HERO OF THE WEEK: ROGOL ZAAR (DC)Real Name: To Be Confirmed
First Appearance: Action Comics #1000 (June, 2018)
Fight Club Ranking: #DNR
Featured Fights:
- Yet To Be Featured on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths.
It's here! It's really here! Action Comics #1000 was one of the milestone comic books I used to dream about in the school yard. Would they ever really get there? Surely they must! They have!
Ten tales reflect upon eighty years of Superman, with the last story introducing Brian Bendis as the new writer of the Man of Steel. The short chapter, titled "The Truth", delivers a dangerous new villain called Rogol Zaar. He claims to be the destroyer of the planet Krypton - and in the dozen pages afforded - he's doing a pretty good job of devastating its survivors: Superman and Supergirl!
At first glance, the new villain seems like a bit of a groaner. The most off-putting aspect: that his existence and motivations apparently hinge on yet another retelling of a major character's origin.
Between movies, television, and comics, the world has been subjected to far too many origin stories! The only thing more skin crawling than going back to the beginning is the promise of 'dramatic new revelations' about decades old history. You'd hope we'd moved on after eighty years, but with Krypton airing on Syfy, and Jor-El making an unexpected (and unwanted) comeback in other recent Superman stories -- it seems Superman's past has never been more present. Emphasis on seems.
The story is called "The Truth", but Bendis has talked about, or at least implied, drawing inspiration for his work from the modern phenomena of digital misinformation.
It seems the masses have never had more difficulty grappling with fact and fiction. Facebook feeds have sapped the will to seek, supplanting a healthy diet of various inputs with self-confirming algorithms, and insular logics. Direct channels are easily exploited, preying upon fear, loathing, instant gratification, and confirmation bias.
A lot of people will be expecting Bendis to rewrite Superman's history - and therefore already believe that he has. He, and others, have certainly had that tendency. However, we've been given no reason to consider Rogol Zaar a credible narrator. It is interesting that he knows Jor-El by name, but the planet Krypton and its most notable citizens have never been a secret. It could be very interesting if Bendis is planning to tell a story of exploiting a history told to the hero through second-hand sources.
Characters like Supergirl and General Zod offer perspectives informed by the memory of living Krypton, but could also be compromised by the uncertainties of youth, and a biased agenda. An interesting predicament for Superman, who has no first-hand knowledge of his home. Bendis has discussed drawing upon the influence of Superman's creators as Jewish immigrants, and one might speculate that the narrative of false truths could also reference recent trends of WWII Holocaust denial, in some pockets of society.
Whether his claims are credible, or not; Rogol Zaar seems to have a literal axe to grind with Kryptonians. Given the influence of John Byrne's work, which sought to restore Superman as the last son of Krypton; it'll be interesting to see if the villain is used to drastically reduce the number of Kryptonians living in the DCU. Supergirl, and even Zod, seem to serve a valuable purpose as characters, but the super son, and other stragglers, could be on the chopping block!
The last inspiration I'd speculate about is Donald Trump. The subjects Bendis is apparently thinking about inevitably circle around the controversial American President. I'm not sure what Rogol Zaar means, but "Zaar" immediately makes me think Tsar, and it might not be the biggest stretch to suppose "Donald" could become "Rogol". His unique hairline, another quality that could be supposed as an imagining of what Trump might look like, sans his famed flopping hairstyle. That might be staring at goats, though...
It's going to be interesting to see what Rogol Zaar is really all about, and just how many of these theories actually come to pass. Will he take an enduring place beside other memorable Superman villains, or will our Hero of the Week be forgotten in the years to come? With Jim Lee drawing, a foe like Equus comes to mind, but here's hoping Bendis has bigger goals for Superman!
Here on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths, we've got big goals to run the gauntlet of The Infinity Gauntlet! Regular updates started with Friday's opening salvo, inspired by the countdown to Avengers: Infinity War in theatres! That means we'll have to wait to see Rogol Zaar, Superman, or the Girl of Steel in action. Be sure to dive into the Archive Index and follow on Twitter & Facebook to find more to discover on The Comic Book Fight Club!
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