Superman #93

Written and Drawn by Dan Jurgens

Inks by Josef Rubenstein

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In Metropolis, Supergirl is protecting the city from aliens displaced from the 68^th century, when a hologram of Superman appears stating Earth’s distant future is dying and the cause of the destruction is eating its way back through time. The Man of Steel is asking available heroes to help save all of existence. Superman then arrives on the scene and tosses the alien spaceship into outer space.  Supergirl and Superman land on the street and approach Lois. She’s been looking for Superman to tell him the Kents have been trying to reach him. Superman calls his parents and they tell him he is needed back at the farm immediately before the line goes dead. Torn between checking on his parents or fighting the current crisis, he decides to send Supergirl in his stead and flies toward Smallville.

As Superman enters the Kent house, he comes face to face with Jor-El and Lara, his biological parents. Superman recounts the last days of Krypton to his parents but Jor-El tells him that Krypton was never destroyed. After sending Kal-El to Earth, a Kryptonian named Jen-Em built a device to relieve the tremendous pressures threatening Krypton. The planet was given a second chance and Jor-El and Lara have arrived on Earth to take Kal-El back home.

Superman doesn’t believe what’s going on and Jor-El gives him a special visor to wear to view the history of Krypton after Kal-El’s departure. Jor-El took an active role in restoring Krypton’s humanity. Lara was the first Kryptonian woman to have a normal, natural pregnancy and childbirth. Their son, Zan-El, grew up to become the chief prefect over Krypton. After many unsuccessful tries, Jor-El was able to concoct a serum to free them from the bonds of the planet. Jor-El then constructed a ship to come to Earth to rescue Kal-El.

Superman believes his parents to be time anomalies brought on by the chronal storms wreaking havoc on the planet. Jor-El and Lara’s serum starts to lose its effectiveness and must return to Krypton immediately. Superman decides to stay on Earth with the Kents. As the Kryptonian ship takes off, Superman flies after it. He tells Jor-El and Lara that once he helps save the universe and all of time, he will return to Krypton and visit them.  As the three family members embrace, a lightning bolt hits the ship, destroying it, leaving Superman as the sole survivor. Metron of the New Gods arrives in Smallville and informs Superman that his parents were indeed from an alternate timeline. Metron then tells Superman they are needed in New York City. Before leaving, Superman heads back to the farm and hugs the Kents and tells them that he loves and appreciates them. Superman and Metron head to New York as Zero Hour approaches.

Many of the imaginary stories of the 1960s and 1970s featured Superman being reunited with Jor-El and Lara. This tie-in issue of the Zero Hour miniseries is a callback to those stories. It took a long time for Superman to move past the tragedy of Krypton. Just as he embraces the slim hope his planet and parents are alive and thriving, it’s all taken away from him again.  During the course of this issue, the Kents have to wrestle with the idea that Clark may go back to his home planet.  After many years of being childless, the arrival of Kal-El on Earth gave the Kents the one thing they dreamed of being- parents. Family is important and sometimes it takes on a different shape then you thought it would. If it wasn’t for the Kents, Kal-El would never have learned about what it means to be human. Clark’s decision to check on the Kents tells you all about the man in Superman.