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Review: Superman #11 (2016)

By Andy Frisk
November 28, 2016 - 22:40

Damien Wayne/Robin and Jon Kent/Superboy are slated to star in their own series titled Super Sons, another new DC Comics Rebirth title. It's scheduled to debut sometime soon after the first of the year. If the writing is a good as Tomasi and Gleason's is on the characters right now in Superman, it's going to be one of the best new series of the new year. The dynamic between the two is the best we've seen between two young DC Comics heroes since...well, maybe ever. Why did it take DC Comics so long to give Lois and Clark a son and call him Superboy that was in continuity? Better late than never...

In Superman #11 (2016), series writers Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason put the young heroes through a Bruce Wayne/Batman and Clark Kent/Superman assembled "Boot Camp" designed to teach the two how to work together. The only way that Robin will get his badge back and Superboy will get his cape back is for them to successfully work together to achieve a number of goals laid out for them. They're having some trouble doing so though, and it appears that only a serious "real life threat" to their father's will get them to actually do so. While the story is pretty predicable and the outcome is never in doubt, Tomasi and Gleason's characterization of the two young heroes in training is so funny, poignant, and simply, for lack of a better word, heartwarming (especially the hilarious holiday themed ending) that it's easily one of the best and most widely appealing single issue of a mainstream comic book I've read this year (and I've read many, many comic books this year).

Gleason pulls some pretty brilliant double duty this issue as he takes charge of the artistic chores again here. His visuals are nothing short of perfect for the story line. Everything that he is a master of, and naturally inclined to draw, makes him perfect for this issue (much like it has for all the issues he's drawn thus far of Superman). The wide eyed wonder and determination in Jon Kent/Superboy's eyes and the grim determination in Damien Wayne/Robin's face is priceless. The action scenes are iconic as always, and the unique situations and creatures the two encounter are sharp and detailed.

Gleason and Tomasi keep the fun and adventure at a high level in Superman. As a long term Superman reader, who admittedly took a break while The New 52 Superman was the lead in the books, I'm enjoying this title more than I have since the early 90s. Let's hope DC Comics finds a way to keep the character, and this series, where it and he should be: at the top.

Rating: 10 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12