these fragments, the Fire of Olgrun, has the ability to restore his failing powers. When Osul-Ra is killed by Mongul, Clark instead gifts it to the boy to resurrect him, bringing the wrath of the New Gods down on their heads as they too want the Fire of Olgrun.
• Made a Slave: The Phaelosians amongst many other species have been enslaved by Mongul and Superman journeying to Warworld to free them all is what kicks off The Warworld Saga.
  • After the Authority's failed assault on Mongul, this is what becomes of Superman and the surviving members.
• Mirror Character: Mongul and Superman occupy similar positions for the Warzoons and Phaelosians respectively. Both are seen as legendary role models whom have their deeds mythologized in stories, both acquired their position in life thanks to the feats they accomplished, and both preach a code of conduct that they seek to spread to their followers.
  • Courtesy of the Action Comics Annual 2022 there is another parallel: both were shaped by their mothers into the men they would one day become. Difference was that Martha Kent guided her son on the path to becoming a hero whereas "Momgul" had a different transformation in mind for her son.
• Moral Dilemma: Both Apollo and Enchantress remain in the clutches of Mongul during Action Comics #1043, with Apollo in the process of being converted into a servant of Mongul, and Enchantress being tortured by Mother - a creature capable of killing planets. Saving one means the risk of losing the other, but a choice must be made nonetheless.
• Moses Archetype: Superman himself. Byla shows Superman a room in Necropolis full of "source myths", myths that tend to appear in cultures across the Multiverse. One of these myths is the story of a family that saves a child's life by sending him away in a little ship. The child is discovered by another tribe, becomes a great hero, one day finds his own people again, and frees them from slavery. Byla even says that story should feel familiar to Superman given his background and quest to free his people, the Phaelosians, from their enslavement at Mongul's hands.
• Mugging the Monster: Kalibak and Orion thought that Superman would be easily defeated given rumors that his powers had faded. Unfortunately for the two of them, Superman has made quite the recovery after the events on Warworld, and hands them their asses.
• Mundane Utility: Clark uses his superhearing and x-ray vision while interviewing Norah Stone, the leader of Blue Earth, to tell when she's lying.
• Never My Fault: Metallo blames every atrocity he commits on Superman. Kidnapping a group of Blue Earth protestors and converting them into cyborg zombies? Superman's fault.
• Not Me This Time: After Metallo's latest attack, Superman confronts Lex, having deduced that Lex must be the one who upgraded Metallo. Lex acknowledges that he did upgrade Metallo, and he did send Metallo to destroy Steelworks Tower, but he denies any involvement past that.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Metallo tells Otho that her relationship with, and protectiveness of, her brother reminds him of his relationship with his sister.
• Not What It Looks Like: In Issue #1053, Otho appears to attack a group of Blue Earth protestors unprovoked, which has Jon in an understandable panic about how inflammatory her actions are. But those "protestors" turn out to be Unmade drones created by Metallo. Otho had been trying to destroy the Unmade to protect the other protestors.
• Offended by an Enemy's Indifference: Manchester Black offers to let Lex Luthor, Superman's Arch-Enemy, know what the Big Blue Boy Scout thinks of him. Lex angrily asks what Superman possibly thinks of him. The answer? Nothing. The idea that Superman, whom Lex spends nearly every waking moment trying to ruin, thinks nothing of him unless he has to enrages Lex. Black spends his last moments laughing in Lex's face before the latter activates Project Blackout.
• Offing the Offspring: An unknown stranger offers the heads of Mongul's sons to gain his trust, which Mongul gladly accepts given that the sons of Mongul must kill their fathers to take their place, with the newcomer having thus eliminated potential threats to his rule.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Kalibak's face when Superman demonstrates his post-Warworld Saga power level comes with new "tricks" says it all.
  • When Lois remarks that Norah somewhat resembles Batman, Superman realizes that she’s a member of the Empire of Shadows and is planning an invasion.
• Papa Wolf: Threatening children is the fastest way to give Superman a Heroic Second Wind. Although he struggles against the corruptive Mind Rape of the Shadowbreed, Clark instantly breaks free when he hears Jon getting pummeled by it and calling for his dad to help. He instantly prepares to square off against the New Gods of Apokolips and New Genesis when they threaten to take Osul-Ra away.
• Parental Sexuality Squick: Jon accidentally discovers that, apparently, Lois has kept Clark's very-revealing gladiator costume from Warworld (which looks suspiciously like a piece of Superman-inspired leather S&M gear) in her and Clark's bedroom closet, and is utterly mortified by the implications.
