Batman Beyond Universe #6 – Review

By: Christos Gage & Kyle Higgins (writers), Iban Coello & Thony Silas (artists), Rob Lean (inks), Ulises Arreola & Emilio Lopez (colorists)

The Story: Bats or robots: pick your poison…

The Review: We open this month in the midst of Brainiac’s invasion. From the first moment, Christos Gage makes it clear that this is no standard supervillain plot. Brainiac’s monotone arrogance comes through crystal clear and Gage imbues him with just enough malice to make him particularly detestable, without losing his connection to rationality. The first sequence aboard Brainiac’s skull-ship is a great example of what Gage has to offer.

As Brainiac’s natural nemesis, Superman receives similarly strong dialogue. His speeches, though slightly corny, manage to express the natural leadership and sincerity that make Superman primus inter pares in most every version of the Justice League. Even so, there’s a touch of desperation in him, perhaps even fear, that keeps the threat that Brainiac poses in constant play.

But despite his gift for writing the Boy Scout, I sincerely hope that, when this saga is ended, Gage will pen some stories starring the other members of the league. Six months into the print run of Justice League Beyond, we’ve still seen relatively little of many of the League’s members. It’s great to have such an strong version of Superman on the stands, especially as that’s been something of a rarity of late, but it seems like a waste, especially after seeing Gage’s handle on Scott and Barda this month.

The large cast all get lip service, but the best moments belong to Mister Miracle, Big Barda, and a certain classic Leaguer I won’t spoil. It’s impressive that Gage can keep so many balls in the air, especially as he continues to grow the cast, but there aren’t many places where we get to breathe and absorb this information unless you count scenes that don’t catch your fancy.

Green Lantern Corps #25 – Review

By: Van Jansen (script), Robert Venditti (co-plot), Victor Orujiniu and Ivan Fernandez (main sequence pencils), Juan Castro and Rob Lean (main sequence inks), Allan Jefferson (flashback pencils), Rob Lean (flashback inks), Garry Henderson (colors)

The Story: John Stewart’s knowledge of the Super Bowl halftime show saves the day. No, seriously.

The Review: John Stewart is one of the most interesting figures in DC’s history. Created by Denny O’Neill and Neal Adams, Stewart debuted as an architect and a somewhat justified Angry Black Man, focused on egalitarianism, transparency, and questioning authority. Since then he’s had a number of false starts that generally left him languishing in obscurity until the next reboot of his role came along. That changed in 2001 when he was chosen to represent the Corps in the Justice League animated series, making him the Green Lantern to an entire generation. This John Stewart was a former Marine; stern, straight-laced, and stoic. Before long this was transferred into the comics continuity and this new John returned to the Green Lantern Corps with honor, before beginning his cycle of reinvention once again.

I mention this because John is a character who people really want to succeed but has rarely found a status quo that worked for him. His history is a bit of a mess; for instance, I don’t know that it’s ever been addressed that John is man in his thirties who’s supposedly served as an active Marine and undergone the mandatory five or more years it takes to become an architect before joining the Green Lantern Corps.

Superboy #6 – Review

By: Scott Lobdell & Tom DeFalco (writers), R.B. Silva (penciller), Rob Lean (inker), Richard & Tanya Horie (colorists)

The Story: When Superboy meets Supergirl.

The Review: Usually, I’m all for continuity respect across titles.  The sense of a shared universe feels a lot stronger when certain series make note or call attention to events happening in other books, sometimes even using them to springboard their own stories.  At a certain point, however, all that gets cumbersome, distracting, not a little bit annoying (see the constant reference captions in Suicide Squad #6).  Sometimes, you just want to focus on the story at hand, and no other.

Lobdell has the opportunity of not only writing two titles, but having those titles relate so closely to each other that he can weave one story through both.  In the hands of a craftier writer, this might produce some amazing material.  In the hands of a straightforward, middle-of-the-road writer, it feels like a lot of lost opportunities and sterile repetition.  For anyone who might follow both titles, the opening of this issue must make you feel like slamming your head against a table.  Not only does Lobdell reference the events of Teen Titans #5, he literally copies and pastes the last five pages of that issue into the first five of this one.  I’m not calling anyone lazy, but certainly I don’t think he exerted much creativity in writing that particularly scene.

