SPOILER WARNING: The following post contains spoilers for Sideways #9, by Max Raynor, Dan Didio, Daniel Brown and Travis Lantham, on sale now.


During the New 52 reboot in 2011, DC shocked the comic book world by introducing a young, brash Superman who wore a t-shirt and jeans instead of his iconic costume. Even though that Man of Steel shouldn't technically exist anymore after he died and his history was merged with his Pre-52 counterpart, the New 52's Superman just popped up on the last page of Sideways #9.

In the "New Age of Heroes" title, the young dimension-hopping hero Sideways encounters this Superman (or someone that looks like him) while traveling between the worlds of the Dark Multiverse. After being shunted into a strange realm called the Kingdom of Benevolence, Sideways meets the Unseen, several monstrous-but-friendly versions of Superman and his allies. After taking on the world's ruler, Perrus the Benevolent, the young hero finds a mysterious underground cocoon and frees Superman from it.

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New 52 Superman Returns Sideways

If this really is the New 52's Superman, this is his first appearance in a while. Initially, he was the star of Grant Morrison and Rags Morales' critically-acclaimed run on Action Comics, which took place about five years before DC's other ongoing titles. After he ditched his casual clothes for a more modern costume, this Superman had a high-profile romance with Wonder Woman and had his secret identity revealed by Lois Lane before seemingly dying in 2016.

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In the lead-up to DC Rebirth, an older Superman popped up in a remnant of DC's pre-New 52 timeline. This Superman, who was married to Lois Lane and the father of Jon Kent, found his way to DC's main reality and took over as DC's main Superman. In the reality-warping 2017 storyline "Superman Reborn," the spirit of the younger Superman reappeared one more time and merged with the older Superman to form the one, true Superman. With this merger, the history of the younger New 52 Superman was basically wiped out of existence.

So, who could Sideways' New 52 Superman be?

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The merged Superman appeared earlier in the issue on DC's main Earth at a funeral, so it's almost certainly not him. As its name suggests, the Dark Multiverse is full of dark, twisted versions of DC heroes. While this Superman seems like himself so far, he could just be a dark Superman who hasn't turned evil yet. He could also be a creation of the story's villain, who was absorbing energy from the Unseen for a mysterious purpose.

However, it seems like this Superman might be the real deal, especially since Grant Morrison is credited with co-writing the next part of this story, Sideways Annual #1. This Superman could be some kind of remnant or echo of the character who was merged in "Superman Reborn," or he could hail from a world based on the pre-Rebirth New 52.

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Superman Reborn

Either way, it's worth remembering that the Dark Multiverse isn't just a place where a bunch of evil Batmen live. It's also the place where worlds built around unstable ideas die in an endless churn of destruction.

While the New 52 was a sales smash with plenty of critically-acclaimed highlights, some aspects of that reboot simply didn't work. The New 52's younger Superman was hardly the worst part of the relaunch, but he was still phased out in favor of a more traditional Man of Steel. When the New 52 Superman's history was erased, all of that time had to go somewhere, and the Dark Multiverse seems like the logical landing place for those adventures.

In a lot of ways, this Superman is the embodiment of the New 52. Since he and other parts of the New 52 weren't able to succeed in the real world, this entire storyline could be read as a meta-commentary that acknowledges the parts of the New 52 that didn't work by throwing them in DC's multiversal scrapheap.

Superman Sideways

During Morrison's seminal run writing Animal Man, Morrison waded into similar territory with Limbo, a part of the DC Universe that held long-forgotten characters who were put on a metaphorical shelf. Since he was one of the primary creative forces behind this Superman, it makes sense for Morrison to send him off with one final blaze of glory before obliteration.

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No matter who he is, it doesn't look like the Superman will be around for long. Going by the covers DC has released, it doesn't look like this Superman will appear anywhere after the Sideways annual. Even though this Superman says that he's "never being put away again" in Sideways, this could very well be the New 52 Superman's final adventure.

Sideways Annual #1 is written by Dan DiDio and Grant Morrison, with art by Max Raynor and is on sale on October 31.