Also, it may be hard to find, but Superman Adventures #36 - that issue is the finest example of what Superman is.
I fucking love that comic. To the broader point, Superman is, has been, and will be many things to many people. Personally my version of Superman lands somewhere between the DCAU and All-Star Superman with a dash of What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way? for some zing. But those are just a mash of three distinct personalities crafted by different men in different times; so to answer I think I'd have to say: "I don't know".