“Super Sons of Tomorrow” has been an early 2018 surprise. Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason have delivered an impactful story that has involved the Superman, Super Sons and Teen Titans ongoing series. The involvement of the Titans of Tomorrow has particularly brought an intriguing spark to the entire story. That has been especially true for the role the future Tim Drake has played as the antagonist of this story. His final act in the previous chapter of “Super Sons of Tomorrow” did put into question what the future Tim’s end goal is as he jumped into a timestream alone. Let’s find out if we get our answers with Super Sons #12.
Writers: Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason
Artist: Tyler Kirkham
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
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Synopsis: Superman, the Teen Titans and Titans of Tomorrow stand around wondering what just happened future Tim Drake (now calling himself Savior).
In the timestream future Tim reflects on what he just did and how he will surgically prevent further horrors from happening even if he can’t return to his time.
In the present an explosion knocks Superman, the Teen Titans and Titans of Tomorrow down.
After they all recover Superman asks the Titans of Tomorrow who they are. Conner Kent says they have not met yet but they will be acquainted in the future. Before anyone else can question them further Bart Allen uses the Speed Force to transport Cassandra Sandsmark, Conner and himself back into the future.
Before that happens Kid Flash is able to snap a selfie with the Titans of Tomorrow. Raven quickly destroys Kid Flash’s phone and reprimands him for being so lighthearted after future Tim sacrificed himself.
Superman then takes Robin and Superboy aside to speak to the two inside the Fortress of Solitude.
In Gotham City Bruce has finally recovered from his injuries and reflects on what happened with future Tim.
Back at the Fortress of Solitude Superman says he may have to reassess Robin and Superboy’s partnership after what they went through. Robin and Superboy both believe that their futures aren’t set in stone and that they should be allowed to make their own choice. They then promise Superman to do everything they can to protect each other.
Superman, Robin and Superboy rejoin the Teen Titans. Starfire brings up how the team was almost broken and that they don’t have a base. Superman offers a solution.
Superman warps the Teen Titans to the Watchtower and allows them to operate from there until their Tower is rebuilt.
Robin quickly holds a meeting about Superboy being voted into the Teen Titans. Batman interrupts as he is looking to talk about what happened but Robin says they are holding a vote, which Batman agrees to let them do.
While Robin raises his hand in favor of Superboy’s membership the rest of the Teen Titans keep their hands down. The Teen Titans apologize to Superboy as they feel that they need to make sure the team is stable before accepting any new members.
Robin walks with Superboy and says he still has his back as a partner and friend. End of issue.
The Good: Super Sons #12 puts a solid bow on the “Super Sons of Tomorrow” crossover and sets up several storylines for all three titles involved. The set-up for several storylines is where “Super Sons of Tomorrow” excelled throughout the course of the crossover. Seeing that continue along with some strong interactions between all parties involved helped make this a strong start to 2018 for all three series.
Kicking off with the tease that we haven’t seen the last of future Tim Drake, who is now calling himself Savior, was a strong opening. It set the tone how while Super Sons #12 is the epilogue issue of the crossover it is far from being the end. Instead it acts as the beginning of several story arcs that can have fans excited to see play out. And future Tim’s status summarizes that excitement as we do see that he is now traveling through the timestream to various important DC Multiverse events. What he does makes the next time he shows up something that will be must read for fans of this story.
Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason created further interest in the future with how they portrayed the Titans of Tomorrow. Tomasi and Gleason set the table for Superman and the Teen Titans to meet Conner Kent, Cassandra Sandsmark and Bart Allen in the future. It was interesting to note that Superman does not remember Conner as it gives the character a chance to be reset from the failed New 52 version. The same goes for Cassandra and Bart, who have not been present in the DCU since DC Rebirth began.
Tomasi and Gleason also made good use of this story to reflect on how easily the Teen Titans were split by the presence of future Tim. The split, with Beast Boy and Raven taking Tim’s side while the others helped Robin and Superboy, provides a lot of questions as to where the team stands with one another. Seeing that lead to the team deciding that they can’t take on any new members speaks to how much this story impacted them. It made them all look within themselves and how much trust actually exists. That type of character exploration sets the Teen Titans up for an intriguing future and makes the next new member for the team be more meaningful.
Superboy not being voted it opened the door to further strengthen the friendship with Robin. This story arc tested the friendship Robin and Superboy built. Even though Robin has been antagonistic with Superboy we were able to see how they both see each other as friends. That friendship was further strengthened by this story as when the chips were down Robin was their to protect Superboy, and vice versa.
That led to a strong scene between the boys and Superman. Seeing Superman voice his concern was a reasonable thing to happen. Up until now Superman has defended Robin and Superboy’s friendship but this event did bring into question if they are actually positive influences for one another. That questioning made Robin and Superboy stepping up to Superman about their fates not being written in stone much stronger. Hopefully we see a similar scene with Batman in the future, as was set-up in the end.
Tyler Kirkham delivered some strong artwork throughout Super Sons #12. Seeing the future Tim Drake in the timestream with various big DC Universe events behind him was an epic spread page. The rest of the issue featured some strong character reactions as this was a talking heavy issue. The scene between Superman, Superboy and Robin in particularly stood out. Kirkham drew Superman to have a fatherly aura while Robin and Superboy showed themselves to have their own rebellious side when told what they can’t do.
The Bad: The one minor spot that Super Sons #12 slips up is with the characterization of Kid Flash. Kid Flash taking a selfie with the Titans of Tomorrow felt out of character for him. Up until now we have seen him be a much more serious character than his predecessors. The selfie scene would’ve been much more appropriate for Beast Boy than Kid Flash. It would’ve spoken more towards the attention seeker character Beast Boy has developed into. It did not take away a lot from the overall impact of the story but will be seen as odd for fans of Kid Flash.
Overall: Super Sons #12 did an excellent job provided a strong epilogue for “Super Sons of Tomorrow.” Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason created a lot of intriguing plotlines to be followed up on in the pages of Superman, Super Sons and Teen Titans during 2018 and beyond. Fans of the Teen Titans franchise will in particular be left incredibly excited for what was teased when it comes to the Titans of Tomorrow future. All of this comes together for an exciting start to the year for everyone involved in this crossover.
