[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and DC Zoom in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
In a world plagued by climate disasters, Superman and Batman move their families inland to escape coastal flooding. Batman is working with the Polar Shield Project to hold global temperatures steady and eventually cool them and reverse some of the ecological damage. Superman is on a trip to Mars for a “dust” to help. Lois Lane (Kent) is working on the story.
Jonathan Kent, Superman’s son, and Ian Wayne, Batman’s son, find themselves in Wyndemere. They’re expected to keep their family secrets and blend in while their parents save the world.
Jon makes a friend at school, Tilly, who helps him get into the Daily Planet and secure internships so they can track Project Polar Shield – and find out why Lois hasn’t checked in.
Ian meets a mysterious girl named Candace and together the four kids start digging into a mysterious illness that’s moving through their region.
Review
I’ve been so excited about the new DC stories releasing for kids in 2019. But I was a little disappointed in this one.
Overall, I like the characters and the art. But the story is thin with some gaps. I realize that can happen with the graphic novel format. It’s hard to get the same level of depth and character development with a GN that you can with prose. But I have seen it done well in other instances. The creators came up with a way of displaying some internal monologues so you get the inner thoughts of the characters. But mostly they are short and full of teen attitude. While they fit the characters/voices well, they don’t do a lot to advance the story. This is first in a series, so there are plenty of things left open to develop in later books.
I think kids will enjoy the format and the characters. But I wanted more – more depth, more details, more character development. There’s plenty of backstory to establish some relationship details for the boys with their famous dads, but there are still some gaps I felt could have been addressed more fully. I hope book two will have some more of that depth I was looking for. Or maybe DC will add a prose novel or two to the line with these characters.