• Pieces of God: What the Aspects of Olgrum are. Complicating matters for those wishing to retrieve them is that around each of the pieces, an entire world grew. One of those worlds turns out to be Warworld.
• Police Are Useless: Superman requests the aid of the United Planets in liberating Warworld, but no help is sent. Justified in that the Lord Premier of the United Planets, the Durlan Thaaros, does not want the Phaelosians to be freed for some reason. He ensures that the United Planets does not respond to Superman's request, inform Earth that Superman's initial attempt has failed, or mount their own attack on Warworld in reprisal for Superman's death.
• The Pollyanna: In "The One Who Fell", Clark expresses admiration for Jon's ability to remain compassionate, hopeful, optimistic, and energetic even after all the things he experienced after going off with Jor-El. At the end of the arc, Clark writes that this trait of Jon's is what will make him surpass Clark as Superman.
  Clark: You were tested in ways I couldn't have handled at your age. That almost no one I know could have handled. And when you came back to us, somehow you were the same compassionate, selfless, outgoing, happy kid you were when you left. The resilience that must have taken, Jon. It defies all understanding.
• Portent of Doom: In Action Comics #1032, Superman sees a vision of a place called "Necropolis" while fighting several Atlanteans warped by the Genesis fragment. Superman is told by an unknown voice that Necropolis is where he will soon be and thus have always been. Then Superman is given a cryptic warning about someone whose story is told by the markings on the Genesis fragment, that a mysterious "he" is awaiting Superman's arrival, and that few will play as great a role in "his" story as Superman will.
• Power Incontinence: The Doppelgänger loses control of Superman's super hearing and heat vision after Clark tricks him into pushing those powers beyond his ability to handle.
• Prefers Rocks to Pillows: Their upbringing on Warworld has left Osul and Otho more comfortable sleeping on the floor than in a bed.
• Proud Scholar Race: How Lois characterizes the Kryptonians in her manuscript after spending time studying Kryptonian culture in Kandor's libraries. Lois observes that this isn't because Kryptonians are a Superior Species to humanity, but simply because they were an older species. They only became focused on arts and sciences after a long period of wars over resources and technological development.
• Pull The Trigger Provocation: Action Comics #1053 ends on a cliffhanger with Otho seemingly provoked into attacking a group of Blue Earth protesters, after watching a news report that the Blue Earth protesters are violently demonstrating against a proposed Warworld refugee center.
• Puppeteer Parasite: The Shadowbreed gained the ability to possess any organic life they come into contact with after their first defeat at Superman's hands.
• Puzzle Box: Koltari boxes are a type of children's toy that was considered a precious gift on Krypton. The boxes are specially constructed to never open the same way twice, challenging the child endlessly and forcing them to think creatively. This unique construction also makes them extremely difficult to manufacture. Jon reflects in hindsight that the one his dad made for him was likely the last in the universe until Clark made boxes for Otho-Ra and Osul-Ra, reflecting how much Clark cares for them to make such precious contraptions.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Midnighter gives one to Superman in Action Comics #1038 after Superman rejects Middy's plan to blow up Warworld's red sun synthesizers, taking Superman to task for how he failed to lead them to victory against Mongul and undersold the challenge of freeing Warworld.
    Midnighter: You lied to us. There's no hope here. These people don't want to be freed. Not by us.
  • Superman gives one to Mongul in #1042 as the conclusion of a Patrick Stewart Speech, saying that Mongul's view of "lesser races" is much more of a weakness than his own view that there's no such thing, because it means he's always underestimating them.
  • Manchester Black gives one to Lex Luthor how for everything he tries to put him through, Superman doesn't think about him any more than he has to. Black ultimately goes out knowing he has one last laugh on Lex.
• Red Baron: For this staunch belief in Thou Shalt Not Kill, the Warzoons who rally under Superman's banner call him "Un Bahle'na Gahl" or "the Unblooded Sword" for staging a revolution on Warworld while trying to minimize death and harm.
• Redemption Equals Death: Manchester Black joined Superman on Warworld and fought alongside him as his views slowly changed despite supplying Lex with intel. By the time he comes back, he admits to Lex that Superman really did make a believer out of him and doesn't want to work with Luthor anymore. For that, Lex takes him out and has him killed to power Project Blackout.
• Reed Richards Is Useless: The Dawn of DC relaunch sets Steelworks up to avert this as Superman realizes that humanity needs a leg up in being better. Sadly, not everyone sees this that way.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: Manchester Black. He's joined forces with Superman and seems to be (begrudgingly) attempting to reign in his preference for lethal force. He's still willing to beat one of Mongul's servants to death in combat when said servant is immune to his powers. Oh, and he's also The Mole for Luthor.
