Like all new students, Superboy has been getting some hazing his first day of high school. It’s a little more abnormal, however, when the hazing is from a monstrous and telekinetic student body.
Positive
Though an entire arc of Superboy just trying to survive high school would be a blast, writer Justin Jordan knows that you need to have some fights in a superhero comic. Given the entirely-character driven last issue, this issue tends to lean heavy on the “less talk, more punch” style of writing. That doesn’t mean the book has gotten any less fun. Using Krypto in this arc has turned out to be a stroke of genius, because it’s allowed Jordan to get humor out of a fight scene while still keeping Conner focused on the task at hand. Instead of the usual tact of having the hero quip while fighting, Jordan uses Krypto to get a different sort of humor into his fight scenes that actually comes off quite refreshing. It’s a nice change to see.
Bringing Marcus To on to assist in art duties was a nice move as well. He always brings a composed, clean style to any book he works on and it certainly fits nicely with the action of this book.
Negative
To be honest, I can’t really find a negative on this one. The story is fun to read, and Jordan even manages to throw some character development into the action. We get a payoff to a theme he’s been building for his whole arc, and the whole issue came off satisfying.
Verdict
5/5
It’s really a shame that Jordan is departing the book soon, because he really hit his stride with this issue. However, as he himself described his departure as his own choice and everything was amicable (he’s staying onNew Guardians, after all), it’s likely that he may have known he just had this one solid arc in him and chose to leave on a high note, wrapping up the one Superboy arc he had in him and moving on. If that is indeed the situation, then it may have been the right choice. If the rest of the arc is as solid as this issue, then it will definitely be a great one to go out on.
—————–
