Let’s just forget that the last issue ever happened, alright? It was a bad day for everyone involved from the management all the way to the readers. This issue we have no Doomsday hogging any of the pages and it’s back to Jeff Lemire doing what he does best. Telling a good, tense story involving Connor Kent.

Or is he?

Well yes and no, sorry that was a horrible tease. We are back to Lemire giving us a more ‘inside’ look into the life of Connor Kent. But with a bit of a twist because we have a look at a ‘possible’ future while also seeing the present at the same time. While I won’t spoil what is actually happening in this issue I will give Lemire credit for using a DCU proper villain/creature and making it work his way. The future stuff did interest me more however because, if I’m honest, alternate realities always intrigue me. This issue we also have Macro Rudy return and right away I can say his art is 100x better then what we got last time. His unique, painted style comes through but we get a nice touch of having a ‘watercolor’ type of effect when we transition to the future. It’s a nice touch of showing that we’re going back and forth between timelines without getting confused.

However there are some gripes to be had with this issue for me. For one, the stuff in the present didn’t hold me interest until the twist. But even with the twist, and re-reading after knowing it, it still kinda bored me. A big problem for me is that a couple of issues ago we had a twist involving Psionic Lad and Lemire just seemed to have abandoned it. Not even hints have been made since the twist and it really bugs me. Going back to the art, even though it is an improvement, there are some pages in here that did bother me a bit. There are times where Rudy tries to play with the panels, like make them puzzle pieces, and it doesn’t do anything but confuse me on the layout. Also, like with Gallo actually, Connor’s face is just contorted on all the present day pages and it bothers me a lot.

So yes this is definitely a step up from the last issue of Superboy. It has some good story moments and Rudy definitely brings a better game to this issue especially with the watercolor sections. However, a good chunk of this issue just felt like padding to me and even with improved art there is some nagging pages once and a while. Hopefully Pier Gallo comes back and Jeff Lemire gets back on track with the book next month. This was the best Superman book on the stands in my opinion a few months ago. I’d like to see it come back to that status sooner rather then later.