• Religion of Evil: Faith on Warworld seems to revolve around slavery and worshipping chains, which every slave must wear. The chains are used to symbolized combat victories in Warworld's arenas, and Mongul as ruler of Warworld is referred to as "He Who Holds All Chains".
  • Bloodpriests, the leaders of Warworld religion, celebrate when the last member of an enslaved species on Warworld dies, pointing to such unfortunates as a symbol of the Warzoons dominance.
  • Warzoons believe that a warrior carries the souls of those they slay, which are enslaved to the Warzoon and must lend their killer extra strength. He who has never killed is thus weak in their eyes because he has only himself to rely on. The words of those who have killed others are increased in worth by the number of kills, a sentiment expressed in the Warzoon saying "So Say The Dead".
  • Monguls who die at the hands of their sons are believed to ascend to godhood, and rule over the Warzoon afterlife, the Orchard of the Dead.
• Replacement Goldfish: Discussed. When Clark and Lois make the decision to adopt Osul-Ra and Otho-Ra as their own children, they note that the kids are about the same age that Jon was before he left with his grandfather. But they also note that the twins are not Jon and they can't make up for the time they lost with him. Later on, Jon clearly has mixed feelings about it despite loving the twins like younger siblings already when his parents make it official.
• Revenge: Red Moon follows Chaytil's quest to achieve this against Superman for Mongul's death at the end of The Warworld Saga.
• Reset Button: DC revealed that one of the major impacts of Action Comics #1050 will be the restoration of the secret identity for Clark and Jon, undoing The Unmasking that Bendis had Superman perform during his run. Luthor uses "Project Blackout", comprised of Henry Bendrix's technology, Warworld technology and Manchester Black's power to block Clark and Jon's identities from their minds. The suggestion is so strong that it will literally cause people to have heart attacks, which is what happened to poor Perry White. The only ones who remember their identities are Lois Lane, Jonathan Kent, Martha Kent, Jay Nakamura, the Justice League, the Titans, their reservists, and Lex himself.
• The Reveal: Action Comics #1059 reveals that Norah Stone, the leader of Blue Earth, is actually one of the many daughters of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul from an alternate universe.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Midnighter is organizing a rebellion aimed at freeing Superman and the other surviving Authority members. He's also willing to blow up the Star Forges, which hold Warworld together and would cause massive Warzoon casualties were they to be destroyed, to achieve that goal.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Kryl-Ux wasn't the only traitor on Superman's team, Manchester Black was feeding Lex information about everything that happened on Warworld from the start. When he tries to leave Lex's service, Lex simply electrocutes Black unconscious to forcibly conscript him into Project: Blackout.
• Riddle Me This: An Unliving Child who guards the way to the Fire of Olgrun asks Superman to solve a riddle in order to pass. A father was given a daughter who willed three sons into existence. Each was given a gift and they quarreled over whose gift was the greatest and therefore who was the favorite. The gifts were fate, time, life, and memory, and the favorite was the daughter because she was the only one who was given to the father.
• Secret Test of Character: Saving the Unliving Child from Olgrun's shade is the action which earns Superman the Fire of Olgrun.
• Self-Made Orphan:
  • In addition to killing his father in the Superman: Villains one-shot, the Action Comics 2022 Annual reveals that Mongul killed his mother as well.
  • Metallo ended up shooting his dad, to stop his dad from abusing his sister Tracy.
• Sixth Ranger Traitor: The hooded scavenger who has been helping Mongul all this time? Turns out it's Kryl-Ux, who was only helping Superman so he could retrieve the Aspect of Olgrun at the heart of Warworld.
• Slasher Smile: Metallo gives one to a dog who barks at him in Action Comics #1051.
• Slave Liberation: Superman and the Authority's goal in travelling to Warworld, and what they ultimately succeed in achieving at the end of The Warworld Saga.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: The culture of Warworld revolves around slavery and Mongul wishes to eventually put the entire universe "in chains".
• Smash the Symbol: One of Superman's first acts when arriving on Warworld is to destroy a statue of Mongul and toss its head into the center of a gladiatorial arena.
• Space Romans: Warworld's gladiatorial arenas brings to mind the Ancient Romans. In addition, Mongul being a name that's evolved into a title with a line of successors is similar to the "Caesar" title Roman Emperors would take on.
• Spacetime Eater: The Shadowbreed feed on heat and light, which means they can also feed on solar powered Kryptonians. Superman and Jon defeat them by creating a form of light they can't feed on.
• Staged Populist Uprising: Norah doesn’t actually care about the anti-alien xenophobia gripping Metropolis. Her intent is to take advantage of the tension to turn everyone against the Superfamily and clear the way for her true master: her father, an alternate universe Batman and his Empire of Shadows.
