Val-Zod is one of the last Kryptonians of his universe and the second to use the mantle of Superman.
History
Origins
Becoming the last of his House after his parents' execution by Krypton's court, Val quickly made friends with fellow orphan Kara Zor-El. Moments before Krypton's destruction, Val, Kara, Kal-El and another child managed to escape and survive their planet's destruction thanks to Jor-El and Lara.[1]
Through his trip, Val was educated by his parents' knowledge recorded on his capsule, teaching him that violence was the stupidest way to overcome issues,[2] driving him to become a pacifist.
Falling to Earth, he was found by Terry Sloan who offered him asylum to "protect" him from the outside world, where he became a recluse. During the time he was captured, he helped Sloan developing the Firepits.[3]
Rise of a Superman
He was found by the new Wonders who were looking for the mysterious alien to fight a brainwashed Superman, and they discovered that he too was a Kryptonian.[4] Suffering a panic attack after being freed, Val revealed that he spent most of his life in a capsule, thus he was afraid of open spaces. Lois told him it was okay to be afraid and that, being a Kryptonian, he could do things to help everyone.[5]
Starting to develop his abilities, Lois tried to teach Val how to use his powers by finally going outdoors and try to fly. He was doing his best when they were attacked by a horde of Parademons lead by Superman who was behind Val.[2] Saved by Lois, he and Hawkgirl were alone against the Parademons until they were saved by Green Lantern who took them to safety. Worried about Lois, Val told Batman that they must save her, but their plan was interrupted by Apokoliptian forces who forced them to evacuate the Batcave [6] and escape to Amazonia. Batman blamed Val for not using his powers and letting Red Arrow die, saying it's all on him. Jimmy approached him and told him that it wasn't his fault before asking him what he was hiding beneath his hoodie, to which he revealed was the symbol of the House of El.[7]
He began explaining the situation to Jimmy when the planet was suddenly being sucked by a giant Boom Tube, so when Fate enlightened him, he decided to rise up and stop Superman[8] who clashed against him until he started to crack and crumble, revealing him to be a twisted, perverted version of Superman who became dust. The battle won, the Wonders decided to use this victory to reclaim their world from Apokolips.[9]
World's End
Val went to the Outskirts of Geneva alongside Lois and Thomas to save the people from the remaining Apokoliptian fire pits when two strangers arrived at the scene. As things were getting settled, a massive earthquake heralded the arrival of a female creature that emanated from the fire pit.[10]
They fought against the self-proclaimed Fury of War until she took control of Lois, Helena, and Kara[11] with the intention of killing them while she joined her Fury sisters. However, Lois' robotic body managed to reboot their minds and get free. Deciding to go right into the fire pits,[12] they took a detour to a nearby lab that sent a distress signal. The lab was being attacked by mutated creatures that could potentially contaminate the world, thus he and Kara had to combine their speed and strength to generate the impact force of a neutron bomb, effectively destroying the threat and saving everyone.[1]
Val used the remains of the destroyed lab to create protection suits for Batman and Huntress in order to descend to the fire pit, walking for hours before being confronted by DeSaad[13] who took Helena and escaped with her. Luckily, Batman had a tracking device that could lead them straight to Helena, following the trail to the lowest levels until they found what appeared to be the long lost Superman.[14] It was another clone, since they were currently on DeSaad's cloning facility full of imperfect replicas of Superman, meaning that the original may still be alive. Thomas insisted that Helena was more important than the fallen hero, suffering the Miraclo's intoxication that was driving him mad, forcing Val to destroy his drug.[15]
At that moment, the dead clones awoke and went through a destructive rampage before being neutralized by Batman's electromagnetic pulse.[16] Searching once again for Helena, they came across Superman's ripped shield that was kept as a trophy, as well as discovering that Helena's vital signs suddenly disappeared, fearing the worst.[17] They went behind DeSaad when this time, they encountered the real Clark Kent being held on a stasis pod, awakened by his wife before discovering that he was powerless[18] and that DeSaad was creating armies of Parademons, right before being confronted by the new Fury of Famine.
