CRISIS OF REBIRTH, PART FOUR: Mr. Oz

The enigmatic Mr. Oz. Who is he? What are his goals? It would appear that he may actually be Ozymandias from the Watchmen. But is this really true? Or is he someone else? Someone sinister? Someone benevolent? Well, one thing we know for certain is that this Mr. Oz had been watching Superman for quite some time. Far longer than he, or anyone else, suspects. Some people, like me at first, thought he first appeared in DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH #1. But he did not. He first appeared in SUPERMAN I#32, a whole TWENTY issues prior to the publication of DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH #1.

So, what was this mysterious individual doing all this time? Watching. Watching and manipulating. Testing Superman for a purpose only he knows and we can only speculate. Let's examine these appearances and see if we can tell us what they mean. Beginning with SUPERMAN I#32...

It would appear that Clark has met Mr. Oz before and was some sort of student of his. And Oz, of course, knows Clark is Superman. Interesting.

From SUPERMAN I#34...

As we can see here, Oz has kept track of Superman's life, from the beginning right on up to now. He remarks about how Clark somehow still has hope, despite the number of tragedies that have been thrust upon him. This is also the first indication that Oz has been "collecting" prisoners for far longer than we knew about. Could the captive be Dr. Manhattan, who we all believe right now to be the instigator of REBIRTH? This is unlikely, but it Oz did have him captive, it would indicate someone else is the "mastermind" of what is going on. Someone else who wants hope, love, friendship, experience, and legacy eradicated from the DC multiverse, particularly from Earth-0.

Up next, SUPERMAN I#35...

The villain seen here, the Machinist, mentions here that he is working for Mr. Oz. This takes us as far back as the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths multiverse, when the Monitor was supplying carious villains with their tech. So, the Machinist is likely just another one of Mr. Oz's tests for Superman to see if he prevails and still has hope for the future.

Next is SUPERMAN I#38...

In this epilogue, once Superman prevails over his foe, Mr. Oz preps a mysterious package to be sent to Clark at the Daily Planet. Note the character sitting under the spotlight. Checking the issue, this is Ulysses, Superman's foe from the storyline. He has clearly been taken from military imprisonment (shown earlier in the story) and is now a part of Oz's collection of important inmates. Interesting.

And finally, we have SUPERMAN I#39...

A homeless woman mails the package for Oz, who rewards her with a nice, warm meal. By the end of the issue, Clark gets the parcel and opens it, only to find a blank journal...

Curiouser and curiouser....