Superboy #11 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (writer), Pier Gallo (artist), Jamie Grant & Dom Regan (colorists)

The Story: Superboy gets by—with a little help from his friends.

The Review: Amidst the din and hype over the newest launch of Superboy, with critical darling Lemire at the helm, I remain largely puzzled by the lavish praise on this title.  Not that I don’t see its possibilities—far from it.  But now, one issue shy of a year’s worth of material, the series still feels like it’s winding up its first story arc.

And now, just when Lemire should be pulling out all the stops to make good on his and his star character’s potential, he just stops.  To prep the title for yet another relaunch come fall, Lemire was obligated to expedite the finish of his major storyline, and in combination with the reduced page count, that means he only had one option to get everything done in time: a big, wordy pile of exposition as told by either the raving Tannarak of the implacable Phantom Stranger.

Most of the action comes from Simon and Lori’s attempts to use their mere mortal means to escape the clutches of a life-draining blob-man and a town full of clay rednecks.  Since they have the least means to defend themselves (with Psion out of commission), these parts clearly have the most bite to them.  That said, Simon ends up doing little more than inadvertently serving as a decoy, leaving Lori to save them both with a couple moments of idiot-savant improvisation.

Speaking of Psion, he serves as a painfully obvious reminder that this title has definitely not gone anywhere it intended to.  Considering all the buildup Lemire put in towards the earnest lad’s possible betrayal—only because his superiors in the future commands him to so as to save their world from doom—it’s just disconcerting that you’ll never now find out what the future holds for him and his puppy-dog friendship with the Boy of Steel.

Superboy #9 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (writer), Pier Gallo (artist), Jaime Grant & Dom Regan (colorists)

The Story: It’s like looking in a mirror, isn’t it?  Make that several hundred mirrors.  In 3D.

The Review: It’s sometimes difficult to take teen superheroes seriously partly due to their smaller scale adventures.  Their villains tend to be sub-par versions of more famous counterparts (not unlike the heroes they face off with), and even when they manage some degree of originality, they rarely pose the kind of serious threat Justice Leaguers face on a daily basis.

Superboy sure has come a long way from sparring with King Shark off the Hawaiian coast.  Ever since he saved the universe during Infinite Crisis, his caliber of villain has definitely gone up a notch.  Limiting his flying grounds to Smallville seemed on the surface to hold him back, but this issue proves there’s plenty of dastardly stuff happening in the Midwestern farm town, and let out of control, the world will no doubt suffer.

Of course, the fact Phantom Stranger is involved should be proof enough that Superboy faces nothing short of an epic challenge, especially considering the fedora-wearing man’s unusually urgent behavior of late.  This recent take-charge attitude turns out to be a ruse for a pretty significant plot twist, one with half a chance of surprising you.  Although Lemire does a fairly good job using Stranger’s cryptic clauses to cover up the big reveal at the end, let’s face it: old P.S. has been acting rather out of character (read: grim and patronizing) lately.

Actually, we get quite a lot of major developments this issue, as Psionic Lad’s (Psion, I should say, as he and Simon agree the “Lad” part sounds more like something his great-uncle would’ve really dug) loyalties finally get put to the test.  While it’s comforting to see his moral compass remains squarely in goodhearted territory, it all becomes a moot point when the mission in Smallville’s underground Hollowville takes a turn for the worse.

Superboy #8 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (writer), Pier Gallo (artist), Jamie Grant & Dom Regan (colorists)

The Story: Superboy and the Chamber of Secrets.

The Review: The moment Lemire launched this title, he injected a supernatural tone to the Smallville mythos that he many times said he would expand in time.  The Phantom Stranger’s multiple appearances heralded significant horrors to come for the Boy of Steel, but till now we’ve gotten radio-controlled frogs, time-traveling psychics, and plants from outer space.  Superboy seemed well on his way to joining his cousins in primarily sci-fi-based heroics.

Then this issue comes, and magic once again rears its unpredictable head, in the form of the Hollow Men, your classic creepy farmers with a twist of zombie.  This isn’t your usual Western European tradition of mysticism: witches and warlocks, nonsense words and fairy creatures.  Lemire takes a much more primal kind of magic and gives it a mad-scientist spin, a union that really suits the earthy, Midwestern backdrop of Smallville and Superboy’s scientific roots.

The arcane elements in this issue are equal parts alchemy, necromancy, and druidism, a perfect match for the eerie frontier of Smallville’s Wild West, the setting for Nathaniel Kent and Albert Valentine’s encounter with the town’s darker side.  It’s got all the stuff that makes great ghost stories: the banished Puritan doctor and his disturbed family; hidden spaces with macabre secrets; shudder-worthy murders; the inevitable building gone down in flames.

Like all great ghost stories, these details inevitably come back to haunt the real world once more, as the entire town falls into a stupor right before Connor’s eyes.  The answer lies of course in the “broken silo,” his only clue to the mysterious events of #2, and the place Nathaniel Kent found has more to it “than life and death,” in the words of crazed surgeon-occultist Eben Took.  Our payoff: the final splash showing what’s “below” Smallville, a stunner of a reveal if there’s any.