• Start of Darkness: Killing his father to protect his sister and himself is what began Corben's journey towards becoming Metallo.
• Strange-Syntax Speaker: Otho-Ra and Osul-Ra learn English after moving to Earth to live with Clark and Lois. The twins speak fluently but excessively formally and with few contractions as a result of their Warzoon upbringing.
• Super Family Team: After returning from Warworld, Superman is disturbed to see how the status quo on Earth has continued to decline. Hoping to reverse this trend, he gathers together the Super Family to serve as an example to humanity: Kara Zor-El/Supergirl, Kon-El/Superboy, John Henry Irons/Steel, Kenan Kong/Super-Man, Natasha Irons/Steel II, Jon Kent/Superman Secundus, and the newly adopted Phaelosian twins Osul and Otho.
• Superhero Sobriquets: His deeds on Warworld earn Superman a new one from the Warzoons: The Unblooded Sword.
• Super Mode: Due to his time on Warworld, Superman has developed a degree of control over how Genesis affects him. He can use it to make himself immune to kryptonite temporarily, and also create a gigantic humanoid avatar of himself to do battle.
• Superior Successor:
  • Mongul-Who-Is considers himself this in comparison to his father, Mongul-Who-Was.
  • Zigzagged with Jon. Jon's unique physiology as a natural-born human-Kryptonian hybrid means that he's capable of doing things Clark can't. Clark is amazed when Jon uses his Heat Vision at the molecular level to detonate water molecules in the air with concussive force. Jon is also the only Kryptonian with the ability to tune his heat vision to the precise frequency necessary to harm the Shadowbreed. Clark believes that Jon will one day become The Paragon that all other heroes will be measured against in terms of his deeds and kindness. However, his inexperience and having the title of Superman foisted on him so suddenly with Clark's departure to Warworld makes him come under heavy criticism. Many feel he isn't ready for the role, seeing him as too naive and not being able to measure up to Clark's legacy.
• Sympathy for the Devil: After hearing Metallo's origin story, Osul tells Metallo that he's sorry for what happened to him.
• Take That!: Luthor's initial justification for erasing the world's knowledge of Superman's identity is that he believes that Clark's connection with humanity is a weakness, and that the world should regard him as a god if he is to be an effective hero. This could be taken as a jab at comic book fans who believe that Superman is more interesting when he's "evil" or disconnected from humanity.
  • Luthor also tells Clark that he should be grateful that he allowed him to keep his marriage to Lois Lane, which is a clear shot at Marvel undoing Peter Parker's marriage in One More Day.
• Tastes Like Friendship: Bibbo Bibbowski meets Otho-Ra and Osul-Ra at the Metropolis Zoo. He instantly takes a shine to the kids and calls them his friends since he's besties with Superman. To underscore the point, he offers them a gallon of ice cream to dig into during their stay. The twins hit it off with Bibbo extremely quickly after that and follow his lead to help civilians caught in the rubble when the zoo comes under attack.
• Teach Me How To Fight: Superman invokes this trope, asking the Phaelosian Kryl-Ux to teach him how to fight like a Warworlder.
• The Topic of Cancer: In the 2022 Annual issue, a young Clark realizes that his mother Martha is dealing with an aggressive form of cancer and has been hiding the effects of her chemotherapy treatments by wearing a wig. He learns this when said wig is knocked off by a kickball aimed at him by another boy, Caleb. Martha urges Clark not to try and take revenge and to be the bigger man. Clark learns from her example and saves Caleb's abusive, drunken father from a car crash before showing Caleb empathy.
• This Means War!: Atlantis makes it clear that any attempt by anyone else to take the Genesis fragment away from them will be considered an act of war, and refuses to let ships cross their waters after Amanda Waller tries to do just that. America likewise makes it clear that it won't accept Atlantis keeping the fragment or closing off major shipping routes. The two countries prepare for conflict, until Superman swoops in and takes the Genesis fragment for himself, pissing off both countries, turning the entire world against him, and forcing Superman to build a new team after the Justice League kicks him off the roster in order to appease the world governments upset with him.
• Threshold Guardians: Byla is this for anyone seeking the Fire of Olgrun, forcing any would-be claimant to fight him to test their worthiness
• Throwing Down the Gauntlet: Superman does this to Mongul in Action Comics #1035, warning Mongul that he's coming for him and only one of them will be left standing.
