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Mild Mannered Reviews - Superman Family Adventures Comics

Superman Family Adventures #7

Superman Family Adventures #7

Scheduled to arrive in stores: November 28, 2012

Cover date: January 2013

"Attack of the Toyman!"

Writer: Art Baltazar and Franco
Artist: Art Baltazar

Reviewed by: Marc Pritchard

Click to enlarge


A snowball fight amongst the Tiny Titans at the Fortress of Solitude quickly turns into a Tooth Fairy Party (apparently a Kryptonian tradition), with Supergirl as the mistress of ceremonies. Soon, a mysterious package arrives, which the kids open to reveal a complete set of Justice League action figures! But the photograph-taking stuffed pink pony is also a mystery, as are all the other stuffed toys seen about: for these are a trap laid by Toyman, who seeks revenge on Superman for embarrassingly insisting that Toyman buy extra batteries for his remote control plane when the two crossed paths at the toy store.

So it is that the press of a button turns all of the toys in the Fortress against the kids, just as they are sitting down to cake - including the Justice League action figures, not so heroic and good in these diminutive forms! Suddenly, Superman arrives with burgers, which are promptly stolen by one of a multitude of flying mini-Supermen. Superman quickly deduces that Toyman is behind the "attack," which moves into a second phase when Toyman unearths a giant toy dinosaur from under the snow near the Fortress. But the dinosaur is immediately set upon by the Super Pets, and in the ensuing fracas Toyman is knocked clear... into the Fortress itself, where the diversionary battle with the plushies and figures rages on. He readies his remote control for a final blow but all that happens is the flying toys fall promptly out of the air, leaving the Fortress quiet and Toyman defenseless. Seems he should have bought the extra batteries, after all.

The dinosaur is later moved to the Batcave, where the Super Pets and Bat Pets meet for the first time and Comet expresses his deep admiration for Batcow. Twice. (Not even the omniscient narrator can make sense of this.) Back at the Fortress, the little bug earlier seen only briefly is beamed up to a satellite with the S-shield on it, which proceeds to glow, catching the notice of three figures of elemental-like appearance - earth, fire and water - watching from a distance and proclaiming that they will find the Super Family on Earth. (Here, too, the narrator is at a loss.)

Meanwhile, at Metropolis Jail, Lex Luthor makes a visit to Toyman and gives him a chunk of Kryptonite, telling him he'll never need batteries again!

5Story - 5: This felt more like a complete story than any of the previous issues has. I liked that a lot. So did Forrester, I think, by extension. He was very intent on this one, and it probably also didn't hurt that I hammed it up quite a lot in the reading, especially during the Tooth Fairy Party, where my best falsetto came out for the Supergirl and Starfire roles - also with Batcow (the hamming it up, part, I mean, not the falsetto), my new favourite hero's pet! The issue was also pleasantly inane at times - Toyman's motivation, in particular, and his initial remembering of the encounter in the toy store capped with "Curse you, Superman! I know what I'm doing!" I'm still laughing about that one.

5Art - 5: Still no faulting the art, thus:

"This work is exactly what it's supposed to be - iconic, expressive and simple. And all of those things consistently.©"

I mean, seriously. Yes, the comparative lack of detail surely helps but these are some mightily consistent lines.

5Cover Art - 5: Really, there's precisely no faulting the art on this book. I mean, it likely wouldn't much support a typical Grant Morrison story, but for this stuff, it is utterly perfect.

Forrester's Final Word(s): "Superman!" That's right, little dude: Superman.

Mild Mannered Reviews

2013

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

January 2013

February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013

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