Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "superboy"

Super Sons, Volume 1: When I Grow Up by Peter J. Tomasi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects the first five issues of Super Sons featuring Robin (Damian Wayne) and Superboy (Jon Kent.) The book remains essentially a very fun adventure, nothing too special in terms of the plot. What ultimately makes this book a winner is the relationship between Damian and Jon. The two make a superb odd couple and their constant clashes are delight. Tomasi has captured the fun of kids with super powers and realized the concept brilliantly.

Overall, just a very nice team up book for the young and young at heart.



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Super Sons Vol. 2: Planet Of The Capes by Peter J. Tomasi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book contains two stories.

First up is the four-issue Planet of the Capes which has Jon and Damian meeting up for some crimefighting as part of Jon's parents approved schedule for him learning to be Superboy. The adventure was supposed to end with Damian heading off on an adventure with the Teen Titans. However, things go horribly wrong and the Titans have to get Jon out of his pajamas and back into action after Damian is turned into a senior citizen.

The book is a lot of fun. Jon gets to interact with the Teen Titans and show his stuff and then they're whisked off to another world. The story is light and fun, and it moves at a really good pace. Being a four-issue story helps. A lot happens in that story but it has to happen to quickly.

"One Fine Day" is a nice little one-shot that focuses on the characters relationship and has fun with that. They also get a change to Damian's status quo. (That's not very good or well-thought out, but I can forgive that.)

Overall, these characters continue to be fun and this book is a delight to read.



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Adventures of Superboy Vol. 1 by Don Cameron

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Superboy's earliest comic appearances from 1945-47 in 8-11 page stories in More Fun Comics 101-107 and then Adventure Comics 103-121.

The comics are fun stories, most of which are less about crimefighting and more about Superboy's efforts to help others, in particular kids. Superboy is very much a selfless role model In one story, he ensures no one will show up for Clark Kent's birthday by ensuring a big party is thrown for a girl at school whose dad's been subject to nasty rumor. In another story, Superboy helps a blind boy avoid being chiseled by a couple crooked toymakers.

The stories also teach morals, one teaches kids about the pitfalls of games of chance, another features a man who denies the wisdom of old proverbs and pays the price for it.

There are some things you can complain about. The book often messes with continuity. It has Superboy being raised in Metropolis. In one story, it's acknowledged to be set in the post-World War II even though Superboy should be about 20 years in the past, and the one story where Superboy helps out a know it all kid is a bit too silly even for this book.

Still, I think it works. It's not meant to be earth-shaking stuff. It was a comic to capture kid's imaginations, have fun, and teach some good morals. Superboy does that in these early stories and only regret that DC hasn't published more of them.



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Super Sons of Tomorrow by Peter J. Tomasi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book is a three-way crossover between Super Sons, Superman, and Teen Titans that features alternate possible future Tim Drake returning to murder someone in order to save lives in the future. In this case, he's here to murder a ten-year-old boy as Jonathan Kent's (Superboy) powers are going beserk some time in the future.

What works about this book is the relationship between Superboy and Robin. The book really showcases that. We also get to see some cool potential future alternate heroes that are a call back to the 1990s Young Justice series. Unfortunately, the rest of the book is more meh than anything else. Tim is repeating the same thing he did in Detective Comics. The Teen Titans aren't particularly heroic or likable with many of their decisions bewildering from any logic other than the writers wanting the team to split in certain ways.

It's not as bad as Lazarus Contract, but it's disappointing and unimpressive, though with enough good moments to make it readable.



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Super Sons, Volume 3: Parent Trap by Peter J. Tomasi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects the final four issues of Super Sons and Annual #1 for a total of three stories:

Animal Planet (Annual #1): The Super Pets team up to investigate a series of pet thefts. Overall, a cute and fun Annual.

The Parent Trap (13 and 14): Damian's mother shows up and like any good mom wants her son to help her kill someone. Damian refuses but realizes he'll have to stop her when he learns who the target is. This story gives some insight into Damian's past and how Jon doesn't fully understand it, but we also get some subtle notes which underscore why they are friends.

End of Innocence (15 and 16); Amazo trashes the Super Sons' headquarters, but that's only a preliminary to Amazo's ultimate goal: taking over the Justice League. A nice story that gives the Super Sons a chance to rise to the occassion and also provides a nice closing story for the series.

Overall, this was a very fun close to one of my favorite DC Rebirth books.



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Adventures of the Super Sons, Vol. 1: Action Detectives by Peter J. Tomasi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Adventures of the Super Sons is set between the time of the end of the proper Super Sons series and Brian Michael Bendis taking over all the Superfamily titles and reshaping them.

This is really a fun six issue run. It's half of a story and ends on a bit of a cliffhanger as its about an alien boy who is emulating Lex Luthor and claiming the title Lex Luthor, Jr. and he has a plan but things he can grab the Super Sons and does so for fun.

Writer Peter Tomasi has a good time with this. The boys bounce into aliens worlds, they encounter the Space Cabbie, and even the "older" Super Sons. It's just a really fun book in the spirit of Tomasi's original series. If you like that, you'll love this.



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