This series was always going to be good. I mean, it's written by the current "Batman" scribe, Scott Snyder, who has written some of the best stories in the New 52, let alone Batman ones, and pencilled by Jim Lee, who is one of the greatest artists in comics. I went into this series with huge expectations and when I'd finished, I was blown away by it!
I'm determined not to spoil anything in this review, but the ending is genius. Scott Snyder takes a huge historical event and builds it perfectly into this story, and although that method can be used quite a lot in comic books, Snyder pulls it off really well, and it fits into the story brilliantly. He's setting up a really interesting plot, that is turning into a huge mystery, the premise of that aspect alone has me hooked.
Reading through this issue, I realised that these are the best portrayals of Superman and his entire supporting cast in around two years, Snyder has got these characters spot on, and these are what I see as the definitive portrayals of these characters, he wrote everyone perfectly, especially Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen.
One of the thing Scott Snyder does well is having the characters explain events from their childhood and tie them to the current events in the hero's life. He does it all of the time in "Batman" and having Superman compare the trip from outer space back to earth to one of his childhood games from Smallville was a great scene.
Now to the art. I was expecting Jim Lee's pencils in this issue to be brilliant, and they were. Seriously, I don't know how he does it, but Jim Lee is one of the best artists in modern comic books, and I feel that with every issue he draws, he improves. This issue has amazing art, and that is not an exaggeration, and that four page, two-sided fold out... Just brilliant.
However, part of the fold-out is my only problem. It's nothing on the part of the creative team: The writing on the pages was great, the art was great, but how it was organised was stressful. When folded up, the pages had glue to keep the corners together, which then left marks on the page, and it just felt badly laid out.
This is a brilliant issue, truly outstanding, and I can't wait to read more of it.
Rating: 9/10
