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Mild Mannered Reviews - "Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow" Comic Books

Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow #5

Scheduled to arrive in stores: August 29, 2023
Cover date: October 2023

"Chapter 5"

Writer: Kenny Porter
Artist: Jahnoy Lindsay
Cover: Jahnoy Lindsay
Variant Cover: Adrián Gutiérrez and Luis Guerrero
1:25 Variant Cover: Scott Kolins

Reviewed by: JP Rocha

Click to enlarge

Some time has passed since the last issue. The Cosmoteers have chased Dominator X to the planet Calluum. They are led by Travv, who is pursuing Dominator X with little concern for the collateral damage to the citizens of Calluum or the minions that he took control of. Finally after everything that has happened, it is this aggressive behavior that is causing Pira and Rotur to start questioning Travv.

Connor has been saved from his defeat in the last issue. He blames himself for failing to stop Travv. Gleeb, one of the Decidian survivors who helped save Superboy, finds the Boy of Steel hiding from his failure. He helps Kon-EL learn that mistakes are not failures if you have the tenacity to keep moving forward. Through his failure Superboy learns what it means to be The Man of Tomorrow. This means not being a showboating kid but, instead being an example like Clark that inspires others to be their best. With a repaired teleporter, Conner contacts Kelex who informs him that his Superfamily has been looking for him and that he has never been unwanted or alone. Determined to fix his mistakes, he asks Kelex to teleport him to finish what he started with Travv and Dominator X.

Cutting back to Calluum, Travv is attacking everyone in his way, innocent or not, to find Dominator X. This aggressiveness finally turns Pria and Rotur against Travv as they stand up against him, only Travv is much stronger than them now. Travv releases a blast meant to kill both innocents in the way and his team. Out of nowhere, a teleported Superboy appears in time to deflect that blast. As a battle starts, who will have the upper hand, Travv and his mind controlled minions or Superboy?

With his new found philosophy, Superboy wastes no time to stop Travv. Flying right past his minions, Conner directly assaults Travv, removing his mind control device. Not willing to give in, Travv doubles down his attack and initiates a self-destruct mechanism to kill Superboy and himself. Using a tactile telekinesis shield, Conner is able to protect himself and others in the blast radius from harm.

The story ends as Travv miraculously survives and gains control of a Krypton body to set up a final battle in the conclusion to the book next month.

Story - 3: A great bounce back story after being let down from last month's issue. This action-packed installment sets up what I believe will be a strong final issue next month. "Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow #4" lives up to the subtitle. Conner learns from his mistakes as he realizes he has to start "acting like the MAN [he is] going to be Tomorrow".

Art - 3: The storytelling of Lindsay again, redeems the art of this book. While there are some strong panels, the art style of this book is just not for me.

Cover Art - 3: This cover is a homage to "Superman #75". While not bad for a cover, storywise it would have made more sense with last month's book.

Mild Mannered Reviews

2023

Note: Except for digital first releases, the month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

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Mild Mannered Reviews - "Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow" Comic Books

Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow #5

Mild Mannered Reviews

2023

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