The Man of Steel travels to alternate universes in this new 3-D issue from DC Comics, Final Crisis: Superman Beyond, number 1.

Superman has changed since I was a kid. The art, by Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy, is some of the best comic book work being done today. The 3-D effects are by Ray Zone. Here are three panels that I scanned. (It's very blue; there's nothing wrong with the scan, this was just a very blue scene in the book.)

The story, by Grant Morrison, is very interesting, I'm sure. When I was a kid, D.C. heroes would fight costumed arch-villains who were robbing Fort Knox or stealing the moon or something. Now, they're always skipping off into trans-dimensional multiverses, battling alternate versions of themselves, while searching their souls for ultimate meaning. So, this is one of those.

I do very much approve of the appearance of Merryman, who forty years ago was the leader of The Inferior Five, one of my favorite comics of all time (besides Groo the Wanderer and Megaton Man). In this series, Merryman has a new role as the King of Limbo, where forgotten superheroes are stored for eternity.

The book, very reasonably priced at $4.50, comes with red/cyan 3-D glasses bound inside, only here they're called "4-D Vision Overvoid Vewers," and they're forged from Superman's own cosmic armor! But you can still cut them out with normal scissors.

In keeping with the whole "alternate versions" theme, this issue has two different covers. I think it's so serious collectors will have to buy at least two copies. (It worked on me.)