I'm very impressed. Frankly, I don't like reading Superman. He feels too bland as a character for my liking. There hasn't been enough tension in the titles I've read to raise my interest from when it died after the first few seasons of Smallville way back when.

But this... This made me feel things! Clark feels like he has emotional depth, a golden heart, and a willingness to sacrifice everything to do what's right. He interacts well with Lois. He has a bit of mischief in him. He gets angry and punches bad guys in the face. This Superman is someone I can sympathize with, who you can tell cares about the people around him, and understand why he wants to protect them.

There are two separate stories in this volume. The first is about a Kryptonian boy who ends up in Metropolis. This story resonates with me more and I think it's the stronger half. I prefer the art for this too as - not only does everything look beautiful - but you can see the difference between Clark Kent's appearance in contrast to Superman's.

The second half is about Brainiac and strongly features Supergirl. It's not quite as affective but it's nice to see Supergirl and Superman interact, and gives readers the chance to compare their perspectives and experiences. The artwork in this one is generally fine, but almost every panel with Supergirl has her looking creepily skinny - especially around her torso... *cringes* She has some funny dialogue though, so there's that...!

Long story short: this book made me like Superman again. He's not boring, whiny, self-righteous, hypocritical, or flat, but he still retains that nice country boy nature that's essential to his character. Well done. My favourite Superman comic yet.