A quick summary of what happened prior is that the sons of Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne meet after rising floodwaters caused by climate change, displace the Kent family deeper into Batman territory. Superman has gone to Mars to collect a special dust that may help a series of weather satellites deflect some of the sun's most potent rays. Meanwhile, Batman is busy trying to stop a deadly flu-like plague which has already killed hundreds and now threatens the life of Lois Lane.
In Volume 2, Jon Kent and Damian Wayne met a new girl at their school named Candace, who is the exiled child ruler of the faraway kingdom of Landis. The Super Sons and Candace learn that the Governor General of the land of Coleumbria, which houses cities like Metropolis and Gotham City, plans to weaponize the virus and use it to destroy Landis. As Candace races back to Landis to save her people, Jon and Damian, along with their friend Tilly are working to find the cure for the virus. Only, the trio are now in hiding as the evil rulers of Coleumbria have identified them and have placed assassins on their tail to stop them from their goal of saving both Coleumbira and Landis.
I had said in reviewing book 2 that it just felt that too much stuff was being crammed into what will turn out to be a trilogy. I really felt like a 4th book was going to be needed in order to make everything come to a satisfying end. Writer Ridley Pearson stuck to the trilogy format and it didn't feel rushed to make all of these dangling plot threads come together in just 150 pages. I still don't understand why the names of these different regions and even some cities are different from our worlds. In the monthly DC books, Metropolis and Gotham are in the United States. I'm also not sure if Candace is supposed to be a version of Wonder Woman or Vixen. Maybe she, along with Tilly, are all-new characters that incorporate elements of other characters from DC lore. I'm just not that sure as there are so many other canonical characters in this trilogy like Perry White and a female version of Jimmy Olsen.
Ile Gonzalez continues as the artist of this series. Her art is pretty good. Though some of her facial expressions on characters, especially villains are a bit too exaggerated for my taste. But I really liked her dynamic framing of this book; especially the scene where Candace is meandering through a crawlspace. Gonzalez frames the story with these twists and turns that show the character moving about gingerly in between frames of action outside of the air vents. Such a Jack Kirby or Will Eisner thing to do in which I am a huge fan of both!
As much as the ending of this trilogy was satisfying for me, I was even more pumped for the beginning of a new graphic novel by Pearson which is previewed at book's end. Called Indestructibles: The First Fracture, this book promises a super hero group of all-new characters. For those who complain of modern reboots of your favorite characters which involve the changing of race, sex or gender identity and wish that the big comic publishers would focus on creating all-new characters, you've been granted your request. Just don't expect to see a sequel. As with just about any comic book or graphic novel by DC or Marvel that introduces all-new characters, it didn't sell very well. In fact, it did so poorly, I can't even find it on Amazon!
The Super Sons trilogy has come to a close. It was a good read. It's just not a world I need to visit again. Until I can understand better why Ridley Pearson needed to create a whole slew of new continents and nations for this book, I think I am better off just sticking with the Super Sons of the monthly DC floppies. Plus, having a deadly virus take over the world just in time for a pandemic is kinda eerie and not how I want to escape into comic books from the real world. I need my fantasy to be just that, a mindless trip away from reality and it's troubles.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
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