Warning: spoilers for Superman and the Authority #1 are ahead.
Superman is known as one of the most affable superheroes in DC Comics, but even he has people he's not particularly fond of. Having worked with heroes across the DC Universe, it is difficult to think of a character who Superman has not interacted with at some point. Even so, when times get tough, Superman has to turn to the most odious of allies in order to achieve a goal larger than himself.
In Superman and the Authority #1, a grizzled Superman turns to Manchester Black for help in rebuilding the world in the image of progress (written by Grant Morrison, art by Mikel Janín, colors by Jordie Bellaire, letters by Steve Wands). With decades of work in the Justice League having failed to save humanity from itself, Superman's best bet is assembling a team for one final effort. Manchester Black is a famously bad-tempered and foul-mouthed telepath with telekinetic abilities, whose rough affect contrasts sharply with Superman's clean cut image. With no one else to turn to, Superman implores Black to work with him, and withstands his verbal abuses until Clark finally says, "There are few people in my life who I instinctively and viscerally dislike, and you've always been one of them." Superman's admission ends the issue on a humorous note, given how politely he had interacted with him up until that point.
The dislike that Superman has towards Manchester Black makes sense considering how they are opposites in their ideals as characters. Superman has long been known as an optimist, while Manchester Black is an intense pessimist whose negativity is seldom all that helpful or insightful. Ever since his debut in Action Comics #775, Black has tested Superman's belief that he can create a better world through modeling his values in his activities as a superhero (written by Joe Kelly, pencils by Doug Mahnke and Lee Bermejo, inks by Tom Nguyen, Dexter Vines, Jim Royal, Jose Marzan, Wade Von Grawbadger, and Wayne Faucher, colors by Rob Schwager, and letters by Comicraft). For Manchester Black, it is unrealistic that a person like Superman could dedicate himself so wholeheartedly for the common good, leading the Man of Steel to prove him wrong time and again.
As such, the alliance between Superman and Manchester Black is a surprising one, given Black's reputation as a terrorist in the DC Universe. Black himself even acknowledges this in the issue, telling Superman that, "I've tried to kill you and your loved ones not once but numerous times! I led my own super-team and I'm a wanted metahuman terrorist," underscoring the strangeness of the entire situation.
Even so, Superman teaming up with Manchester Black in Superman and the Authority is telling of how he has come to realize the limitations of his past work. With the Justice League, Superman tried to save the world through more conventional avenues, but his decision to work with Black shows that what he may need now is a difference in opinion and worldview. What will come of this unconventional partnership remains to be seen, but with Superman at the helm, fans can hope for something good.