I have enjoyed his run and Vol. 4: Black Dawn. The truth of Hamilton is finally revealed. Batman and Robin also make an appearance.

This was interesting to see the Kent family interacting, so I could see that Superman is a real family man and can live a normal life too. But this also lacked adventure that a lot of comics readers are seeking when they decide to pick up a superhero title. It was an okay read...I liked it just didn't love it.

I read this the same weekend that I read Super sons, and I was happy to have been previously exposed to Superboy and Robin (although it is not a mandatory prerequisite). I found the story very interesting and I really enjoyed the art. The dialogue felt natural. I will definitely read more in this story.

Black Dawn - Superman Vol. 4 further dives into the relationship between Superman and his young son as they both look for the best ways to exist in a very human world. It is a well written tale that opens up the thought that things may have been very different in the DC Universe had not the infant Kryptonian not been raised by the Kents of Kansas. Very good for a Superman book.

First things first. The excellent art that characterized the first couple of New Superman volumes is largely missing from this volume. Some issues are dominated by cartoonish art that, as has become too typical at DC, depicts iconic characters as if the artist has never seen them before and is drawing them from scratch. Some of it looks like a poor attempt at anime — which, if you aren’t drawing Japanese schoolgirls, should just be avoided. Some panels look like they were drawn with an etch-a-sketch. A few pages are pretty good, but why they can’t all be good is something I don’t understand. Deadlines too tight? Can’t afford to fill the building with quality artists? C’mon DC, get out the checkbook and try to do better.

Anyway, the Black Dawn story has Batman nagging New Superman (again) about Superboy’s slow superpower development, which turns out (again) to be part of an evil plot. A squid monster from the past returns, and it turns out that there’s a vast conspiracy right there in Hamilton, New Superman’s idyllic rural home. The conspiracy has to do with teaching Superboy to be more of a killer than his pops, because in the modern age, it is better to kill aliens (or monsters or villains or whatever) than to capture them. One or more bad guys (or maybe they’re good guys, it gets pretty confusing) want to groom Superboy to be a badass version of Superman, one who doesn’t recognize shades of gray between black and white, who perceives no distinction between justice and vengeance . . . yes, they want to turn Superboy into a super right-wing lunatic. And that’s just tragic.

Now other readers might not agree with my interpretation of the story, but I think it’s pretty clear.

So then there’s some stuff about a spaceship and strange looking costumed dudes. New Superman’s neighbor Cobb seems to be working for them, or maybe he’s one of them. Cobb isn’t what he seems to be and his daughter, Superboy’s chaste little girlfriend, is even less what she seems to be (although presumably she’s chaste). And then Manchester Black shows up, trying to act all British hooligan. Somehow in the midst of all the confusion, Frankenstein and Bride are unearthed, because why not?

And then we’ve got Superboy Black, who isn’t black at all, but is more like regular Superboy wearing black and doing the bidding of Manchester Black. The old “take over the son and have him battle the father” plot. The story is about half unintelligible but there’s a bit where a cow gets blasted (complete with a “moo”) that kinda saved it for me. Presumably the Kents will be eating steak for the next few weeks. So anyway, a lot of aliens (and one less cow) will be living in Hamilton. One of the aliens looks like Humphrey Bogart. Maybe he is Humphrey Bogart. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world ….

Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, and Doug Mahnke deliver yet another knockout punch with this entry into the Superman mythos. All of the oddness in Hamilton County is finally explained. Something of a redux of Superman -
What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way? (Action Comics #775) for the next generation. My one complaint would be too many inkers on a few of the issues. You can definitely see a distinct shift in the quality of the art and style. Fantastic art, fantastic story.

ARC from Netgalley.
Since moving to Hamilton, the Kents have enjoyed a much more peaceful existence. Yet, they still continue to sense something below the surface, something sinister that will show its face before too long. They are right.... but before they begin to investigate, Batman and Robin show up, wanting to discuss the potential future threat of Superboy's growing powers. Not long after the meeting, Batman disappears...Robin vanishes...Jon's friend Kathy appears to have very strong mental powers... Jon vanishes... What is going on?
Chaos and lies are all over when a very strong Telepath named Manchester Black shows up. (After Superman's crazy reaction, I knew this was a character I hadn't heard of, so I looked him up) Using the townspeople of Hamilton, who are really aliens in disguise, Black is using all this craziness to try to unlock Jon's full powers, hoping that son with surpass father and Jon can be controlled. Moral and physical battles go all out, but will Jon choose the light or the dark?
This book continues to impress. Wish they could lock down a consistent artist, but good overall. Recommend.

