In this review of Superman #41, Superman and Zod duke it out, but an unforeseen twist alters the story in a major way.
SUPERMAN #41
Written by JOSHUA WILLIAMSON
Art by EDDY BARROWS
Main Cover: GUILLEM MARCH
Variant Covers: MIKE CHOI, VINCENZO RICCARDI, CHRISTIAN WARD, MARK SPEARS
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: 8/26/26
This review contains spoilers
Superman #41, the “Kingdom of Zod” event, part 4 marches on. Picking up where things left off in Superman Unlimited #16, Superman, in his Kryptonian Battle Suit, squares off against Zod.
The fight between the two is epic, but Zod overpowers Superman, blasts him in the eye with heat vision, and throws him toward a wall of jagged kryptonite. At the last moment, Superboy Prime and Superboy (Conner) rescue Clark from being impaled and fly him away.
Zod then retreats to an inner chamber of El Caldero where Eradicatrix has completed a regeneration matrix for Zod’s deceased wife, Ursa. He uses his heat vision to power the matrix, bringing Ursa back to life.
When he asks for her forgiveness for failing everyone on New Kandor, Ursa punches a hole through his chest, killing Dru-Zod.
Eradicatrix informs Ursa she can use Booster Gold’s time sphere to travel back to before her Phantom Zone imprisonment in order to save Krypton. Supergirl and Superboy (young Clark) try to stop her, but get caught in the time sphere with Ursa, ending the issue.
Analysis
First off, I did not have “Ursa putting her arm through Zod’s chest” on my bingo card. Joshua Williamson pulled that twist out of thin air and it immediately changed the “Kingdom of Zod” event in a major way. However, with the time travel possibility coming up in part five (Supergirl #17), I’d assume we haven’t seen the last of Dru-Zod. For now, it’s Ursa’s event.
I enjoyed the battle between Clark and Zod. While they were both in a somewhat weakened state, they still had plenty of power to deliver devastating blows. Zod’s eye blast was brutal and gave him just enough of an advantage to almost finish off Superman.
This event really is a whole team effort, though, and it’s been handled nicely across four different titles. Everyone is getting some time and character usage is balanced. Prime and Conner save Superman from a spiky death, Kara and young Clark save the past / future from Ursa, and Steel and company save the present from the spreading Green K.
Eddy Barrows and Eber Ferreira handle the penciling and inking, utilizing plenty of details across the pages. The linework and hatching produce some meticulously detailed splash pages, Zod’s heat vision blast to Superman’s eye and Ursa’s assault on Zod being two of the top examples. The colors by Ulises Arreola are smooth, vibrant, and make the illustrations pop. Superman #41 is a beautiful issue from start to finish.
Final Thoughts
Superman #41 continues the latest DC event in thrilling fashion. Not only do we get some entertaining fights, but the major plot twist of Zod’s death promises to steer the story in a new direction, keeping the overall adventure from becoming boring. Have fun, comic lovers!
