The Secret Files format has endured much longer than I ever expected it to be, and I assume that's an indicator that it's a sales success for DC. At times, it's even a storytelling success for the publisher, but this isn't one of those times. The main story here isn't about bringing the reader up to speed on the status quo in the world of the Man of Steel, but to tie up some loose ends from the long-running "President Luthor" storyline. Also unfortunate are the profile pages here, which sometimes provide more information about the characters than the various writers on the Superman titles have bothered to offer in the comics themselves.
Pete Ross, elevated to the office of the President by Luthor's criminal actions, ponders whether or not he should be the incumbent candidate in the upcoming election, and that's when he's approached by a mysterious agent for the shadow government. Someone is behind the scenes, trying to manipulate the government, and the only person who knows who's behind it is Amanda Waller. She's behind bars, though, and the Suicide Squad has been dispatched to ensure she doesn't reveal what she knows. Enter: the Man of Steel. And in the Fifth Dimension, Mr. Mxyzptlk is found to be running around with another man's gal... but that ain't what gets him in trouble.
The Mxyzptlk story is the port in the unfortunate storm of this comic book. Rucka offers up an uncharacteristically playful and goofy story here. Given the topsy-turvy nature of the logic at play here, I was reminded of the Silver Age "Tales of the Bizarro World" stories from Adventure Comics. It was also a pleasure to see one-time Superman: The Man of Steel artist Jon Bogdanove back in action. His exaggerated style is a nice match for the weird world of Mr. Myxzptlk.
The writers on the main story assume the reader is up to speed on the "President Luthor" storyline, but I see it as a flawed assumption. The story is quite inaccessible, and it was my understanding that these Secret Files and Origins books were meant to make the various ongoing books to which they're attached easier to delve into. Though I'm a fan of the original Suicide Squad series, new readers are bound to be lost by the concept's return here as well. I also didn't care for Pete Ross's reasoning to bow out of the election. He seems to indicate that his rural upbringing makes him a poor choice; he dismisses himself as not worldly enough for the position, when in fact, his moral center makes him the sort of ideal leader the people can only fantasize about.
In some cases, the profile pages here spotlight problems with the storytelling in the various Superman titles. The Gog profile features a lot more information than we've seen in three issues of Chuck Austen's Action Comics run thus far, and Mike McAvennie's description of Father Daniel Leone dispels the air of mystery in which Brian Azzarello has enveloped the character in Superman and gives away something of a significant secret about the character in the process.
