Superboy Book Is Now A Villain Book

I have railed against the 'grim and gritty' New 52 for a long time. From it's inception with an isolated Supergirl, a distant Superman, a vapid Starfire, an art thief Wonder Girl, raping murdering Amazons ... I could go on ... I have been shocked that there is very little light in the current DCU.

There is no inspiration here. There is little heroism. There is almost no humor. And there is very little love. The whole universe is painted with the same dark brush. It is disheartening.

And, before anyone says I want the sticky sweet innocence of older times, I will reiterate what I always say. I like darker books and anti-heroes as much as the next reader. What I don't like is when dark anti-heroes are the only choice on the menu. I want to read other books, ones where heroes are heroes because it is the right thing to do, where heroes are respected for being heroes and do good because it is right to do so.

On top of the overall tone of the universe, as fans we have been faced with story after story of DC's editorial changing plots at the last minute, irritating creators and leading to a shaky foundation on characters.

Perhaps the biggest and best (worst?) example of that is the Superboy character.

Superboy started out as a clone of Superman and 'someone', created as a living weapon.
Then we learned that he was meant to be a weapon, created by Harvest, with a layer of subliminal brainwashing to make him want to kill Superman.
Then he escaped all that and became a bank-robbing playa! Living the high life on ill-gotten gains, he partied and hung out with other rich debutantes and princes.
Then we learned his DNA make-up was three strands - Superman, Lois, and the DNA of an evil son from an alternate future - Jon Lane Kent, a genocidal villain.
Then he became a joking young hero trying to do good.

All that in 2 years. There was even a couple of feints in there. There was a cliffhanger hinting at a more classic Superman/Lex genetic makeup.

As a fan, how can you back this character who has been changed so dramatically so many times in 2 years? There just isn't anything to hang on to. And this isn't character growth. This is flailing.

So what did DC decide to do with this character they can't figure out what to do with?

Kill him.

Perfect solution for the New 52. The only solution it seems. Dark and grim and gritty.

Rather than cancel the book, DC decided to continue it. But now put the villainous murderous son of Clark and Lois at the helm. Starting in Superboy #26, Jon Lane Kent is the star. Marv Wolfman has been tagged as writer and this is what he said in an interview on Newsarama (here is the link: http://www.newsarama.com/19372-wolfman-s-superboy-to-star-villainous-son-of-superman-lois-lane.html ). I am not going to copy much from this interview because it sickens me a little. But here are two blurbs that caught my eye.

Nrama: So you're approaching this new Superboy as a villain?
Wolfman: Yeah, he's a villain. Least we know he is. But that doesn't mean everyone knows. Nyaaa haa haa!

We have read this sort of response from so many creators and editors on so many books. The hero is dark, conflicted, or an outright villain. This isn't edgy any more ... because everyone is on this edge. Remember when Bobbi Chase laughed when she talked about how dark Supergirl was going to be as if it was funny.

I mean right now we are rooting for some villains because 'Evil is Relative'. 

Are no other styles and themes possible in DC anymore?

Grant Morrison looked in the crystal ball saw this and left. I think of this panel whenever I see another hero, going dark for no good reason. "They built a violent, troubled, faceless anti-hero concealing a tragic secret life."

But then this caught my eye as well, showing once more that DC has no faith in their creators and changes things on the fly.

Nrama: How has it been working with Andres Guinaido and the rest of the creative team on Superboy?
Wolfman: Superboy #26 was the first time we worked together, and it was a very different experience. There had been a previous script done and layouts were already finished. So we used about 8-9 of the layout pages and I wrote a new story around them, which leads into where we're going with #27 and on. So I got to see his art on something I was only partially responsible for and really loved what he did. But then I handed in my page/panel breakdowns to him, so I then got to see how he interpreted my ideas, and they were wonderful.

The original solicit lists Frank Hannah as the writer and has Superboy (again!) discovering something shocking about his origin. But that was a story written for Kon and already laid out!

So DC changes things, puts Jon Lane Kent in as hero and makes Wolfman re-write the script to fit the pages with a completely new leading man. Amazing in a bad way. But not surprising.

The bottom line is this.

I am not going to read this Superboy book. I am dropping it. 

And therefore you won't be seeing reviews here.

I cannot support this book which butchers the Clark/Lois relationship, sets up the son of Superman as a homicidal maniac, and puts yet another villain as the headliner of a book. This book as a whole could be used to show everything that is wrong with DC comics over the last few years.

