Superman: Last Son
Grade 7 Up—When an asteroid that he recovers proves to be carrying a living Kryptonian boy, Superman is initially overjoyed, even going as far as to convince his long-suffering lover, Lois Lane, to adopt him. Although Kryptonian-hating Lex Luthor attempts to kidnap the child with the help of the grotesque Bizzro-Superman, he is easily defeated, and all seems well until it becomes apparent that the boy's parent—the fiendish General Zod, freshly escaped from the limbolike Phantom Zone along with a host of henchmen—is intent on finding the youngster and turning Metropolis into his own personal kingdom. Once Zod imprisons Superman in the Phantom Zone, the hero must break free and turn to the one person he despises most for help—Lex Luthor. Detailed enough for longtime Superman fans but also accessible to new readers, this is a fast-paced and well-written work, and fans of the classic 1981Superman IIfilm will enjoy the return of evil General Zod. Furthermore, the conflict between Superman's loyalties to the human race and his pride as a native Kryptonian are explored in a nuanced and interesting way. Although the book includes a pair of difficult-to-remove and easy-to-lose 3-D glasses, this still is a fine first choice for most collections.—Dave Inabnitt, Brooklyn Public Library, NYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.