Absolute Superman #14
Scheduled to arrive in stores: December 24, 2025
Cover date: February 2026
“The Battle of Kansas” – Finale: “Son of Nowhere, Nothing, and No One”
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artists: Rafa Sandoval
Cover: Rafa Sandoval
Variant Covers: Gerald Parel, Elizabeth Torque, Nikolas Draper-Ivey
Reviewed by: Craig Boehmer
As he lies dying, Kal hallucinates that he is back on Krypton with Krypto and his parents. Back in Smallville, Ra’s has run Kal through with the kryptonite sword. As he stands over Kal, bragging and posturing, Kal spits blood into his eye. Ra’s commands Brainiac to destroy the captured residents of Smallville, to sever Kal’s relationships. In response Sol deletes himself, so that Brainiac can not continue with the order. With its sacrifice, Kal removes the blade from his side and stands up. He then blasts Ra’s with full heat vision, exclaiming that Kal of Krypton is dead. The fight continues, with Ra’s knocking Kal down again, at which point a mecha grabs Kal off the ground, holding his for Ra’s. Enraged by the mecha touching his “son,” Ra’s moves to kill the mecha’s pilot, Kal intervenes, saving the pilot, but is defeated and thrown to the ground once again. Ra’s gives the order to kill all the Smallville residents, to which Kal states he will do whatever Ra’s says, if Ra’s spares the people of Smallville. Kal then removes his symbol as Ra’s states that he will force Kal to kill the people himself, the symbol reforms as a sword and the two rejoin the battle.
Before the Peacemakers can begin firing, the pilot whom Kal saved states that he is from Oklahoma and won’t kill people from Kansas. This leads to the majority of Peacemakers claiming they won’t kill the people either. As the fight between Kal and Ra’s rages on, Kal begins to get the upperhand. He finally disarms Ra’s, shattering the kryptonite blade. From his knees, Ra’s tells Kal that he must kill him to bring justice. Kal decides to arrest him and force him to stand trial in Pakistan where this story started with the massacre.
In the aftermath, Lazarus Corps true dealings are exposed and the company is in serious legal trouble. Smallville begins rebuilding, and Kal goes to visit Martha. He discovers that she passed the night before, but left him a new suit, modelled after his old one.
Story – 3: I was a little underwhelmed by the finale of the first ongoing story in Absolute Superman. This is the moment that we have been building to for over a year now, and it just seemed to be resolved too quickly. Superman’s quick turn around, invoking the meaning of his symbol and the strength of the people who wore it. I really enjoyed the contrast between Kal’s parents giving up their role as elites and starting grass roots movements, versus Ra’s al Ghul’s disdain for the commoners and his desire to rule over them or destroy them. I thought that the Peacemakers turning against Ra’s so quickly was too convenient. For how long they had fought the residents of Smallville, and committed atrocities across the globe, their surrender on moral grounds rang hollow to me. The last gripe I will mention is how cleanly the whole Lazarus Group’s fall seems, after the fight between Kal and Ra’s Lazarus the company is dead and gone? Just like that?
On a more positive note, the sacrifice of Sol to save Smallville from the clutches of Brainiac was a great moment. So was the reveal of Martha creating a suit for Kal, or Clark as she called him. The little note she left with the suit was a beautiful moment.
Art – 5: The art has consistently been great. The fight between Kal and Ra’s was gorgeous, and the shifting between Smallville and Krypton was beautifully drawn. I am very excited to see the new suit, but nervous about the changing artist, as Sandoval’s art has been a consistent reason to pick up this book so far.
Cover Art – 5: Amazing cover. Kryptonite sword versus solar powered strength. The raw brutality of Ra’s against the righteous anger of Kal. This cover captures the core of this issue so perfectly.
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