Superman Unchained # 2 2013 NM

Superman Unchained #2 (released July 10, 2013), titled "The Fall," raises the stakes of the blockbusting 75th-anniversary miniseries. Written by Scott Snyder with kinetic artwork by Jim Lee, this issue transitions from a breathtaking structural crisis to a tense military standoff that sets up the remainder of the series.

The story plays out across two main acts:

Act I: Crisis in Dubai

The issue opens with the tech-terrorist group Ascension launching a devastating attack in Dubai. 

• The Threat: Ascension hacks and hijacks a massive, high-tech construction drone, sending it out of control to deliberately shatter the spine of the world’s tallest building.
• The Rescue: In an intensely paced sequence that features Superman's rapid inner calculations, he must neutralize the drone while simultaneously figuring out how to stabilize the fracturing skyscraper to save the 36,000 people trapped inside. 
• The Clue: After preventing the collapse, Superman discovers that he is being tracked by an untraceable observer, prompting him to seek out Batman to help analyze the data. 

Act II: The Salt Flats Standoff

Superman tracks suspicious energy signatures to a top-secret U.S. military facility buried deep beneath the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, leading to a direct confrontation with Lois Lane's father, General Sam Lane.

• The Fable: General Lane mocks Superman’s ideals by telling him a grim story about two roosters fighting who both get eaten by a fox, telling Superman that the military facility is the fox. 
• The Ambush: Lane reveals that the installation houses hyper-advanced gravity weapons and black hole lasers explicitly developed by the government as countermeasures to neutralize or kill Superman if he ever steps out of line. 
• The Trigger: Tensions boil over when Lane’s soldiers panic and open fire on Superman without explicit orders. The gravity weapons inflict intense physical pain on Clark, causing him to momentarily lose control as his heat vision charges up defensively, escalating the military base into a full combat zone. 

The Subplots & Backup

• Lex Luthor: The story begins and ends with brief glimpses of Lex Luthor plotting from captivity, covertly designing an unrecognized creation right under his superiors' noses.
• Jimmy Olsen Backup: Beautifully drawn by Dustin Nguyen, the issue features a two-page backup story where Jimmy Olsen takes center stage to showcase how everyday citizens of Metropolis are reacting to the escalating structural and satellite threats shaking the world.