Review: Vibe #8

Vibe #8 came out last week and represents the last of my 'catch up' reviews from my week away.

And in some ways this is a sad review to write as we all learned recently that Vibe was 'stealth cancelled' by DC. Vibe #10 will be the last issue even though the solicit doesn't call it the finale. I have talked about my love of this title and its old school optimism and young heroism in the past. No need to reiterate it. But sales are sales and the book simply never took off despite what I felt was good word of mouth.

I don't know if writer Sterling Gates knew he only had a couple more issues on the book when this script was submitted because it doesn't read like a creator rushing to the finish line. And I am glad. I would rather read this book as it was intended, with a long term plan in mind. We meet new characters, deepen existing plotlines, and spend a nice side trip on Gemworld. That's all good stuff.

Artists Andres Guinaldo continues to do great art on the book. This title can lend itself to some Shade the Changing Man like surrealism with cracks in reality and peeks into other dimensions always creeping into the stories.

It is a shame this title is going away, another tick off the DC ledger of my monthly books.

Last issue ended with Rupture (Vibe's brother Armando) stabbing him in the chest with a sickle, draining Vibe of his powers. Rupture then grabbed Vibe and Gypsy and headed back to her home dimension.

En route, Armando releases Vibe's body, letting it float between vibrational realms. We get a couple of pages were we get to see Gates and Guinaldo cut loose. We see the Superman from Earth 23 from Morrison's Action Comics run. We hear General Zod from the Man of Steel movie asking if someone (Superman) 'was trained on a farm'. And we see other crazy dimensions.

Bleeding vibrational energy and near death, Vibe's body naturally seeks out someone somewhere who can help him.

That need leads him to Gemworld where Vibe is able to temporarily stabilize himself by draining Amethyst of some of the vibrational energies she has inside that allows her to move from Earth and back. Before things get too far, Breacher shows up to try to settle things a bit.

The Gemworld pages are a treat for me. I would love to read a Gates' Amethyst title because I think he could effectively update the character while keeping the core and sense of the original intact. This Amethyst sounds like Amethyst.

Vibe still sports an open wound spilling vibrational energy. Breacher shows up and slaps some sort of stabilizer on Cisco's chest. And it works, stemming the flow of energy and saving Cisco's life.

I can't help but see Iron Man when I see him sporting that round thing on his chest.

We then get a bit of a recap of Vibe's origins. Cisco and Armando were bathed in vibrational energies.

But that incursion did more than just let Darkseid in. It weakened those dimensional walls. That is why all those creatures in the Circus slipped into our reality.

Cisco's body adapted from that attack. It took a while for him to absorb the vibrational energy.

Armando had them right at the outset. But he was blasted to Gypsy's realm and twisted by Gypsy's mother. We see the absolute devastation that Armando has wrought, destruction and death on a biblical scale.

I really really like this wrinkle that Gates has thrown in. Honoring Armando is the whole reason why Cisco adopted this hero persona to begin with. He wants to help people. So seeing his inspiration as a cold-blooded genocidal maniac is just wonderful grist for the character mill.

What will this do to Cisco and his aspirations? Remember, part of what I love about this character is that optimism, that internal urge to do good. Will this affect him, turning him from the path? Or secure him more as a hero, atoning for his brother's sins?

Arrgghhh! Can't we have more of this book!

But I have also liked the maturation of Vibe over the short time of this book too.

At first he seemed to take everything people would tell him as fact. He believed ARGUS. He believed Gunn. He believed Kid Flash. He believed Gypsy. I won't call him naive ... just trusting. As if he didn't want to believe people would lie to him.

Now maybe he isn't so trusting having been lied to by so many.

In fact he lashes out against Breacher, not wanting to believe his brother could do such things.

This just feels so natural, like character progression rather than action for action's sake or Vibe attacking a hero to be dark. Heck, in Supergirl, Gates had Kara lash out against a lot of folks when the time was right.

And then we end with a wild cliffhanger.

Breacher is Gypsy's father. And he is more vibrationally unstable then Cisco. With his helmet off he is leaking  portals all over the place. So Cisco needs help. And more than that, they need to rescue Gypsy or Mordeth and Rapture will invade Earth.

There is something about him that reminds me of Waverider. I know that was time and this was dimensions.

