Dan Jurgens's Rebirth Superman: Action Comics Vol. 3: Men of Steel put me in mind of his historic Triangle Title epics. Jurgens tells the story with a subtle parallel structure that becomes more apparent as it goes, focusing on Superman and Lex Luthor on one side and Lois and Jon Kent on the other, in a manner much like the Triangle Titles used to do. Jurgens has been doing an exceptional job building up the relationship between the alternate-continuity Superman and the New 52 Lex Luthor in this book, and Men of Steel's A-plot is the perfect metaphor to bring that to a head.

'Superman: Action Comics Vol. 3: Men of Steel' by Dan Jurgens takes the issue of Lex Luthor acting heroic head on.

When Superman died, Lex Luthor took on his role. With a powered suit, a boom tube that he acquired, and Superman's old cape, he was in business. The new Superman is suspicious. In his world, Lex is corrupt and evil. So when the God Killer shows up to kill Lex for something Lex will do in the future, Superman is understandably conflicted. He feels like his suspicions are justified, but can you condemn a man to death for something he hasn't done yet?

This volume collects Action Comics 967-972, and it's a fight that spans just about that entire run. There are some subplots sprinkled throughout involving a missing building and a powerless Clark Kent and his interactions with Superman's wife, Lois Lane. Jon shows up as the eager young son who wants to help out.

The art is pretty solid as are the covers. This graphic novel includes variant covers for the run.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Lex Luthor is being hunted by a being from outer space for crimes he has not committed yet. Superman steps in to defend him. He does not like him; he does not trust him; yet he is willing to fight to defend him. Plenty of action and distractions with Lois and John running into Clark Kent. It will be interesting how all these subplots will pan out in the end.

The God killer has come to earth to kill Lex Luthor. He's had a vision where Lex has replaced Darkseid in the future. Supes and Lex team up to fight L-Call and Zane for 6 issues. There's also some minor plot with Lois and new Clark that gets left in the dust for the most part.

The Good: This is the best volume Jurgens has written so far. He keeps the plot simple and it works well. I like good Lex and hope this version stays that way. I loved the interaction between Supes and Lex and why Superman has such a distrust of Lex. The three artists on the book have different styles, but are all talented.

The Bad: Lois is pretty much filler in this volume. She and Jon hardly do anything.

The Ugly: They better reveal Clark Kent's deal soon. I honestly don't really care and just want it over with. He's not in the least bit interesting.

Four stars for this - he book shows us how bad it could be with Superbratbastard asking annoying questions, failing to cook a pizza without taking it out the packaging, and so on, but then goes into a properly self-contained story about some aliens who want to kill Superlex before he becomes Superlexdarkseid. Supermantwo has to come to the conclusion Superlex is worth saving, and tries to do so, which is slightly unfortunate at times as he ends up explaining himself every six bleeding pages, but does at least allow for some good action. NewLois and UnsuperClark and all that tosh still get in the way, but if you ignore all that was awful about the previous volume, you could actually find yourself having fun here. It's full of holes - how does the alien work, is it pheromones or tech, just make your mind up - but beyond that it's an escapist pleasure, the likes of which DC have struggled with since the Rebirth.

ARC from Netgalley.
Whoever figured out how to revamp Superman and his stories for DC Rebirth should be applauded. Both Action Comics and Superman titles are way better than they were during the New 52....
This Volume revolves around both men claiming the title of Superman (Lex Luthor and Pre-Flashpoint Clark Kent) and their encounter with "Godslayer", an alien from a future world beset upon by Darkseid and his army of Parademons. The twist is this: in his future, Lex has become Darkseid!

Godslayer has been sent to kill Lex and prevent this future tragedy. Much of the conflict here is internal and morality based, as Superman needs to save Lex, despite his acceptance that this potential future may be true. When they both end up on a world with a Red sun, Lex must return the favor and keep Superman safe. They ultimately end by calling a truce with each other and promising to not immediately assume the other did it for the future (we'll see if that lasts).

The storyline with the other Clark still isn't resolved, but he does learn about Jon, being told that he is Lois' nephew, and all the drama is there still. I really hope this resolves soon.

Overall, another excellent outing for Action Comics. Slowly approaching issue #1000.... high recommend.

More with Super-Lex in this Action Comics volume, and unfortunately, more with the new Not-Clark Clark Kent.

The primary story is that Superman has to go after Super-Lex when Lex gets taken by a couple of guys who claim he's gonna be the next Darksaid and that they have to kill Lex to prevent that. Superman won't let that happen though... probably.

And then there is unfortunately the meeting of Jon and Not-Clark which makes Clark go 'hmm'... which I feel is a really, really not good thing I think for this Super family that I love reading about so much. I knew it would come to an end at some point, but I held out hope it would be longer with this Lois and Clark and Jon. I guess I'll see.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of DC Entertainment.

With this being the first time that I have been able to follow an storyline for more than a single volume, I have noticed the character development and how the overall storyline is going. I now have a better understanding of why the characters act as they do and am now starting to understand their motives.

The art style was very similar to the previous two volumes. The new characters seemed to be suited to the art style but both Superman and Lex Luthor did not seem to be the centre of attention in this volume (even though they should be). This seemed quite apparent in how each character was drawn, with me constantly being drawn to these new characters and not Superman and Lex Luthor.

What really worked in this volume was the storyline. A lot was explained that furthered both Lex Luthor and this new Superman. The God Killer has deemed that Lex Luthor is dangerous enough in the future that to stop his future crimes, he is to be executed. Whilst Superman understand where the God Killer is coming from, he does not agree with punishing the victim before the crime. This volume seemed to delve into both Superman’s and Lex Luthor’s psyche and why they both do what they do.

With this being the third volume, I would recommend that you read the first two too get a full understanding of the conflict that comes to heat in this one.

interesting comic focusing on Superman's and Lex Luthor's strained relationship. Intrigued to see what comes to pass.