Superman: Action Comics #1088 – Mark Waid, Writer; Skylar Partridge, Artist; Ivan Plascencia, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: The Superboy era of DC Comics is easily one of the most forgotten, as those Silver Age stories have been out of continuity for decades and rarely referenced. As we’re now in the era of “everything happened”, Mark Waid is taking on the task of bringing it back – and so far, he’s hitting it out of the park. This era of Clark’s life was covered heavily, albeit not very well, in the TV show Smallville, which saw Clark beating up every single one of his enemies without ever putting on his costume. This run, which saw Clark make his debut as Superboy out of necessity last issue, has him in action from the start – and he’s raring to get back into action. There are some great segments involving him saving the day in various segments around the world – but then he has to take on a much bigger challenge. He’s starting high school at the new, much bigger Smallville High – where he’s at the bottom of the social totem pole.
I’ve never been the biggest fan of Clark being a bullied nerd in high school, but this story plays it fairly lightly – it’s only one frenemy who seems to be picking on him, and Clark is deliberately playing himself as this meek type to protect his identity. But school itself is posing challenges far bigger than talking to his crush – first, he has a new teacher who seems to be rather intensely interested in him. I’m guessing this is the mystery superman from the end of the previous issue – who might be another Kryptonian. And then there’s the fire that breaks out due to a chemistry mishap – which nearly traps and kills one of Clark’s closest friends. This exposes a dark conspiracy of corruption – one that makes Superboy lose his temper and abuse his powers for the first time, a critical lesson that fits seamlessly into his journey as a hero. This is a great coming-of-age tale that feels perfectly suited for the boy who would be Superman.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
