EVENT: H'EL ON EARTH
The Last Survivors of Krypton Must Fight To Survive
It started with its prelude from October 2012; Superman, Supergirl, and even the clone, Superboy, faced a showdown against a threat of Kryptonian origin in the DC Comics action-packed event,
H'el on Earth. This mini-series ran through December 2012, a crossover involving the entire Kryptonian family.
~H'el makes his first appearance, excerpt from Superman #13 (2012)
Who is H'el?
A Brief Note on The Kryptonian Super-Villain
Although H'el appearance and origin has been revealed, it may turn out to be something else by the end of the story.
According to H'el, he was once, before the fall of the planet, Krypton, Jor-El's most praised student and assistant. Before its demise, he was sent into space in a craft and managed to avoid the devastation. Over the decades, he traveled through the cosmos, only to arrive to Earth in the recent months.
H'el also states that his ship carried all the vestiges and records of Kryptonian culture. His self-recognized mission is to restore the planet and he wants to bring Supergirl (Kara) and Superman (Kal-El) with him to accomplish this feat. Superboy, on the other hand, is a hybrid clone; H'el immediately believes he should be destroyed.
He'l On Earth Reading Order
The Basic Listing of The Mini-Series
Prelude: He'l On Earth
001 Superman #13
Chapter 1: Main Event: H'el On Earth
002 Superboy #14
003 Supergirl #14
004 Superman #14
005 Superboy #15
006 Supergirl #15
007 Superman #15
Chapter 2: Assault on The Fortress of Solitude
008 Superboy #16
009 Supergirl #16
010 Superboy Annual #1
011 Superman #16
012 Superboy #17
013 Supergirl #17
014 Superman #17
<--Released: 03/06/2013
FINAL Update: 03/06/2013
H'el On Earth Reading Summaries
Chapter 1: He'l On Earth!
001 Superman #13 (
The prelude to H'el on Earth. After battling for his notion of what newspaper reporting and journalism should be, Clark quits, or is fired, from the Daily Planet after an argument with the boss, Morgan Edge. Soon after, a huge draconian creature is witnessed towering over Metropolis. Clark switches to Superman and confronts the creature, but realizes this entity is stronger than anything he's ever faced. Using the vast array of his incredible powers, the fight continues across the globe until Clark manages to ignite the beast, killing it. All appears well...until Supergirl arrives in anger; she then exclaims that the creature was actually a prehistoric
Tripedal Curosiananiun, once native to Krypton. In the background, the being known as H'el watches, emotionless.)
002 Superboy #14 (Kon-El begins to lose hope while pondering the villain Harvest and the people attempting to use him; fortunately Bunker manages to cheer him up. While they are walking and talking, H'el appears, sensing that he is a clone, and decides to test his abilities. They fight, but it is quickly one-sided with Superboy losing. Bunker calls in the Teen Titans, but they are easily overmatched as well. Instead of killing Superboy, H'el decides to teleport away and use him for a future scheme.)
003 Supergirl #14 (Resuming hours or days after Superman's battle with the Kryptonian Dragon, Kara and he bring it to The Block, a research facility near the center of the earth. She points out that if this creature can exist, so can other Kryptonians. Superman disagrees, though, and the two argue. Kara then heads to hear Sanctuary for rest, when she is teleported out by H'el who introduces himself as another survivor of her homeworld. He explains his origin and his mission: to bring the Krypton survivors back and revive their world. As an offering, he presents Superboy, whose neck he plans to snap. Supergirl asks him to hold off killing Superboy, and requests a chance to speak to Superman. H'el says he'll be hard to persuade, but lets her go anyway.)
004 Superman #14 (
Resumes at the point where Kara arrives as Clark's apartment, in Supergirl #14. The issue starts with Lois at Clark's apartment, trying to get him to return to his job. Clark and her argue over his moral beliefs and her boyfriend status; that's when Lois states that Clark and her are just good friends. Suddenly Kara barges in and the two leave Lois and head to Centennial Park. Kara begins revealing H'el to Superman, and that's when the mysterious Kryptonian appears. He tries to convince the son of Jor-El of his origin, but Superman has none of it. In the same gesture as before, H'el produces Superboy and prepares to snap his neck. Superman quickly springs to action and stops H'el; the two begin fighting. While H'el has a chance, he appears to Kara as Superman and knocks her out. It appears his goal is to make Superman look like her enemy. After some lesser skirmishing, H'el vows to continue his mission, leaving Superman behind with a nearly dead Superboy.)
