Absolute Superman introduced fans to a very different take on the Man of Steel, and one of the biggest changes is in terms of his costume. The debut issue revealed that his suit comes complete with a sentient AI that seeks to help and guide him along the way, and it also responds in real time to whatever the situation might all for. In Absolute Superman #2, we see the suit’s more expansive capabilities, and part of that is found in he sunstone that it’s created from. Superman seeks to help several people in the midst of a firefight with Lazarus, protecting them with the Sunstone Dust found in his suit and cape. It’s only then that we learn there’s a rather revealing flaw, as the more the dust is used, the less it is available to cover Superman, leaving him a bit…well, exposed.
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Thanks to Lois Lane (who works for Lazarus in this universe), Superman is cuffed to her as their forces try and take him down. The suit starts to work on severing the cuff but is having a difficult time thanks to the technology used by Lazarus, and so Superman has to continue to fight with Lane cuffed to him. As you might imagine, this isn’t exactly easy o accomplish, but he makes do anyway.
As the Lazarus forces chase him and pelt the area with heavy artillery, Superman seeks to save those caught in the chaos, and he uses the Sunstone dust to shield everyone he comes across from the gunfire and explosions. As the Dust in his cape becomes larger to cover more people, you can see his suit start to disappear from the rest of his body, and later on that same page you can see his costume almost completely disappear as he attempts to protect around 9 or 10 people from the blast.
Superman gets them to safety and then tells them not to be afraid of the dust, which is greatly expanded around them at this point. Then he reveals that the dust can also treat wounds, and it starts to help those around it and heal them.
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This all starts to take a toll on Superman, and he falls to his knees at one point after expending so much power. He takes a second to recover as the dust starts to swirl and re-form around him, with his suit piecing itself back together. The suit also finally gets the cuff severed, and Superman launches into the air and leaves Lane behind, but from her report later in the issue, their interaction seems to have changed her perception of him quite a bit.
As for the suit, we know it has to charge with solar rays, and it was already not fully charged when the fight broke out in the previous issue. Hopefully Superman can get a full charge and some rest before his next throwdown with Lazarus, but even when at full power, it is interesting to know that the suit itself is a finite resource that can be used up, leaving Superman vulnerable.
What did you think of Absolute Superman #2? You can talk all things DC with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb and on Bluesky @knightofoa!
