Top 5 Costumes: General Zod

Kneel before Mister Mxyzptik! Wait, that doesn’t sound quite right. Kneel before Nuclear Man! No, that seems way off. Kneel before Zod! That sounds right! In pop culture there is no Superman villain as infamous as General Zod. It’s for good reason too; power wise he is on par with Superman, but he has the cold, militaristic edge over the hero (well until Superman decides to go all neck snappy on him.). Being a powerful general, he needs something to look the part, to inspire those he leads. For the most part, he has had some fearsome costumes. Other times, he has worn some laughable ones. We raided his closet, which is not easy to do with an evil Kryptonian General mind you, and pulled our top five favorites while grabbing his worst for the ritual burning. See below what Kal-El has had to face off against over the years and let us know your picks and ranks in the comments!



5. Last Son: In theory, this is not a poorly designed costume. The robe is a nice touch in place of just a cape. The full body suit has a uniformity about it that even reminds us of his Superman film appearances. Finally the goggles are a nice additional piece of artistic flair for the character. What we do not like about this is that it just does not feel like Zod. He looks more like a Kryptonian scientist than a warrior or general. The goggles seem misplaced on the character and the robe just doesn’t express the power of the character. An interesting costume, just not as interesting on Zod.

4. New Krypton: While this costume is a little plain, as was with the previous pick, we are still partial to it. This costume is a very minimalist approach that worked well with his New Kyrpton authoritarian command. It represents his military service better than any other costume he has worn. This is the suit that commands respect.

3. Russian Zod: To begin this is not actually General Zod. This is a crazy Russian calling himself Zod. He at least gets some extra cred since he at least was guided by the pocket universe Zod. Regardless, we decided he still fits on this list, and we do like his armored suit. The completely red look would be served better with another color to add contrast. The tubes coming off of his helmet seem unnecessary, or at least poorly designed. If they help him breath, it seems like just having the tubes hang there would be a pretty easy thing out it battle. Get rid of them or protect them.

2. New 52: The New 52 redesign of General Zod got many things right. He looks very regal in this costume; perhaps not as much for battle, but almost a feel of royalty. The over the shoulder cape with the Z is a nice touch to blend in his family crest. Switching over to the scaled armor for his other side is a nice contrast, but also ties into his armored leggings. A powerful look for a powerful Kryptonian.

1. For Tomorrow: Oh, Jim Lee, let us count the ways we love thee! We had no doubt about it, this is by far our favorite. As we said previously, a general wants to inspire his men. In Zod’s hands-on-approach to things, instilling fear into your opponent is a nice edge to have. Man is this thing intimidating. We love the spikes on his shoulders, as they then match his helmet. The helmet itself is something fit for a king, something only a true warrior could pull off. Kneel before Zod, indeed!

Dishonorable Mention

Original: Well we didn’t realize that the actual Zod not only was a Kryptonian general, but served in the U.S.S.R. military as well. It makes the evetual Russian Zod make more sense. Except the Russian Zod actually had a pretty awesome costume. Here, Zod looks like a joke. Kneel before Zod? Would Superman laugh instead of kneeling? We would, even though Zod would probably rip off our heads for it. Yet, it would be worth it. Typically we appreciate every characters original costume, but here it is just to terrible to find any good in. Now, what color kryptonite did we need to destroy a fashion disaster of this magnitude?