Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow #1 is published by DC Comics and written by Kenny Porter. Artwork, colour and main cover art is by Jahnoy Lindsay and letters by Lucas Gattoni.
Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow #1 is available now, in print and on digital platforms, where all good comic books are sold.
Synopsis
Conner Kent takes center stage! After the events of Dark Crisis, Conner feels out of place with the rest of the hero community. He doesn’t fit in with the rest of the Superman Family, and the rest of the world doesn’t really need him with so many Supers in Metropolis. He doesn’t want to rely on Tim, Cassie, and Bart, so Conner looks to the stars as a place he might be able to call his own and carve out his own path. But what lurks in the great unknown? Are bravado and swagger enough to help Superboy find his new calling? This is the 2022 Round Robin winner-picked by you, the fans!
Review
After a conspicuously long absence from comics Conner Kent is back! The original-ish Superboy returns at an awkward stage in DC continuity as the publisher moves to it’s Dawn of DC initiative and finds himself in a story set before the relaunch of Action Comics with issue #1051. But is his long-awaited and Round Robin winning return worth the wait?
Absolutely!
Writer Kenny Porter instantly reminded me why I love the character. Conner is such a standout within the Super-Family. Having his presence back really rounds out and completes DC’s new approach to Superman and his supporting cast. Between Jon Kent, Supergirl and the rest there is now a Super-story out there for all readers across a diverse spectrum.
Porter gets to pick up with Conner in a very different place in his life. If you look back to the era of The Death of Superman there was a cockiness to Conner which made him a Superboy with an edge. In fact he’s probably a lot more like Damian Wayne than many would care to admit. Perhaps there’s a very different Super Sons out there with Conner alongside the legendary Robin? But now we find Conner displaced. Having been lost from continuity and suddenly to re-emerge has left him a fish out of water and that’s the perfect starting point for The Man of Tomorrow.
The setup is perfect, in fact. Porter tees up up the solo storyline by putting a strong focus on Conner trying to integrate himself with Jon, Clark and the rest of the family. I can’t fault Porter’s approach at all. It feels right that Conner would dive in head first and struggle at being a spare pare of hands.
As Conner searches for a purpose and heads off-world, Porter maintains that commitment to his character. All of Conner’s decisions, good and bad, feel true to who he is. That’s always important when you pick up a book with a recognisable character. But that’s doubly true here with so much expectation heaped upon his return.
Jahnoy Lindsay brings a similar level of commitment to the artwork. The book has a youthful vibrancy which matches both the character and the tone. As is so often the case with DC books at the moment, the creative team is working in perfect harmony to produce cohesive and exciting results.
Verdict
Conner’s solo return quickly proves it was worth the wait. Capitalising on his new status as a character out of place in the universe is the perfect starting point for creating a new legacy for the original Superboy.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
