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Let’s talk about two ridiculously powerful characters and what happens when they encounter each other. It is never a coincidence, since new, more powerful villains need to be introduced to beat Superman’s enormous array of superpowers. So it should be no surprise when we see in Superman captured and tortured by Darkseid, his ultimate nemesis.
Justice League 6 (Affiliate Link) (new 52) was a sort of reboot where a new generation of people were introduced to DC superheroes for the first time. So we get to see all the classics of the Justice League work together: Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, etc. They’ve all been around, but they had no reason to team up before. Of course, Superman plays a critical part, especially when a super baddie like Darkseid shows up.
Naturally, the most powerful of them all gets destroyed first. However, Wonder Woman is often seen as being the female equivalent to Superman. (Supergirl is more like an unnecessary gimmick) Darkseid wanted Superman for his own purposes. Therefore, Superman is captured and tortured to bend toward his will. It’s not until Batman tries to track Superman does he find what is going on. In an unintentional way, all the superheroes begin thinking and working as a team to stop Darkseid.
If you have ever seen the Justice League movie, you may remember these things called mother boxes that gave Steppenwolf powers. This story seems to be based on the new Justice League New 52 story I was just discussing. The main difference is that it’s Darkseid with the boxes, although Steppenwolf makes an appearance later further down the road. In the movie, however, Superman is dead and one of the mother boxes is used to bring him back to life. So no capturing or torturing. In fact, Superman Basically saves the day instantly, making all the other Justice League members useless in comparison. “The Snyder Cut”, however, has Darkseid present and more central to the plot, and also has the entire Justice League take part in stopping Steppenwolf.
The art work, of course, is spectacular. I say this because the story is illustrated by Jim Lee, a master in his craft. Lee even came up with 52 as the number of DC titles being rebooted. His participation shines through here as we see his talent in drawing figures and storytelling using images.
Supergirl Tortured by Darkseid
In Legion of Super-Heroes issue 294, it is an all-out slugfest against Darkseid. Supergirl takes everything a little too personally, punching him into the air naively, thinking it would buy her team some time. When he appears behind Supergirl using a Boom Tube, he grabs her by the top of her head, and gives her a lesson in pain. Darkseid says that he hasn’t done this in an eternity with his hands, which I guess means that he’s crushing her head with is hands, since we don’t see what he’s specifically doing. The point is that this villain has enough torture to go around for everyone.