Things get even more problematic when Lobdell starts bringing in continuity from other series.  Besides the fact that it feels far too soon for Superboy to be having a run-in with Supergirl, you have to question where in the context of her current story arc this scene fits in.  Not to mention the fact that the scene serves no other purpose except emphasizing Superboy’s misfortune with women and that his nature as a clone bodes ill for all, as if that hasn’t been made clear to us many, many times already.

Not really a problem, but disappointing nonetheless, is the fact that the two Super-teens part ways without much of a bond.  Both recognize correctly that they share a common loneliness in this world, and neither knows what to do with themselves from here on out.  It’s really a shame their fortuitous meeting doesn’t result in anything more than a wary connection between them.

Superboy #5 – Review

By: Scott Lobdell (writer), R.B. Silva (penciller), Rob Lean (inker), Richard & Tanya Horie (colorists)

The Story: What is it about redheads that gets the best of every male superhero?

The Review: One of my long-running complaints about this series has been its inability to take major steps forward in the story.  A lot of what we’ve seen in the past few issues has been the same type of confrontation or information recycled into different scenes, resulting in very little progress for Superboy’s character development other than a lot of repetitive and vaguely pretentious inner dialogue.  In short, it’s been a rather bland read.

It’s also been a bit frustrating to see Superboy demonstrating few, if any, heroic qualities whatsoever.  Last issue he came somewhere close by defeating “Sweety Bum” and “Honey Bunny,” preventing them from further practicing human immolation, but his choice to confront them felt rather arbitrary, motivated more from boredom than virtue.  It really gave no sign as to whether Superboy was actually starting to grow a conscience or not.

Here, it feels like Lobdell tackles both problems at once.  That earlier taste of heroism seems to have rubbed off well on Superboy, as he goes out of his way to rescue Caitlin Fairchild from her uncertain but surely grim fate with “the Colony,” whoever they are.  It’s especially significant he describes her actions as “sav[ing] me from myself,” indicating he can distinguish between what’s right or wrong (with himself, no less) to some degree.  After all, you can’t be saved unless you’re in danger, and since Superboy’s proven that physically, little can endanger him, that leaves only moral danger for Caitlin to save him from.

It’s also important to note Superboy himself decides to move forward with this plan.  Up till now, he’s been acting, or at least reacting, on the allowance of others.  This really marks the first time he’s conceived an affirmative plan of action and carried through with it, which bodes well for what might happen after his upcoming encounter with the Teen Titans.  But let’s not oversell things; Superboy did get help from an outside force, someone who worked with Caitlin and who’s neither Rose nor Dr. David Umber, who’s tried befriending Superboy in Caitlin’s place.

Superboy #4 – Review

By: Scott Lobdell (writer), R.B. Silva (penciller), Rob Lean (inker), Richard & Tanya Horie (colorists)

The Story: Superboy demonstrates a very effective way of dealing with Christmas carolers.

The Review: I talk a lot about the importance of “advancing the story” in these reviews, and I think I should elaborate on what I mean.  Now, I have nothing against a writer who wants to let his story stew a bit before serving.  But the advent of the decompressed storytelling has taken things to a problematic level, where often several issues can pass without anything of real substance happening.

That’s pretty much the situation happening in this title.  Since issue one, nothing much has changed in the status quo of the plot except Superboy discovering he is not fully human (which we all knew from the beginning) and that “Red” is actually Caitlin Fairchild, formerly of Wildstorm’s Gen¹³, which is a surprising development to be sure, but not one that has much of an impact other than removing yet another of Superboy’s sparse supporting cast.

