Superman battles the insect army to save Lana Lang from the Insect Queen. While this story clearly tips its hat to the Superboy tales of the 1960s, it does not rely on dated references to be entertaining. Instead, Superman is faced with a genuinely menacing army of super-bugs that test him to his limits. The writer actually goes to the trouble of explaining what kind of insects these are and how their powers work instead of simply showing a bunch of monsters bombarding Superman with stinging rays. This is a very nice Silver-Age touch and also one that makes the comic seem more real.
Of course, much of the book is devoted to showing the domestic life of Lois and Clark and watching Superman perform acts of charity. This kind of thing has been going on a lot recently in the SUPERMAN titles. Some readers find these things boring. Others think these touches reinforce the character's humanity and remind people of Superman's essential heroism. Wherever you stand on this debate, you can at least rest assured that these parts of the issue do not crowd out the action. Superman has a good fight with the bugs, made more interesting in the way he has to balance the safety of the civilians with the need to rescue Lana.
One thing that distracts from the story is the constant first-person narration by Superman that seems overly-detailed for a guy who is fighting for his life. Why comic books just don't go back to using thought balloons and narration panels is beyond me.
The art is crisp and detailed, clearly done with a lot of attention. The crowd scenes do not feel jammed together and the fight scenes have a dynamic look about them. The artists do have a tendency to make Superman look a little too muscularly-defined, as though he were in a pose-down at a bodybuilder's competition. And their scenes of Superman in pain seem to really show the poor guy at his worst. Almost like they enjoy hurting Superman. Not that I'm suggesting anything here.
This gets a four out of five stars from me but those who hate the Silver Age or who don't like to see the domesticated Superman who washes dishes and helps orphans will give it a one star at best.