• Took a Level in Jerkass : Not that he ever wasn't a huge Jerkass but in the comics, Lex generally isn't known for betraying and killing his fellow supervillains unless they give him a really good reason to and is generally portrayed as more of a Benevolent Boss when he deals with his fellow villains. Here, Lex needs very little provocation to murder Manchester Black to power Project Blackout when Black tells Luthor that Superman made a believer out of him and that he no longer wants to work with Luthor, unless you count developing a more positive view of Superman to be a serious provocation or betrayal in Lex's eyes.
• Top God: Olgrum was this for The Old Gods until madness took him, driving him into a frenzy that saw him kill his own daughter, and he was split asunder by those gods who survived long enough to combine their strength to beat him.
• Trapped in Villainy: Metallo tells Lex to get lost after Lex tries to recruit him to work against Superman together. Lex retaliates by framing Tracy for murder, forcing Metallo to do his bidding in order to save her.
• Treacherous Advisor: Kryl-Ux reveals themself to be this in the climax of the Warworld arc, playing both sides to be empowered enough to take revenge on everyone that destroyed their life. They start with Mongul, before revealing their motivation to Superman and teleporting away to make their next move against the members of the United Planets. In spite of using Superman and their actions resulting in the deaths of hundreds of their own people, they still considered him an ally and hope he can be one again.
• Use Your Head: One of the Warzoons captured by the Atlanteans tries to headbutt Superman. All he gets for his effort is to split his own head open.
• Vagueness Is Coming: After touching the Genesis fragment with his bare hand, Conduit freaks out and starts warning the Superfamily that the power behind Genesis is a threat.
  Conduit: It's not what you think it is Irons. You don't know what you've done. He's awake now. He sees us. He's coming.
• Villainous Lineage
  • The title of Mongul works like this, passed from parent to offspring after the offspring slays their parent.
  • On a world where Batman accepted Ra's offer to be his heir, Bruce has spawned several offspring with Talia who are just as evil and committed to conquest as their parents. One of those is Norah Stone, the leader of Blue Earth.
• Villain Team-Up:
  • Lex wants to do this with Metallo as a counter to Superman gathering the Superfamily together to revamp Metropolis, but Metallo bears a grudge against Lex for his current state.
    • Initially Lex and Manchester Black were also secretly working together, with Black passing on information about the Authority's activities.
  • Kryl recruits Chaytil at the end of Red Moon to help him with his plans to strike against the United Planets.
  • Cyborg Superman forces Metallo to serve him after kidnapping Tracy and hooking her up to a torture device to ensure Metallo's compliance.
• Villains Want Mercy: After Superman defeats him at the end of Action Comics #1050, Lex pleads with Superman not to kill him in reprisal for Project Blackout.
• War Refugees: Some of the liberated denizens of Warworld want to resettle on Earth, with Superman pleading their case before the United Nations.
• We Can Rebuild Him: Or rather Lex believes he can rebuild Metallo, with the aid of loot he stole from Warworld, upgrading Metallo to be even more dangerous and deadly.
• We Can Rule Together: Lex tells Superman that while he's come to accept the necessity of Superman, he wants to shape the role Superman plays for humanity, and offers to team up. Being Lex however his idea of a "team-up" is for Clark to become his minion and operate how Lex wants, including keeping his identity a secret again.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: A variation, and played for laughs, in Action Comics #1051 when Jon discovers whatever became of his father's War World gladitorial outfit after his return to Earth. It's strongly implied Lois and Clark are still using the outfit for combat purposes...in a manner of speaking.
• What Measure Is a Mook?: Averted, Superman orders Kenan to save the life of one of Metallo's minions. Both Kenan and Kon however, express doubts about whether saving someone who attempted to murder members of the Superfamily is worthwhile.
• Would Hurt a Child:
  • Mongul threatens the lives of the Super-Twins in an attempt to force Superman to hand over the Fire of Olgrun. He makes good on his threat by killing Osul.
  • Metallo likewise has no issue with threatening to kill the Super-Twins, as a ploy to try and force Superman to rescue his sister.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Turns out Otho only attacked the Blue Earth protesters because she spotted one of the Necrohive among them. Said member pretends to be dead to both make the Superfamily look bad to the press, and to lure Jon and the other members of the Family in to ambush them with the aid of more Necrohivers.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
  • Superman tells the Phaelosians this in Action Comics #1040, urging them to take pride in their heritage as the descendants of scientists and explorers, rather than aspiring to emulate the Warzoon lifestyle of killing and pirating.
  • He repeats the sentiment to OMAC in Action Comics #1042 after OMAC betrays them so Mongul will bring Lightray back.
• You Kill It, You Bought It: Defeating the previous Mongul makes the victor the new Mongul, regardless of whether they want to be or not.

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