Damian Wayne and Jon Kent have spent the last few issues tackling the super-brats calling themselves The Gang. Artificial red kryptonite has split Superboy into blue and red versions of himself, Robin is getting increasingly ratty, the boys are outnumbered…
… enter Joker Junior, reluctant Gang member, and his new pal Space Cabbie.
While the good guys head for space to regroup, Rex Luthor plans his next move.
Damian, meanwhile, wonders if his best pal, the blue version of whom is upchucking like crazy, will ever get himself together.
The thing is, Space Cabbie has lost control of his taxi, and it’s pitching through the heavens.
Then, the spaceship finds itself on an Earth-like world, and while Space Cabbie and Joker Jr try to fix the taxi, Robin and the fractured Superboy head for an old, dark house to find help…
From Dan Mora’s cover homaging House of Mystery #174 and its treasury edition offshoot to a final page cliffhanger that’s perfection in its peculiarity, this is pure comic book fun. It has all the drama, humour and surprises any superhero fan could want, and if it doesn’t continue beyond the announced 12 issues I’ll be hugely disappointed. Peter J Tomasi’s well-worked script pops with every page, while the art by penciller Carlo Barberi, inker Matt Santorelli and colourist Protobunker is a visual delight. The Gang remain delightfully goofy; Space Cabbie, while not the Silver Age version I know, has a great design; the unseen monsters are yet threatening; and the Super Sons themselves are tiny legends. Rob Leigh also gets a sense of fun into his lettering – there isn’t a weak page in the book.
The ease with which Tomasi and co segue from sci-fi superheroics to spooky spectacle shows that this tween team- up title could go anywhere. Let’s hope it gets the chance.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
I dunno. This feels waaay stretched out compared to the real series. I get that Tomasi is dancing between raindrops more or less but could he vary his steps? Us fans would accept an unlimited number of adventures set before Jon went to space with his insane genocidal grandpappy then was abandoned by his mom. Why not take advantage of that and go back to what made the real series great, one or two issue adventures that just sparkled?
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That’s a really interesting comment, Steve, it feels the opposite of stretched to me – there’s loads going on. I just find it has me smiling from start to finish.
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Loving this series. It is just a madcap, slapstick, fun romp through DC history.
I think Tomasi figures ‘what the hell’. This Jon won’t be seen again. So why not go bonkers.
Love the homages. And, as usual, we pick the best panels!
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I’m not wholly convinced this is the end of Jon as is, it could be that this is simply a mini while Brian Bendis gets through his teenage Jon thing. Would DC reallly throw away such a popular character?
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Ummm… yes.
See Wally West. Or Donna Troy. Or Connor Kent. Or Tim Drake.
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Quit that crazy… er, perfectly reasonable… talk!
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I’m on the opposite end from Steve. The original series didn’t grab me, and I left after two issues of that first Kid Amazo storyline (although now I’m enjoying the reprints in the Walmart Teen Titans book). But this one, bouncing from story to story all over the universe like it does, is really working for me.
And boy, does Rex Luthor look like comedian Paul Scheer or what?
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I had to look up Paul Scheer… there’s a toothy gap in my knowledge.
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And now he’s shown up on the first page of Mister Miracle 12, too!
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