Caitlin’s confrontation with Superboy also has some logical faults to it.  Having been protective and even a bit meek around the clone since he was still floating in a silo, it’s not entirely convincing that she would hulk out and even threaten to finish him off simply because he broke into her room and interrogated her.  The whole scene feels mostly forced, and it adds absolutely nothing to the plot whatsoever.

Superboy #3 – Review

By: Scott Lobdell (writer), R.B. Silva (penciller), Rob Lean (inker), Richard & Tanya Horie (colorists)

The Story: She’s melting—melting!

The Review: From the start, this series has emphasized Superboy’s disconnect from the “outside.”  His virtual existence has prevented him from taking a position on the big moral compass one way or the other, and so far, we’ve mostly gotten hints that he leans toward the dark side.  Now, you don’t get to have “Super” in your name unless you have some tendencies toward the heroic, but whether the real world will bring that out of his is a different matter entirely.

That’s the question we run into in this issue, when he manages to escape the depths of the Earth, only to realize the surface has its own set of hellish experiences.  His first real introduction to humanity is through young swingers Tony and Allison.  Tony reacts to Superboy naturally—and violently—but the surprisingly well-spoken Allison offers a more mixed experience.  She starts out flirty and wise (“We’re just regular people around these parts.  Fragile, even.”), then turns flinty (“—you freak!”) once she suffers the side-effects of Superboy’s powers.

Before he gets the chance to figure out this tricky situation, Superboy gets confronted by another Pen 51 resident, a buxom, fiery, redheaded alien (not Starfire, unfortunately) who tracks him down to…well, she doesn’t give a very good reason, actually.  She accuses him of following her, while the facts are clearly the other way around, and their brief confrontation does little more than establish Superboy’s Kryptonian heritage, which we all, old and new readers, knew anyway.

Superboy #2 – Review

By: Rob Lobdell (writer), R.B. Silva (penciller), Rob Lean (inker), The Hories (colorists)

The Story: Get a dime every time someone mentions “telekinesis” and you’ll be rich in no time.

The Review: Crafting well-rounded characters takes a great deal of balance in a lot of respects, but probably the most difficult balancing act of all is giving consistency to the character without making them predictable.  At the end of the day, you do want them to be memorable, and staying true to their core personality will do that.  On the other hand, you don’t want them to grow stale, their actions becoming so obvious that readers know the punchline before the setup is done.

Lobdell hasn’t quite managed to figure out how to strike this balance, but he’s getting closer.  The debut issue had Superboy vacillating between the curious innocent and the clinical clone, always a jarring adjustment for you to make when he makes the switch, and making it a little hard to get a handle on the essence of his character.  Most of that innocence has been shed, leaving behind a mostly analytical kid whose inexperience makes him a tad arrogant.

Now we get into the issue of where Superboy’s likability will come from.  We all know the drill about his genetics: half the greatest mensch in the world tossed with the biggest jerk in the world.  At the moment, the Boy of Steel has little resemblance to his namesake, bearing more of Lex Luthor’s aggressive, big-wordiness (in response to Rose’s taunts, he says, “Why don’t we resolve this right now.”).  It’d be nice to see more of the hero lurking inside at some point.

Sadly, it may be another month or so before we see it, as the series seems to be going at a pretty slow pace.  We don’t get much further than we did last issue.  In fact, Lobdell even backtracks for a while to show us more of Superboy’s unrestrained power when he was initially released.  This issue serves mostly as a reemphasis on that point; the impromptu mission to quell a prison riot doesn’t really advance the plot so much as highlight the potential of Superboy’s powers.

Superboy #1 – Review

By: Scott Lobdell (writer), R.B. Silva (penciller), Rob Lean (inker), the Hories (colorists)

The Story: Look on the bright side, Superboy—you could also be a monkey.

The Review: It seems like no one really knows what to do with Superboy’s character.  The inconsistency in his various portrayals says it all: he’s gone from swinging teenager, to slightly dim pretty boy, to angsty with a bit of rebel-without-a-cause mixed in, to gung-ho Midwestern schoolboy, to awkward worrywart.  You can chalk some of these changes to evolutions in his character, but even in the last year or so, he hasn’t managed to stick to a core identity.

