Adventure Comics #1 *Spoilers*

[Tragic Angelus]

So here it is, the return of Superboy to the DCU proper, and in all honesty, Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul do not disappoint.

We get a huge 180 in terms of Conner's attitude and personality. Having recently re-read Teen Titans #1, where Kon-El is recently set up with his Conner Kent identity and begins to live in Smallville, I was reminded of how much he hated having to be there and attend Smallville High, and how utterly lame he felt simply trying to pretend he had a secret identity.


Here, Conner is relishing in his return to Smallville and living with Ma Kent and Krypto on the farm. After his death (in Infinite Crisis) and return (in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds), and multiple battles with Superboy Prime, he's realized what it means to be a Superboy, and now he wants to live up to his potential, so we see him making a list of all the things Superman did growing up and striving to do the same things.

But leave to Johns to make sure we're reminded that every Rose comes with it's thorns, as after a conversation with Superman, Superboy claims he wants to know nothing of his human heritage, being Luthor, and if he had his way he'd never even see the man again.

Then, in the same diary of his Superman checklist, we see the next page entitled "things Lex Luthor Does" and the item 'Lies to Superman' being checked off. Conner's definitely got a hidden agenda that the story clearly hid for the first half of the book based on Johns shaping of his attitude, and I enjoyed the surprise twist. I'm hooked.

But I can't stress the fact that the bigger surprise on the book was Manapul's artwork. To me, it was like I literally had been transported into Smallville, and felt at home in the beautiful artwork renderings of the Great Plains state. He's really impressed me in just one issue, and I can't wait to see what he does in the future as Conner encounters old friends and foes alike. Solid work on a great first issue.


And then there's the Legion of Superheroes Backup feature. Not bad, as it features more on the JSA's Starman, still stranded in the past after completing his main mission, that of placing Superboy in the same chamber that rejuvinated Superman after his death (all in Legion of 3 Worlds). We learn that there's at least one or two other Legionaires in the Present to help him, and that one who had planned to correct his mental instability can't for some reason, and then we're treated to the usual one page tease that Johns is getting good at, giving us a preview of things to come in the upcoming year of back ups. It should be mentioned, that from what I can tell, the Legion in this back up is the grown up Legion from Johns' Action Comics story and his Legion of 3 Worlds as well.


Great first issue, and I'm ready to follow it wherever it leads. And for those who might be worried, I believe Adventure Comics will stand apart from the other Super-Books, in that it won't be involved in the current triangle format storytelling that Action, Superman, and Supergirl are in. It will be a stand alone title that is a part of the world but doesn't directly tie into all of their stories for now. In other words, you don't need 4 other books or so to know what's going on in this one.