Superboy #99

World Without Young Justice Part 4: Doomsboy

Jimmy Palmiotti & Dan DiDio Writers
Anthony Williams Pencils
Walden Wong Inks
Jason Wright Colors
Digital Chameleon Separations
Comicraft Letters
Mike McAvennie Editor

Our cover by Humberto Ramos and Wayne Faucher shares all the strengths and weaknesses of the previous covers in this crossover. Doomsboy's reflection is Superboy, surrounded by wreckage and carnage, which is a pretty cool effect. Although, I'm not exactly sure what it is Doomsboy is crushing. A plane? A helicopter? A boat? Well, I guess it doesn't matter that much.

Just like the Robin issue, this story begins with Superboy in the real world. Luckily for us, though, that part of the story only lasts three pages before reality suddenly shifts on Superboy right as he walks through the door of his apartment. Kon is now Conal, a skinny teen with glasses, and his apartment now belongs to his "big brother," Doomsboy, an articulate teenage version of Doomsday, who acts like a hero, but is really more of a mafia boss.

Conal tells Doomsboy (again) that he shouldn't be forcing people to pay him to act like a hero, but Doomsboy justifies his actions, reminding his brother how he destroyed the corrupt Cadmus and became a champion to the people by keeping the streets safe. And now he believes the money he receives is the least people can do to show their gratitude. But Conal tells Doomsboy he's leaving some important details out of his story, so he tells him (and us) what really happened.

After Superman was killed by Doomsday, Paul Westfield tried to have Cadmus create a clone of Superman, but was having difficulty cracking the Kryptonian's DNA. Suddenly, an Impulse scout zipped by him, immediately followed by a phone call from one of his scientists, announcing they have found a way to clone Doomsday. Westfield has Cadmus abandon the Superman clone project and put all resources into the Doomsday clone. Soon, Doomsboy was "born," and the scrapped Superman project ended up being Conal, a skinny teenager without any powers.

As Conal recounts Doomsboy's history of playing the hero and eliminating all villains in his path, Conal surreptitiously slides a special glove on his hand. Conal says that heroes shouldn't kill, and that he's tired of waiting for Doomsboy to change his ways. He fires a laser blast from the glove, but Doomsboy manages to dodge in time. Conal says that was just a wake-up call, and Doomsboy doesn't seem too mad about it. But he does become very angry when Conal says he needs to preserve the legacy of the greatest hero of them all — Superman.

Doomsboy does not like hearing that name, and he grabs Conal by the throat, throws him across the room and probably would have killed his brother if an Impulse scout hadn't suddenly crashed through the window. This scout is weak and dying, and manages to weakly say, "Kon ... help me ... Bedlam ..." Conal asks the scout how he knows his name, but Doomsboy decides to "help" the scout by killing it.

We then cut to Bedlam's base at Funland amusement park, where Tim Drake is trying to come to terms with the fact that he used to be Robin until a teenage genie altered reality. Bart suddenly doubles over in pain, feeling his scout be killed by Doomsboy. He tells Tim to wait here, while he heads off to see what happened to his scout.

Conal yells at Doomsboy for killing the scout, and says he's left with no choice now. Conal pulls out a device and pushes a button, which quickly summons an Apache helicopter, filled with soldiers announcing Doomsboy's arrest by order of the President of the United States. Doomsboy leaps out the window and easily destroys the helicopter, before facing the tanks waiting for him on the ground. As Conal watches with horror the destruction below, Matthew Stuart appears behind him, mocking him for being responsible for so much bedlam. Conal tries to question Matt, but he disappears as quickly as he appeared.

Bart arrived just as Bedlam faded away, and he tells Conal not to worry, since he knows exactly where Bedlam went. Conal says he thought Bart had died, but Bart explains that was just one of his scouts. He also takes this time to tease Superboy about losing some weight. Doomsboy, done with the tanks, heard his brother be called Superboy, and thinks that's pretty funny. He knocks Bart down, then picks up Conal, vowing to kill him this time.

Bart concentrates and manages to summon a bunch of his scouts to him and orders them to attack Doomsboy. The scouts race around Doomsboy, distracting him and causing the floor to collapse underneath him. As Doomsboy falls to levels below, Bart tells Conal they need to make their escape. Conal's worried about Bart's weak and dying scouts, and Bart explains that he's made too many of them, and the only way to prevent their deaths is to take them back into him. But Bart doesn't know what will happen if he absorbs a dying scout.

At Conal's encouragement, Bart decides to absorb the nearby dying scouts. It doesn't kill Bart, but it doesn't feel too good, either. Conal throws on a clean shirt, and Bart drags him off to Bedlam's castle to reunite him with Tim, who shouts, "YOU?!" Bart's thrilled to have the three of them finally together again, but Conal insists he's never seen either of them before today. Bart and Tim quickly explain that the kid Conal saw in the apartment is Bedlam, who has nearly unlimited power and has changed their lives. Eager to atone for his brother's sins, Conal agrees to help them try to stop Bedlam. As they continue their journey through the castle, Conal turns a corner and shouts out, "YOU?!"


I liked this issue a lot more than the Robin one. Not only did we spend more time in the altered reality, but we actually saw the world was a much worse place without Superboy. With Robin, things still seemed fine. Batman was still going strong, and Stephanie Brown seemed to be a competent sidekick to him. But here, not only is Superman dead, but he's been replaced by a clone of Doomsday, who is only slightly less violent than the original. This is definitely a world that needs to be fixed.

I also loved the increased presence of Impulse in this issue. We found out that there is a toll for creating so many scouts — both on the scouts and Bart himself. Not only is he still dealing with the psychological trauma of creating scouts, but now he's facing a physical burden, as well. Bart is completely justified to be hesitant to do anything with his scouts now, and it is pretty inspiring to watch him fight through this.

Next time, we'll conclude our five-part crossover with Young Justice #45.