Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Art team: Scott Godlewski, Protobunker, and Rob Leigh
Covers: Dan Mora
Release Date: 1/9/19
Cover Price: $3.99
Reviewed by: Jon Wayne
When we last left our dynamic duo, Jon and Damian went through some crazy shenanigans on the Planet of Mysteries and Secrets. They encountered a Wishing Machine-esque device known as the Wonder Machine, and through that device, they encountered future versions of themselves. While it was fun enough and I enjoyed seeing the possible future versions of our heroes, my patience is running a bit thin. We’re five issues in, and I still can’t really see the big picture of this series. Will that changes with #6? Let’s check it out!
We start off with a classic Damian monologue before we get some classic Super Sons banter over eating alien fruit. And as much fun as it is for me to get this – since DC and Brian Michael Bendis have foolishly kept them apart – it feels empty to me. Because it is! The banter continues as they end up chasing a space monkey through a forest and rescue it from a… larger space monkey? After all that they agree to pass out before finding a way off the planet the next day (which is odd, because the last issue ended with them essentially saying the same thing). The whole time Tomasi gives us quintessential Jon and Damian dialogue, but that’s really all it’s good for because by the time it’s over, we’re on page 11!
When they wake up the next day, who is there to greet them? Rex of course! How you ask? Because he’s Rex and is super smart! This sequence with him is probably the best part of the issue as he reveals how his plans have changed and now he wants to capture the Super Sons and turn them over to the real Legion of Doom. We get some insight on Rex’s psyche and how he thinks – even though he’s an alien, I can totally buy him as Lex’s son! That said, there are issues with this scene. First, he wakes them up while holding their space monkey friend, and insists that he’ll kill him if the boys don’t surrender to him. Rex, you woke them up! Why didn’t you just capture them while they slept you dummy! Secondly, I know Damian has a fondness for animals (it was one of his redeeming qualities before Tomasi made him more likable in the New 52) but would he really trade his and Jon’s lives for a space monkey he met last night? I struggle with that.
After that, they are saved by Tommy Tomorrow (which version is unclear), who basically thanks them for being nice to his monkey but insists that they destroyed his Wonder Machine and must be sent to jail along with Rex and Joker Jr! He says they’re lucky that they were nice to his monkey (unlike Rex) and gives them a chance to explain themselves. Jon does, but Tommy doesn’t believe them and is taking them to prison all the same.
And that’s it! Yeah, not a whole lot happens, which is frustrating. Art team switched up a bit with Scott Godlewski filling in for Carlo Barberi, and it was really good! It was definitely the highlight of an uninspiring issue #6.
Bits and Pieces:
Tomasi said last year before this maxiseries started that these were going to be the next 12 issues of the original series if it hadn’t been canceled, and I’ll take him at his word. But we’re halfway done now and I’m still not sure what the direction of the book really is. Part of me wants to believe that DC editorial and Bendis’ arrival messed some things up here – and that’s likely true – but the other part of me is done making excuses for this book. As long as DC keeps publishing a book with Jon and Damian I’ll keep buying it, but I need more from this series. I’m still on board, and I still have faith in Tomasi, but my score reflects my building frustration.
6/10
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