9 Vol. 5

This volume is the fifth in the "1-9" series and corresponds to the later chapters of the main storyline of Superman Unchained. The story begins with a secret the U.S. government has kept hidden for nearly seventy-five years: long before the Kryptonian orphan became Earth's guardian, another being of immense power fell from the sky, was secretly taken in by the military, and quietly took part in American military operations for decades. When satellites begin falling one after another and the Metropolis high-tech terrorist group Ascension starts turning civilian technology into weapons, this buried trail resurfaces. Following the traces left by General Sam Lane, Lois Lane's father, Superman finally comes face to face with the super-soldier codenamed Wraith in a secret military facility in Utah—an opponent whose power rivals or even exceeds his own, yet whose allegiance and cause are utterly different. Faced with a "Superman" created and controlled by the human government, Kal-El must answer a harder question: does the meaning of power lie in obedience, or in choice? The story weaves together Superman and Batman fighting side by side, the everyday life of Clark and Lois, and Lex Luthor's sharp assessment of Superman, all pointing toward the question of the "true Superman."