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Mild Mannered Reviews - Superboy Comics

Superboy #9

Superboy #9

Scheduled to arrive in stores: May 9, 2012

Cover date: July 2012

The Culling - Part 2: "Lost Claws"

Writer: Scott Lobdell & Tom DeFalco
Penciller: R. B. Silva
Inker: Rob Lean & Iban Coella
Cover: Ian Churchill & Alex Sollazzo

Reviewed by: Adam Dechanel

Click to enlarge



Roll Call: Superboy, Red Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Solstice, Bunker, Skitter, Thunder, Lightning, Beast Boy, Terra, Tyroc, Timber Wolf, Dawnstar, Chameleon Girl, Wildfire, Gates, Tellus.

Superboy and a plethora of teens (from teams such as Teen Titans and The Legion) are in The Crucible, some kind of base miles under Antarctica. They are now joining forces to battle a threat from N.O.W.H.E.R.E. called Ravagers.

Ravagers are all the best of the best of survivors from events called Cullings. One night a year a man named Harvest pits selected metahumans against one another in Culling events where only the strong survive.

Red Robin wants to offer the Ravagers help, if they surrender, but their leader, Warblade declares war. What happens next is a big fight between the Ravagers and the three teams.

(We'll focus on Superboy here) Superboy attempts to kill Warblade by melting him in lava, it doesn't work so he forces Warblade to swallow lava too, again this fails.

Warblade reveals that Superboy isn't as unique as he had thought, he IS a living weapon but ALL Ravagers are too. Warblade raises his scissorhands ready to deal a killing blow but Dawnstar swoops in and prevents it, flinging Warblade into a canyon of molten rock.

One of the teens Superboy had encountered, Hunter Bryce (during his day of freedom) decides to confront the Teen of Steel. Out of nowhere, snow and Ice overcome the terrain distracting all the opponents and as Dawnstar is about to suffer the fate she saved Superboy from, a blast of TTK knocks him back.

Warblade taunts him about his destiny to be a killer and Superboy finally steps up and declares, despite the plans Harvest had for him, HE chooses his own fate. He reiterates this by pounding Warblade into the side of a glacier.

Hunter stops the attack and complains to Superboy that if he had left Hunter and his girlfriend alone they could have lived free and in love. Superboy points out that though his actions forced them back into the Culling and service as Ravagers they were mass murderers like him.

Before Hunter can respond Warblade reappears and kills him. Superboy is in shock and barely listening to Warblade ranting that he is destined for evil. Dawnstar intervenes again and knocks the Ravager unconscious.

A montage later we see the combined might of the teens is enough to defeat the other Ravagers but before they can catch their breath, Harvest arrives and announces that they will feel his true power.

To Be Continued in Legion Lost #9...

1Story - 1: A mess. As a singular issue it allowed me no 'IN' to the story, no introduction to any characters or the situation they are in save a vague monologue. Superboy's personality flips all over the place too. One minute he is trying to drown his foe in molten lava, the next he's crying over cold blooded murder. As part of a larger story it's bad too. The fact that the big fights in the book are reduced to a series of montages is embarrassing.

3Art - 3: The art remains strong but it is not helped by the 'bitty' scenes so it begins to falter, which makes the art hard to follow.

4Cover Art - 4: A pretty decent fight scene hindered by the snow white background which lessens the impact.


Mild Mannered Reviews

2012

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

January 2012

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