This week in the Superfamily, one man returns home from a 20-year mission, while another man-boy seeks his own adventure in the stars! We’re here to review Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow #1, winner of DC’s Round Robin 2022, and Superman: Lost #2. Also, don’t forget that another version of Superboy comes back this week on HBO Max’s Titans!
Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow #1 Recap:
Our favorite Superboy, Kon-El, is back with his own series! After rightfully winning DC’s Round Robin* last year, fans have been awaiting this book since it was announced. This first issue was well worth the wait. It dropped on DC Universe Infinite and goes on sale in stores next week. Conner Kent is struggling to figure out his place in Metropolis after he’s re-established into a reality that moved on without him in it.
Metropolis is well-covered by his entire Superfamily, the rest of the world is covered by his fellow Young Justice members and other assorted heroes. He decides to do what any forever-teen clone would do…he goes off into space to make a name for himself and help people. Because Conner doesn’t always think things through, this plan goes south immediately, something Kelex predicted back in the Fortress of Solitude.
Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow #1 Review:
Kenny Porter and Jahnoy Lindsay truly capture the spirit of the original 90s era, leather jacket Superboy. This Kon-El is impulsive, silly, funny, full of heart and quips. His story has always been kind of tragic at its core: a forever boy cursed to never truly “grow up” and writers often forget that informs his decisions and how he perceives the world.
This first issue bodes well for what’s to come. Fun moments with the Superfamily in the beginning and encouraging words from Martha Kent, who should really be getting paid money for how much she nurtures our heroes in her free time. Conner finds himself in one crazy situation after another in a few pages, with a tease of what’s to come at the end. It’s all just good, fun comic book silliness with a hint of sadness, just the way I like it. Looking forward to seeing more of our goofy guy who just wants a place in the galaxy that’s all his own.
And look good while doing it!
*There’s a bonus second story, featuring the stories from the finalists of DC’s Round Robin. In this issue, it was “Green Lantern: The Light at the End of Forever” by Simon Spurrier and Marco Santucci.
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Conner Kent takes center stage! After the events of Dark Crisis, Conner feels out of place with the rest of the hero community. He doesn’t fit in with the rest of the Superman Family, and the rest of the world doesn’t really need him with so many Supers in Metropolis. He doesn’t want to rely on Tim, Cassie, and Bart, so Conner looks to the stars as a place he might be able to call his own and carve out his own path. But what lurks in the great unknown? Are bravado and swagger enough to help Superboy find his new calling?
This is the 2022 Round Robin winner-picked by you, the fans!
Written by: Kenny Porter
Art by: Jahnoy Lindsay
Colors by: Jahnoy Lindsay
Letters by: Lucas Gattoni
Cover by: Jahnoy Lindsay
Price: $3.99
Superman: Lost #2 Recap and Review:
What in the hell happened to Clark Kent? Well, we’re starting to get some answers in this second issue. Present day, Lois Lane is struggling to keep Clark’s head above water mentally, reminding him to breathe, furious with Bruce Wayne and his involvement in what happened to her husband. We find out, via flashbacks, that Superman had to use his own body to shut down a black hole drive in an alien ship. I have to admit there was a LOT of tedious, confusing exposition about gravity and his powers, but I assume there’s a reason for the repetition and it’ll come to fruition later on.
After he’s thrown many light-years away, Superman interacts with beings from different parts of the universe (multiverse?) while trying to get back home and losing track of his days. He doesn’t know it, but 20 years will have passed before he gets there. Overall, a wonderful follow-up to the first issue. The mystery deepens and I’m excited to see more of the aftermath because it gives us more Lois and Bruce tension, which we don’t see often.
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As Superman struggles to re-enter his life on Earth, we begin the story of his epic 20-year journey home with an encounter with spacefaring scavengers who transport the Man of Steel to an unnamed earthlike planet whose properties redefine the limits of his powers, while the world’s ecological and political turmoil beckons for his help.
Written by: Christopher Priest
Art by: Carlo Pagulayan and Jason Paz
Colors by: Jeromy Cox
Letters by: Willie Schubert
Cover by: Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz and Elmer Santos
Price: $4.99