The one thing that’s managed to take off is the revelation of his mixed genetic heritage, love child to the world’s finest hero and the world’s greatest villain.  Here, Lobdell plays up both parts of Superboy’s dual genetic heritage, and throws in a little bit of wide-eyed newborn to the world for good measure.  These elements don’t break new ground in the Boy of Steel’s conception, but at least they refrain from too radical a take on him as well.

In some respects, you can get the sense Lobdell has the right idea of Superboy: restless and edgy, but well-intentioned and even a little innocent under it all.  But the writer also he tries way too hard to sell you on the grim captivity of the clone’s laboratory life: “‘They’ are the people out there.  Beyond this prison of glass and wet…”  The grating narration really could’ve been done away with altogether, and the issue would’ve flowed and been all the better-crafted for it.

Action Comics #900 – Review

By: Too many to list—check out the review.

The Story: Lex Luthor is about to bring fun, love, and joy to all the people of the universe—the crazy part is I am being totally serious right now.

The Review: Say what you like about Superman: he can be overly naïve, overbearingly preachy, arguably antiquated, and a hopeless optimist.  But any character who can support a title through 900 issues is doing something right.  This unassailable milestone is evidence that Superman remains a deeply embedded icon in our culture.  To be rid of him, our society would have to drastically change—and not necessarily for the better, as this issue demonstrates.

Paul Cornell wisely downplays the Big Blue’s return to his original title to finish off his epic Lex Luthor storyline in grand fashion.  In attempting to break down Superman by forcing him to experience the depths of human emotion, Lex reveals his own under-appreciation for humanity.

Superman already knows more about being human than most of us ever will, while Lex’s quest for his own divinization constantly sets him apart from his fellow man.  He squanders his chance to bless the universe with true, eternal bliss and gain ultimate power by his need to irrevocably prove himself superior to Clark Kent, best man of Smallville, of all people.

The grandeur of this plot gets blemished by the constant distractions from the Reign of Doomsday storyline, which seems obviously forced on Cornell.  He tries to accommodate it as best he can by using it as Lex’s “bait” to get Superman to come to him, but even so it comes off a clumsy, ill-conceived, far more superficial plotline (a grim portent of the material we’ll be getting in upcoming issues) in comparison to Superman confronting a godlike Luthor in space.

Jimmy Olsen – Review

By: Nick Spencer (writer), RB Silva with Amilcar Pinna (pencillers), DYM & Rob Lean (inkers), Dave McCaig (colorist

The Story: Meet Jimmy Olsen, Boy-Man of Steel, and about to save the world in his underpants.

The Review: If you flip through the television nowadays, it’s amazing how hard it is to find something to watch that’s entertaining without being spiteful or just plain dumb.  But as a recent Slate article pointed out, there’s still an audience for feel-good stuff—shows that assemble a cast of likeable characters and gives them silly premises to play around with.  These can be a much-needed palette cleanser after all the overwrought drama you get served most of the time.

Jimmy Olsen may be the Parks and Recreation of the comics world: rich, unadulterated fun.  This issue includes the stories which appeared as co-features in Action Comics, but the other half is all new: Jimmy’s alternate life as Co-Superman; converting the Planet’s flying newsroom into a spaceship; and preventing a virus-ridden Superman video game from taking over the world.  It’s the wacky underbelly of comics fiction—maybe the best part of all.

In short order, Spencer creates the most lovable cast of possibly any comic book on the stands today.  Of course our titular semi-hero is the hapless, goony underachiever we all know and love, but you also get the no-nonsense Chloe (who, if possible, is even more awesome here than her live-action role in Smallville—“He was trying to take over the world, so I beat him up with my purse.”) and Sebastien Mallory, who somehow comes across endearingly pompous.  Even guests Maggie Mxyzptlk, Perry White, and Natasha Irons get warm, fully-realized personalities.