They left Helena for Kara[19] while Val took the rest to safety, but it was short as DeSaad appeared[20] to unleash the Avatar of the Red upon them.[21] Val quickly deduced the situation and discovered that the Red Avatar must be freed[22] in order to finally destroy the entire cloning facility, something that Superman did by connecting himself to the entire network, successfully using his blood as poison for the whole labyrinth, releasing the Red Avatar while sacrificing himself.[23]
The battle won, Val and Kara buried the previous champion of Earth on a peaceful hill before traveling to a World Army outpost. There, Val heard the entire planet rejoice at the fire pits' extinction, receiving a call from Flash requesting assistance against the Furies. Arriving to the battlefield, Val defeated the Fury of War by overloading her cells with radiation, shutting her powers off.[24] Unfortunately, Death's child was finally born to revage the planet's heart. They couldn't do much since Atom's Heaven was under the attack of the Protofuries led by Barda, destroying everything on their path until they arrived to push them off.[25] Val and Kara joined Commander Sato and Steel on Atom's Heaven HQ[26] when Apokolips' terraformer fell to Earth, with Val immediately recognizing the threat.[27]
Val, Kara and Lois begin their attack against the terraformer, forcing it to unleash Parademon hordes to distract them[28] until Commander Sato commanded them to attack Apokolips itself, crossing paths with a weathered Green Lantern who failed to shield Earth from Apokolips.[29]
Convergence
This section of the history takes place during Convergence, a massive crossover event revisiting characters from past eras and realities. The villains Brainiac and Telos plucked them from their own timeline and stored them together, causing them to cross over into each others' reality. Its precise chronological placement and canonicity may be unclear.
After managing to save the rest of the people, Val and the other heroes were teleported to an unknown planet by a being named Telos, who also kidnapped several other heroes from other universes to fight each other (at the behest of Brainiac). Eventually, Val and the others managed to escape and briefly allied with Deimos, before he revealed himself as a villain and tried to destroy them. During this, Telos regained consciousness and helped them defeat Deimos, but the energy he released would destroy the planet with them all. So with Brainiac's help, they were saved and sent back to a new Earth 2.
A New Society
In the new world, Val and Kara started rebuilding the cities and eventually started dating, but their powers didn't work all the time as the sun on the new planet was different. They broke up after an argument over Clark's death.
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DC Rebirth
Val was among the many Supermen of the multiverse who were kidnapped by the Prophecy to steal their powers, but they were freed by the Justice Incarnate.[30][31]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Val-Zod possesses the same potential powers as an average Kryptonian. These include:
- Solar Energy Absorption: Under optimal conditions, this is the main source of Val-Zod's super powers as they are contingent upon exposure to solar radiation from a yellow sun star system. His biological make up includes a number of organs which lack analogues in humans and whose functions are unknown. It is believed that between one or more of these and his bio-cellular matrix, "yellow" solar energy is stored for later use. This allows for the use of these powers to fade when yellow solar radiation is not available instead of immediate failure.
- Heat Vision: Val-Zod can, as a conscious act, fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it. He can vary the heat and area affected.
- Super-Hearing: Val-Zod's hearing is sensitive enough to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. With skill and concentration, he can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source or frequency.
- Enhanced Vision: Val-Zod's vision processes the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as allowing vast control over selective perception and focus.
This umbrella ability includes the following:- Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision: Val-Zod can see well into most of the electromagnetic spectrum. He can see and identify radio and television signals as well as all other broadcast or transmitted frequencies. Using this ability, he can avoid detection by radar or satellite monitoring methods. This also allows him to see the aura generated by living thing.
- Telescopic Vision: This is the ability to see something at a great distance, without violating the laws of physics. Though limited, the exact extent of the ability is undetermined. In function, it is similar to the zoom lens on a camera.
