Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow #4: Conner Lost

Conner went to space to help people. He wants to find a place for himself–something he doesn’t think he has on Earth. Superboy The Man of Tomorrow #4 shows him it’s not as simple as punching the bad guys. If he wants to find a place for himself, he’s going to have to grow into his own man.

Superboy The Man of Tomorrow #4 opens with Dominator X’s newest creation, Infinity, attacking Conner and Traw. The two struggle against Infinity until Traw activates his ability to control the planet’s population and sends them to fight Infinity. They succeed and Infinity is destroyed. Conner objects, furious that the Cosmoteers resorted to the tactics of Dominator X that they abhor. Green Lantern Dal Tornan arrives to take the Cosmoteers into custody, though he doesn’t last long against the three of them. Traw then reveals his newest weapon–a clone of Conner himself.

The first issue of Superboy The Man of Tomorrow saw Conner set out on his own into space to find a place for himself–something that he didn’t think he could on Earth. Porter made that a convincing basis for the story and it made sense. With Superboy The Man of Tomorrow #4, Porter continues to take Conner to a new place. While he is helping people, he isn’t advancing beyond aimless action. What started out as a fairly straightforward “punch the bad guys” story has become much more complicated.

This issue also visits the age old concern of how the oppressed might turn to the same methods as their oppressors when fighting back. Porter doesn’t linger on the topic explicitly, but he sets it up to be considered for the entire rest of the issue. As with Conner’s character arc, it’s a more complicated topic than the series seemed likely to examine when it began.

The scene with Superman is a welcome one. Porter’s choice to write a scene that calls him on the way Conner has been treated adds a stronger emotional component to the story.

Superboy The Man of Tomorrow #4 sees Conner run through a gamut of emotions. Lindsay’s art takes us through all of them. There is a particularly impressive moment, lasting a mere two panels, when a tear is in the corner of his eyes and he wipes it away. It’s a moment of vulnerability that neither dialogue or narration could convey, and it further supports the complexity of Conner’s developing story. It doesn’t last long, though. A couple pages later Conner is back to the encouraging, very positive attitude that has characterized him for most of the series. It’s an effective transition and a continued good use of the depiction that Lindsay made in the first issue.

The lettering is very expressive as has been the case all series long. Gattoni has a particular strength in blending sound effects into the art. One moment in particular stood out. Conner is in the air, intending to kick Infinity. Gattoni begins the sound effect of Superboy kicking Infinity in one panel only to cut it off with a dash and turn the sound effect into Infinity smashing Conner into the ground in the next panel. He changes the color and font in the second panel to make it no longer correspond to Conner and instead to Infinity.