People, I just read Action Comics 991, and it's pure genius. After all these years since he first took writing duties back in the 90's, Dan Jurgens is by a wide range, hands down and full stop the best Superman writer currently working. The only rivals so far would be Grant Morrison (All-Star Superman) and Mark Waid (Kingdom Come), and even then, Jurgens manages to do something they usually struggle with; work with the established canon and current setting. And his current run on Action Comics is a testament of that.

Now, I don't want to review this issue on two basis: one, it just came out yesterday, which means that revealing anything is a sure shot to spoil it for people following the serie. And two, I do feel it's more proper to talk about what this issue (and the arc building up to it) did right rather than limiting the article to resume its content.

The first strong point of Jurgens' writing is the characterizations. And the strongest one here is Jon Kent. here, we see him reacting like any kid of his age would. At one point in the comic it feels like a conflict ball, only it becomes justified the moment you think about how much younger and more innocent Jon is. The way he usually swings between mature and innocent could be called inconsistent, but since the swing doesn't happen at random, it's actually fitting.

In simpler situations, Jon reacts more level headed because it's something he can understand quickly. In a more complex conflict, Jon reacts with confusion, like any other kid would. This drives us to the central conflict of the past issue, starting point of this one and central theme over Rebirth, and that is Clark Kent as a father. Granted, Peter Tomasi is the father/son writer, but Jurgens did a decent job at keeping up with him on terms of characterization.

From there, comes into play the quite old, but still relevant conflict in the Superman mythos about idealism vs cynism. Mister Oz is the one representing the later this time around, but unlike Batman or the Elite in previous stories, here we get the discussion going deeper because of the urgency of the situation. Also, Oz role as the strawman was played in a way that subverts the trope, while also playing with it. Won't say more, only that at first, you will question the logic under Oz's reasoning and motivations, only for the comic to actually follow up on that inconsistencies and deliver a resolution that adds up to the entire story.

Finally, the issue gives us a quite recurrent, but also still relevant shot of Superman confronted with his ideals and how they fit in a world that won't just follow them. The last two pages of Action Comics #991 are as defining for Superman as All-Star, or Whatever Happened. As a matter of fact, since it doesn't solve the conflict between idealism and cynism, it works as a middle ground between Morrison and Moore's visions of Superman.