I really want to enjoy this book. Superman is a timeless concept, and I'm really taken with the super-power narrative captions that Seagle has come up with for this title. But that's really the only element here that strikes me as being fresh; everything else about this script is far too familiar and formulaic. The derivative conflict lacks suspense, and the subplots involving Lois Lane don't even make sense. On top of that, McDaniel's exaggerated artwork -- which worked well with the acrobatics and darkness of Bat-books like Nightwing and Batman -- do not serve the brighter world of the Man of Steel well at all.
A Metropolis surgeon whisks an unusual terrorist bomb out of his hospital in an effort to protect the lives of his patients, but he pays a terribly -- and unexpected -- price for his bravery. He is transformed and empowered, but he's no longer a man whose touch heals. The power that surges through his hands now is destructive, and he can't control it... a fact that Superman discovers in a far too direct manner. Meanwhile, Lois Lane's two professional lives collide.
McDaniel's extreme style appears a bit rushed in this issue. Background detail is sorely lacking at times, and I never really got a strong sense of "Dr. Metropolis's" powers here. Of course, the colors also don't consistently convey them either. The action doesn't flow smoothly at all through this issue, and the shadows the artists cast over the characters' faces don't establish tension and instead give the impression of shortcuts.
The most confusing scene in the book is Lois Lane's on-air report for Channel 6 being interrupted by a telephone call from Perry White, who claims she works for The Daily Planet. In another Superman title recently, Lois seemed to have left the TV gig behind, but now the reader is being led to believe she's holding down two jobs in the field of journalism at the same time. It makes no sense. It's too bad this subplot has become all mixed up. When Clark kent took a job in TV in the 1980s, it brought a new dynamic to the character. It doesn't seem as though the notion has brought anything new to the character of Lois Lane or her relationship with the Man of Steel.
As a "villain," Dr. Metropolis is thoroughly... ordinary. Everything from his origin to his name just screams "generic." EW're not given time to have a vested interest in the character, and therefore, the tragedy of the curse of his powers doesn't sink in. It's not even clear why he lashes out at Superman in the first place, making the conflict seem completely artificial and robbing it of what limited potential for suspense there might have been.
