General Zod

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79 years ago - Dru-Zod is born on Krypton to the warrior caste.  
64 years ago - 15-year-old Dru-Zod joins the Kryptonian warrior elite.
56 years ago - 23-year-old Dru-Zod and all the Kryptonians across the galaxy are recalled to Krypton after a tragic hyperspatial accident sends an entire planet into the phantom zone. He meets his new lieutenant Faora-Ul.
​53 years ago - 26-year-old Zod first learns of Non-Ek & Jor-Els theories about the inevitable destruction of the planet.
50 years ago - 29-year-old Zod leads a rebellion of the warrior caste against the high counsel, to return Krypton to the stars.
46 years ago - 33-year-old Zod, Faora-Ul & Non-Ek, the worst criminals of the rebellion, are sentenced to imprisonment in the phantom zone.
10 years ago - 33-year-old Zod and his followers Faora-Ul & Non-Ek are released from the phantom zone by Superman, and battle Kal-El & Krypto. He and his followers begin to establish their rule over humanity. They are stopped by the combined efforts of Superman & Lex Luthor, and are returned to the phantom zone.  
2 years ago - 33-year-old Zod finds a fluctuation in the fabric of the phantom zone, and escapes into distant space with Faora-Ul. Knowing that approaching Earth's sun would bring Kal-El and send them back into the phantom zone, he begins assembling his space fleet, planning an assault of the Sol system.  
now - 35-year-old Zod & his fleet help Mongol retake Warworld.  Together, they capture Superman & Lois Lane, leaving Earth defenseless.
For a character with a very limited amount of actual appearances in comics, General Zod is one of the most recognizable Superman villains there is. When he appeared in Superman: the Movie, he only had one fifteen-year-old appearance under his belt.  There's really no explanation as to why they decided to depict Zod and his allies being banished in the opening moments of the movie by Marlon Brando's Jor-El, it didn't even come back in that movie.  Of course, by Superman II we had the distinct pleasure of watching Terrance Stamp portray one of the best film baddies ever, and from then on Zod was someone EVERYONE recognized.  Even people that don't like comics can recite his infamous "Come, son of Jor-El, kneel before Zod!" 

He's such an important villain in the larger mythos of Superman, though.  Superman is essentially an adult fighting children, and what he does when he finds himself fighting another adult is a vital element in understanding the morality of Superman.  Zod, however much he might believe that he is the savior of Krypton, is unquestioningly an unprecedented threat to Earth.  How Clark handles this threat (does he kill Zod?) is perhaps the most revealing moment in his history.

Zod's Comic History

Zod first appeared in the pages of Superboy.  Villainous Kryptonians that had been imprisoned the phantom zone actually served as pretty regular bad guys for Superboy; Jax-Ur, Kru-El, Nam-Ek... it's a surprisingly long list. Zod didn't really stand out among them... he was a Kryptonian general that had tried to take over the planet with a robot army.  

After the first Crisis and John Byrne's retelling of Superman's story it became an editorial mandate that Kal-El be the ONLY surviving Kryptonian, so characters like Supergirl and Krypto had to have new origins that didn't involve Krypton.  Zod couldn't therefore be Kryptonian either, but his Terrance Stamp-fueled appearance in the movies made him a fan favorite, and so we got to enjoy decades of alternate-Zods.  Zods from pocket timelines and pocket universes... and in one particular case that could only occur in comics a character that was actually a mutant human from Russia that was empowered by Red Sun energy and wore an armored costume covered in spikes.  It was gloriously stupid.  

In 2006, Geoff Johns (who had actually started his career as an assistant to Superman director Richard Donner) brought his one time boss in to help write the Superman storyarc that brought the original Zod back into comics.  It was a pretty fantastic story overall, although it wasn't that long before the story of Superman was completely undermined by the New 52.  Still, it's now understood that Zod is a major Superman baddie, so it simply falls to us to navigate exactly what roll he'll play.

