It’s well known to fans that Superman’s greatest weakness is Kryptonite, the elemental remnants of his destroyed homeworld Krypton. But there’s a whole spectrum of different colors of Kryptonite each with their own effects on Superman’s physiology, and now W. Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo, and Chris O’Halloran, the creators of the hit horror comic Ice Cream Man, are creating a Superman story that will expose the Man of Steel to all manner of Kryptonite.
Appropriately titled Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum, the DC Black Label limited series will run for five issues, each of which will show the effects of a different type of Kryptonite as Superman makes his way through what DC describes as an “existential superhero fantasy/horror” story that will actually introduce several new varieties of the deadly element.
Here’s a gallery of interior pages from the new series, along with a series of variant covers by variant covers by Tula Lotay, Juan Ferreyra, a foil variant cover by Wes Craig, and a variant cover by Alex Eckman-Lawn:
“Four new Kryptonites have been discovered in deep space, and Superman needs to know just what, exactly, they do to him – lest the colorful rocks of his home planet fall into evil hands!” reads DC’s official description. “With Batman at his side, this DC Black Label Superman five-issue event explores the consequences of each never-before-seen variety of Kryptonite—all in the formal, and boundary-pushing fashion, that Prince, Morazzo, and O’Halloran are celebrated for.”
“We’ve developed a reputation for pretty left-of-center experimentation, with respect to comics storytelling,” says writer Maxwell Prince in a statement. “and this is basically what we’re doing over the 5 issues of Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum: using our unique voice in comics to tell a Supes yarn that’s both strange and timeless – out there and also totally grounded. You might know what Green, Red and Black Kryptonite does to Superman, but what about Purple? Or Cobalt? Or Speckled?”
Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #1 goes on sale August 13.
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