Superman Annual #13

Superman Annual #13 suffers from a deflating lack of momentum brought about by delays, fill-ins, and the general abuse of Kurt Busiek's gifts to create material that has padded out Superman's sister title, Action Comics, while Geoff Johns and Real-Time Hollywood Big-Shot Richard Donner attempt to complete their first storyline with the help of one of the Kuberts, I forget which, but he's late a lot. Were this conclusion to Busiek's Camelot Falls storyline part of the regular Superman title, and had it run in those pages as part of an ongoing storyline with reasonable gaps between creation and release, I honestly think it would have been a better-written tale. I know it would have read better. As it stands, this is just a big fight between Superman and some slimy monsters, with a bit of self-doubting subtext sprinkled on top. The backup story, though slight, is more of a keeper, a set of pure character moments that define the members of this new "Superman family" for readers.