With 'Superman, Volume 4: Black Dawn,' Peter J. Tomasi continues a really great run on this title. It's one I always look forward to reading.

The Kents have had a pretty idyllic existence in the farm town of Hamilton, but that is about to end. It's been hinted at in other story lines. It comes to a head here. Something is not right with how Jon's powers are developing and Batman shows up with Robin to investigate. What they uncover unleashes a secret that the town holds. When one of Superman's old enemies shows up, he tries to turn Superboy toward the darkness. Will a dark Superboy find new powers or will he be able to fight it off?

It was only inevitable, I guess, that this perfect town would be hiding some secret. Part of me wishes that it hadn't been so, and there is a change to a couple characters that I wish hadn't been part of the conspiracy.

Overall, I did enjoy the story, and, especially, the back up story that Clark teaching Jon about decisions and responsibility while having a flashback to an episode with his own father Jonathan.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Another great addition to the Superverse that expertly ties together previous plot threads and brings a classic(and possibly my favourite) villain back into the spotlight

Now the truth about the town of Hamilton comes out. It is not Smallville, or even a peaceful little American town. Rather there are hidden aliens and forces in the town that have been secretly influencing Jon (aka Superboy). This all comes to a head when Batman and Damien come calling to investigate anomalies in Jon's powers. And then there is a very nasty villain playing many comers against each other. The question is, who will win?

I’m still trying to get used to the whole DC Rebirth line going on. It feels like if you miss an issue or collection though that you’ll find yourself lost trying to figure out the changes that have been made which makes it difficult to follow along with the story being told.

This time around Superman and Lois are now living in a town called Hamilton. There they are raising their son Jon, the new Superboy. With new powers changing from time to time it concerns Batman and he arrives with his own son Damian in tow. Of course the two young boys don’t see eye to eye and are not quite the same friendly pair that Batman and Superman were decades ago.

Batman begins to investigate the town and strange things occurring there he disappears. As Superman tries to find out what happened a giant squid invades the town and wreaks havoc along with a black formless goo. An old foe of Superman has returned with evil intentions for Jon. Whether he can achieve this goal or not will depend on Jon as much as it does the other heroes.

The change of location from Metropolis of Smallville took a bit of getting used to for me but I got there eventually. The town of Hamilton itself becomes an integral part of the story. The artwork here is among the better of the DC Rebirth titles going on. In the end it was entertaining, well thought out, well drawn and enough to hold my interest. Rebirth fans will want to add this one to their collection.

First off, Black Goo-- Eww... And then the guy behind it, ugh, and a sigh. But, all that said, even though I wasn't a fan of the villain, but it was definitely a good story.

It was more centered around the father/son growing pains of Clark and Jon with a side of a little Lois angst too.

As I said there's black goo and Superboy having an up and down day with his powers.

Heh, the epilogue was funny. And then there was a small story about Clark trying to teach Jon how to be a better Superboy like his father Jonathan had tried to teach Clark. How to be a man and such as a kid. It was cool.

I received this book via Netgalley thanks to DC Entertainment.

He's always been a source of trouble, has Superbrat - able to diminish generations of comics history by being, well, shit. But here he is a different kind of trouble, as is a panoply of oddsville characters that aren't what they seem, and a weird Venom-styled gloop. It's a hokum story, padded out to an inordinate six episodes, and still managing to leave some bits of key explanation on the cutting room floor. You'll like as not have to look for a wiki on the big bad when he turns up, too. A one-shot to close, where Supes decides not to be a moral teacher for Superbrat because that's just too much hard work, and allegedly disrespectful (??!!), is also naff. After a year of these books, I think we're just going to have to suffer the Brat and all the dodgy decisions that DC have taken about Superman, and wait for something better to come along and write Rebirth off the page of history. This volume isn't as sinfully bad as some of the Supertitles have been in 2017, but it's still not exactly coherent, well put together, or engaging enough. As long as the wife, the Brat and the bloody dog are all the creators can be bothered to care about, this looks like being forever Supermeh.

This was a solid and enjoyable read. It reintroduces the Manchester Black character, who turns out to have a greater role in what has been happening to the Kent family in the Rebirth series. Black intends to corrupt Jon (Superboy) as he had intended to do to Superman. Clark was able to resist Black's persuasive powers. But will Superboy?

Batman and Robin come to the Kent Farm because Batman is convinced something is out of order. Which is classic Batman. The superhero with no superpowers trusts his gut. He is right, of course, something is amidst with Jon and Manchester Black is connected.

