Super Aceeptable
The Good: The cover is actually pretty nice. We've got Superman right in the middle, and our view right behind the three major threats of this issue, seeing Superman being slowly smothered by the presence. Though I am annoyed that it spoils something from the end of the issue, and kept me thinking, "When's [X] going to happen?" all issue until it happened.
I think Jesus Merion took some inspiration seeing Nicola Scott's superior art, because Merino's stuff is looking better than I remember.
Superman's confused. This is actually a really interesting plot. He's getting sloppy in every facet of his life. He's slipping up in his excuses to cover his secret identity and that's dangerous. The cause isn't directly obvious, so this whole story is very intriguing.
Lois' new status quo as a producer instead of a reporter is being used to create some interesting stuff. The whole handling of this idea has been great, and I actually like that they're trying to advance something as opposed to spending decades in the same position because it's status quo.
In fact, the supporting cast in general is very well utilized. They almost take over the series to be honest, which isn't actually a great thing, but I do like that they're not being ignored. Everyone is an important cog.
The final twist is very surprising and intriguing.
The Bad: This issue, and the series thus far, is just too damn wordy. A strong focus on dialogue is one thing, but this is just mountains of text. Flipping through this issue at a glance doesn't exactly give promising impressions, there's just so damn many words. And again, that's not ALWAYS a bad thing, but this is paced overwhelmingly. The dialogue is stacked heavily everywhere, and reading through it all is almost exhausting.
Why is Miko fueling Lois' suspicions of Clark Kent? And what's the point of her doing so? Lois and Perry clearly come to the conclusion that they just need to give Clark space, the same conclusion they've discussed and come to every damn issue, but it negates the relevance of Miko trying to make Lois suspicious. And why is Miko suspicious?
It's not as heavy handed here, but this arc stil has the stupid theme of 'Does Superman draw threat too him?" Yes. He does. Because the writers say so. In universe, sometimes. But the amount of good he does outweighs the vague bad. But it doesn't matter. This argument is just a stupid old one.
The ending gets obnoxiously repetitive, it feels like things got really stretched out, and left me wanting the aliens to just shut the hell up.
In Conclusion: 3/5
The story is taking some interesting twists and turns, but the writing still isn't up to par to handle it. Half the issue leaves me bored, but it takes so long to push through to the interesting bits. It's not a terrible story, but it's barely mediocre. At this point I'd advise waiting until the Keith Giffen / Dan Jurgens team comes on the series with #7.