I get the sense that this arc will end with Cisco more resolute on his mission to be a hero. It is a shame that that will be the end of his story. I wonder just how far in advance Gates had this comic planned.

I refuse to be gloom and doom. I love this book and that's what mattered.

Sales Review: August 2013

The sales numbers for August 2013 came out earlier this week and, as always, I headed to ICv2 to get the nitty-gritty details. Here is the link: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/26668.html

I will say it makes me happy to see a Superman book near the top of the chart. Superman Unchained #3 came in at #2 selling 136K. But I have to assume that part of that is false elevation from the many variant covers that the book has.

I also think that water seems to find its own level. Action Comics and Superman, now both written by Scott Lobdell, are selling 42K. Will Greg Pak/Aaron Kuder give Action Comics a bump once they come on board?

Supergirl #23 was a turning point in the Cyborg Superman storyline. It ends with Supergirl vaporized and the villain being revealed as Zor-El.

It was about as downbeat an issue for the character that I can imagine - Supergirl scared, crying, powerless, and ultimately dismantled.

The book ranked #83 in sales and dropped about 4% in sales. There has been a pretty steady decline in sales over the last several months. It is interesting to see Catwoman and Worlds' Finest right nearby in sales.

So with 2 more issues to come out in the Michael Alan Nelson era, will sales plummet? Will the Bedard/Cinar issue get publicity and a push in sales? Given the new direction and Lobo, this would have been a perfect issue to have a variant to help move the book as well.

I am not surprised to see the book slide in sales.

And my underdog book Vibe is starting to sadly look terminal. I have applauded this book for being different from the usual New 52. It is positive, with someone working hard to be a hero.

Vibe #7 sold just over 11K. Just below it are Dial H and Demon Knights, both canceled.

It will be interesting to see what happens to The Movement, the political book by Gail Simone. Will it somehow be spared the axe?

Review: Vibe #7

It has been something of a tough week for me in comics. In Supergirl, Zor-El has been once again cast as a villain. And in Legion of Super-Heroes, the beloved team got sent to comics limbo in a rather sad and humiliating way. Amidst all that offal was Vibe #7.

Vibe continues to be a cut above the rest, a classic take on the teen super-hero albeit in the darker more sinister DCU.. There is a brighter take on heroism in this book than in almost any other DC book that I read as Cicso remains optimistic, believing in the inherent goodness of humanity, and struggling to honor his brother's memory.

Like many classic heroes, Vibe's decision to be a hero is spurred on by tragedy. His older brother Armando saved him during the original Darkseid invasion, resulting in Cisco obtaining his powers. This inspires Vibe to help others. But before you think this is something you have read before, there is a key wrinkle. Armando didn't die.

And it isn't all sweetness and light. Cisco has had to deal with being lied to and betrayed, showing it is hard to remain good in a cynical world. It is this attack on Cisco's ethics that I find most intriguing. Will he give in to everything around him and become coarser? Or will he continue to rise above.

But it is a book about a hero and I love it for that.

Add to that some seriously wild, wide-open action and a boatload of obscure DC characters and writer Sterling Gates has the recipe for a great book. With all dimensions open to him, Gates has access to almost anything!

Pete Woods has left the book so art here is done by Andres Guinaldo and he shines here. Whether it is close-ups of expressions, people in civilian clothes, or giant para-demons fighting people in exo-skeletons, it all shines here. I hope he remains on as the regular artist.

As I said, Cisco's impetus for becoming a hero and helping people is honoring his brother Armando's sacrifice.

The book opens up with a flashback to Armando's funeral and Cisco, just a young boy, dealing with his survivor's guilt. I can understand how meaningful that moment was, how deep these feelings cut, how much this could impact Cisco.

But as much as this issue is about Cisco and Armando, I love the third brother Dante. He has no powers but he is just as fiercely loyal to the memory of Armando, just as driven to help and do what's right. He is a quiet reminder that you don't need sonic powers to do what's right.

A couple of issues ago, Gypsy told Vibe a very romanticized origin, sounding so much like a fairy tale that even Cisco wondered if it could be true. At the time, I wondered if it was a lie. I thought that trusting Gypsy's story was no different than trusting the lines that ARGUS was giving him.

In the aftermath of Rupture's appearance (Armando's nom de guerre), Gypsy comes clean. She wasn't marooned on Earth by her evil step-mother. She ran to Earth to escape. And Rupture is her step-mother's field general and assassin. She pleads they run.

