Adventure Comics #1

Superboy: The Boy of Steel Part One

Geoff Johns Writer
Francis Manapul Artist
Brian Buccellato Colorist
Steve Wands Letterer
Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato Covers
Sean Ryan Associate Editor
Elisabeth V. Gehrlein Editor

Unlike our favorite speedster, Bart, Superboy was granted the honor of having his own solo series when he was resurrected. Well, sort of. Adventure Comics was historically the home of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, and that's essentially what we have here once again. So while this is ostensibly a solo Superboy title, he is sharing space with the Legion, usually as a backup story. That's why DC put a faint number 504 behind the large number 1 on the main cover. Although DC wanted the notoriety of a new first issue, they also wanted to indicate a sort of continuation of the original series that last 503 issues. Personally, I would have preferred keeping the legacy numbering and calling this Adventure Comics #504. But that's just me.

Our main cover features the beautiful art of Manapul and Buccellato. Superboy is stoically flying right between his two "fathers." Superman, looking up into the light, and Lex Luthor, gazing down into the darkness, holding a large piece of kryptonite. It's a fantastic cover, although I would have tweaked Superboy's face a little bit. But I'm a huge sucker for Manapul's style, so I still love this all the same.

I got this image of the variant cover from dc.fandom.com (formerly dc.wikia.com — same site, different name). This cover shows a bunch of different images from future storylines in this series, which is an interesting approach. I'm not sure I like it, but I do give them kudos for trying something different. Also note that this cover made the number 504 bold in front of a faint number 1. I kind of feel like DC is trying to have its cake and eat it, too, with this "double numbering," but the uniqueness of the whole situation is intriguing to me. I won't say fully it's good or bad, just ... different.

This issue recaps the first week of Superboy reclaiming his old life. He's living with Ma Kent now, still on the old Smallville farm, with faithful Krypto now a constant presence. Conner is so happy to be alive, he eagerly completes all the daily chores — plowing the fields, taking out the trash, doing the dishes, etc. On Monday, he re-enrolls at Smallville High. On Tuesday, he reunites with the Teen Titans, choosing to destroy the large golden statue of himself in front of the San Francisco tower.

Bart Allen also wants to destroy his own statue, asking Conner to melt it with heat vision, before changing his mind and requesting him to freeze and then shatter the monument. Conner sadly reports he doesn't have freeze breath, so Bart hypothesizes that he just needs to visualize something cold, like the bathroom floor in the tower in the morning (which is why Bart wears his boots to bed, he says). And that's all the Bart we get in this issue. The main takeaway from this story is that even though Conner is thrilled to be alive again, he is secretly worried about becoming like Lex Luthor again. But we're not too concerned about that or the backup of Starman recounting the history of the Legion of Super-Heroes.




Obviously this story takes place before Blackest Night and after Flash: Rebirth. But we're mostly following the publication order on this blog, so we get to re-experience this frustrating era of DC. No wonder they'd try to blow everything up in just two years. Anyway, Bart's back, but we still don't know anything beyond that. He's been seen hanging out with the Teen Titans, but he still hasn't officially shown up in the pages of Teen Titans. And we have no idea where Bart's living now. Max Mercury is back ... right? So has Bart returned to Max and Helen and everyone in Manchester, Alabama, or is he with Jay and Joan Garrick in Denver, or perhaps Keystone? How much of his old life does he remember? Is he now essentially an adult trapped in the body of a teenager? Bart really needed his own solo series to answer these questions, because we sadly know that Geoff Johns isn't going to take the time to answer them in his stories about Barry Allen.

As for this issue, in particular, it was a nice, calm, relaxing change of pace from the frantic pace of Flash: Rebirth and Blackest Night. The highlight of this issue was the artwork, utilizing large panels to let the work breathe and show off the beautiful coloring of sunsets, swamps and schools. I did think it a bit odd that Superboy visited the Teen Titans on a Tuesday, when Johns had previously emphasized the fact of that group being strictly a weekend venture. But I did like Bart and Conner's desire to destroy the monuments of their death to signal their return to the world. Now let's check out the new ads:

got milk? with Danica Patrick.

Get 10% off the strategy guide when you buy it with Batman: Arkham Asylum from GameStop.

DewTour Summer 2009.

Blackest Night action figures.

Batman and Robin by Frank Quitely and Grant Morrison.

The world's strangest super heroes are back ... and they brought those robot guys with 'em! Doom Patrol.

Heroes reimagined by comics superstar J. Michael Straczynski. The Red Circle.

The DC Nation page is Ian Sattler advertising Batman: The Widening Gyre.

Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go by Dale E. Basye.

No safe haven. Only asylum. Batman: Arkham Asylum for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. This game changed the video game world, inspiring tons of sequels, prequels and even a Spider-Man game almost 10 years later. I'm not a gamer by any means, but even I played this one.

Next time, we'll get an expanded look at those two panels of Bart from Blackest Night in Blackest Night: Titans #1.