Heartwarming / Superman: Up in the Sky

• The comic in general features one of the finest depictions of Superman's human side in contemporary comics. To quote Grant Morrison on the series (who themselves has a modern Superman classic of their own under their belt), Clark in this story isn't played as some deified Messianic Archetype — he's "a scrapper"; a simple, humble man who always wants to do the right thing and is completely unable to ever give up. It's obvious why almost everyone throughout the series believes in him so much, and it's from how much he believes in them.
• Just the fact that Superman is going out of his way to search for Alice in the first place. All he knows about her at the start of the story is that she came from a foster home with no surviving relatives, and nobody — not even the Justice League — has the foggiest idea where in space she could possibly be. We learn later that she was abducted specifically because she was a nobody that no one would miss, and Clark is advised by Hal Jordan that this is something the Green Lanterns could take care of, giving him ample opportunity to forget about her. He does not — he has reservations about leaving Earth for an uncertain amount of time, but at no point does he ever consider not trying to save her an option, because he's Superman — he might not always be able to save everyone, but that doesn't mean he isn't going to try no matter how impossible the odds.
• Chapter 2 shows Wonder Woman in a brief cameo fighting alongside Superman in a flashback, where Clark considered retiring after hearing about a child who died in a tragically misguided attempt to follow his hero. From one All-Loving Hero to another, while she doesn't sugarcoat that tragedies like that will still happen, Diana reassures Clark (while beating up a giant demon) that he shouldn't blame himself, because from the way people look up to him, he inspires people to do their own good to the world, which are just as much of an inevitability.
• In a combination of Tear Jerker, chapter 4 features an unnamed alien healer trying to revive a comatose Superman by infusing his life force with him, in the process gaining many of Clark's memories. While the healer is told to stop as if he overexerts himself, he himself will die, he ends up seeing Clark for who he is: one of the purest, most heroic souls in the universe, and a living representation of everything noble and good. Despite him nor anyone else on the spaceship having any idea who Superman is, and despite the healer being obviously scared of what he has to do, he ends up sacrificing himself to bring Clark back, knowing just how much the universe needs and deserves this man.
• Chapter 5 is just about Clark trying to get an intergalactic phone call back to Lois while he's countless light years away from Earth, worrying about her safety and overall simply missing her voice. As supernatural and occasionally wacky as his adventures can get, Clark is a man who loves his wife so much that it hurts.
• Chapter 11 finishes with Clark saving the day and finding Alice safe and sound, with all that's left in chapter 12 being to take her home. Giving her a spacesuit with a radio to talk with him on the long return trip home, Superman invites her to answer any question she wanted to ask him, and he responds to every one of them with thoughtful, honest answers.
  • During the trip, they make a brief stop for Clark to meet the alien hermit that he presumably Mercy Killed in chapter 9, revealing that rather than actually doing the deed, he went out of his way to find a cure for the alien's fatal illness off-panel. Whereas the alien in chapter 9 was painfully pleading with Superman to put him out of his misery, his return sees him hugging Superman and crying Tears of Joy, thankful for his new lease on life.
  • It's phrased in a humorous light, but when Alice asks whether Superman would win in a fight against Batman, Clark says that he would willingly let Batman win. When asked why, Clark says "He's gone through a lot. He deserves some happiness."
    Alice: Don't you deserve happiness?
    Superman: Winning fights doesn't make me happy.
    Alice: What does?
    Superman: My family, my work, my dog, this.
    Alice: This?
    Superman: You, Alice. Talking to you, seeing that you're good, that makes me happy.
    Alice: More than beating Batman?
    Superman: Yes. A lot more.
  • Alice asks Supes who his favorite Robin is. After attempting to dodge the question by saying "I like them all," he then answers "The original. The first. He's a friend of mine."
  • The story ends with Superman finally touching back down on Earth with Alice, dropping her off and letting her know that if she ever needs his help, he'll be there with her. When asked if she has any more questions, Alice reveals she did have one last one: "Why? Why you went all up in the sky? Why you left everything behind to save me?", but she didn't feel the need to ask it, because she already knew the answer.
    Alice: Yeah, it's not, like, hard. It's just... you're Superman.

---