- X-Ray Vision: This is the ability to see through any volume of matter except lead. Val-Zods can see things behind a solid, opaque object as if it were not there. He can focus this ability to "peel back" layers of an object, allowing hidden image or inner workings to be observed. The exact type of energy perceived—such as x-rays, cosmic rays, or some other energy invisible to normal humans—is unclear. This ability perceives an ambient energy source though, it does not involve the eye projecting a concentrated, possibly toxic, beam to be reflected back from objects.
- Microscopic Vision: This is the ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the atomic level.
- Infrared Vision: Val-Zod can see with better acuity in darkness, and to a degree in total darkness.
- Flight: Val-Zod is able to manipulate graviton particles to defy the forces of gravity and achieve flight. This ranges from hovering to moving in any posture, in any direction.
- Invulnerability: Due to the interaction of his dense molecular structure and supercharged bio-electric aura, Val-Zod is nigh-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. In addition, his extends this protection against toxins and diseases.
- Superhuman Stamina: Val-Zod is able to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an indefinite period of time. This based on his body converting yellow solar radiation directly to energy, but is limited by physiological and psychological needs to eat, drink, and sleep.
- Superhuman Strength: Val-Zod's strength is augmented by yellow solar radiation interacting with the greater than human density, resilience and biological efficiency of his musculature. His strength is more an act of conscious will on energy fields than actual physical strength. It is this act of conscious will that enables him to perform physical feats that are beyond the mere application force, such as moving a mountain top without said rock crumbling under its own mass.
- Superhuman Speed: Val-Zod is able to move at incredible speed by sheer force of will. This extends to his perceptions and allows for feats such as catching bullets in mid flight as well as covering vast distances in little or no time.
This also confers: - Super-Breath: Val-Zod is able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from his lungs. He can chill the air as it leaves his lungs to freeze targets. He can also reverse the process to pull large volumes of air or vapor into his lungs.
- Longevity: Val-Zod can live longer than regular humans, remaining at his prime as long as he was under the exposure of the "yellow" sun.
Abilities
- Genius Level Intellect: A man who cherishes intelligence over strength, Val possesses a vast knowledge gained by previous years of Kryptonian studies, potentially being smarter than most, if not all, human beings. He could build a couple of Batsuits nearly from scratch that were capable of enduring the overwhelming heat of the fire pits without any damage to the wearer.[13]
- Multilingualism: Val can speak fluently English and Kryptonian.[2]
Weaknesses
- Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Val-Zod possesses the same potential weaknesses as an average Kryptonian. These include:
- Agoraphobic (Formerly): Due to living most of his life in a capsule after Krypton's destruction, Val-Zod has developed a fear of open spaces.[2] However, after being enlightened by Dr. Fate, Val decided to step up to become a superhero, finally bypassing his fear.[8]
- Minimum Solar Radiation Absorbed (Formerly): Due to being confined in a room for most of his life, Val has absorbed minimum solar radiation, which makes his Kryptonian powers very weak.[2] But after the days passed and he absorbed more solar energy, Val's powers successfully grew to the same level of other[9] Kryptonians.[1]
Recommended Reading
Related
- 80 Appearances of Val-Zod (Earth 2)
- 44 Images featuring Val-Zod (Earth 2)
- 4 Quotations by or about Val-Zod (Earth 2)
- Character Gallery: Val-Zod (Earth 2)
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Earth 2 #27
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Earth 2 #22
- ↑ Earth 2: Society #4
- ↑ Earth 2 #19
- ↑ Earth 2 #20
- ↑ Earth 2 #23
- ↑ Earth 2 #24
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Earth 2 #25
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Earth 2 #26
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #1
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #2
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #3
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Earth 2: World's End #4
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #5
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #6
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #7
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #8
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #9
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #10
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #12
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #13
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #14
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #15
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #16
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #17
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #18
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #19
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #21
- ↑ Earth 2: World's End #22
- ↑ Superman (Volume 4) #14
- ↑ Superman (Volume 4) #16
  Superman Family member |
 Justice Society of America member |