Between this Superman run of DC Rebirth and the current Rebirth arc in Action Comics, it's clear that Superman is one of the characters receiving a major boost from the Rebirth movement. So many of his classic elements from the 90's era have come back to life in this run and it's never more apparent than in Superman #3.

On a family trip to the Fortress of Solitude, Clark, Lois and Jon discover that The Eradicator has returned and is looking to rebuild Krypton using the genome of Clark's son, the current Superboy, John by absorbing him and eradicating the human part of his genome, considered corrupted.

This current Superman run has been an emotional family story, tracking the journey of Jon as he adjusts to his powers and living with his father being Superman. The same thing is happening in Action Comics right now, but that is taking a different turn with the Doomsday revisited plot line, so a lot of the family dynamic storyline and emotional beats are coming in this series, and #3 is full of them for certain.

At first, I wasn't sure how to process this Superman series because despite some solid action here and there, it really has been a family-centric story surrounding Jon and his relationship with Clark and his essential training to be a superhero. I didn't think that it was a boring story, but compared to other series in DC Rebirth right now, it was definitely one of the more cerebral titles right now.

In retrospect, that's a great thing because it's getting back to the core elements of Superman and his character that we all enjoyed pre-New 52. While I never read New 52, I've read a number of Superman trade paperbacks from the 90's, including The Death of Superman and this current series really feels like a callback to those stories, not just in characters that reappear like Eradicator or Krypto, but also because of the art style harkening back to that time and the ultimate heart of these stories at their core.

The best part of this series though, is that it doesn't reboot anything, which is of course DC's entire point with Rebirth. The past is not forgotten or erased and the New 52 is very much acknowledged, but now these characters get to return to their essence with that "New 52 knowledge" in their arsenal to help them out. This is especially the case for Superman, who is facing so much of his past from the 90's at once in this series and in Action Comics.

Longtime fans of Superman have certainly got to be enjoying this run, and after reviewing it further, so am I, being a longtime fan that only read some trade paperbacks here and there. This is one of the stronger DC Rebirth series' to read for sure right now.

5 out of 5 stars - DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH: Superman #3

This series runs biweekly, next issue due out August 3rd.