Superman #11 Comic Book Review/Recap

Superman #11 – Boot Camp

Superman #11 Comic Book Recap (Script)

On a snowy mountainside, Superboy and Robin brave through the cold.  Their fathers have stripped away their capes and told the boys they will now be in boot camp until they prove themselves.  Closely watched by both Batman and Superman, Bruce remarks that the kids will need to learn to work together if they want to earn back the right to wear their colours.

 Some of the snow gives way and it nearly causes Jon to fall off a cliff, yet Damian refuses to help the young man.  He knows their dads are watching and that Superboy wouldn’t fall for long if he let go.  Pulling himself up, he and Damian find some of their gear, and Robin can tell this means things are only just getting started.

[Related: Click Here To Read DC’s Superman Comic Books Online]

Maya appears behind them and attacks having been recruited by Superman and Batman into helping with boot camp.  Her sonic attacks cause Jon to lash out with his eye beams, accidentally causing a huge avalanche.  Maya saves the boys, and Damian uses the opportunity to get his badge, a map, and plane tickets back home off of Maya.  He then grabs onto a passing train and takes off on his own.

Superboy moves to catch up, charging after the train as he still cannot fly, while Damian is suddenly attack by Goliath.  Superboy arrives and tries to help out, but the two boys stumble over one another.  They then realize that the train was a trap planted by Batman, and is about to crash.  Worried, Alfred wants to call Superman in, but Batman insists they give the boys a chance.  Sure enough, Jon thinks fast, and gets Goliath to save them as the train crashes into a river.  Batman is impressed by Superboy’s resourcefulness, but the two still haven’t worked together.

Flying home on Goliath’s back, the two try and get some sleep.  Jon asks if Damian wants to be like his dad someday – a good person.  Damian doesn’t answer.  Superboy then asks if they will ever be friends, and both agree that is out of the question.

The next morning, Jon and Damien wake up to find a hurricane right in front of them.  The two try and steer Goliath out of it, but they bicker and ultimately Superman is forced to save them.  Kal-El says it’s not always easy to work together, but it’s important for them to learn this now instead of during a real crisis.  Since they didn’t work together to beat a single challenge, Superman decides they can make their own way back to the Batcave, and takes off.

When the boys return, they find a mess in the cave, and realize Batman and Superman have been captured by a strange creature! Superman knows he can break out, but Batman wants to see what the children do.  Faced with a real threat, the boys don’t hesitate to work together.  They try a few solutions before Damian remembers Jon just got his frost breath, and directs him to use it on the creature. Sure enough, that works, and Robin is able to knock the beast into the river.

Later, the fathers are proud to return their sons capes, and Alfred declares this means they aren’t just the sons of Batman and Superman… they are their Supersons.  Bruce and Clark then travel to Hamilton with the boys to cut down some Christmas trees for both families.  Superman takes this moment to say both men should be proud of themselves – they have both raised to great children.  Bruce remarks that their parents would be proud of this, and both men are happy to give toast to their boys. Of course, there’s still a learning curve to all of this.

[Related: Click Here To Read DC’s Superman Comic Books Online]

Superman #11 Comic Book Review

Well this was great.  Start to finish, this was a fun, polished piece.  I like how once again the writing felt true to the characters.  These boys feel like they act their age, which worked well as they were the entire focus of this story.  And it was pretty awesome seeing them forced to work together, and how resentful Damian was of that, overcoming challenges and finding their way home.  It was a great read that had a lot of fun little moments and there’s something I really like about a comic whose message I can sum up entirely as “boys will be boys!”  It’s the sort of story that would make for a great Saturday morning Superman or Batman cartoon, and it made for a good Superman comic overall.

I had a lot of fun with this comic, felt like the story was well explored and long enough in service for what they were trying to do, and, overall, I do recommend this issue.