Superboy has to return to Cadmus only to discover that while things change, some stay the same.
What They Say:
Superboy learns that the genetics lab may have created another Super-clone.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While I had looked forward to this series in general with the younger heroes, I’ve been supremely pleased by the fact that it uses the adult Justice League to a good degree and that adds a really fun layer to it. Especially since it deals with them mentoring the younger team, various personal relationships that come up through it and seeing how the League itself operates as the confident, self assured team that it is. They provide a very good balance to the younger team who is a bit more emotionally driven. Not unstable, to be sure, but they act more irrationally, which we see right off here with Superboy gets a super-hearing burst from Lex Luthor similar to the Superman movie where he sets up a secret meeting with him.
Lex is manipulating him to be sure, but offering up the idea of another Super-clone having been made at Cadmus is all he needs to hear to go back there and to try and get both some closure but also to figure out what it was that happened with his own creation. The place has certainly changed, though there are lingering issues, and some of what’s revealed is the change in status of the genomorphs isn’t what was expected. While Connor has found a place in the surface world, those left behind are more servants and slave labor than anything else. Connor does get to learn some things about the place, but what he also discovers is that the huge series of clones like him that were in the works are still there. And freeing one of them goes very badly since it just views Connor as Superman. Sadly, the new clone that’s released has more powers than Connor, or at least unlocked powers, and is a significant powerhouse for him to deal with.
The twists about this other clones origins reveals more about Connor and how he was made more than anything else, and it’s something that Connor both likes and doesn’t like since it makes him more human. There’s some good layers to this as it unfolds, with Dubbilex providing more discoveries about how Cadmus has operated, the other clones status as the first one that was attempted and the kind of game that Dubbilex himself is playing now in order to bring something better to the genomorphs that have been created. Events unfold in a really fun way here as we get to explore this new city and how they’re handling the other clone but also what Lex has managed to start to do with Connor, drawing him slowly to his side in a very tiny way, but providing an opening in his armor.
In Summary:
With the series having started by dealing with Cadmus and introducing Connor, going back to it now after all this time is definitely welcome. The changes that have occurred there are certainly interesting it and it highlights some very enjoyable subplot material that I imagine you wouldn’t get in many other series that get made since they tend to be more episodic. Dealing with all of this alongside the Justice League storyline as well that deals with its membership issues, trust issues and more is very, very well done. I loved the dialogue heavy Justice League side but I also really got into Connor’s story and how he’s being manipulated by Lex while coming to grips with his own origins and things that have happened at Cadmus. It’s a lot of fun and really shows some good story ideas coming to the surface here towards the end of the season.
Grade: B+
