REVIEW: ‘City Boy,’ Issue #3

City Boy #3 from DC drops Superman into the tale to test Intergang and Cameron. Greg Pak writes this issue, with Minkyu Jung on art, Sunny Gho on color, and Wes Abbott on letters. Cameron has awakened Metropolis in all the wrong ways, and now, it’s loose. Thankfully, Superman just happened to be around.

And he finds a tired Cameron, his beaten pal, the Moon Cut gang, and Boss Chung. Plus, Intergang. However, the sinister Dr. Mokkarison alerts Superman that Cameron has done more than just communicate with Metropolis and used it to help him. He has awakened the city itself, and now, it is breaking free. Wild. Untamed.

So, Metropolis is a metallic dragon. Never saw it in quite that way, but here we are. I can say that Pak has made this series very interesting. The very idea of City Boy’s powers and their reach has piqued my interest. I never doubted he would be very powerful. I mean, this is DC. If they got powers, it’s top tier. Anyway, Dragon is antsy and looking to smash, so good thing Superman’s here. Metropolis is running wild, at first. But then, according to Mokkarison’s master plan (from a mad scientist’s POV, mind you), the city dragon begins whizzing about, transforming Nature into more city, more of itself.

Superman flies off to talk the city out of its new goal, and from here on, an already good story gets great. Because soon, this problem will circle back to Cameron, his hardships, and his insane powers that everyone else seems to have a use for while our guy just wants to get by. Prepare for morality discourse, awkward discussions, and poor Cameron trying to come to terms with his childhood.

Pak is giving us a solid issue packed with crazy power stunts balanced with doses of lessons in humanity. Our protagonist is probably never going to be a Superman. But Cameron occupies a unique position in the DCU, a massively powerful individual who lacks the traditional origin to give him motivational progress. The best we can hope for is he elevates from treasure hunter to grand urban explorer, but even that will make this book unique. I think we can expect him to save a person every now and again, and that’s cool. But we have a complicated, dramatic figure boasting elemental style potency we can get behind because, at the end of the day, he becomes the pawn for figures as large as Darkseid.

Jung continues to give readers reliable art that contains but a hint of sketchiness, a touch of manga. It’s just enough to catch it here and there, the blending of art styles, and I enjoyed his smaller-eyed, never touches the ground, Superman. Gho blends colors the same. There’s enough of a difference in the red of Cameron’s jacket to differentiate it from Supes’ cape. Also, I wonder if it’s intentional to have more shade on Cameron’s jacket, even in sunlight, as if to emphasize his moral gray area. Abbott keeps the lettering simple and standard, which might feel less than, but lettering needs to get the job done and not be flagrant.

I love this issue, this kid’s struggles, and I can’t wait to see more and where he’ll go. Really hoping more fans support this title. Get your copy. Spread the word.

City Boy #3 is available wherever comic books are sold.