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.