Saturday, November 12, 2011

Superboy #3

Okay, here's a slight change of plans... I was planning on reading this comic last this week on account of hating the first two issues as well as my overall disdain for this new Superboy. We annihilated pre-reboot Superboy for THIS crap!? However, two of my regulars(JT and Movieartman) have told me that I should give this issue a read because the last page is a shocker. So here we go, a day early, this week's Runt of the Litter!

Superboy #3:

What Happened: Superboy manages to free himself from under the surface of the Earth and heads away towards freedom. He ends up bumping into some kids trying to have sex and after scaring them, offers the girl a ride home. SB flies too fast and scares the girl anew, at which point another one of NOWHERE's escaped aliens attacks SB, telling him that he was part Kryptonian, part human as well as something else. The two kind of fight and the alien... melts(?) at which time SB flies away to get some answers. He sneaks into NOWHERE and confronts Red, but is shocked when she hulks up and angrily raises SB in the air, pissed that he'd confront her after all she'd done for him.

The Good: We seem to have a future threat for Superboy(besides NOWHERE) with the two characters from the beginning of this issue. The ending WAS a surprise. I am interested to see what happens next issue. The idea that SB is more than simply Kryptonian and Earthling is kind of interesting...

The Bad: Most of this issue was just Superboy wandering around aimlessly. SB popping out of the ground near the two teenagers who just so happened to be around his age was a bit much... Seriously, out of ALL the places he could have emerged, THAT'S where he popped up!? I still don't really care about NOWHERE one way or the other... So they're yet ANOTHER clandestine organization in the new DCU. *yawn* Join the club.

The Verdict: You know what my mistake has been with this series? And yes, I'm a big enough man to admit that I did indeed make a mistake. I kept comparing this obviously lesser Superboy to the prior Superboy, the one who I was a huge fan of... About halfway through this issue I realized that this was a different character, that it could never touch how awesome “my” Superboy was and you know what? I found myself FINALLY enjoying this series. That must be the trick. Just pretend all of those past DC comic books, all of the time and money I spent reading and collecting them never happened. Pretend that the past 70+ years of DC never existed. Yes, it's tough, because as I said, I spent a lot of time learning about and enjoying the DC Universe, but unfortunately, that's gone now, and all that's left are these weird, bastardized, lesser versions of the characters that used to be. Now that I've come to terms with that, I think I'll be able to enjoy these new DC comic books more. Sure, I'll probably continue dropping titles weekly, but at least now I finally understand. As for this comic? It was good. I liked it and I'm interested in picking up the next issue. There's not much more to say.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Quick question... How the hell does Superboy put that outfit on?!?

10 comments:

  1. Not reading this but.
    Did you know that Red comes from Wildstorm Gen 13?

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  2. I'd heard that before this issue(I think from JT), but there was no proof... Until this issue. So yep, Red is definitely Caitlin Fairchild from Gen13.

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  3. Yep it was from me, and I'm glad you're trying to adapt dude, I'm proud of you.

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  4. Why thank you, JT. See, in some cases you CAN teach an old dog new tricks! :P

    I just have to keep telling myself as I read these new DC comics, "These aren't the same characters" over and over again(and I mean that literally, I really do recite that in my head!), and I find myself being able to enjoy them a bit more... Go figure.

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  5. well good for u
    im sure that down the road as superboy grows/matures he will form in to the superboy u want him to be and u will be rewarded for ur aceptance of the new sbs slow and unlikable origin

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  6. "im sure that down the road as superboy grows/matures he will form in to the superboy u want him to be" Fingers crossed, that's what happens here. I just have to keep in mind that this SB isn't Conner Kent, and as such shouldn't be compared to him... As long as I can do that it's all good.

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  7. Still when they launched this new 52 I'm almost certain they said that everything would be better and shinier, but i kind of have my doubts...

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  8. That's the thing that bothers me though... I didn't think there was anything wrong with the pre-reboot DCU... It was that DCU and those characters that got me interested in DC. It's weird to me that the powers that be for DC thought their company sucked so badly that they had to blow it up... Hopefully down the road(a year? maybe 2?) this new DCU will be as good as the prior one. I guess we'll see though.

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  9. I had totally and completely the same reaction as you: halfway through this issue, I realized I'm not reading about Conner Kent anymore, but about new Superboy, who's a completely different character. Unfortunately, I still didn't really enjoy the issue. I hate to say it, but I think it's on the chopping block for me. We shall see.

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  10. JW, I don't blame you one bit. I'm still going to give it a shot(it is kind of Superboy...), but honestly, I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to be able to deal with this series... I keep hoping this Superboy gets some of the old Superboy's traits, but that seems less and less likely with each passing issue. But yeah, in closing, I miss Conner... A lot. :(

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