Review:Super Sons #15

Super Sons #15 was released last week, the beginning of the last arc for this book before it gets cancelled. This fun and well received title is another casualty in the current shakeup with the Superman books.

So it only seems fitting that we come full circle in this book with the boys fighting their first foe, Kid Amazo. At lot has happened since the boys stumbled into a team-up. They have become a true super hero duo. They go to school together. They have a Fortress to hang out. And they have become friends.

That last part is the best part of this book. We have seen how, despite their inherent differences, the boys have become comrades in arms. Damian has become a tad more noble, a tad more open, and has started to care about Jon as more than a tool. Jon has become more talkative, more assertive, and more proactive. In other words, they have positively impacted the life of the other. And they are there for each other when there is trouble, personal or otherwise. It is a shame this is going away.

Peter Tomasi has basically written a World's Finest book and it has been great. And this issue is no difference. With the very complementary art by Carlo Barberi and Art Thibert, we get another issue of action and character interaction.

It's a shame it is going away. I am still holding out hope we get a Super Squad book in the aftermath. On to the book.

We start in Lexcorp where a couple of workers are chatting about their non-work lives when they discover that Kid Amazo has escaped.

Sweet Christmas!
Sweet Christmas?

Is Luke Cage undercover?

Meanwhile, Robin and Superboy are in the Fortress of Attitude chilling out.

There is the usual 'Odd Couple' banter. Superboy is talking about how much he loves noodles. Robin is talking about how the place will reek of them. In a little gamesmanship, Jon exerts some super strength with one pinky to stop Damian from lifting his weights.

They are friends. But they aren't similar. And this friction now and then keeps the book fresh and fun.

The downtime is interrupted when Kid Amazo shows up and smashes into the headquarters.

The place floods and the boys only have semi-functioning respirators. This isn't good and is a decent reason not to have an undersea clubhouse. It also seems a little outside the character of Batman to set them up without the most essential of emergency equipment.

One thing I do like is how Jon takes charge here. He is the one better suited to take on Kid Amazo and try to plug the hole. He tells Damian to get to safety.

I don't know if Jon would be so 'take charge' in issue one.

I had to include this panel because I thought it was pretty cool.

Seeing Jon is struggling against Kid Amazo, Robin uses an escape pod as a battering ram missile to put some distance between the combatants.

An escape pod as an offensive weapon? Sounds like Damian.

The respirators are barely functioning. The boys have to swim to the surface. But Amazo isn't having it. He grabs Jon who sinks.

Damian actually tries to give chase but realizes he'll only drown. He has to make it to the surface but he is pretty far from air.

Again, pretty interesting to see Damian actually try to chase Jon down initially. The tactical Damian from issue one might not have done that.

Luckily, Cyborg shows up to save Damian. Batman has had alarms set up in the Watchtower to fire should the boys be under attack.

Now it is a bit of story serendipity that Cyborg is who responds. After all, the boys are fighting a techno-virus/armor. Who better to be there than a walking hacking Apokoliptian cyborg.

I'll allow it.

Cyborg comes become the rest of the JLA have been off at an oil rig rescue.

And Superboy is brought to an oil rig. Hmmm ...

Still living, Jon is subjected to a little super-villain monologing. The Kid Amazo armor is now sentient and self-aware. It needs organic energy to fuel it. And his old host Reggie wasn't a powerful enough battery anymore. Reggie is dead.

Okay, that is pretty chilling. And it makes me want to reread the first arc. I thought it was Reggie who was infected.

Regardless, the armor needs fuel.

And that oil rig coincidence turns out not to be a coincidence. This is Amazo's lair and he has the JLA captured to be used as food.

Okay, this was a decent issue. The interaction with the boys at the beginning, as usual, was the best stuff. I like when we see them riffing off each other, jabbing a bit. But those differences fade when the fight starts, as it should with a team.

I don't know if I quite understand the new Amazo but it is good to see the boys have a rogue in their gallery. And having them save their fathers will be a nice coda to this book.

But I am still pretty bummed this book is ending.

Overall grade: B