In this review of Superman #32, Superboy Prime and Superwoman fight off Sun Boy in the Fortress, while Clark tackles Lex in the tournament.
SUPERMAN #32
Written by JOSHUA WILLIAMSON
Art by EDDY BARROWS
Main Cover: DAN MORA
Variant Covers: DAVID AJA, SEBA FIUMARA, KYUYONG EOM, NOOBOVICH
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: 11/26/25
This review contains spoilers
After getting her superpowers back at the end of Superman #31, Lois and Superboy Prime have to protect the Kryptonian archives from Sun Boy, but before that happens, the issue examines how Lex Luthor managed to avoid being sent to the Phantom Zone. It turns out that while Grodd was on Watchtower with Time Trapper, Booster Gold, and the assortment of heroes back in DC KO #1, he was telepathically linked to Lex, who could hear all of the plans that were being made. Lex was able to hard light holograms to trick the heroes into thinking they had sent the villains to the Phantom Zone. Lex and the villains then use his equipment to enter the Nexus and arrive at the first round of the tournament. There’s a few scenes highlighting some of the fights from DC KO #2 and preview of the third round matchups between Superman and Captain Atom, as well as Lex and The Demon, Etrigan.
The story jumps back to the Fortress where Lois has managed to knock out Sun Boy for a few minutes and Prime rushes off for a moment. They have to get the lost archives to Clark to help him in the tournament, but just when Prime is gone, Sun Boy comes to and he’s joined by a couple more members of the Legion of Doom. Lois is about to take on all three, when Prime returns with Superman. They make short work of the Legion, but after they wrap things up, Lois discovers that it’s not actually Clark, but a robot version Clark made long ago. Prime’s plan is to use the robot Superman to get the information to the real Superman through Time Trapper, who just so happens to be in the clutches of Booster Gold as this issue ends.
Analysis
Joshua Williamson fills in some blanks with this issue. We never got to find out exactly how the villains made it to the opening round of the tournament. They just showed up like they were supposed to be there. I liked that the first half of this issue focused more on Lex, as both him and Superman are major players in the DC KO event. I also like how these stories are intermingled between issues and little bits are revealed and tied together along the way. I do realize that might be a pain to some readers who aren’t getting every issue of the event, but Williamson does well in keeping things easy to follow in this title. The second half of the issue with Prime and Lois was just as entertaining. I’m looking forward to finding out more about what the Kryptonian archives contain in relation to Doomsday and Darkseid. It seems to be a major part of the storyline, so the next issue should have some big reveals.
The same creative team of artist Eddy Barrows, inker Eber Ferreira, and colorist Alejandro Sanchez are back in this issue. The scenes with Sun Boy and his flames look great. The pages utilize a full range of colors, both warm and cool tones, which leads to some excellent visuals. On the final page, there’s a fantastic panel with Superboy Prime backed by a whole bunch of different Superman versions. Even the credits page looks good, as it is filled with drawings of some key moments from the DC KO core books. Of course, the cover by Dan Mora looks amazing, with Superman and Lex facing off.
Final Thoughts
Superman #32 is a perfect tie-in issue for this DC KO event. It functions well as a standalone issue, but works best if you’re reading the core book. Have fun, comic lovers!
