Adventures of the Super-Sons #10 – Peter J. Tomasi, Writer; Carlo Barberi, Penciller; Matt Santorelli, Inker; Protobunker, Colorist
Ray – 6/10
Ray: As the final in-continuity Super-Sons story – at least until Damian gets a growth spurt – heads into its final act, it loses most of the momentum of the clever last issue and returns to the same old battle with the Junior Legion of Doom. Returning as well is the narrative device from the last run, which had its final issue narrated by an elderly member of the Super-Sons. This issue has both of what I assume are Jon and Damian as bickering old men, which while it’s an amusing scene, also confuses me because Damian and Jon shouldn’t be aging at the same age. Jon’s Kryptonian genes should be keeping him younger. But that’s a minor side story, and the main plot is Jon, Damian, their new Green Lantern ally, and a robot version of Jonah Hex hitching a ride around the galaxy. Rex Luthor has finally tracked them down, and the final battle is about to begin.
The main problem with this series is that there are way too many flat characters, with Jonah really being the only one who has an ongoing narrative struggle. He’s spent his entire life playing out someone else’s story and now he’s independent for the first time. That could be a compelling tale – except that it’s telegraphed pretty quickly that he’s not going to get a happy ending. The villains mainly serve to introduce a lot of new teen clones of DC supervillains, including a teenage female version of Doomsday that Damian makes fun of. With only two issues left, this issue is largely action and by the end if brings back a number of major players from earlier in the run for a final showdown. It’s fine mostly all-ages storytelling, but its place out of continuity and knowing what awaits Jon and Damian in the rest of their lives makes it feel a little hollow and pointless.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
