Overview: Robin and the “Superboys” are rescued by Joker Jr. and the space taxi just as they are surrounded by the villains gang. After multiple space jumps, the group arrives on a planet heroes battle a haunted house and even encounter their future selves.
Synopsis (spoilers ahead): Just as the boys are about to be taken out by Rex Luthor and his kid villain gang, Joker Jr. shows up with Space Cabbie to rescue them. Rex is shocked that Joker Jr. survived the attempted murder by Kid Deadshot. The moment is short lived as Damian orders the taxi to take off right away. After the Super Sons fly off, Rex reveals that he now has the Hypercube and his plans of taking down the Justice League and allying with Earth’s Lex Luthor is becoming more of a reality than just his dream.
Deep in space, Joker Jr. explains to the group that his planet watched Earth from afar but Rex emulated the Earth’s supervillains. He even went so far as to twist and change certain members of his gang to resemble the kid versions of multiple supervillains.
During one of the Superboys’ vomiting episodes, the space taxi lurches through space and ends up blowing a neutron rod. The group is stranded on a planet next to a very creepy house. The boys decided to investigate to either get assistance for the ship or maybe find a way to fuse the two Jon’s into one being again.
Shortly after the two leave Space Cabbie and Joker Jr., Space Cabbie is able to get the ship functioning again to which Joker Jr. knocks him out and puts him in the trunk as he flies away.
In the haunted house, Jon is returned to normal as one person just in time for the pair to be attacked by unseen monsters. The boys fight them back but overhear another fight in a different part of the house. They turn a corner and find themselves face to face with future versions of the Super Sons.
Analysis: The space adventure continues for the heroes but the creative team was able to loop in a horror element which fits an already crazy story. Like I’ve said previously I don’t feel like I’m the target audience but I can see the merit for this story amongst the darker titles out there now.
There was one glaring problem in this issue that I feel the need to point out. They had been building up the dilemma of Jon being split into two halves (red and blue) and carried that over into this issue and even showing pain being shared between the pair. Then, quite suddenly, the issue is resolved with the entrance into a spooky house. Even if you make the argument that this title is geared towards a younger crowd, I still can’t see most people, even kids, letting this glaring plot hole just go unnoticed. Now, of course, this may get answered in the next issue with some “magical” plot device that reversed the effects.
With that negative out of the way, I really did enjoy this issue for the fun story that it is. There is not much in the way of high brow relationship building that we saw in Super Sons main title at the start of Rebirth but there is a pretty high level of humor throughout this and previous issues.
Final Thoughts: As with previous issues, I can’t complain too much because this comic is pretty much coming off as I imagine it is being advertised. It’s a fun, space adventure for two young heroes. I am looking forward to seeing the Super Sons meet up with their future counterparts even if it is just a magical byproduct of the enchanted house they are trapped in.
