ComicsAlliance

ComicsAlliance Reviews Every Comic in DC’s New 52: Week 2

The second week of new #1 DC Comics has arrived, and the biggest question for most fans facing racks and racks of new books is simple: Which ones should I try? The ComicsAlliance staff has gathered together to help answer that with a roundtable review of every relaunched DC book this week: Batman and Robin, Batwoman, Deathstroke, Demon Knights, Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E., Green Lantern, Grifter, Legion Lost, Mister Terrific, Red Lanterns, Resurrection Man, Suicide Squad, Superboy. Join Let’s Be Friends Again writer Curt Franklin, Chris Sims, David Uzumeri and Reading Comics author Douglas Wolk as they rate each book on a scale of 1-10 and try to gauge the success of DC’s bold new experiment.

SUPERBOY #1

David: Superboy was… well, it was a pretty crappy Superboy story, to be honest. People read about Superboy to read about a teenage version of Superman, be it Conner or Clark Kent; this is just a story about some clone dude who’s being used to kill people and Deathstroke’s daughter and Caitlin Fairchild are around for no reason I can really discern. I guess this could have been an okay #1 about another character, but absolutely nothing about this really feels like a solid take on Superboy to me, since he’s almost devoid of personality or motivations in this first issue. Compare with his escape from Cadmus back in Reign of the Supermen where he immediately had attitude and a bad leather jacket and it’s clear why this take is just lackluster. The book could go somewhere, but it’ll clearly take a while. RB Silva’s art is nice, though, and it’s a masterpiece in comparison to some of the other books this week. 5.

Douglas: Another pleasant surprise: yet another reboot of Superboy (with a distinct lack of Siegel-and-Shuster-style “Superman when he was a boy”), yet another “Kryptonian clone in a tank” story (immediately after “Project: Superman”?!”)—but this one pretty much clicks, especially the business about his bizarre amorality. Well-handled supporting cast, too. The mysterious redhead with big glasses works nicely even if you recognize her as Fairchild, ditto the white-haired chick whether or not you recognize her as Ravager. And N.O.W.H.E.R.E., of all things? As in Morrison’s Doom Patrol? Thumbs up. Also, after Jimmy Olsen and this, a wise comic publisher would be signing up R.B. Silva to an exclusive contract pronto, if they haven’t already. Not great, but promising. 7.

Curt: Superboy seems to get a major revision every 5-10 years, and this one tries to take some of the most interesting parts of past-Superboys - the small town schooling, the clone, the fragile mental state - and have it all together. It works as the beginning of a new Superboy, but as a fan of the old Superboy it was hard to swallow at times. Good enough to keep following. Also: keep in mind my favorite Superboy is the one with the leather jacket and the Dwayne Wayne-ish glasses. I’m crazy. 7

Chris: I’ll say this for Superboy: It wasn’t boring. Scott Lobdell’s script crammed a lot of stuff into his 20 pages, to the point where I ended up going back and counting to make sure that’s all there was. The problem is that all that stuff that’s crammed in there isn’t really all that interesting or compelling. “Superboy is a clone that’s being studied in a lab” is an idea that could’ve been conveyed in half this space, with other stuff cut out or condensed to allow him to actually have some action that didn’t take place inside the Matrix. Again, I just don’t see how this is meant to hook anyone into reading more. I have to admit, though, that I didn’t realize that was Caitlin Fairchild until Uzumeri pointed it out, and that’s an interesting way to incorporate the Wildstorm stuff into the universe. Then again, if Fairchild’s the most interesting take in your comic about Superboy, there might be a problem there. 4

Average rating: 5.75 out of 10