It seems to me that Superman is a character who works better in single issue stories than in long-running tales, where his abilities can get old. Or at least, for my tastes, that's the way it works, because my favorite Superman stories are those that take place in a single issue and focus on how he affects those around him. Austen's and Alixe's story of Superman and a Metropolis cop that he befriends is not unlike Kelly's recent story about Superman and a newsstand owner, in that it tells a story of a great friendship, it shows how Superman interacts with the normal people of Metropolis and it makes me reconsider my usual habit of not buying the Superman books.
One of the best stories of the past ten years in the super-hero genre came from Kurt Busiek, who examined what it must be like for a Superman-like hero to live his life, never having a spare moment to himself when he wasn't worried about saving others. This story is a natural outgrowth of that type of story, examining how dear friendships must be to a man who can't relate to most people, and Austen does an incredible job of making Wit into a real and likable person, such that the reader understands why Superman would take time out of his busy schedule to spend time with him.
In fact, though Superman is ultimately affected by this story, this is more of a story of Wit, and I am not kidding when I say that I would read more stories about this character. Austen builds him up as a real cop, with his own history and personality quirks, and the use of Wit to narrate the story gives us an unusual and strong point-of-view as well as showing parts of Metropolis when Superman isn't involved. In addition, the story is remarkably continuity-light, not referring to any of the subplots going on in the Superman books or the minutia of continuity that often seems to be the focus of so many stories in the books on an ongoing basis.
While I enjoyed the discovery of a new character in this story, I was just as happy to discover a new artistic talent, Pascal Alixe. I don't know the name, but I certainly wouldn't mind seeing more work from him in the future. His take on Superman isn't exactly what I look for, a little more gritty and skinny than my impression of the character, but his attention to detail and strong work on shadows marks him as someone who would be perfect for a darker super-hero, crime or horror book. His work reminds me to some extent of Tan Eng Huat of Doom Patrol fame, but it has a distinctive look to it, and Alixe seems to already be well on his way to finding a unique style.
The story does feel a bit predictable to me, because the best way to get a strong ending out of this tale was to do what Austen did with Wit, and it seemed about halfway through that the story was definitely building that way. However, not every story needs a surprise ending. Instead, what more stories could use is this kind of strength of characterization, sense of humor and beautiful artwork.