005 Superboy #15 (
Continues immediately from Superman #14. Superboy awakens amidst auto debris after being thrown by H'el; for some reason, he is completely paralyzed with numbing senses. Superman, though, comes to his aid and whisks him off to his Fortress of Solitude. While there, he learns that Superboy has three strands of DNA and that they are separating. To fight off the deteriorating condition, he places his crest - which also means his armor - on Kon-El. Superboy immediately gets better, and super-strong, but has now lost his tactile kinesis abilities. Elsewhere, the issue cuts to H'el convincing Supergirl that he's on her side; he leaves her and reaches Superman's Fortress, to throw them out and claim it as his.
006 Supergirl #15 (
Continues from Superboy #15. H'el returns to Kara and brings her to the Fortress of Solitude. Meanwhile, blocked from entrance and outside, Superman and Superboy ponder how to reenter. Superman comes up with an idea which eludes to "combining their powers". Back at the Fortress, H'el shows Kara the City of Kandor and shrinks her down inside. Inside, he shows her his true form from an astral projection because he is unable to shrink. Kara sees all the citizens in stasis, and then remnants of Brainiac's forces find her and attempt to put her in stasis. Kara destroys them and locates the Quantum Crystal, a Kryptonian power source. She leaves Kandor, gives it to H'el, and he thanks her for trusting him. In the last frame, finally enthralled, she embraces him with a kiss.)
007 Superman #15 (
Continues from Supergirl #15, where Superman's idea comes into play. Trusting his intuition, Superman takes Superboy to a military installation that acts as a prison for one man: Lex Luthor. Both heroes makes their way through the several forms of security until they are face to face with the villain and begin questioning him. Surprisingly, Lex knows a great deal about what's going on, and confirms that H'el is going to use the Kandorian power source to fuel his time-jump and save Krypton. Unfortunately, the reaction will cause earth to explode. As they part ways, Lex ultimately states that Superman didn't need to come see him, and only visited because he needed to understand that to be stopped, H'el would have to be killed. In the last few frames, Superman summons Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg and The Flash, updating them to the crisis and informing them that they need to assault the Fortress of Solitude.)
Assault on The Fortress Of Solitude
Chapter 2
008 Superboy #16 (
Continues from Superman #15 after a brief, undisclosed period. After planning a strategy in Dr. Veritas's lab, Superboy joins a distractive, frontal assault with Batman and Wonder Woman and reaches the Kryptonian force field. Using his Tactile Kinesis, he destroys it. Superman and Cyborg are standing by and activate a boom tube into the Fortress. Unfortunately, He'l is ready and misdirects their teleport to the deadliest security bots. Fighting continues on both fronts, each side battling their way past Kryptonian wonders until they come together against a mysterious prison-tech object. It hits Superman and teleports him into a series of pocket dimensions. All appears lost, but hoping to aid the Man of Steel, Superboy follows him, leaving uncertainty in their wake. The final pages of the issue diverge from the main story and show tremors in the Himalayas as a research witnesses the unearthing of a strange, gigantic and alien creature.)
009 Supergirl #16 (
The events in this issue happen during events in Superboy #16, near the middle and end. As Superman, Superboy and the Justice League lead an attack on the Fortress, The Flash is vibrating into it to find Supergirl. Too late, though, she's found him. They battle as he tries to explain H'el is misleading her, ending up in other alien habitats, until they randomly come upon Krypto. The Flash uses the opportunity to find a special kinetic weapon and uses it on Kara. He's about to take her down until H'el shows up and teleports him to The Watchtower, failing his mission. H'el warns her that he won't let them win this battle. Elsewhere, on the other side of the galaxy, aliens recognize a power signature and a picture reveals The Oracle.)
