Superman’s Red Kryptonite has also been the most dangerous but World’s Finest latest supercharged upgrade just made it deadlier than ever.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman Superman World’s Finest #1, on sale now from DC Comics.
Red Kryptonite has always been the most dangerous of all of the variants of Superman’s most famous weakness. Fans of the Smallville TV show and Superman III may believe that it briefly turns Kryptonians evil but its effects in the comics are so much worse. Unlike every other type of Kryptonite that exists, Red is unpredictable. Each piece of it has a totally different effect. While some have turned the Man of Steel evil, others have transformed him into a strange bug monster or even turned his skin invisible. As if this threat couldn’t get any worse, the new World’s Finest series introduced a new Kryptonite concoction that amplified its chaos.
A routine team-up with Batman and Robin went awry in the heroes’ early years, as seen in Batman Superman World’s Finest #1 (by Mark Waid, Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain, and Aditya Bidikar). What looked to be just Poison Ivy attacking the Daily Planet turned out to be a joint venture with Metallo. That villain’s Kryptonite heart usually caused trouble for the Man of Steel but a mysterious new villain gave him an even worse weapon. Metallo had been given a vile of Red Kryptonite, made up of shards of numerous pieces of the substance. When it was injected directly into Superman’s heart, it created a violently chaotic result.
The Dynamic Duo had to work quickly to contain their Kryptonian friend but it was far from easy and required help from the Doom Patrol. It was impossible to determine how many different pieces of Red K were used to make the concoction that was slipped into Superman’s bloodstream. The Man of Steel’s skin went transparent, his powers overloaded and he became a literal Man of Steel at one point. The worst part was perhaps the hallucinations, which made him see his allies as his greatest foes.
An out-of-control Kryptonian is a very dangerous thing, even if they are Superman. His intentions don’t matter when he’s affected by Red K and he has absolutely no control over what happens. As experts in helping superpowered individuals, the Doom Patrol had to help take down the iconic hero before he did anything too serious and even then, they found it difficult to contain him. A blast of energy from a red sun was enough to neutralize his powers but he isn’t out of the woods yet.
This new weapon is dangerous on so many levels and it amplifies the unpredictability of the most dangerous form of Kryptonite tenfold. Not only does it add multiple different transmutations to the mix, each competing with one another at the same time, but there’s no telling which one may pop up next or how severe it will be. For all anyone knows, there is still some of the Red Kryptonite in Superman’s bloodstream that hasn’t affected him yet. Just because Superman is powerless at the moment doesn’t mean the Kryptonite couldn’t still make him dangerous again, all it would take is the right piece at the right time.
Even with the initial threat neutralized, getting the Kryptonite out of his system is a whole other problem – perhaps even the biggest one. As numerous tiny little shards of Kryptonite are all throughout his body, it may be impossible to remove every single one of them. Doom Patrol’s Chief is the only hope Superman has but even then it feels like a long shot.
As this story is set in the past, the Man of Steel is sure to pull through but surviving this once would be lucky. If he had to go through it a second time the ending might not be a happy one. With a second vile, the results would be totally different and, as shown in this story, it would be too dangerous for his Kryptonian family to help him as they could be affected as well. It’s a good thing Batman was there to help. His quick thinking brought the Doom Patrol in and he was the one who figured out the red sun solution. Next time, however, the Man of Steel may be alone. If that were to happen, his superhero allies may not be quick enough to prevent the worst consequences of this ultimate Kryptonite weapon.
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