Review: Superboy Man Of Tomorrow #6

Superboy Man Of Tomorrow #6 came out last week, wrapping up the mini-series in a satisfactory way. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book but what I got was a decent nugget of self-discovery for a character who has been in the wind the last decade or so.

Writer Kenny Porter started this book out with Conner wanting to find himself. It ends with Conner happy with his life, even adding a new path to explore. He has had to face a sort of dark version of himself along the way. And he again learned what it means to wear the 'S'. I think Conner is truly in a better place now and the idea of his being a sort of inter-galactic S-shield hero opens up opportunity for the character that the other supers don't currently have. Heck, given the Cosmoteers, it could even be a backdoor pilot for a new Legion book. 

Artist Jahnoy Lindsay brings a nice energy to the proceedings. Things have veered towards a manga feel which has worked. There are some panels which feel like homages to famous manga or anime. And I like the way he draws the younger side of the big super-family. 

But I do have two big gripes with the book. One, there is a big emotional scene with Superman near the end. And in the most emotional section, a word balloon is attributed to the wrong character, squashing the moment, and taking me right out of the book. The creators should not be blamed for an egregious editing error but it definitely dimmed things for me as a reader.

Second, this is also diminished by the unfortunate recent Superboy story by Mags Visaggio in Action Comics #1057. All the progress done in this mini-series is wiped away by the angry 'who am I' Conner in that tale. Heck, the bitter 'let me yell at Ma Kent' Conner in that story even has a red streak in his hair ... akin to the villain here, a clone of Conner, in this story. It makes terrible sense in the big scheme of things. Again, this is a bad editing choice. So I shouldn't let this dull the Porter/Lindsay effort but it isn't easy.

On to this story.

I think much of Conner's motives earlier were dealing with not knowing who he was in this universe where there is a glut of super-family members. I also got a whiff of self-doubt, or maybe even self-loathing, like not thinking he was worthy of the S-shield.

So the symbolism wasn't lost on me that the villain of the piece, Travv, ends up being in a cloned body of Conner. As Superboy says, he has to kick his own butt. 

The use of the word cathartic is a great one here. 

Conner has been beating himself up from the beginning. He has beaten himself up for some of the decisions he's made. 

Now he is literally beating himself up. 

Travv has a mix of Conner's powers and some of this tech powers making him just about as close to a Cyborg Superboy as you can get.

Here he morphs his arm into a planet-busting cannon. This has to be an homage to the twisted Tetsuo at the end of Akira. 

The only thing that can stop this blast is if Superboy somehow does the impossible with his tactile TK. And he does it, saving everyone.

Okay, he uses it like Invisible Girl's invisible force field, hardly tactile but it is a nice moment. I like how that need to represent the S-shield is on his mind.

In the aftermath, Travv is devastated by the backlash of his own cannon fire.

Remember, the Cosmoteers had joined in with Travv when his initial rampage of evil in the name of good was going on. Now that they recognize who you can't fight evil with evil, they own up to their crimes. They allow themselves to be arrested by the GL Corps. 

The backbone of this story is Conner's growth. He can't reclaim the inanity of the Metropolis Kid. He has to grow up. So he is talking to himself as much as Pira when he says that they all have to move forward. Another nice moment.

With Travv captured, Conner decides it is time to head home. 

Nice homage to Superman The Movie here, saying that he is a friend.

And then that moment.

Back on Earth, the Super-family all welcome Conner home with open arms. 

Superman pulls him aside to tell Conner that he will be more a presence in Con's life.

But that second panel ...

That is Superman's line about being Conner's big brother. But this makes it look like Conner is saying it. 

I know I can say in my head that Superman is saying it. But since I had to figure it out it just pulled me out of the scene. And it is a shame because it is a great scene.

We end with a family picnic and Conner saying this is a new era for him.

Except ...

Mags Visaggio has him take a million steps backwards in that story. 

Again, it's a shame. 

Because we end on a high note.

Conner still has his teleporting bracelet on. He is now a star-hopping super. He will help anyone who needs it. 

Overall, I thought this was a fun series, a really nice introspective look at Conner. And I like where he is at the end. He has made some progress here. He can still be funny and brash. But he has a new heroic maturity.  Will it last? I can hope. Kudos to Porter and Lindsay.

Overall grade: B (dropped unfortunately by the editing issues, not the story)