This morning I read all six parts published so far of "The Last Days of Superman." I'd read the first when it came out, then had to wait for second printings of the next two, which came out last week, and finally had the time to read them all.
This story, frankly, isn't very good.
Due to various, recent adventures, Superman is dying. Meanwhile, his solar flare power has taken on a life of its own, possesses the body of a paroled felon, and believes that it's really Superman. So while Superman mopes, tells his friends individually that he's dying, has an adventure with his friends in turn, then goes off to another friend and another adventure, Solar Flare Superman is trying to assume Clark Kent's life and destroy the Superman so that it can be the One, True Superman.
It's so drawn out. I was done with the six published chapters in about twenty minutes. I kept thinking, "Back in the Ordway/Jurgens/Stern/Simonson days, this would have been a four-part story." Some parts are clearly set-up for the post-Rebirth status quo -- what's happening with Supergirl, where the New Super-Man comes from. (Where the sixth part leaves New-52 Lois, I have a suspicion how she becomes Superwoman -- the Solar Flare power will possess her. Alternatively, she could become the host of the pre-Flashpoint non-Kryptonian Superwoman suit that killed Lucy Lane. But I like the first idea better.) But the moment that I really wanted to see -- the meeting of the two Kal-Els -- didn't feel as momentous as it should. Really, nothing about this story feels momentous; Superman is dying, and I don't care.
Two more chapters, and then Rebirth.