Everyone that Vibe has trusted has had a hidden agenda, has lied to him. Will he become jaded? Can you remain a pure hero, trusting in the goodness of mankind, in this dark DCU?

And Armando being alive and clearly brainwashed is another interesting wrinkle to see if Cisco will crack. It is clear that Armando can try to fight his programming. But he is Rupture.

If Armando's death was the what made Cisco accept his fate as Vibe, how will his being alive and evil affect him? Imagine if Uncle Ben was not only alive but a super-villain!!!

And how do you truly battle your hero and inspiration?

Great grist for the mill here.

So there is great characterization in this book. And I love how you see Cisco truly struggling to deal with everything he is feeling about Armando's return and Gypsy's lies.

But this was my favorite moment of the book.

With the two brothers battling, their powers rip open the fabric between dimensions and in flies a dragon!

I love Vibe's incredulous 'Are you kidding?" It is this crazy stuff that means at any point Gates can insert a knuckleball. A dragon in ARGUS? Awesome sauce!

And it is clear that Guinaldo can handle a dragon assault as well as kids in suits at a wake.

I have said before that the juxtaposition between Vibe and Dale Gunn is great for this book. To see Gunn re-find his morals and start defying ARGUS to do what's right shows just how inspiring Vibe himself can be!

Here he swears to get Dante out of ARGUS in one piece. At least we get an explanation how Dante can still be alive after getting slugs to the chest. Gunn injected a nano-nurse!

Still, I love seeing Gunn start to question the decisions he has made in life.

Meanwhile, the brothers are still battling.

There is a realism to Vibe's lines here. He is a young guy. Of course he would be flummoxed, exasperated, happy, and sad to see Armando back unfortunately as a villain.  This must be heart-wrenching.

That said, Vibe isn't backing down. His brother is trying to hurt people and Vibe isn't going to allow that to happen.

During the battle Gypsy comes clean. Her step-mother is wicked, a dictator in her dimension. And that evil queen Mordeth bent Armando to her will when he arrived.

I have to comment on the art here as we see Armando fall from the sky into that dimension. The use of him as a ghost or silhouette works well here, giving him a sort of celestial feeling, like a god falling from the heavens as opposed to an inner city kid. The use of the galactic background (as opposed to seeing it from the ground or just stars) increases that feel. But what I liked most was the blurred edges of the panel giving this a sort of dreamy, mythic feel to it.

This one panel almost beat out the dragon one. It had a sort of Silver Surfer feel to it.

And then my third favorite moment.

You can feel Cisco's pain here as he pleads with his brother to break the spell and come home. I especially love how he wears his heart on his sleeve, talking about how he has done everything he could to honor Armando.

And Guinaldo does solid work here. This is an understated expression here, not contorted in grief, just enough pain coming through, the single tear a nice touch. Vibe looks young here which he should.

Oh but Gates isn't going to let this end easily. With Cisco standing there defenseless, Rupture buries his war-club (scythe?) into Vibe's chest, all the better to absorb Cisco's energy.

Big moments need big art.

And with that Rupture drags both Vibe and Gypsy through a dimensional portal to her home world. And on Earth, Argus is in shambles and Darkseid's daughter has escaped. Nice cliffhanger.

So what can I say. After the disappointing Supergirl and Legion, I get another very solid Vibe issue, a book filled with action, some crazy action, and enough pathos to choke on. And throughout it, we have a kid just trying to be a hero because it is the right thing to do, no matter what sort of a morass he is wading in. Just solid stuff.

I have seen more and more big name sites praising the book. I have seen tweets talking it up. I have beat the drum. I fear that this is an overlooked gem on the comic racks. I hope that DC doesn't pull the plug prematurely. They need this book. I need this book.

Overall grade: A

Review: Legion Lost #16

'It all ends here!'

The cover says it all as Legion Lost #16 marks the end of this troubled title. And while the issue is certainly filled with insane action, the title ends with something more akin to a whimper than a bang.

This title has never really grabbed me. Even though it had Pete Woods art and starred Wildfire and Dawnstar, two of my favorite Legionnaires, the book seemed to struggle from the beginning. The initial plot of a mutating virus let loose in present time, the Legion trapped in the present, was never one that I thought had legs. We have seen the concept of marooned Legionnaires in the present before - from the 1970s solo Karate Kid title, to the Cosmic Boy mini-series in the 80s, to the Timber Wolf book in the 90s. None of those floored me either. And none seem to address the idea of people from the future dealing with backward world of the past. I can only imagine what I would do in 1013 other than go mad. These Legionnaires seemed to adapt easily, driving cars and using phones without a hitch.

