Let me clear all the baggage out of the way in one bold claim: this is the best Superman story I have ever read, period. End of story. Sure, Geoff Johns wrote a pretty solid reimagining of Superman with [b:Superman: Secret Origin|6906026|Superman Secret Origin|Geoff Johns|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320537319s/6906026.jpg|7130575] and I've been told the Grant Morrison [b:Action Comics, Vol. 1: Superman and the Men of Steel|13227314|Action Comics, Vol. 1 Superman and the Men of Steel|Grant Morrison|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1358399222s/13227314.jpg|18419110] is meant to be grand but I don't care, I've encountered Mark Waid's vision and it is amazing.
For those who are new or have no clue in regard to the world of graphic novels, comic books and basic drawn superhero lore let me explain one quick thing.
Superman: Birthright was part of the inspiration behind the recent
Man of Steel movie. At least, most of the good ideas in that film were based on some of the breathtaking imagery and storytelling in this work of fiction.
To put it simply this is a fantastically amazing artwork. Not only are the pencilling and the inking jobs top class, but the plotting and story itself are so composed. There is a brilliant balance between the sheer joy of Clark Kent existing as Superman and Clark Kent; a wonderful retelling of the Superman legend; and also a further balance between subtlety, dialogue and melodrama. In short it is a work of brilliance.
WHY YOU SHOULD READ SUPERMAN BIRTHRIGHTMARK WAID'S REVIEW OF MAN OF STEELIn short, if you are any kind of a fan of Superman, do yourself a favour and get yourself a copy of this. Better yet, do what I did and buy it. It should only be around 20 dollars or so if you go to right place and in my view it was 20 dollars well spent.