Artist Kenneth Rocafort takes a break this issue. The three artists in his stead, Aaron Kuder, Tyler Kirkham, and Robson Rocha, filled in adequately, with varying degrees of quality. I did miss Rocafort's unique style, though, and was a bit disappointed at his absence here. Hopefully, he'll return soon, as I'm afraid this comic suffered just a bit in the art department. Not to say that the artists featured aren't talented. They're certainly more talented than myself. I think I've probably just been spoiled by Rocafort's quality of style. Still, this was an enjoyable enough issue and I'm still in it for the long run. The intriguing story possibilities presented in this issue are hard to dismiss. For that alone, I have to recommend this comic. Read Full Review

On the other hand, Orion, Cat, Highfather, and Lois all read on the money. I am afraid this simply might be that Lobdell and I have very different views on Superman. As a result, I fear that his stories might never jibe with me. Or he could play the 'Hammond card' and reboot! Read Full Review

So this was all over the place for me. I'm not even sure how I felt about it. The dialogue was fine. The art ranged from decent to excellent. But the weird throwback storytelling devices, like I said, just took me right out of the story. I'm just going to have to give this an average score, although the art makes me wish I could give it more. Read Full Review

The art was split between three different artists, and while the shifts are noticeable, they are contained to different sections of the story so at least each scene looks consistent throughout. The standout among these gents is Aaron Kuder, who recently impressed with his work on Green Lantern: New Guardians and does an equally great job on Orion's scenes here. He gives his simple character designs a touch of texture to make them pop, not unlike Chris Burnham or Frank Quitely. Read Full Review

Script-wise, Lobdell does a lot in his alotted 20-pages -- he introduces a bunch of new plot points and advances Clark Kent's freelance blogger status while giving us a healthy dose of both alter egos. I just wished a good chunk of it looked better. Read Full Review

While we do get an intro and an epilogue with Orion, and the promise of more New Gods in this book is very appealing indeed, it's not enough to save the middle section of Superman #18, which feels about as unnecessary as it gets, especially after a story as big (and overlong) as the recently concluded "H'el on Earth." It's almost as if this Superman book has been stuck in neutral while DC waited for Grant Morrison to lay all his cards on the table over in Action Comics. Now that all of that is out of the way, perhaps Superman can come into its own. I believe Lobdell is as capable as anyone of steering the ship, but if he's gonna be the guy, then he's gotta up his game significantly from the disappointing Superman #18. It would be nice if we can finally get a sense of Superman actually IS in the New 52 sometime in the near future. Read Full Review

Ok, so that's a lot of focus on what was really a very small portion of the book, but frankly, other then some set up for next issue and maybe a few issues down the road, nothing worth talking about really happened. Plus, the court hearing and an escalating conflict with the US government is an interesting idea. However, more often then not, Superman is just more interesting when he has something he can hit, and preferably something that can hit him back, like H'el for example. But I guess we were due for a little break in the action. Chances seem pretty good that next issue will feature a knockdown, drag out fight though. Either that o a few punches followed by the realization it's all a big misunderstanding. We'll just hav to wait and see which it turns out to be. Read Full Review

I understand that when you've got a round-robin set of artists, it's usually a last-minute substitution (no doubt for Rocafort, whose name was originally in the solicitation credits), and at times beggars can't be choosers. Still, after finding two artists that worked, it's a shame that the third one felt so off base. Then again, the story itself in "Superman" #18 is lackluster and uninspiring on the whole. When Lobdell first took over (before getting almost immediately drawn into a crossover) I felt like there was some potential for "Superman." Now, I'm struggling to maintain interest. Things need to turn around fast, because this isn't a "Superman" title that I want to keep reading. Read Full Review

There's not much of a reason to read this story, so you probably shouldn't. Read Full Review