WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Justice League #52 by Jeff Loveness, Robson Rocha, Daniel Henriques, Romulo Fajardo Jr, and Tom Napolitano, on sale now.

The Black Mercy has been one of DC's most formidable weapons and a big part of Alan Moore's legacy. Its biggest footprint outside the comics came in a Justice League Unlimited episode fashioned after Moore and Dave Gibbons' classic tale, "For the Man Who Has Everything" that first appeared in Superman Annual #11.

There, he had a wife, Loana, and a son, Van-El, but eventually he was ripped from this happiness, beating Mongul senseless for it. Now, Justice League #52 has confirmed that this left him fighting a non-violent secret war within, and that the Man of Steel was almost broken by it.

RELATED: Justice League: Heaven Help Us, the Snyder Cut's Darkseid Is... Kind of Sexy?

After Batman escapes the latest Black Mercy attack, Superman meets him on a Gotham rooftop and inquires about his well-being. He doesn't want to know what Batman saw but he knows from experience that it shook him to the core. Superman opens up and admits the first time he touched Black Mercy decades ago, the possibility of family tore him apart. He experienced a paradise and got to know his home again, but when he came back from the dreamworld, he struggled to recover.

Superman didn't believe he could have a family without a Kryptonian love, which made him live a lie where he felt being reclusive emotionally was the best option. However, as sheltered as his heart had become, Lois broke those walls down and remembering the nightmare from the Black Mercy, Clark Kent revealed his secret identity to her. It was his first step to true happiness.

RELATED: Justice League's Latest Cosmic War Just Gave Us the Most Ruthless Batman

Superman confesses that the depression was great and something the Man of Steel feared would stay in his mind for years. Luckily, marrying Lois and then having Jon would help cure him, but what really made Superman hopeful again was that he believed he could change and that wanting new things didn't make him a bad person.

It didn't dishonor Krypton and his dead parents, nor would it sully Clark's ambitions of old. He deserved more than wallowing in self-pity and he urges Bruce to seek the same. After all, when the Black Mercy touched Superman this time, all he saw was the present with his family, which means his ultimate dream did come true.

KEEP READING: Death Metal Just Revealed How an EXPLOSIVE Justice League Member Died