Plot: Discover how Nightwing and Flamebird came to be, as we look into the lives of Thara Ak-Var and Lor-Zod.

The story follows Thara from the Brainiac attack on Kandor, to her life in the bottled city where she learns of the legacy of Flamebird. We see Lor-Zod’s (or Chris Kent) journey from Earth at the end of Last Son, through the Phantom Zone, where some light is shed on his ever-aging body and his life in the Zone.

The best part of this story was the insight into Kryptonian culture. Rucka teaches the reader about Kryptonian religious practices as well as their naming systems. Learning the culture is exactly what I thought World of New Krypton was going to be, about and I would love to see more in the future. The legacy angle of the Nightwing and Flamebird characters helps add depth and meaning to Thara and Chris’ journey; however, I am still at a loss as to how that will play out in the end.

This issue is very much a secret origin issue. While the story has a very effective narrative voice, after awhile it felt like more dialogue would have been a better way to present the information. There are still loose ends at the end of this issue and there seemed to be no reason these stories couldn’t have been summed up and somehow put into the regular ongoing. Their motivations for doing what they are doing are still not clear and when that was the purpose of this story in the first place, it makes you wonder why this story was published.

This art is beautiful, I don’t know where they found Pere Pérez, but I felt like he has been on this title for years. With bold characters and versatile coloring I got everything I came to expect from a Superman title’s art team. He even seems to have done his homework because thankfully there was no artistic license taken on any elements within the comic. Everything is seen as it always has been seen; the Phantom Zone, Brainiac drones, Thara, Chris and even elements down to their clothes all look to be taken directly from where they first appeared. I only hope DC will utilize his talents effectively and appropriately to ensure that such talent stays with them.

In the end it still was a good story, Thara Ak-Var’s more than Lor-Zod’s, but not enough of the information clicked to warrant this story. While this did show where both characters came from, it failed to establish the purpose of the Nightwing and Flamebird entities or how Chris Kent becomes Nightwing. I have every confidence that the regular series will tend to this in good time, but if that’s the case, what was this published for? If you’ve collected Rucka’s Action Comics you could pick this up to help fill in some gaps, but at $5 and very little overall payoff, a less intense fan may find it pointless.

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