Superboy #15

This is issue #15 of DC's New 52 monthly series Superboy (released December 2012, cover date February 2013), Chapter 4 of the Superman-family crossover event "H'El on Earth," following Superman #14 and continuing into Supergirl #15. The story is titled "Shattered Steel!" Superboy has been gravely wounded by H'El; his body is on the verge of collapse and he is near death, while his consciousness drifts outside his body and can only look back on his origins and the preceding events in monologue. Superman realizes he is about to die and, ignoring the lockdown of the scene, forces his way in and carries Kon-El back to the Fortress of Solitude for emergency treatment. The Fortress's scans reveal that Superboy's DNA has an abnormal three-strand structure and is being broken down second by second by a program H'El pre-installed. Superman has no choice but to place his own armor over Kon-El, using it to temporarily bind and stabilize his genes; Kon-El thus awakens, but the form of his powers also changes. Meanwhile, H'El meets Kara in Supergirl's sanctuary and tries to persuade her to join him in resurrecting Krypton. This issue is a key chapter in which the father-son (brotherly) relationship takes a sharp turn in "H'El on Earth," and is a foundational text for the three-title Superman-family crossover, best read as part of the event's reading order.