Our Zod Story

Zod is of course a major character in the history of Krypton.  We wanted to make sure we establish the history of his revolution, his relationship with Jor-El, and just what role he played in the larger story of Krypton.  When he is freed, the idea that the man standing in front of him is the son of the man that sent him to suffer in the Phantom Zone must be absolutely maddening.

One point HAS to be made here, and it's about just how powerful Zod and his followers are.  While the idea that Superman be the ONLY surviving Kryptonian is a little bit overkill, what is far more important by our estimation is that we be VERY careful about how often we introduce characters with Superman-level powers.  It's something we monitor very carefully, and that's never more important than it is with Zod.  Clark has been on Earth for decades, his cells growing under the Sun's glow, enabling him to absorb the sun's radiation far more efficiently than other Kryptonians.  Zod and his followers need more time for their powers to develop, making every battle with Zod a time crunch before he truely becomes Superman's equal.  It's an element to heighten the drama, and control just how dangerous he can be.  

This also explains why, when he escapes a second time, he chooses to spend time building a fleet to attack Earth with, to make sure he has the time in sol's radiation and gain his powers.  

The Moral Challenge of Zod

How do you challenge Superman?  Comics are power fantasies, it's about watching powerful characters punch each other, but how do you craft a narrative interesting story when your protagonist is impossible to challenge physically?  

The answer lies in the fact that Superman isn't defined merely by his power.  He's defined by his morality.  He is intractably good, because his power allows him to be.  So... to truly challenge him, you put him in a no-win situation, where he has no way to win without compromising his morals.  In those situations, he wins by finding a way to break the unwinnable challenge, and MAINTAIN his morals. 

This is why we believe that even in a situation when Zod presents a "kill me or I kill everyone" unwinnable situation; to have him succumb to it is to have him lose.  Superman, the REAL Superman, finds a way.

Zod's Costume

There have been so. many. versions. of Zod.  His every appearance is basically a complete re-imagining.  There's his old militant fascist look, all his weird revisionist looks, the Russian spiky armor travesty... but his BEST looks are 100% tied to his Richard Donner appearances.  No matter what anyone ever does to the character, nothing will ever be as cool as Terrance Stamp.  It's science.

To that end, the costumes worn by the Phantom Zone criminal during the Geoff Johns / Richard Donner story arc really do the best job of encapsulating the character.  they're not the sexy v-neck outfits worn in the original movies, and they're not some sort of military armor.  Instead, they reflect something advanced and alien, but still rooted in the science of Krypton.  The goggles everyone wore didn't exactly make sense, but it still felt decidedly correct for the character.  

Moving into the future, as Zod becomes an alien warmonger, his New 52 armor becomes more fitting.

Zod's Future

In the New 52, Zod has made quite a few appearances.  He's even inexplicably been depicted alongside the Suicide Squad, which is fascinating, since that's obviously such a bad idea.  The appearance of Zod needs to be a cataclysm, on par with characters like Brainiac and Darkseid.  

We've ended our timeline with Zod having just captured Superman, meaning he is now free to attack Earth and begin gathering his own powers.  This is meant as a setup to the New Watchtower stepping up to defend the Earth.  Supergirl will of course have to step into the shoes usually filled by Superman in fighting the alien despot before he gains his full kryptonian powers.  Meanwhile, there's an entire alien armada for Nightwing and crew to deal with.

And then it's back to the Phantom Zone.  Will he return? Well, yea, probably.  He'll present some future threat down the line for Superman and his supporting characters.  Some day Clark and Lois's son will have grown up and taken on his role as a superhero... and what an intense battle it will be if he's the one that has to battle Zod next time he escapes?  Or Zod's SON? Eventually, Zod's followers will have descendants, and it's our intention to use them as the 30th century Daxamites that fight the Legion of Superheroes.  Sometimes, certain villains have legacies of their own.

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