DC Comics 4/22/26 – JLU 18, Absolute Wonder Woman 19

Superman 37

The whole Superman MIA arc in the wake of DC KO may just be another in a long run of quick gimmicks to boost sales for a bit, but writer Joshua Williamson is really making the main Superman book plenty of fun even with an absentee Man of Steel.

That’s mostly due to Williamson already spending time on Superboy Prime’s redemption during the DC KO tie-in chapters. Superboy Prime was a fascinating character circa Infinite Crisis and gradually became too one-note of a character to be worthwhile. The great villain turned into a remorseful would-be hero is a tired cliche these days, but Williamson is making it work with Superboy Prime.

In part because Superboy Prime, or CK as he prefers to be called, is genuinely trying to make amends and treat his second/third chance differently and actually be the hero he always wanted. CK hasn’t quite gotten a grasp on a world he knows mainly from comics so some of his remarks can come off flippantly, but he just doesn’t know any better. To help ingratiate himself with others, CK reaches out to another poorly received hero upon his debut — Damian Wayne. This Superboy/Robin team-up starts off rocky, but Williamson shows there could be some fun potential here.

Artist Dan Mora gets to do this new team-up as they battle against Clayface, who’s set for his big screen debut. Mora naturally, has fun coming up with clever ways to illustrate Clayface’s powers while also giving Damian his signature consistently annoyed persona. Colorist Alejandro Sanchez gets to add more creativity to the mix incorporating a variety of colors with the addition of other heroes appearing in a cameo role.  Letterer Ariana Maher utilizes some fun fonts for the special effects and tone emphasis including a surprising one from Ma Kent.

Whenever Superman Returns, DC will need to figure out how soon they can start a Superboy Prime title as this run is proving the character has plenty of potential to headline his own book thanks to this creative team.

Rating: 10 out of 10