SUPERBOY #99
"World Without Young Justice, Part 4: Doomsboy"
Mildly Recommended (5/10)
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DC Comics
Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti & Dan Didio
Pencils: Anthony Williams
Inks: Walden Wong
Colors: Jason Wright & Digital Chameleon
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Mike McAvennie
Price: $2.25 US/$3.75 CAN |
You've got to give Palmiotti and DiDio credit; they offer up what is easily the most focused of the "World Without Young Justice" crossover chapters yet. Mind you, that doesn't mean that they're able to redeem a story concept that's just not all that interesting or suspenseful. The writers play with an interesting story concept here, though, but it's just too mired in past continuity and a comics "event" that lost its novel nature a long time ago.
Bedlam continues to toy with reality, and he arranges it so that the clone Project: Cadmus grew to replace Superman wasn't Superboy, but Doomsboy, developed from the DNA of the creature that "killed" Superman. The Superboy clone is still around, though... just not the least bit "super," is all. Conal considers Doomsboy to be his brother, but he and others have decided that Doomsboy, despite years as a hero, has become too violent and callous, and a chaotic confrontation ensues.
You know, it wasn't until I checked the credits on the book for this review that I realized that it wasn't regular penciller John McCrea who supplied the visuals. Anthony Williams's fill-in maintains a consistent visual tone in this concluding creative team's stint on the book. The Doomsboy design captures the power and youth of the odd character nicely. Ultimately, though, the art is fairly standard, servicing a standard story and standard crossover.
Unlike the crossover chapters in Impulse and Robin, Palmiotti and DiDio actually try to tell a separate story within the altered timeline, something distinct from the Bedlam/Impulse-scouts weirdness that's driving "World Without Young Justice" forward. The problem is that in order to do so, they delve into elements of the character that they seemed to be setting aside for their run. It makes for even further inconsistency in this issue.
In the end, though, the real problem here -- other than the forced and jarring nature of the crossover -- is accessibility. Not only are Bedlam and the crossover plot only touched upon in the exposition, but the basis for the main plotline -- Doomsboy -- stems from a decade-old storyline of such complexity that half a page of background is no where near enough information for newer readers.
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