Absolute Superman

Dated Mar 14, 2026; last modified on Sat, 14 Mar 2026

Technocracy

KAL-EL. In the cities worked the klerics of the science league. Harnessing the energies of the red sun and the planet itself to fuel their insatiable hunger… for progress… at all costs.

TEACHER. You… wrote this? Yourself? That’s… Kal, the luminarium contains all knowledge of the science league from throughout Kryptonian history and can answer any question we might ever possibly ask.

LARA. We’re a miner and a mechanic from the Redlands and they’re the science league. The truth is what they say it is.

KAL-EL. I like to think there were tender moments happening elsewhere on Krypton that day. Loved ones who chose to spend their final hours in each other’s arms. Those who waded into the chaos to treat the wounded… or to call for peace, even as flames rose around them.

KAL-EL. For ten billion years, the planet Krypton basked in the blistering red light of its sun. Toward the end of its existence, the planet had become riddled with parasites. Tiny creatures infested Krypton’s star-hardened skin, eviscerating the world one handful of guts at a time. Until its insides became unstable. Until its blackened lungs wheezed and gushed radioactive bile. Ten billion years, my homeworld stubbornly endured. And it only took a few measly million for people to ruin it all.
#environmentalism

#technocracy

Economic Inequality

KAL-EL. Snow began to fall on the favela outside the mine, where the workers lived with their families. A blizzard of carcinogens. When the workers tried to leave, they were reminded they were still under contract to the mine’s owners, Lazarus Corp. They were reminded of this at gunpoint. Lazarus promised hazard pay of 1,500 reais if they would finish mining the ore. Roughly $300. More than a month’s pay. This while working a mine that extracted $200,000,000 worth of karats the previous year. These miners expect that what they do here in this darkness will be the end of them. They do it nonetheless. In the name of family.
#inequality

Heroism

LOIS. In some ways, Superman is very much still a boy, one who hasn’t yet fully deciphered… who he is. In other ways, he is every bit a man. With an ethos that seems… unshakeable. Subject switches from a shy soft-spoken demeanor to a more confident, commanding presence, depending on circumstance. Without either facet coming across as an affectation. Who could never lie… even if he needed to. We know from other sightings that he has traveled the globe. He speaks multiple languages. But somehow he still has the air of a lost child. Of a life in some way interrupted. Of a son without a home.

Revolution

MINERS. As you say, he is afraid. But not afraid of you. The Superman fears the day Lazarus will drive him to such anger… he cannot help but save this world… by killing you all. I pray for this. We all pray for such a thing. In every language, in every slum across the world. It is why he has come to us, I know. We pray for the Superman’s rage.
#super-heroes-on-social-order

KAL-EL. There are twenty-three people dead in Orangi Town. Gunned down. For the unforgivable crime of laughing at a man with a gun.
#justice

KAL-EL. I’d spent months weeping for Krypton. For everything I’d lost. But that day, the tears were different. I wept for the world I’d found. The one I could already tell I wouldn’t be able to save any more than I had the last.

References

  1. Absolute Superman #1: Last Dust of Krypton. Part One: Down In The Dirt. Jason Aaron; Rafa Sandoval; Ulises Arreola. www.hoopladigital.com . dc.fandom.com . Nov 6, 2024. Accessed Mar 14, 2026.
  2. Absolute Superman #2: Last Dust of Krypton. Part Two: Sun of Nothing. Jason Aaron; Rafa Sandoval; Ulises Arreola. www.hoopladigital.com . dc.fandom.com . Dec 4, 2024. Accessed Mar 14, 2026.
  3. Absolute Superman #3: Last Dust of Krypton. Part Three: Boy From the Purple Prairie. Jason Aaron; Rafa Sandoval; Ulises Arreola. www.hoopladigital.com . dc.fandom.com . Jan 1, 2025. Accessed Mar 14, 2026.
  4. Absolute Superman #4: Last Dust of Krypton. Part Four: Chasing the Storm. Jason Aaron; Rafa Sandoval; Ulises Arreola. www.hoopladigital.com . dc.fandom.com . Feb 5, 2025. Accessed Mar 14, 2026.
  5. Absolute Superman #5: Last Dust of Krypton. Finale: Ad Astra Per Aspera. Jason Aaron; Rafa Sandoval; Ulises Arreola. www.hoopladigital.com . dc.fandom.com . Mar 12, 2025. Accessed Mar 14, 2026.
  6. Absolute Superman #6: Last Dust of Krypton. Epilogue: Son of Smallville. Jason Aaron; Carmine Di Giandomenico; Ulises Arreola. www.hoopladigital.com . dc.fandom.com . Apr 2, 2025. Accessed Mar 14, 2026.