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Rating: 
Summary: Lousy writing and artwork!
Review: Superman is infected by a virus and Lois Lane is missing. This sets up the storyline for this book. Except there's one problem! Namely, we never did get to see any of the two events happening at all! WHEN and HOW did Superman get infected? WHEN and HOW did Lois Lane go missing? Everything was shown "off-panel" - meaning we get some explanation later in expositional-style-flashback-dialogues-and-captions.Furthermore, we have a totally out-of-character Batman recording in a cold way his step-by-step detective work, referring to Lois constantly as "the subject" (something that Batman will NEVER do - he believes too much in the individual to ever call anyone that, especially a close friend like Lois). Out-of-character Batman is teamed up with a wimpy, sick and badly-drawn Superman. And the whole lot is written by Joe Kelly who's only gift in comic-writing seems to be witty one-liners and toilet-humor. And did I mention the uneven artwork? Interestingly, it was Marvel that began the manga-esque influence in their artwork (most noticeably in the X-Men books by Joe Madureira). Here, we have the massive artwork of Ed McGuiness coupled with several bad mangaesque artist like the Wizard Award Winner whose name I cannot even recall. Personally, I think a traditional character like Superman should be drawn by someone with a more traditional style like Steve Epting or Tom Derenick. McGuiness' art is fun but usually lacking in emotion and characterization. The rest of the pack in this book is simply horrendous. In fact, I dropped the Superman books immediately after this storyline.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Storyline But The Artwork is Really Lacking...
Review: This is without a doubt the best storyarc that came out of the whole 1999 relaunch of the Superman line of comics. The premise is that Superman must find the missing Lois Lane while trying not to succumb to Kryptonite poisoning (which happened in the previous tradepaperback). Yeah, it does sound like an episode of "Smallville", but trust me, it's written in a mature way that doesn't insult the reader's intelligence. The storytelling is top notch with a good blend of drama and humor. There's even a great cameo by Batman that further demonstrates the unique bond that these two heroes share. The only downside to this otherwise great trade paperback is the disjointed artwork. This is a compilation of four Superman titles, so a certain amount of this is to be expected. But the range of varying artistic styles is rather extreme here. Some artists draw Superman way too goofy & cartoony, while others seem heavily influenced by the "manga" style. If ever there was a character not fit for the manga art style, it would be Superman! Unfortunately, fan favorite Ed McGuinness' art isn't featured in this volume, thus the inclusion of the guest artists with the manga art style. Aside from this minor gripe, this is a solid good read and worth checking out!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Storyline!
Review: This is without a doubt the best storyarc that came out of the whole 1999 relaunch of the Superman line of comics. The premise is that Superman must find the missing Lois Lane while trying not to succumb to Kryptonite poisoning. Yeah, it does sound like an episode of "Smallville", but trust me, it's written in a mature way that doesn't insult the reader's intelligence. The storytelling is top notch with a good blend of drama and humor. There's even a great cameo by Batman that further demonstrates the unique bond that these two heroes share.
The only downside to this otherwise great trade paperback is the disjointed artwork. This is a compilation of four Superman titles, so a certain amount of this is to be expected. But the range of varying artistic styles is rather extreme here. Some artists draw Superman way too goofy & cartoony, while others seem heavily influenced by the "manga" style. If ever there was a character not fit for the manga art style, it would be Superman! Unfortunately, fan favorite Ed McGuinness' art isn't featured in this volume, thus the inclusion of the guest artists with the manga art style. Aside from this minor gripe, this is a solid good read and worth checking out!
Rating: 
Summary: Edmund Lau Kok Ming Missed the Point
Review: While this isn't a great collection, Batman's speech was probably the high point: He's explaining that he HAS TO divorce himself emotionally from certain cases in order to investigate them properly: Right now he has to focus on the clues, without being distracted by his feelings for Lois. It's a bit creepy that he can do this so completely, but that's part of what makes the character interesting.
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