Superman’s latest Kryptonite experiment spirals out of control in Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #2. Following the time-bending debut, this chapter trades puzzles for pure spectacle as Cobalt Kryptonite super-sizes the Man of Steel, setting up a city-shaking brawl, Lex Luthor’s meddling, and a cliffhanger that pushes the series into even stranger territory.
Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #2 wastes no time dropping readers straight into chaos. Superman, swollen to skyscraper size, is stomping through Metropolis like he’s auditioning for a kaiju movie. Atom Smasher, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman scramble to contain the disaster, while Supes himself rants about climate change and humanity’s pollution problem. It’s a wild image: the usually poised Superman turned into an oversized wrecking ball, both frightening and oddly funny.
From there, the issue rewinds to calmer moments in the Fortress of Solitude, where Batman and Superman test out the new Cobalt Kryptonite before things get truly unmanageable. That setup sets the stage for Lex Luthor to unleash his own brand of mischief, the chemical monster, Chemo, and plenty of comic absurdity along the way.
Reading this issue, I couldn’t help but laugh at how gleefully absurd it all is. A kaiju Superman? Batman scrambling to build a Kryptonite-powered cannon? A random office worker, furious that she lost her Excel spreadsheets mid-evacuation? This is peak comic book silliness, and writer W. Maxwell Prince leans into it with a wink.
Compared to the debut issue, though, it doesn’t quite hit the same creative highs. The first chapter played with time and form in inventive ways, while this one keeps things more straightforward: big Superman, bigger problem, heroes scrambling to fix it. The humor carries it, especially the running gag about that spreadsheet lady, but the narrative feels thinner in spots. That said, Martín Morazzo’s art saves the day, with a show-stopping double-page spread of giant Superman crashing through the Fortress of Solitude that makes the whole thing worth the price of admission.
The strength of this issue lies in its balance of absurd humor and genuine superhero stakes. Seeing Superman wrestle with his own size and then lose his mind thanks to a blast of Red Kryptonite is both thrilling and unnerving. The environmental rant might feel heavy-handed in another book, but here it comes across as another weird, off-kilter beat in a story that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The weak spot is the lack of boundary-pushing storytelling tricks that made the first issue stand out. Instead, much of the page count is spent on dialogue exchanges and problem-solving chatter. Luckily, the cliffhanger, Superman literally swallowing Chemo and then de-aging into Superboy, sets the stage for more unhinged fun in issue #3.
Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #2 may not reinvent the wheel like its debut, but it delivers on big, silly spectacle. Between a kaiju-sized Superman, Lex’s Red Kryptonite sabotage, Batman’s frantic tinkering, and a spreadsheet-obsessed civilian stealing scenes, there’s enough charm here to keep readers hooked. If you came for Prince and Morazzo’s signature mix of weird humor and superhero bombast, you’ll leave satisfied if a little less wowed than last time.
‘Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum’ #2 Review: Kal-El goes Kaiju in Metropolis!
Between a kaiju-sized Superman, Lex’s Red Kryptonite sabotage, Batman’s frantic tinkering, and a spreadsheet-obsessed civilian stealing scenes, there’s enough charm here to keep readers hooked.
