Warning: The following article contains spoilers from House of El Book One by Claudia Gray, Eric Zawadski, Dee Cunniffe, and Deron Bennett.
General Zod might be one of Superman's greatest villains, but in the graphic novel House of El, he is depicted as a good, competent leader with the bests interests of his people in mind. Writer Claudia Gray and artist Eric Zawadzki's newest DC YA graphic novel, House of El: The Shadow Threat, is the first in a trilogy of graphic novels that depicts the final days of Krypton, leading to the planet's untimely end. As with many of the recent YA graphic novels DC has released, the book has taken liberties with the source material, though none are as immediately apparent as the somewhat noble depiction of General Zod.
Best known as the villain of both Superman II and Man of Steel, General Zod is a military commander who clashed with Jor-El, Superman's father, on many matters. While every continuity interprets him slightly differently, House of El's depiction might be the softest yet, showing him as an incredibly pragmatic figure who, while determined, believes in the value of his soldiers.
We are introduced to General Zod early in House of El. The book has already demonstrated the unfairness of the Kryptonian government. They throw anyone who argues that their culture has any flaws at all into the Phantom Zone -- a realm for the worst criminals of Krypton Society. Krypton has become an authoritarian government that refuses to acknowledge their own mistakes.
General Zod's soldiers serve to help terraform other planets. One planet, Rado, hosts an environment inhospitable to life, made worse by Krypton's terraforming technology. All of Zod's soldiers are almost killed when a wave nearly crushes them. When his soldiers express dismay, thinking that they ought to be proud to give their lives to Krypton, Zod arrives to tell them "Yes, you're meant to give your lives to Krypton. But not to waste them. Had you died on Rado, that woud've been a waste. You're worth more than that."
This line signifies immediately that Zod values their lives and wants them to see their own inherent value. Later on, when Zod agrees to Jor-El and Lara's plan to save Krypton, Zod selects Sera-Ur, a young female soldier with great engineering skills, loyalty and strength, to help the two scientists with their plot, recognizing her inherent potential.
Behind the scenes, General Zod and Jor-El try to convince Krypton that the terraforming process doesn't actually work. Zod and Jor-El seem to realize that the terraforming process doesn't improve the planets, but actually makes them even more dangerous to live on. However, despite both of their behind-the-scenes discussions, nothing they do can convince the authorities of Krypton to stop terraforming planets.
This Zod is willing to commit the greatest taboos of his society -- opposing the will of the government -- in order to protect both his society and the lives of his soldiers. Zod is even willing to trust his soldiers with the knowledge of his sedition, as is the case when he openly shares with Sera-Ur his plans and misgivings about Jor-El not being a soldier, but just a scientist.
However, as seen when he learns that his soldiers died attempting to terraform planets, he takes the news to heart, placing the blame on the systemic problems that brought about the disaster.
General Zod is a problematic figure in that his story changes depending upon the continuity. Zod is traditionally seen as a criminal rebel, doomed to the Phantom Zone due to his ambitions of domination. However, as time has gone on, Zod has become a more sympathetic figure in the world of comics.
House of El's Zod seems most similar to the Zod that appears in Man of Steel. Despite having the complete opposite opinion of terraforming that House of El's Zod has, Man of Steel's Zod is a man who loves his planet and cares deeply for the lives of his people. Everything he does, no matter how cruel, is in the best interests of his society.
However, a key difference between the current and previous incarnations is that Zod generally doesn't break from Kryptonian tradition, and doesn't attempt to restructure the government. In Man of Steel, Zod blames corrupt politicians but isn't interested in changing the laws or traditions that led to the ruin of Krypton. He just tries taking over. By making Zod actively try to fix systemic issues with Krypton in House of El, it becomes clear that this Zod is, at least in this first volume of the trilogy, the best version of the character to date.