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Thankfully, Superboy 20 marks a reprieve from our hero’s enigmatic end endless origin story, which has most recently dissolved into an oblique speculation on Kryptonian hanky-panky rendered paradoxical by time travel. Superboy #20 also marks the first issue by Justin Jordan, the writer of The Strange Talent of Luther Strode. Before we look at his first chapter, which is also the third chapter of a story started by Tom Defalco, Scott Lobdell, and Tony Lee in Superboy #18, let’s recap the character and storyline that he has inherited.

Superboy started in the first issue as a wounded hero, grown in a lab from anonymous donors, and with little identity and no purpose. Since then he has crossed the line to antihero and back again. He invents rules for every situation, rather than abiding by any strict moral code, as he never inherited morals from adopted parents or a loyal butler. In this way, he exists as a foil to traditional heroes like Superman; Superman exemplifies the role of nurture in inculcating moral values, while Superboy, without a proper upbringing, tips the scale from nurture into nature and the will to power. A plenipotent brat, basically, albeit with a reasonable nature that can be persuaded, for instance, to give the money back that he stole from a bank.

Which beings us to the events of this issue. We open in media res, with Superboy and Krypto in captivity; Superboy, our narrator, invites us to watch how things progressed this far, at which point he returns to the beginning. After returning the money to the bank, Superboy tells Bunker that he is owning up to the robbery. En route to the police station, Superboy meets Dr. Psycho, who asks for Superboy’s help, and soon both are embroiled in a classic comic book fracas with Dreadnought and Psiphon. The villains’ employer, H.I.V.E., wants to deposit another psychic into its brain trust, and Dr. Psycho enlists Superboy’s help to defeat them. After they defeat the supervillains, Superboy steels himself to take the rap for the bank robbery, but Dr. Psycho talks him out of it. In the epilogue, Jocelyn Lure of the 31st century Science Police watches as the temporally displaced contents of her hideout begin to fade one by one.

In our previous review of Superboy 18, we noted that Dr. Psycho is an excellent addition to Superboy’s cast, even if it is a little unfair to disadvantage Wonder Woman’s revue. Superboy has plenty of angels in his corner, whether Red Robin, Bunker, or Fairchild, and Dr. Psycho is going to be the friendly devil on his other shoulder. What better friend for an introvert than the Minister of Introversion?

Superboy has been a better than average New 52 title. If you are still with us from the beginning you know that Superboy’s theme of self-construction has been such a strong thread that it has sustained the title through the endlessly labyrinthine origin story and the cross overs. Perhaps you’re still on the fence, and are considering adding it to your pull list. You picked a good time to jump on board, as Justin Jordan is a maverick talent that has enriched the other DC properties that he’s touched, Deathstroke and Team 7. If you were a big fan of Luther Strode, this looks to be good as well. And if you were a fan of Jeff Lemire’s Superboy run, this looks to be the beginning of another classic “boy and his dog” story, and you should definitely pick it up.