Superman and Wraith form an alliance to rescue a hostage and strike at the heart of Ascension, but the mission goes awry when it becomes clear the Man of Tomorrow and the soldier from beyond the stars have very different methodologies—and objectives! Plus, secrets are revealed about Wraith’s people!

I haven’t been too keen about DC’s reboot of Superman, and I went into this series wondering how writer Scott Snyder would spin the character. In this fifth issue, a lot of the concerns I had are being addressed in interesting ways.

With Wraith, we get a Superman who really believes in that “American way” that was dropped from the Man of Steel’s motto some time ago. This issue really focuses on that while at the same time giving us details about Ascension and moving that storyline forward, with a good amount of reveals.

The Ascension reveals are interesting but for me, the debate towards the end between Wraith and Superman is what stands out. It puts Superman’s role in the world into perspective and for those who were interested in the change to his motto and global citizenship, it’s a good debate and fun read due to that context. Snyder has shown that he can take the writing talent he’s shown on Batman and bring it over to Superman as well.

Of course Jim Lee‘s art is fantastic, I’d expect nothing less than from him and he continues to show off why he’s earned such a reputation with each issue. The man is talented and Snyder seems to have a string of luck working with artists that are as strong as his writing.

Overall, Superman Unchained to me is the best solo Superman series DC has and is the tone I had hoped we’d have seen when the DC New-52 launched some time ago.