It is here, “The Race”… for the first time ever Kid Flash vs. Superboy! Why race now? Well the destruction of many of Smallville’s farms from the recent supervillain attack of course. This attack has lead Superboy and Kid Flash to run a race for charity to raise money for the farmers to help replace their lost harvest.
Now this isn’t the first time a “Kryptonian” has raced a “Speedster” on several occasions, the Flash has raced against Superman, either to determine who is faster or as part of a mutual effort to thwart some type of threat; these races, however, often resulted in ties because of outside circumstances. While the Silver Age heroes have raced many times, this is the first of possibly many races between the teen heroes.
Of course it wouldn’t be a superhero race without a few pit stops, like stopping to fight some crime all across the globe. Seriously, villains, thieves and all about baddies do you watch the news? You have two extremely fast and powerful heroes who can cover vast distances quickly, maybe tuning into the news or taking a day off would be in your best interest.
Before I get to the end of the race, I’m going to take a minor pit stop and look at the b-story in Superboy #5. Superboy and Wonder Girl have broken up and it may or may not be due to Superboy’s feeling for Lori Luthor (Lex Luthor’s niece). Lori has been spending evenings outside on her family farm looking up at the sky wishing Superboy would swoop in and take her away from Smallville. Because of this finished relationship, Superboy is out of sorts and his mixed feelings are compounded even more when Wonder Girl does not show up with the rest of the Teen Titans for The Race.
Ok, back to The Race. I have to say I was a little let down by The Race, I honestly thought writer Jeff Lemire would have Superboy win the race on some technicality. Alas no, a Superboy victory was not to be had. Of course that doesn’t mean Kid Flash came away the victor either. If you want to know who did or didn’t win the race you will have to pick up the issue to find out.
This book made me a little nostalgic for some of the comics I used to read as a kid, because the art and story had that late 1980’s feel. I almost wish it would have been printed on a lower stock of paper with more of a dot matrix printer look to it. While I liked the book overall, I didn’t find the story to be as groundbreaking, memorable or remarkable as I would have liked for the first Superboy vs. Kid Flash race, but it was a good story. If you are a fan of the Teen Titans, Superboy or Kid Flash this is the book for you and totally worth a read.
