Superman is the original superhero. With a list of superpowers making the character largely invulnerable and unchallengeable, and eighty-plus years of dense comicbook continuity weighing him down, the idea of a shining paragon and jesus-allegory doesn’t really appeal to the modern reader. Enter Grant Morrison: an industry heavyweight with a penchant for cerebral storytelling and almost frustrating insistence on making use of the most obscure pieces of a character’s backstory to tell stories undeniably grand in scope. The Pairing, joined by Frank Quitely, a master artist in his own right, is simultaneously a gateway book for the non-comics reader, an instant classic for the industry in general and very much a definitive superman story.