Robot 6
Somebody's returning to the DC Universe (Hint: It's not Batman ... yet)
- Posted on May 1, 2009 - 09:19 AM by Kevin Melrose
No, we're not talking about the dog
(First, a warning: This post contains spoilers for Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #4 and beyond.)
Readers who picked up Legion of 3 Worlds #4 or read the DC Comics blog yesterday were met with a surprise. Sort of: confirmation of the return of a character who, for all intents and purposes, has been absent for the past few years.
To find out who it is -- as if you don't already know -- continue reading.
Beware: Spoilers follow.
Yes, Superboy (aka Conner Kent) is back, and will star in the relaunched Adventure Comics, by Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul, which debuts in August.
Adventure Comics #1
What's more, Johns reveals on his blog, Superboy will share the title with the Legion of Super-Heroes, just like the good ol' days. (Superboy headlined the original incarnation of Adventure Comics beginning with April 1946's Issue 103, and met the Legion 12 years later in the now-famous Issue 247. After numerous guest appearances by various Legionnaires, they were permanent co-stars from 1962 until 1969.)
Manapul writes that the pages shown on DC's blog were drawn last year before he began work on Superman/Batman: "... I actually drew them as 'test pages' with the ink wash style. Hence the brush and pen work with inks rather than just brush which I’ve fully converted to now. The neat thing about it is that Geoff loved the pages enough to write it into the story as is! So now this is the opening sequence to the book! How much more could I love Geoff for doing this? NOT enough!"
Reaction from fans of Superboy and the Legion is ... well, pretty much what you'd expect. "Elation" probably isn't too much of an overstatement, judging from comments on DC's blog, The Comic Bloc and the Comic Book Resources forum.
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12 Comments
DrunkJack
May 1, 2009 at 9:38 am
Yes. As it should be. If Kyle Rayner can find a place in the GL Corps, Superboy should find a place as well.
Superboy as Superman's younger well meaning but reckless cousin works, he gives Superman something to work off, while Supergirl was used to fill that role, it works better with Superboy, he's cocky, he's still learning, and he's still useful.
Plus I really think a Supergirl/Superboy competitive dynamic would be fun.
I like Johns. He gets it, and Didio seems to let him do what he wants, he meddles with a lot of other folks stuff, making most of the rest of the DCU a clusterf*ck, but anything Johns has a hand in seems to work despite Didio's bad ideas.
Wraith
May 1, 2009 at 9:40 am
Is this the same guy from "Reign of the Supermen?"
(Since it's DC, where there are like 16 different Supergirls at any given time, I'm assuming that the answer isn't that simple, but I'll be brave and ask anyway.)
rwe1138
May 1, 2009 at 9:56 am
Yes, it is.
jccalhoun
May 1, 2009 at 9:56 am
I wonder if they will bother to acknowledge that Conner spend some time with the Re-Boot Legion?
thefrogman
May 1, 2009 at 9:57 am
Yes it is, although he's grown up quite a bit since then. He died fighting Superboy-Prime in Infinite Crisis a few years back.
Shaun M.
May 1, 2009 at 10:01 am
@Wraith: It's the same guy, but he's been through quite a lot since then. I haven't followed all the ups and downs, but most important is that he now has a better hair cut.
Ryan
May 1, 2009 at 10:01 am
Weren't there huge legal issues around this one? Such as the Siegels owning the name and likeness of Superboy? I had assumed that had been more or less why DC ok'd the death of Connor.
At any rate, I will be checking this out.
Shaun M.
May 1, 2009 at 10:06 am
On a total nerdy continuity note related Legion of 3 Worlds' other big reveal: wasn't the Time Trapper unmasked as Rokk Krinn in Zero Hour? Are we just ignoring that now? Probably for the best...
batmansgirl
May 1, 2009 at 10:12 am
It's CONNER not CONNOR. Please note the correct spelling of Superboy's human alias next time, guys. (It's not just you, I'm seeing it EVERYWHERE and it's getting a little annoying after a while...)
Matthew E
May 1, 2009 at 10:21 am
Reaction from fans of Superboy and the Legion is … well, pretty much what you’d expect. “Elation” probably isn’t too much of an overstatement
I don't know if I could boil my reaction down to one word, but if I could, I'm dashed if it would be 'elation'.
What do you get if you combine 'skepticism', 'bitterness', 'disappointment', 'more skepticism' and 'hope that maybe some of the details we haven't heard yet will make this not so bad'?
Nice art from Manapul, though.
Wraith
May 1, 2009 at 11:51 am
@Everyone who replied to me: Hey, I'll be. Wasn't expecting that! Peace.
Jake1823
May 1, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Francis Manapul deserves something high profile. He's one of the best artists out there.