Superboy #3

Review: This comic starts off a bit out of order, so for simplicity's sake, I'll try to make this review as linear as possible. Superboy is awoken ultra early by Krypto, who is howling at something from inside the Kent household. SB takes a quick gander around, but finds nothing. After a quick talk with Ma, SB heads of to school. On the way, he calls fellow Teen Titans Bart Allen(Kid Flash), and says that he wants to stage the first ever race between Kid Flash and Superboy(um, unless you count their other “first” race...), with the proceeds benefiting Smallville, which was ravaged the past two issues. Bart is game, and SB continues on to school. At school, SB tells Simon Valentine that they can't be seen together as Connor and Simon, since Simon has been seen with Superboy. He still wants to hang out with Simon after school as SB, but is adamant that they can't interact at school, which leaves Simon bummed. Later on, every student at the high school is attacked by a mental assault(except for Lori, who spots Connor changing to SB, confirming her suspicions). The assault stops when some hokey-dressed kid pops out of a portal and introduces himself as Psionic Lad, and asks for SB's help. Before SB can figure out what was going on, some goons in armor pop out of another portal, blast SB and move in to apprehend Psionic Lad.

Thoughts: Hmm... There was a lot I liked here, mainly the fact that this issue focused on SB, as opposed to Simon. It was nice to actually read a Superboy comic that STARRED Superboy! Being one of the biggest Bart Allen fans alive, I also liked that he showed up here as well, although I wish they'd stop billing this as the “first” Superboy/Kid Flash race... Bart and Connor have ALREADY raced(back in the oft forgotten Superboy and the Ravers series)where Bart annihilated SB, running part of the race backwards. I guess you could claim that Bart was Impulse at the time, but he's still the same character, simply with a different name. As for Psionic Lad, the jury is still out for me on what I think of him. I don't like the costume, and the fact that he attacked the entire student body at SB's school before arriving annoyed me, but I'll wait and see how Jeff Lemire develops him before blasting him. All in all though, this was probably my favorite issue of this series thus far.

Score: 8 out of 10.When did Bart's hair get THAT red?!