WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Superman: Up In The Sky! #5 by Tom King, Andy Kubert, Sandra Hope and Brad Anderson, on sale now.
Superman always does his best to avoid hurting innocent bystanders or worse, killing them. When facing impossible odds, he'll run through every other possible scenario before deciding to end someone else's life. It's why when he's forced to kill someone, his actions carry tremendous weight, and when he does, it's literally the last option.
In Superman: Up in the Sky #5, the Man of Tomorrow faces a brutal life-and-death decision: Kill an innocent person in order to save a child's life.
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Superman's quest to find a missing girl, Alice, has led him to hell -- or, near enough: in front of Darkseid in pits of Apokolips. Darkseid gives Superman an ultimatum: take someone's life for his own amusement in exchange for information about the whereabouts of Alice. Superman is desperate to find her. Her entire foster family was killed in a home invasion and he's trying everything he possibly can to bring her home. So, he begrudgingly accepts.
Superman quickly flies off to a nearby planet and encounters an alien holding a dagger. The alien reveals he is incurably sick, has been having delusions, and wants to die before the pain becomes too much. He views Superman as an angel sent to kill him and asks him to tell a story. Superman recounts his quest to find Alice and how it led him to Darkseid.
Writer Tom King then revs up the religious allegory, referring to Darkseid as the devil who wants to see the angel, Superman, violate his sacred vow not to kill an innocent person. Superman returns to Apokolips and when asked whether "it is done," he says, "yes." Darkseid calls BS, and Superman says regardless of the outcome, he has fallen, because if he lied he broke his word, and if he is telling the truth he broke his own word.
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Superman dreams of a perfect life. He wakes up next to Lois and spends his day locking up Lex Luthor behind bars, writing at the Daily Planet, having lunch with Batman and Wonder Woman, and saving a cat from a tree. While all seems great, the moments are all projections from Darkseid.
Superman doesn't waver in his effort to find Alice, fighting through the mirage and telling Darkseid the only thing he wants to imagine is her coming home. He thanks him for making the offer to kill an innocent person for information, but declines. The trickery doesn't work.
Superman is still desperate to find Alice above all other responsibilities. He knows how much she's suffered losing her family and wants to return her to Earth to some semblance of normalcy. Superman understands he's the only person who could make things right and carries the weight of her disappearance heavily. He really is her guardian angel.
In the end, Superman doesn't fall under the guise of Darkseid's suggestion. He won't break his own moral code in order to get easy answers. Instead, he's willing to accept all the punishment in order to get the information he needs the right way. Superman might not be an actual angel, but he is damn close to one -- for Alice, at least.