DC Comics Rebirth & Superman Reborn Part 2 Spoilers & Review: Action Comics #975 Answers Who Is Clark Kent, Who Escaped Mr. Oz (The Watchmen?) & Where Is Super Son Superboy Jon Kent?

Spoilers, Top Story

DC Comics Rebirth and Superman Reborn Part 2 Spoilers and Review for the milestone Action Comics #975!

The book opens with Superman, the real Clark Kent, and his wife Lois Lane rushing to the Clark Kent doppelgänger’s apartment to find their son, Jon Kent Superboy, who disappeared in the opening Chapter of Superman Reborn.

They are confronted by the Clark Kent doppelgänger who is Superman’s rival in strength and asks why he didn’t save him? The fake Clark Kent then has Superman and Lois Lane guess his identity and morphs into different Superman villains including Lex Luthor, Bizarro, Mongul, Doomsday and pre-Flashpoint original Hank Henshaw Cyborg Superman!

Then all is revealed; the fake Clark Kent is Mr. Mxyzptlk. The original pre-Flashpoint version of the character!

Mr. Mxyzptlk tells Superman than his son Jon Kent, Superboy, will be wiped out of existence because since Superman forgot about Mxy he wants everyone to forget about the Super Son!

Myx then vanishes as it is also revealed that…

…Lois Lane has forgotten her son!

From there Mr. Mxyzptlk travels to the back-up story where the Super Son Jon Kent, Superboy, is being held.

It appears Superman didn’t forget about Mxy because he regaled his son with bed time stories about the little imp from the 5th dimension.

Mxy then explains where he’s been. Mr. Mxyzptlk was actually trapped by Mr. Oz; many believe Mr. Oz is Ozymandias of the Watchmen since Dr. Manhattan created the New 52 / Rebirth by stealing time when the world was reforming after Flashpoint.

Mr. Oz sees himself as judge, jury and jailer as he has a specific plan for Superman and that he id taking players off the board who could threaten that plan including Mxy, Prophecy, Doomsday and Time Drake / Red Robin (Batman picks super smart side kicks it seems).

Mr. Oz knows that Mxy will be jailed with for a while, but Mxy believes Superman will be there to save him because they always play every 90 days.

However, Superman doesn’t come. In telling his tale to Jon Kent, the Super Son Superboy, we learn that Mxyzptlk is aware of all the versions of himself and Superman in various forms and formats; very meta. He seems to be so powerful he transcends and can travel time and the multiverse itself.

We also learn how Mxyzptlk escaped Mr. Oz; He said his name backwards several times and loudly… KLTPZYXM!

KLTPZYXM?! Ah, nostalgia.

Anyhow, Mr. Oz would still find him, so Mxy hid in the past and convinced himself that he was Clark Kent to ensure that Mr. Oz, of the Watchmen (?), couldn’t find him.

We also learn what happened to Mxy when he was outside the Kent Barn and “remembered everything”. He saw various versions of the Superman Family in DC Comics publishing history and his place in it.

Mxy has now caught Jon Kent and the readers up on where he’s been. He has a game for Superboy. It tells him to be careful so he doesn’t step through any of his doors into a different dimension, time or world, but if figures out how to escape he can.

Superboy quickly figures out how to escape, but in the end even the game instructions where wordplay by Mxy and he doesn’t let him escape.

Mxy will have his revenge next issue. Superman #19 hits stands next week and its final variant cover by Gary Frank, sans question mark, has been revealed too!

So…

An entertaining issue that answers many lingering questions and sets up more. Extra-sized milestone issue as Action Comics hits #975! Action Comics #1000 will come soon enough on a twice monthly schedule. Solid story, solid art, entertaining and fun. 9 out of 10.

John is a long-time pop culture fan, comics historian, and blogger. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief at Comics Nexus. Prior to being EIC he has produced several column series including DEMYTHIFY, NEAR MINT MEMORIES and the ONE FAN'S TRIALS at the Nexus plus a stint at Bleeding Cool producing the COMICS REALISM column. As BabosScribe, John is active on his twitter account, his facebook page, his instagram feed and welcomes any and all feedback. Bring it on!