Superboy #7 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (writer), Marco Rudy with Daniel HDR (artists), Jamie Grant & Dom Regan (colorists)

The Story: Superboy discovers what the fuss is all about with these hallucinogenic plants.

The Review: Ever since Geoff Johns wrote Superboy as the product of the world’s greatest hero and the world’s greatest villain, this dual nature has become a focal point of his character—too much so, in fact.  Ignoring the fact that genetics don’t really work that way, this plot point has infected almost every Superboy story since it first came to light, which has really cramped the Kid of Steel’s style.  It’s like writers are trying to wring the issue for all the angst it’s worth.

Superboy’s nightmare come to life falls under those lines.  Now, there’s nothing wrong with the way Lemire executes the story.  He actually keeps things clipping at a quick pace with his habit of jarring scene-cuts. You’re constantly shunted back and forth between Superboy and Psionic Lad’s present mystery in orbital space, and the future apocalyptic hellscape, which Connor apparently unleashes on the world.  It definitely keeps you invested in what the heck is going on.

Instinct tells you to think this is where Psi-Lad reveals his true colors.  You know he’s from the future, and that it’s a grim dystopia (or so he says), and he’s intended to turn on Superboy at some point, so all the signs for his betrayal get put in place.  But once Lori and Red Robin show up in this alternate timeline, and they don’t seem to get from Connor’s t-shirt/jeans get-up that he’s not the ruthless murderer they seem to know, you know something fishy’s happening.

Superboy #5 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (writer), Pier Gallo (artist), Jamie Grant (colorist)

The Story: Like my alarm clock whenever I want it least, the race between Kid Flash and Superboy is on!

The Review: Some people are inclined to call interlude issues—the done-in-ones between story arcs—filler, and there’s just cause for that.  Since they tend to have lower stakes and be less involved than the usual stuff you tend to get, it’s easy to dismiss them as distractions from the bigger picture.  But interludes can be important if they not only entertain, but do some work developing the characters or laying the groundwork for the next big plot.

Lemire succeeds on all three points.  Sure, the Superboy-Kid Flash race is a hokey gimmick, but that doesn’t take away from the sheer fun and silliness of it.  It’s also a great legacy moment for the featured teen heroes, a reminder that one day they’ll take over for their predecessors and be counted among the world’s finest.  Now, I won’t spoil who wins the deal, but rest assured—it beats the obligatory “tie” that always seemed to be the result of the Superman-Flash races.

Connor’s bromance with Tim Drake is by now an old DC mainstay, and but his friendship with Bart Allen has been less developed.  As Impulse, Bart always seemed to exist in his own world, making it easy to forget he was part of the original team-up with Superboy and Robin as Young Justice.  Their heart-to-heart this issue is a nice step forward for them, with Bart’s cheerfulness taking the place of Tim’s sensibility for soothing Connor’s romantic woes.

In fact, Superboy’s interactions with all the Teen Titans sound so natural, they call attention to how awkward his relationships with his Smallville “friends” have been so far, particularly Lori.

Even now, her role in this series still remains up in the air, as Superboy himself is taking a lot of pains to exclude her from his heroic and civilian lives.  Still, the appearance of the Phantom Stranger and her many monologues show Lemire has big plans for her in the upcoming storyline.

Superboy #4 – Review

By: Jeff Lemire (writer), Pier Gallo (artist), Jamie Grant (colorist)

The Story: Enter Psionic Lad, master of mental might, escapist of eras…and feigner of friendship.

The Review: There’s nothing like time-traveling hijinks to liven up a story.  It’s literally twice the fun: the world of the past and the world of the future.  Then there’s all the interest in connecting elements between the two, and seeing how their interaction may alter events in either period.  Time-traveling stories really only get messy when the past and future selves of the same characters come together, creating all manner of quantum loops and feedbacks that make your head spin.

Fortunately, Jeff Lemire wisely avoids bringing in space-time paradoxes on top of what is already ramping up to be an entertaining story arc.  The appearance of Psionic Lad and his grim portents of the future signal much higher-stakes challenges for Superboy—a good thing, considering what few opportunities he has had to prove his competence so far.  Even here, besides the quick tussle with the Acropolis Science-Hunters, the action level still remains pretty low-key.

Still, the intensifying drama in this issue keeps you invested in where the story’s going.  The reveal of Psionic Lad’s motivations for seeking out Superboy’s help comes at a slow burn, but laced throughout his explanations are a bunch of questionable details that keep you guessing at his true intentions.  The final scene is one right out of the Handbook of Classic Twists, but Lemire’s paced execution still gets you pumped to see how this will all blow up in their faces.

At the same time, Lemire doesn’t neglect the plot threads he’s already lain down in previous issues.  Psionic Lad’s handy abilities allow Superboy and Co. to glean some more clues about the big bad guys still lurking in Smallville.  The Science-Hunters’ reactions to Simon Valentine also indicate that we may be treated to more clues about the boy genius’ ultimate connection to the Boy of Steel.  It’s nice to know Lemire’s got a definite direction he wants to take this title.