Superboy #2

Overall: We kick things off with Poison Ivy telling Superboy(who had been wrapped up in giant vines)that she needed his help, and that she wasn't responsible for the overgrown greenery that was overrunning Smallville. SB is naturally dubious(I mean this IS Poison Ivy we're talking about!)but decides to give her the benefit of the doubt and follows her in an effort to find the real threat. Before leaving though, SB tells his little friend, Simon Valentine(and Krypto)to watch over the unconscious Parasite, who SB defeated last issue. So SB and Ivy take off and Simon decides to take some of Parasite's blood to see if he could do anything with it... Sure, that's what I'd do too! SB and Ivy discover a farmhouse that wasn't touched by the overgrown shrubs and Ivy perceptively points out that the threat was inside... Wow, thanks for THAT one, Ivy... Upon entering, SB and Ivy discover an old man with all sorts of wires stuck in his chest. SB follows the wires and discovers that they lead to a giant round machine with a timer that was counting down from about 5 minutes.. SB doesn't know what to do about the wires, since pulling them out could kill the old guy, but Ivy has no such qualms, and pulls out the wires, which gets rid of all of the overgrown plants, gives Ivy her powers back and kills the old man. While that scene is playing out, we head back to the Simon Valentine portion of the comic, as we learn that he had managed to examine and bend Parasite's blood to suit his needs... Huh, they grow them REALLY smart is Smallville, don't they? Back at the farmhouse, SB goes after Ivy, but is no match for her now that she has her powers back, as she takes control of SB's mind and wraps him up in vines. Thankfully, Simon appears on the scene with a bunch of frogs that he had imbued with Parasite's blood, giving them Parasite's powers... Oh, and Simon was also controlling the frogs via a remote control... Yeah. The frogs take care of Ivy, while SB grabs the round machine that the wires were hooked up to and flies away from the farmhouse just as the timer on the thing reaches zero. Upon reaching zero the round machine... Um, flashes and then disintegrates. SB returns to the farmhouse where Simon has discovered some weird rock with ancient runes dotting it. SB decides to take the dead old man back to town, and this issue ends with some weird farmers talking about how they had managed to scan SB.

After I was finished with this comic I closed it and looked at the cover to double-check the title. Sure enough, the comic said Superboy #2... I could have SWORN the cover would have said Simon Valentine, Boy Genius #2... I mean seriously, what's the matter with letting Superboy, the title character, you know, defeat the villains on his own?! No, instead we get pages full of Simon(who is OBVIOUSLY being set up to become SB's Lex Luthor)running around solving SB's problems. It was definitely getting a bit annoying... Call me crazy, but I'd like to read about SB in the new SB series. As for Simon, just turn him bad and get it over with. It's so obvious it's painful. As for this story, it was okay, although I do wonder about using Poison Ivy as the villain, since she's more of an anti-hero over in the Gotham City Sirens series. All in all, this was a mixed bag, with some good(the story), some bad(Ivy as the villain)and some annoying(Simon!). Hopefully next issue gives us more SB and less Simon.

Score: 6 out of 10.Thankfully for Superboy, Simon Valentine: Boy Genius was here!