“In a continuing quest to read good Superman books, this one delivers big time.
There’s a lot to recommend this to people who are and aren’t comic fans. There’s a lot of the story of Superman’s origin in here, and in a lot of ways, not a lot new under the Sun. Earth’s yellow sun, that is.
But Mark Waid manages to make all of this feel fresh, believable, and great.
This is definitely a superhero comic I’d introduce people to if they hadn’t read superhero comics and were interested. No, it’s not going to be a great gateway book for someone from the no capes, no flying camp, but for someone who’s ready to give a superhero book a try, this is a must-read.
Something that this book managed that I didn’t see in a lot of others, I actually kind of believed that, in a way, Superman was a hayseed from Smallville. In the best possible way, but there were a few moments in here that made me believe that an alien from another planet could be a good-hearted midwesterner. No spoilers, near the end of the book, Superman gets a minor, much-needed victory that I really loved.
I think this quest has been turned up a notch. Because now I know there are some really good Superman stories out there, but I want to see the stories that aren’t origins. I think origins are a little easier to do. You don’t have to deal with all the history, plus they’re usually the most compelling bits of characters that tend to slump into being boring. I think I’ve got one more Superman origin story, and then it’s on to new heights. “