Once the virus plot seemed to fizzle, the book took a left hand turn, morphing into an intrigue book where each Legionnaire was harboring a secret that weighed on their individual souls. It was more interesting than Hypertaxis, giving a new twist to the actual words Legion Lost. But before those could breathe, the book became mired in The Culling, entwined with The Ravagers, and the plug was pulled.

With little time left, would we get a decent ending, an understanding of the secrets, and most importantly, the lost Legion back in the 31st century? This is the New 52 ... what do you think.

You might recall that the plot has some powerful beings called Thraxx and Draggon coming to Earth as the vanguards of some universal threat. The Legion, the Ravagers, Superboy, and even Harvest and his crew try to stop them.

About 3 months ago, I guessed that the SciPo Captain Adym would end up as Harvest. Looks like I was right. It is practically spelled out in some heavy dialogue between the two. Adym goes off into the time bubble to set of a singularity bomb to stop Thraxx and Daggor before their plot even starts.

With Adym's fate set up, Harvest and his cronies leave.

Thankfully, Gates, who had a lapes in conscience last episode, finally realizes he's a Legionnaire. He can't just live out his life in a tropical paradise in the 21st century. He has to head back.

Now I don't know if I quite follow, but when Gates does arrive, he is confronted by another him from the past. You would think the current him would remember this but time travel logic is always iffy.

As if things in this book weren't ridiculous already, Thraxx and Daggor are dispatched by Gates, sent to a black hole. It seemed too easy for a number of reason. But there it is. We have to wrap up this whole thing in 20 pages.

And as for Adym, he has been given a null field device by Harvest, a way to protect him (them?) from the bomb.

Sure enough, Adym detonates the bomb within the Daggor/Thraxx force field as they are being whisked into space. I guess that Adym is some mishmash of all three of those beings. I guess we'll see before the issue is over.

Oh wait ...

Nope. We don't get the payoff here. Just like that, after several issues brawling, adym, Thraxx and Daggor are simply gone. And with no real closure about anything. Who were they the vanguard for? What happened to Adym? Where will these guys show up again to wrap up these stories.

On top of that, in their last issue, a lot of time is spent on other characters. First Harvest. Then Adym. And now Superboy.

I wonder how Superboy fans feel about this. He spent 2 issues yelling 'Kill. Maim. Destroy.' Then he has this moment where he realizes that he isn't free of Harvest's control.

So will we see that again. I don't think Harvest is done. He probably is going to torment the Titans and/or the Ravagers. So will this power over Kon be revisited? I suppose, in theory, he is as much a Superboy villain as he is for those teams. But we have seen the post-H'El Superboy book is a new start in a new city. Maybe all the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. business is behind us.

Still, this is a Legion book, and this team's last issue. I would rather have seen some time spent on Tyroc, Yera, and Tellus than these guest-starring characters.

Now there is a lot not to like here. But as a Wildfire/Dawnstar fan at least I got this moment in the issue.

In an effort to delay the Legion from following them, Harvest's crew tosses the team Wildfire's original red suit (he had been in The Culling white for a while). And with that, Wildfire is back.

And, maybe ... just maybe, Dawnstar finally realizes the depth of her feeling for Drake after 'losing' him for a couple of minutes.

Still, just a great splash for me.

And ... that's all she wrote.

The Thraxx/Daggor threat gone and with Harvest escaping, the group strikes a pose and yells 'Long Live the Legion'.

Except ... they all pretty much still have to deal with the fallout of their secrets. We never even learned Tellus' secret. And I was really really hoping the book would end with these characters back in the future, joining the main Legion book. Instead, the book ends on this note.

I don't know. I can't say I thought this was a good book. There were some decent moments scattered here and there. Pete Woods gave us great art. But this title seemed doomed from the beginning. And now it is gone. And these characters are stuck in a sort of limbo. Will they be absorbed by the Ravagers? Yeesh. Or will they simply be here in the present but never seen. Or will there be some Brainiac 5 miracle in the main book?

At least I have Dawnstar hugging Wildfire.

Overall grade: C