Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Pier Gallo
How did I read these? Single Issues
Where collected?
Superboy Vol. 1: Smallville Attacks
This Superboy series, starting in 2010, is a continuation of the arc from Geoff Johns in Adventure Comics 1-6. Johns is one of my favorite writers, so I knew what to expect from the structure and tone of that Adventure Comics story. I was not that familiar with Jeff Lemire. I had not read any of his previous work and knew of him by reputation only. While the initial John's arc had a fairly easy mission (Re-introduce Superboy after having been gone for a few years), this new series had a much more difficult assgnment; it needed to find a way to make Smallville, KS an interesting place for a superhero comic.
Had Geoff Johns written this book, I would have expected a decompressed 6 issue arc focusing on the nuances of life in Smallville. I was surprised to find that Jeff Lemire has chosen to do the opposite. He has written fast paced, self contained stories filled with action, mystery, and spoon-full of silver age kookiness. One top of that, he is playing a long game by dropping clues that should lead to the different stories all tying together. Pier Gallo's art is a perfect compliment to the story. Not so cartoonish that it prevents the reader from suspending disbielf, but not too rendered to take itself too seriously.
The only major status quo change since the Adventure Comics issues is that Superboy and Wondergirl have broken up over in Teen Titans. Conner has been living in Smallville for a while now, semi-retired from the superhero game. The first story (issues 1 and 2) kicks off right away with the Phantom Stranger showing up out of nowhere to warn Superboy that things in Smallville are about to get weird. The Parasite attacks, followed by killer vines entrapping all of Smallville, and Poison Ivy showing up seemingly to help. The vines are caused by a strange machine hooked up to a local farmer. The machine explodes in a flash of light and disolves, seemingly with no ill effects. The real purpetrators behind the madness are a pair of "creepy evil farmer" figures. The whole senerio was intended to use the machine to take a scan of Superboy. That data will somehow be used to take over Smallville (cue evil laugh).
The supporting cast gets good screentime, with boy genius Simon Valentine getting the spotlight in the first few issues. Simon proves his worth by taking Ivy out with... wait for it... remote control parasite frogs (as I said earlier, silver age kookiness). Things are still weird with Lori Luther. Superboy is torn between his romantic feelings for her and the fact that she is Lex Luther's niece. As in the Johns' arc, Krypto is still happily front and center. One point that I found funny was that Superboy is TERRIBLE at keeping his secret identity. He doesn't take much care when swapping to Superboy mode, and both Simon and Lori figure his dual identity within the first 3 issues!
Issues 3 and 4 involve the arrival of a new character from the future, Psionic Lad, who is dressed like a Legion reject. He brings stories of a distopian future that is ruled from the walled city of Smallville. This clue seems to point back to the evil farmers from the first story. Another interesting clue is that the soldiers from the future chasing Psionic Lad fearfully break off there attack and retreat with a "Code 1 Extraction" when they see Simon. Psionic Lad's explaination for coming back in time was to be trained by Superboy so he could return to the future to free the world. This explaination is accepted by the group and Psionic Lad is allowed to move into the Kent farmhouse.
Issue 5 has a great hook, "The first Kid Flash vs Superboy Race". Superboy feels guilty about the town's crops being destroyed by the killer vines, so he sets up the race as a fund raiser. Superboy and Kid Flash have a heart-to-heart about Wondergirl, fight a few crimes, and circle the earth several times during there race. All this had to be done so the race would "last longer than 2 seconds". The end of the issue sees the return of the Phantom Stranger, revealing that somehow Lori's house is important to stop all the weirdness that has been going on.
These issues were fast paced, imaginative fun. Lots of the clues and mysteries were revealed that will most likely be resolved by the end of the series (the series was 11 total issues, interupted by the new 52 reboot). I am really looking forward to reading the rest of the series and seeing how things wrap up.
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