By Dustin Cabeal
While I’ll likely continue to read this series, I’m done reviewing it with this issue. There’s nothing left to say about it. It’s settled into a routine with the last issue, and that’s where it’s continued in this issue. It’s one part The Incredible, and the other part bickering children. That’s the biggest problem with this issue, Robin and Superboy don’t stop bickering which is believable for sure, but oh so fucking annoying to read for twenty pages.
What’s worse is that Kid Amazo joins in on the bickering. He’s complaining about his family and blah, blah, blah. It’s never clearly established why he felt the need to kill robot versions of his family over and over in front of them every day. It didn’t add to the story and didn’t build him up as a psychopath since he couldn’t even kill them at the end of the issue. The only interesting parts came from Luthor being Luthor. He has some plan with the Amazo girl that I’m sure will be pretty cool, and maybe she’ll team up with the Super Sons for more stories. That would be the only cool thing to come from this storyline that ended flat and was painfully predictable. The other cool thing was the ending because we see the boys miss their wake-up calls, which sets up a great scene for the next issue.
The writing isn’t bad; it’s just that the story fell to average quickly. Not even kids want to read comics about kids bickering. That’s the last thing anyone wants so having two issues full of bickering is just painful to read. Their petty insults towards each other are only so funny, and then they’re beaten to death in this issue. Just over and over and over and over and over right up until the last fucking panel. THE LAST PANEL!
The art continues to be some of the best in all of DC. It’s just so damn perfect for this story. From how Robin looks, to Jon’s makeshift costume. It’s the perfect visual depiction of where these two come from, country and money. It’s pretty much the norm for an artist to take a story arc off to start on the next one so I hope whoever DC has to fill in for Jorge Jimenez is somehow better or at the very least tolerable. Jimenez is the lifeblood of this series and gives these two characters the only personality they have that’s tolerable. Their mannerisms are great, but I have to admit that they don’t match the tone of the story because they would be far more annoying to look at while reading. To say the least, I’m glad that they don’t match the tone.
The title of this issue is “Son Day, Bloody Son Day” and it doesn’t fit the story at all. It’s also a little more gruesome than you’d expect for a series like this that’s DC’s kid-friendliest title outside of their actual kid line of books. Also, the wordplay is weak.
The issue is decent. It’s one of the few DC titles I find myself wanting to read, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s pretty average. It’s easy to read and enjoy, and at the end of the day, that’s probably all it’s going for in the end. It would have been great if it was more like the first issue which is still one of the best first issues of the year. If you’re enjoying the series, there’s no reason to stop reading, but for me, as a reviewer, there’s not much left to say about it in its current form.
Score: 3/5
Super Sons #4
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artist: Jorge Jimenez
Colorist: Alejandro Sanchez
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Publisher: DC Comics