Superman is back next week in a third volume, written by screenwriter and comics author J. Michael Straczynski (Brave and the Bold, Babylon Five), with art by Ardan Syaf (Bat Girl). In this book, a young Superman is just figuring out how to balance his life as Clark Kent with his heroic duties. And meanwhile his nemesis Lex Luthor is also beginning to figure out just what Superman’s weakness may be…

Scroll down for an exclusive first look at the art.

The new Superman series is the latest addition to DC's Earth One line of graphic novels. The storylines follow DC’s top heroes in origin stories with a fresher take to appeal to new generations of graphic novel readers. And so far, the line has been a hit, with the first book, 2010’s Superman: Earth One Volume 1 hitting the NY Times bestseller list, and leading the way for further series featuring Batman and the Teen Titans.

With Syaf’s crisp, dynamic art—illuminated by Barbara Ciardo's coloring— and Straczynski’s surehanded storytelling, it’s a refreshing take on one of comics most lasting characters that new and veteran readers can enjoy. It’s also proof that superheroes can succeed in the original graphic novel format. The Earth One series continues in May with the second volume of Batman: Earth One by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank.

Superman Earth One: Volume 3 goes on sale on February 4th in comics shops and February 10th in bookstores.