“And in the end…”
Creative Staff:
Story: Peter J. Tomasi
Art: Max Raynor
Colors: Luis Guerrero
Letterer: Rob Leigh
What They Say:
You thought this story as all wrapped, didn’t you? Not even close! Well a little close. In this final chapter of CHALLENGE OF THE SUPER SONS, Robin and Superboy must finally come face to face with their world’s-finest-fathers and explain what on earth just happened and why the entire Justice League was attacked in the span of a day. Superman and Batman join the fray in this explosive final chapter of the latest installment of THE SUPER SONS!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As we hit the final issue of the series, it works to wrap everything up while leaving us not just with a tease of the potential for more but a hilarious peek into the far future. Peter J. Tomasi has written plenty over the years to know how to handle all of this smoothly and it does feel like it’s going well in that regard with a strong script, some very fun moments between the characters, and still the big picture view of everything going. Max Raynor again handles the artwork for this issue as it’s in the present and it brings us back to the dynamic design of the present and it works well. His style definitely clicks for the boys and getting them in the modern world is a big plus again.
With a victory over the Faust and Savage from the past, Damian and Jon are now taking care of Rora, though Damian’s just frustrated by how naive Jon is in thinking things are over. Which is smart since the present-day Savage and Faust are just around the corner and are able to enact their own particular brand of revenge. Though they had hoped their plan would work, they’re more than willing to step into things in the here and now and eliminate the two boys. It’s a good sequence since they’re trying to protect Rora and the bad guys are just plain bad at this point, intent on dealing with thorns in their side that goes back millennia. Both Jon and Damian handle it pretty well too, even though it comes down to that point where they have to give up in order to save Rora.
Naturally, that’s when the Justice League arrives and we get a literal “six minutes later” card played so that fight can unfold without having to illustrate it. Which is fine, I really don’t mind since they’re not the focus here and having them save the day is going to be a little dicey for some to begin with. But it works well as we see the fallout from the storyline overall with what these two have been up to, how Jon is being called Superman, and the whole theft of the Supermobile that neither boy wants to bring back because of how much time they’ve spent in it so far. I absolutely love the end teaser that we get as it’s just a delightful bit of nonsense that I don’t expect to be explored ever at all, though I would absolutely adore it if this team were able to do so because I’d want to see what kind of offshoot we’d get.
In Summary:
This was a great series from start to finish that just delighted me throughout. Simple concept, standard ideas, but executed in such a very fun way that it made every page and every panel a delight, regardless of which artist we had and the time period they were operating from. This is the kind of stuff I wish we had more of from the digital-first side as it delivers good fun with some great characters while still being a part of the larger continuity. Tomasi put together a delightful book here and it’s one that I hope more people discover in print form.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: April 26th, 2021
MSRP: $0.99
