Explanations for parts of the upcoming story will be done by Jor-El in the afterlife, or in Superman's subsconcious, you pick, I'm not sure and it doesn't really matter. Off-stage explanations, so to speak.
The first question from last issue would be: Is Superman dead? The answer is yes.
What's next? What's next is that Kal-El has a choice.
We've all known Superman for a long time so I think we know what choice he'll make. As to why he gets a choice and how his body can survive solar overdose and the Solaris attack, more on that before this issue ends. For now, let's see how Superman deals with one last mess spelled L-U-T-H-O-R.
Luthor is in the Daily Planet and he's bullying everybody.
Everybody thinks Clark is either unconscious or dead.
Just when super-powered Luthor is becoming more obnoxious and dangerous Clark wakes up and shoots him with an anti-gravity gun.
At this point everybody knows it's Superman. But they don't think Clark is Superman. They think Superman disguised himself as Clark and is keeping Clark somewhere safe.
That Clark disguise is foolproof.
It's back and forth between Superman and Luthor for a short while but eventually. . .
Look at Luthor's arrogant, jaunty walk.
While all this is happening, Nasty approaches Luthor with a "very important" question.
Ha! That retort was a backhanded slap Nasty. Process it and knee Luthor in the nuts. You can do it now because . . .
And Luthor gets his.
A while back, Quintum detected an anomaly in the sun. A repairable anomaly. Superman flies off to do the repair. This is no quickie job. Fast forward one year and Superman is still not back. Many are assuming he's dead, therefore the monument.
And they held a memorial service too.
Superman's not dead though, he is in the heart of the sun.
Okay, wait. What is happening? The anomaly in the sun, that's a separate thing. Quintum detected that and it has to be fixed. Let's set that aside. Now, Superman flies off to repair it. How is he still alive? What about the fatal overexposure? And how can Superman fly off into the sun again without another overexposure happening? Again, Jor-El explains.
In other words, Superman is mutating into a solar creature.
It won't take him a year or years to repair the sun it will take eons. He said an emotional goodbye to Lois proclaiming her as the love of his life but sadly he will not come back to her arms even though she keeps hoping. I too hope that Lois finds the happy ending she deserves.
So how do I know that it's eons before he comes back? That's because his return is covered in All-Star Superman No. 6.
He is the golden Superman in the middle referred to as the leader of the Superman Squad. This shows us that he becomes a solar being and that he would eventually emerge from his labors in the heart of the sun.
