Super Sons #6 Review

Super Sons has been one of the more enjoyable comics DC has come out with during the Rebirth-era. Peter Tomasi has shown that his experience in writing both Robin and Superboy have been a great weapon for how he develops these two character. The status of their friendship is clear and now things can get rolling even more. And what better way to continue to build on Robin and Superboy’s friendship than to bring in the Teen Titans. This could very well be the way Superboy becomes a member of the Teen Titans or shows why he is not ready to be a member just yet. What will it be. Let’s find out with Super Sons #6.

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi

Artist: Jorge Jimenez

Colorist: Alejandro Sanchez

Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: Jon puts on his Superboy costume and his parents remind him to take his cell phone and be back home by 10 PM. Jon doesn’t like that he has a curfew but Damian doesn’t. Clark reminds his son that Damian’s dad dresses up as a bat. Jon gets their point and takes off with his parents watch him fly away.

Superboy meets up with Robin on a rooftop in Metropolis and apologizes for being late. Robin says that Superboy’s training starts now.

Robin and Superboy save a guy and his dog who walk into the middle of traffic. They then proceed to stop bank robbers, save a cat from a tree and help someone change their tires.

A little later while handing out on top of a building Robin tries to call the Teen Titans but they don’t pick up. Superboy jokes that they must be doing something important if they are ignoring his call.

Beast Boy suddenly shows up as a cat and says the Teen Titans aren’t a joke. The other Teen Titans show up to tell Robin they have to hurry up to their next mission. Robin tells Superboy to go back home and takes off with the Teen Titans.

Beast Boy asks Robin if they should take Superboy with them. Robin says Superboy is not a Teen Titan so he can’t come. Raven leads the Teen Titans to a warehouse where she has tracked down some sort of threat.

Frustrated, Superboy gets back home. Lois tells Jon that Clark is with the Justice League and she has to go to the Daily Planet to cover the Senate. Before she leaves Lois mentions she heard about how Jon saved the day throughout the city today as Superboy.

Elsewhere, the Teen Titans investigate a warehouse and are suddenly attacked by Atom-Master and Chun Yull, and quickly knock Raven out. Somehow Chun Yull is able to neutralize Starfire and Aqualad’s attacks and knocks them out. Meanwhile, Atom-Master overpowers Beast Boy.

Robin is the last Teen Titan standing. Before he can fight Atom-Master and Chun Yull alone the Time Commander shows up. Time Commander is able to use his time powers to cancel out Robin’s attacks. Chun Yull grabs Robin while he is distracted and Time Commander begins to use his powers on Robin.

Back at the Kent apartment, Superboy has fallen asleep while watching TV. He is woken up by a someone knocking on the porch window.

Superboy opens the window and finds an old man Robin with all of the Teen Titans in front of him. End of issue.

The Good: Since the Teen Titans series returned for DC Rebirth one of the big questions was why Superboy wasn’t a member of the team. Not long after that Robin made it clear that Superboy wasn’t old enough to be a member. Though Robin continues that thought in Super Sons #6 it looks like Peter Tomasi will be show why the Teen Titans may actually need Superboy as a member after this arc.

The dynamic between Robin and Superboy continues to be the strength of Super Sons. With Damian Wayne and Jon Kent being on the opposite side of the spectrum when it comes to personality their banter with one another is just fun to watch. Tomasi makes the flow of their dialogue come off as natural as Damian and Jon go back and forth to make their respective points.

Seeing them save the day by doing some basic hero stuff was a good way for Tomasi to show how Superboy is still in the training phase. It’s these little things that go a long way to establish Superboy as a hero to the people in the DC Universe. Robin helping Superboy out in this training does help further that development.

Being in the “training” phase also helped to push how Robin doesn’t see Superboy as Teen Titans material just yet. Robin mentioning Superboy’s age added to how Jon feels like he is being treated with kitty gloves by those around him. It also furthered how Robin is still trying to establish himself as the leader of the Teen Titans. His arrogance in making sure everyone follows his orders shows how he still has some work to do when it comes to being a great leader.

That is especially shown with how the Teen Titans weren’t ready whatsoever for Atom-Master, Chun Yull and Time Commander’s attack. It is clear Robin still has some work to do to get the team to gel together. It also showed that the team has yet to figure out the best way to coordinate their attacks with one another as they had no plan of attack.

The ending with Time Commander and his crew successfully taking out all the Teen Titans was a good way to establish them as credible threat. Seeing Robin as an old man with the Teen Titans still passed out around him was a strong way to end Super Sons #6. This will at least give Superboy a way to tryout for Teen Titans and show his worth to everyone outside of Robin.

Though they were a small part of Super Sons #6, both Clark and Lois stole the show in this issue. From Clark’s dig at Batman’s parenting “skills” and Lois complementing Jon on his superhero work, Tomasi did a good job making the two prominent supporting characters without making them overshadow Robin and Superboy. Using Clark, Lois, Bruce and Alfred in this way continues to make these characters highlights when on screen while keeping the attention on our two young stars.

Jorge Jimenez continues to deliver some excellent artwork that is perfectly at home with the Super Sons series. Jimenez provides a youthful energy to Super Sons #6 that matches the quick adventures Robin and Superboy go on together as they patrol the city together. He also does a very good job getting across Superboy’s frustrations with how he is treated as kid by those around him without making the reactions look over exaggerated. Similarly, Jimenez does a good job with portraying as Robin as someone who is walking with a giant chip on his shoulders at all times.

The Bad: While I understand that it was for pacing sake it was odd to see how quickly Starfire and the other Teen Titans followed Robin’s orders in not bringing Superboy with them. With Superboy’s powers it would seem that the Teen Titans would’ve at least argued to give Superboy a chance. This may have just been a case of page count but just felt off-character for the other Teen Titans not to talk to Superboy about coming along.

Overall: Super Sons #6 was pure fun from beginning to end. Peter Tomasi continues to do an excellent job writing the unique dynamic that Robin and Superboy share with one another. Adding the Teen Titans to the mix further added to the fun as Superboy now gets a chance to prove himself in the eyes of his peers. How that turns out for Superboy and how Robin treats him should be a lot of fun to see play out.