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Mild Mannered Reviews - Regular Superman Comics

Adventure Comics #3 Adventure Comics #3

Adventure Comics #3

[Original Numbering: #506]

Scheduled to arrive in stores: October 14, 2009

Cover date: December 2009

"Superboy: The Boy of Steel" - Part Three

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Francis Manapul

"Long Live The Legion" - Part Three: "Running Hot and Cold"

Writer: Geoff Johns and Michael Shoemaker
Artist: Clayton Henry

Review by: Anthony-L

Click to enlarge


"Superboy: The Boy of Steel" - Part Three

Conner (Superboy) continues his "What did Superman/What does Lex Luthor do?" checklist. Conner asks the quirky Simon, "You think people are born bad?" while they discuss the mysterious Lori who seems to have bad luck follow her around (holy obvious super-power, Batman!). Krypto shows up carting along several of Conner's Rogues which leads Conner to think "Maybe Krypto can track down Luthor." When that is unsuccessful, Conner decides to look up Red Robin (Tim Drake) where the two old friends reunite and have a nice heartfelt talk showing that unlike Luthor, Conner does not "Alienate Friends". The issue ends with Lex asking to be dropped off in Smallville so he can find his "property" (Conner).

To be continued...

"Long Live The Legion" - Part Three: "Running Hot and Cold"

Polar Boy and Sun Boy team up on Tharr (Polar Boy's home planet) to catch Cryo-King, a Legion of Super-Villain wannabe. Polar Boy gets no respect from his home world or from Cryo-King. Brek (Polar Boy) lashes out and together, he and Sun Boy make short work of Cryo-King. The two Legionnaires discover a map of 21st Century Earth on Cryo-King who mysteriously tells our two heroes, "You think you're the only Legion with an espionage squad in the 21st Century?"

3Lead Story - 3: Yawn. If this were a stand-alone story showing Tim and Conner's reunion (and all the other interactions along the way), I might rank it a 4 as it's not a bad story. As Part Three, I rank it a 3 and that's generous. I'm really bored with Conner's checklist. Come on, Conner, you're up to nine things that you do that are like Superman and only have 2 on your Lex List and you're still conflicted? The checklist works as a sub-plot but it's been the overarching theme of each issue so far and I've lost interest. To be fair, this issue really worked for me as a character piece on Tim Drake and his relationship to Conner. I also thought that underneath it all, the story was fun but only as a standalone piece.

5Lead Story Art - 5: Great art, great coloring really make up for a lot. It's great to see an action sequence in this issue and the shot of Conner changing into Superboy was great. No complaints really on the art.

3Back-Up Story - 3: Finally, a story where something actually happens! I haven't been too thrilled with the characterization of Polar Boy (and how the other Legionnaires treat him) since Johns brought the team back in Action Comics but if I overlook that, I liked the story in general and I really liked the end. This story, more than any of the others so far, had the classic Legion feel to it, including both action and characterization and it only took 10 pages! Minor quibbles: Tharr was never portrayed as having a "cold interior" in the past, and Polar Boy definitely was more of a celebrity on his home planet. I'll just chalk these changes up to "New Earth continuity."

3Back-Up Art - 3: I found the art an improvement over last issue. Again, it's perfectly good, decent art, just not as creative as I'd like. Henry has a chance here to make his mark on the 31st century look and he's kind of wasting it. Not sure if that's indicative of a lack of talent, lack of ambition, or just editorial not wanting to push things in order to keep the look "relatable."

4Cover Art - 4: The cover is solid enough to capture a reader's attention if you're fans of the two featured characters.

4Cover Art (Variant Edition) - 4: A very fun cover, showing a real sense of the fun in the issue (it was a fun issue in many ways). One big complaint (DC Editorial or production asleep at the wheel again?): the UPC blocks one of the six side images almost completely. This comes from the "second feature" tag appearing at the top of the cover instead of the bottom. Definitely a problem and it detracts from an otherwise excellent cover.

Mild Mannered Reviews

2009

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

January 2009

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