One of the chapters allows Lois Lane to be the lead, which after including Bats, is a great move by Tomasi. As is the scene with the Kents and Waynes sitting down to eat pie together. It is a sense of normalcy in the midst of the abnormal. And it is oddly comforting. As is the manifesto of Superman of the value of life, anyone's life. Black encourages taking the lives of others in the name of justice. Superman rejects this teaching.

There are times when the story lags. And perhaps too complicated. It may have benefited the larger story arc if there was a bit more background to Black in the Rebirth-verse.

Superman Vol. 4: Black Dawn is an ambitious outing by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason. Free to use Superman continuity old and new after Superman Reborn, the two take on perhaps among the toughest Superman villain to write. The result is exciting, as the culmination of Tomasi and Gleason's entire run so far, and drawn well by top talents Gleason and Doug Mahnke. Superman Vol. 4: Black Dawn is loaded with charm, indeed from the Super- and Bat-families sitting down to pie to Jon Kent and Damian Wayne having a sleepover to the whole bit with Jon calling Damian "Garth." Black Dawn is an exuberant example of the Superman title stretching its wings.

I always enjoy stories with Jon and Damien . The Kent’s are enjoying an almost idyllic life until something dark lurking beneath;the surface threaten them. The art is really good and polished and the story keeps you turning pages

The art feels a little less polished in this volume -- I can't tell if they changed artists, there's so many people credited on this series, but I missed the beautiful lines from the first two volumes. The storyline is still kind of the kitchen sink of plots and I wish it had focused more on Jon, Damian and Kathy, because that seemed like a really cute story unfolding... maybe there will be another Superboy & Robin teamup in our future. But I appreciated that Lois got some time to shine and the heart of the story returned to the Kent-Lois family rather than Clark wandering off on his own.

I received a copy of Superman Vol. 4: Black Down from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Written by Peter Tomasi (known for Batman and Robin, The Outsiders, Green Lantern’s Blackest Night and Brightest Day) Superman volume four, Black Dawn has Superman back, along with his family, Lois and Jon. Tomasi’s writing is supported wonderfully by Patrick Gleason’s (Green Lantern Corps: Rechareg, Aquaman, Batman and Robin, Brightest Day) artwork, which is bright and flashy and pretty much exactly what I would hope for from a Superman comic.
In Black Dawn, Superman and son are joined by DC’s other famous father and son team; Batman and Robin (Damian Wayne). This was a refreshing surprise for me, especially because I’m a huge fan of watching characters cross-over and interact with each other. That being said, I know some fans don’t like this as much as I do, so they may not enjoy this volume as much because of that.
For those of you that are behind in what’s going on in Superman’s life, he, Lois, and Jon have settled in a lovely little town (can you even call it that?) called Hamilton. Fans of Hamilton and its townspeople (like Kathy and Farmer Cobb) probably won’t love what happens next with them – I know I didn’t. Though I did appreciate the risk they took, so that’s something.
So what exactly happens to sleepy little Hamilton? Well, it turns out there’s more than meets the eye with this town (and yes, I’m including Superman’s vision in that statement). The townspeople (many of whom aren’t actually…people) are being influenced by Black, who’s got them all thinking he’s trying to help Superman and Superboy and generally improve their way of life. It’s hard to say whether any of this would have been revealed (in a timely fashion that is) had Batman not done what he does best; stuck his nose where it doesn’t belong (Jon’s powers) and followed the trail.
I’ll admit I really didn’t like what was done with Kathy and Farmer Cobb – sure the little hints in the beginning of the volume were interesting (I liked the idea of them spying on the Kent’s for their own safety), but it got out of hand really fast. They tried to “reset” Kathy and Jon’s relationship back to normal in the end, but I don’t think I’ll ever see it the same way again.
On the bright side, everything that was done was done to further Superboy’s abilities, which is actually pretty awesome. If Batman is correct about Jon and how he’ll be stronger than his father, he has a right to be concerned (though I think he’s going about it in the wrong way – you treat people like villains and eventually they’ll become one).
Oh! One other shining moment for me came from Lois Lane herself. Seeing her wield a flaming Gauntlet was fantastic and somewhat unexpected. Seeing the surprise on the townspeople’s faces? Absolutely priceless.
I can’t wait to see what happens next in volume five. I’m curious to see how far they’ll go in getting the town back to “normal” or if they’ll let the secret just stay out in the open. I think the former will happen, but I could be wrong (though I think Kathy will continue with the plot they’ve started for her).