010 Superboy Annual #1 (
The events in this issue occur within the span of approximately 3 minutes and resolve to coincide at the end of Supergirl #16. Superman and Superboy now find themselves in an pocket dimension of an alien device obtained awhile back in the Fortress of Solitude. They battle through an ever-changing reality landscape until they come upon the manipulators of their torment, Blastor and Lasara. These two were imprisoned long ago by Blastor's brother, Garzo, and now Blastor believes Superboy's power could free them. The fight begins until Superboy leaves the fray and communes with the dimension with his empathy powers. Together, they free everyone, but he sends Blastor and Lasara to a desolate place on the other side of the universe. By the end of the issue, Superman and Superboy return, learning they've only been gone for about 3 minutes. On another panel, H'el and Supergirl are getting ready to activate the device that will cause the Solar System to collapse.)
011 Superman #16 (
Continues immediately from Superboy Annual #1. The fight continues within the Fortress of Solitude. Each time Cyborg attempts to Boom-teleport them, H'el relocates their destination. That is, until Batman devises a plan. They send Superman towards H'el, alone and at super speeds. Once they prepare to teleport, he attacks H'el. Now together, the forces of the Superman, Superboy, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Cyborg face H'el and Supergirl. But it's a short fight; gaining a moment's control, H'el teleports the Fortress away from it's initial location. He then turns on the device. Elsewhere, the Oracle is now awakened, preparing to watch the end of the world.)
012 Superboy #17 (
Continues immediately from Superman #16. Kon-el watches as the Starchamber where H'el and Supergirl are waiting, activates. Batman and Cyborg return to the Watchtower and Superman, Wonder Woman, and he continue to fight. Superman stays behind to fight H'el, but before Superboy can leave, H'el attempts to destroy him again. He barely manages to keep his DNA together with the help of his powers. While trying to to navigate his way into the Starchamber, he faces Kara. He's no match for her right now, so he let's her throw punches while he tries to convince her to give up her quest. Fortunately for him, Wonder Woman intervenes and carries on the battle. Kon-el, now having a distraction, continues to move closer to the Starchamber in the final pages. And this entire story continues with scenes of The Herald summoning Oracle to earth to prepare for its final destruction.)
013 Supergirl #17 (
Continues from Superboy #17, but also happens near-simultaneous to the event within that issue. Taking place as Kara faces Wonder Woman, the two females square off with near-equal speed and power. Diana, however, has experience on her side and lassos Supergirl into submission. Confronted with impossibilities, Kara does break free, but ultimately sees that the sun is about to explode or collapse and the world is dying. Confused, she faces H'el who finally admits to his plans. That's when Kara goes ballistic, threatening him. H'el decides to give her one last chance, though: Earth or Krypton.)
Conclusion
The Finale
~Supergirl delivers the final blow. Excerpt from Superman #17 (2013).
014 Superman #17 (
Continues from Superboy #17 and Supergirl #17. Superman is now in space after being heavily struck by H'el. Strangely though, his trajectory is stopped short. Taking it all in, Superman sees The Oracle and begins having visions of his past when looking in its eyes. A sense of impending doom comes over him, but he ignores it and flies back to the battle. All across the world now, tremors, storms, and destructive events are heralding earth's final moment. Superboy, however, finally achieves the destruction of the Star Chamber, believing he may have stopped the villain. It's only a trick, though; secretly H'el planned for this and the act frees him ship for takeoff. The heroes are completely at H'els mercy, even as Superman arrives to make another attack. At the end, it is Kara, appearing to succumb to his plans and join him, who gets the final blow. Secreting a piece of green kryptonite in her hands, she gets close to H'el and stabs him in the heart. With death nearing him, H'el disappears with some ominous parting words. The world is saved by this single act, but Superman fears that H'el may be more dangerous, now wounded. In truth, they don't know what happened or where he went, but the issue then shifts to Krypton, 12 years before it's demise, and a younger Jor-El during an archaeological dig. He stumbles upon the body of H'el with the kryptonite in his chest. The issue concludes by questioning how the future may have changed with this event.)
H'el On Earth Release List
The Issues For The Event
The following issues have been released by DC Comics as part of this event. If additional titles are added, they will appear here.
Superman #13-17
Superboy #14-17
Superboy Annual #1
Supergirl #14-17
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