You beat me to itWell, that was a pretty damn good comic. Between how deliciously rotten (while still keeping some inner... I won't say "morals", they're more like "scruples") Manchester Black is, and how clearly pissed off and willing to do morally muddy things Superman is behind that thin veneer of "classic heroism" (while also still being clearly a classic hero), that's some very entertaining friction and hopefully even more to come.
I do believe this Superman was 100% intended to be on the 5G Didio timeline. That line about being lost in time is just there to allow the reader to make mental gymnastics to justify why it's not, and they still sound fake.
Other notes while skimming through it again:
- Morrison's really milking Manchester Black's title, right? "He's Black!" Even got some sexual innuendo in there.
- The depiction of how Manchester Black fucks up people's perception was great, as confusing and scary as it had to be.
- "The rebel always defeats the empire or there's no story" sounds like it will be the general theme of this mini.
- Manchester almost gets killed exclusively because of how much of an arrogant idiot he is.
- "Gentlemen. Ladies. Others"
- I could do without the Kennedy mythologizing.
- Leave it to Morrison to come up with the best possible take on the "Superman casually levitates while talking to people" trope. "I hope you're impressed"
- That half-smile Superman has after Manchester accusses him of intentionally causing him agony and that he always had the makings of a sadist or a tyrant says it all, doesn't it?
- Right after the Action Comics Annual made sure to emphasize how hellish the Phantom Zone was, Superman's insistence of its fairness as a means of punishment just adds to the whole vibe of this version of him.
- "I hated you first! I can spot a trend a mile off!" Greatness, just greatness.
- Ursa in the Phantom Zone. Editor asleep at the wheel, I guess, since they couldn't be bothered to change it to Faora.
- Thought Beast, my kind of fanservice.
- Some reveal about Kryptonite. I figure whatever it is, it's how this'll tie in with the main continuity.
- Superman toasting with mineral water and indirectly making Manchester throw up like he couldn't hold his liquor is everything I didn't know I wanted from these two.