Superman's New Villain Is... Batman's [SPOILER]
Contains spoilers for "Action Comics" #1059, by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Matt Herms, and Dave Sharpe
Superman is facing an all-new dangerous threat in Metropolis with the Blue Earth Movement, and one of its leaders has just been revealed to have a significant connection to a dark version of Batman from across the multiverse as the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul.
In "Action Comics," from DC Comics, the Man of Steel's most recent concern is a woman named Norah Stone, who leads a group of alien terrorists called the Blue Earth Movement in trying to wipe out refugees across the universe. Stone's newest target is Earth, and she tells the public she wants to hand its inhabitants' safety and security to the people of Blue Earth and leave Superman in the past. However, her real goal — while yet to be fully revealed — appears much more sinister. Meanwhile, she's sent her own army against the hero, including a shapeshifter who drained his powers. Despite Superman's best efforts to learn more about the Blue Earth Movement and take them out, Stone successfully weakened him, leading him to turn to John Henry Irons (aka Steel) to create a new, customized armor that prevents his powers from being siphoned.
As Superman's battles against Blue Earth continue, DC reveals Stone is actually someone else entirely: Janan al Ghul, a character who has been lurking in the background for some time.
Superman comes to a shocking realization
In "Action Comics" #1059, Superman debuts his new armor as he fights the Blue Earth Movement in the streets of Metropolis. He takes some of its soldiers out, but Norah Stone manages to get what she is looking for, trapping his adopted son from Warworld, Osul-Ra, in a psychic hold and telling him they have much to discuss before freeing him. After the fight, Superman learns Stone doctored public videos of the battle to make it look like Blue Earth was protecting his home city against the Super-Family's attacks when, in reality, the opposite was happening.
Superman remains highly concerned with how the people of Blue Earth stole his powers, and he can't help but shake the feeling that Stone looks familiar to him. When Lois Lane comments she "kinda looks like Bruce [Wayne]," he figures out where he knows her from. Superman reveals to the Super-Family that Stone is actually the daughter of Bruce and Talia al Ghul from another universe, Janan.
He claims her arrival is both his and Batman's fault and that the alien invasion Stone keeps talking about is very real. He refers to the group as "the Empire of Shadows" before Superman's adopted daughter, Otho-Ra, is taken by Stone from the Super-Family in a portal and arrives on Earth al Ghul. There, Stone reveals huge things are about to happen, and much of what's coming relies on the youngster.
Janan Al Ghul isn't a new character
Janan al Ghul's arrival has been more than a year in the making, with the character first appearing in "Batman/Superman Authority Special" #1 (by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Trevor Hairsine, Scott Hanna, Ben Templesmith, Jonathan Glapion, Rain Beredo, and Tom Napolitano) back during the "Warworld Saga." In the issue, Batman, Superman, and the Authority learned about the Empire of Shadows and their world in the Dark Multiverse, where R'as al Ghul has absolute control with practically limitless military capabilities. Making matters worse, the group captured a Fuginaut, one of the guardians of the multiverse, and planned on using it to access other realities.
Batman, Superman, and the team used the Enchantress to teleport to the dark world. However, after Enchantress was kidnapped and hooked up to the remains of the Fuginaut, the Empire of Shadows used her magic to travel to a new world to conquer. But they ended up in the main DC Universe, as Batman, Superman, and the Authority successfully sent them back to their world. Unfortunately, they didn't see their takeover attempt as a total failure, with an alternate Bruce Wayne, now serving as R'as al Ghul, telling Janan and his other children they will see their enemies again one day.
Fast-forward to "Action Comics" #1059: Janan continues the mission to take over Earth — only in disguise as part of the Blue Earth Movement. Superman sees the Secret Empire of Shadows' arrival as his fault for his and Batman's previous intervention in stopping them. So in the present, he'll have to figure out how to stop Batman's daughter before the Empire of Shadows gets its long-awaited revenge and tries to control Superman's home world — with Otho-Ra somehow playing a vital role in future events.