Superboy #3

The New Adventures of Psionic Lad Part One

Jeff Lemire Writer
Pier Gallo Artist
Jamie Grant Colorist
John J. Hill Letterer
Phil Noto Cover
Dustin Nguyen Variant Cover
Wil Moss Associate Editor
Matt Idelson Editor

All the DC covers for the publication month of March 2011 went with a simple white background and the heroes of the book boldly charging forward beneath their logo. And I think it's awesome. This is a powerful image of Superboy resolutely flying off to save the day, with faithful Krypto happily tagging along. And, unlike Nicola Scott's work in Teen Titans, Superboy actually looks like a teenager here.

I'm also a huge fan of our variant cover. Nguyen has the ability to produce some really interesting, unique works of art, which I believe is the whole purpose of variant covers. Nguyen essentially reduced Superboy to his most basic shapes, placed in front of a black and red background. The end result is truly an evocative image.

Our story hasn't quite reached the sneak peek we saw back in Action Comics #892, but we are getting close to it. At 4:30 in the morning, Krypto wakes up Conner and Ma Kent with his howling. Conner's unable to see what's got his dog so spooked, but as he shares a cup of coffee with Ma, he opens up about the stresses he's been feeling while trying to single-handedly protect Smallville from a series of recent disasters. Ma reminds Conner that not even he can do everything himself, so Conner decides to call his good friend Bart Allen while he walks to school. Fittingly, Bart refuses to talk over a cellphone and instead runs straight to Conner's side.

Bart immediately notices a lot of strange plants on the ground and asks if Floronic Man attacked recently. Conner says it was actually Poison Ivy, which makes Bart call him a "lucky dog" and say that Tim's going to be jealous, as well. Conner tries to clarify, saying that he was actually battling the Parasite at the time, but then Poison Ivy showed up, although she wasn't the one who created all these plants — that was some old farmer with a weird machine. Conner then stops himself, realizing he's rambling. Bart simplifies the long story by saying Conner's been keeping busy out here "in the sticks."

Conner admits that he's actually been too busy, which bothers him because Smallville was supposed to be a sanctuary away from all the usual superhero craziness. Anyway, he points out that many of the local farmers have lost all their crops and he wants Bart's help to raise some money for them. Bart asks if he got some good pictures of Poison Ivy, offering to auction them off on eBay. Conner says he has an even better idea: the first-ever Superboy/Kid Flash race. Bart starts laughing, but then realizes Conner's serious. He asks if Conner really wants to be embarrassed in public like that, but Conner just laughs it off, telling Bart to save the trash talk for the cameras. So Bart agrees, but before he leaves, he complains of a headache.

When Conner gets to school, everyone else starts to get headaches, too. The headaches get so bad, that most of the students collapse in the halls, and even Conner is affected. Suddenly, a portal opens up and a teenage boy in a green costume falls out. He introduces himself as Psionic Lad and apologizes for causing all the headaches, saying the effect of his arrival will wear off shortly. Psionic Lad says he's actually from the future and needs Superboy's help. But before he can explain further, another portal opens up, revealing three futuristic soldiers, who immediately blast Superboy in the chest.




This is a pretty nice series that will unfortunately fall victim to Flashpoint. Like I said, we're building up to that sneak peek shown back in Action Comics, but I don't think we'll ever actually reach that point in the story — with the Teen Titans helping Superboy battle giant mud monsters and grotesque pig men. But we do have a Superboy/Kid Flash race to look forward to!

This issue actually reminded me a bit of Impulse's first appearance in Smallville. As much as I hated that show, there were some things I liked about it, such as Bart casually zipping up to Clark (or Conner) on a quiet road in Smallville. Bart was even wearing a hoodie in both cases (I really like this yellow Teen Titans hoodie he had on here). But perhaps the most touching moment was seeing how casually Bart brings up Tim in conversation. Even though Tim has had very little to do with Bart and Conner since they came back, they both still count Tim as one of their best friends. And actually, we will be seeing Tim again pretty soon here.

Next time, we return to Teen Titans #91.