The Good: The art of Aaron Kuder is the selling point of this series. The layouts are great and Quintana's colors are vibrant and exactly what this story needs. The Bad: The execution of the story is rushed and crammed. Ideas are thrown to the reader and then get dumped, the one-shot format only makes it more visable. Conclusion: Buy it for the art or if you have spare money. Look for some good jokes but no substance.

Chunks of the story are missing. The plot is terribly slow. Filler pages.

While there isn't much plot decelopment. The pace and spectacle of the issue make it a very strong read.

Solid but it retreads the same ground the previous issues did.

Perfect issue. Art continues to be stunning and Lex's appearance was incredibly well-done.

Nothing happens that wasn't revealed in the solicits so there isn't much excitement and it also suffered from needless recapping of the first issue that took a big amount (almost half the issue) of pages. The art is great but good art is not enough to rate it high. The writing here was really decompressed and this issue clearly suffers let alone in comparison to the previous excellent issue. EDIT: This is a response to the above review, which gently criticized my review. The fact that it is a common Geoff Johns habit that the in-between issues don't have any plot-evolution doesn't make the issue better. Maybe if you read the story as a whole it won't matter but unfortunately the series is a monthly comic, so stories must been paced and ploted well so each issue gives a satisfying experience.

Manapul's art and Buccellato's colors steal the show.

NOTHING HAPPENS! Seriously. Good art isn't enough to keep a comic going.

Another issue with a liar reveal. The character interactions are superficial and the story has nothing much going on that we didn't already know. Fabok's art is good but not good enough. I really don't know how to rate this issue. Going in blind would provide a good experience but reading monthly and checking the info the writer and editor reveals themselves killed any excitement. I will still try to be fair and rate this as close to what it deserves as possible.

The plot is moving very slowly. We are six issues in and the pay-off seems so far away. If the story demanded so much decompression I wouldn't have a problem but now there isn't something to keep you interested.

A quick read and hardly a fulfilling one. The prelude to Episode VII is no prelude at all.

Great issue. The story was great and although the synopsis made it out to feel like it would tackle cliche ground, the issue was pretty good writting quality-wise. But JRJR's art, was at its weakest here. Rushed, disproposionate and the faces needed work in many panels. Anyway the quality of the story overwhelmed the weakness of the art.

One of the best Superman issues in a while. Very filling story, nice characterization and incredible visuals.

Just for the art.

I don't think I can classify it as bad, the art is okay and the story is nothing extraordinary but the main problem is that the ending IS cheap. I understand taking risks but the ending was cheap shock-value which killed any momentum the story had. Why you ask? Because the plot evolved in the most dark way possible so you can have a "realistic" Superman moment. Its really weird. When the plot creates conveniences for the characters to leave unscathed people complain, now the plot does the same so you can have a dark moment and I am sure people will say it was "realistic". Those people should really look up the definition of that word because American Alien 2 wasn't realistic, it was cheap. I advice trade-waiting since American Alien made clear that not every issue is gonna be a hit.

This read exactly like a legend from times of old. A romantic adventure, a quest for greatness that comes from the purity of the character and his motives. Like the adventures of Odysseus or king Arthur. Miller's narration sometimes is so strong and gripping. Unlike anyone else currently in comics. JRJR is also at his best.