In this next chapter of the Superboy-Prime story, we see the the Black Lanterns, specifically Alexander Luthor, have come to visit Clark Kent also. At first Clark appeared to be back in the visage of a normal Earth boy. He no longer appeared to be Superboy. Although he's still filled with the anger and hatred . . his parents and family are still scared to death of him, but . . it doesn't look like he's Superboy-Prime anymore. That is until Alexander shows up. He changes him back, giving him back his powers and costume, and then attacks him with the rest of the Black Lanterns . . everyone else that Clark has killed or terrorized. In this instance . . I'd say that the recipient of the Black Lantern's wrath was well deserved. You reap what you sow, as it were. But, through the course of this story it seems that Clark wants to change. The Black Lanterns have forced him to face his true feelings. After fighting them for a while, Clark realizes that he's not going to beat them in the traditional way. They just keep coming back. 'So if I can't beat you, Alex . . I'll join you!' And he puts one of the Black Lantern rings on his own hand. The weird part is . . maybe because he's alive, the ring takes him through the entire emotional spectrum. He goes through Green/Willpower, Blue/Compassion/, Orange/Avarice, Yellow/Fear before he finally settles on the Red/Hate. Apparently that's what he has the most of inside of him. Until he comes face to face with the feeling he has for Laurie . . Sapphire/Love. Because of that spectral outburst he seems to have defeated the Black Lanterns. Which leaves him to face his own thoughts and feelings . . 'I loved h-her . . I loved her so muh-much. I n-never . . I never get what I want. They don't want me to h-have it. They made me into their puppet. Forced to hurt people. I wasn't supposed to be like this. I was a her once! Why c-can't I stop being this way? Don't I get to make my own decisions? I do hate myself. I hate what I've become. They turned me into this monster. They turned me into a villain. But I was Superboy. Why didn't they give me a happy ending?' And by 'they', he's talking about the writers and artists and editorial staff of DC Comics. That's where his 'stories' originate in his world. But on the final page they do give him a little bit of hope.
They give him Laurie back. The problem? She doesn't show it, but . . she's also wearing a Black Lantern ring. So where does this story go from here? It may be a while before we find out. This chapter was beautifully brought to us by Geoff Johns, Sterling Gates and Jerry Ordway. This truly is the character that we love to hate. It'll be interesting to see where he pops up next. Meanwhile, in the back-up story, Connor comes across his own 'Lori', in the girl that he met at school. He catches her doing a little vandalism. She's hit the Smallville Clinic. Connor tries to talk to her but I think he's overwhelmed by his conflicting emotions. On one hand he knows she's doing wrong, but on the other . . she does seem to have a pretty valid reason for her anger . . her mother is in bad shape, and this doctor has refused to help her once her insurance ran out. So Lori is acting out. I think Connor is trying to tell her that she's wrong, but . . he can also see her point . . feel her frustration. They're at her house talking when there's a knock on the door. It seems that Lori is niece of Lex Luthor . . and he's standing at the door, with a box of Kryptonite, as Connor and Krypto lay on the floor in the hall. It appears that Lex has finally shown up to claim what he thinks is rightfully his . . Connor Kent/Superboy . . a clone that Lex made with his and Superman's own DNA. This has made me wonder . . since these 2 worlds are so closely related, there's a Superboy and Laurie and Lex in both worlds . . is Superboy-Prime's Laurie also related to Alexander? And if so, what affect does that have on that story? Hmmm . . lots of questions, and very little answers. At least not yet. But that's the beauty of one of Geoff's stories. That and the fantastic interaction between Connor and Lori. You can almost feel his frustration and confusion as he's trying to figure out her motives and reasons. And Lori isn't doing anything to help ease his confusion. If anything, her advances are adding to it . . making things more complicated. I thought it was a great chapter, and I'm beginning to love Francis Manapul's interpretation of this character. Simply fantastic. I can't wait to see where all of these characters go from here. Adventure Comics is back . . long live Adventure!
In this next chapter of the Superboy-Prime story, we see the the Black Lanterns, specifically Alexander Luthor, have come to visit Clark Kent also. At first Clark appeared to be back in the visage of a normal Earth boy. He no longer appeared to be Superboy. Although he's still filled with the anger and hatred . . his parents and family are still scared to death of him, but . . it doesn't look like he's Superboy-Prime anymore. That is until Alexander shows up. He changes him back, giving him back his powers and costume, and then attacks him with the rest of the Black Lanterns . . everyone else that Clark has killed or terrorized. In this instance . . I'd say that the recipient of the Black Lantern's wrath was well deserved. You reap what you sow, as it were. But, through the course of this story it seems that Clark wants to change. The Black Lanterns have forced him to face his true feelings. After fighting them for a while, Clark realizes that he's not going to beat them in the traditional way. They just keep coming back. 'So if I can't beat you, Alex . . I'll join you!' And he puts one of the Black Lantern rings on his own hand. The weird part is . . maybe because he's alive, the ring takes him through the entire emotional spectrum. He goes through Green/Willpower, Blue/Compassion/, Orange/Avarice, Yellow/Fear before he finally settles on the Red/Hate. Apparently that's what he has the most of inside of him. Until he comes face to face with the feeling he has for Laurie . . Sapphire/Love. Because of that spectral outburst he seems to have defeated the Black Lanterns. Which leaves him to face his own thoughts and feelings . . 'I loved h-her . . I loved her so muh-much. I n-never . . I never get what I want. They don't want me to h-have it. They made me into their puppet. Forced to hurt people. I wasn't supposed to be like this. I was a her once! Why c-can't I stop being this way? Don't I get to make my own decisions? I do hate myself. I hate what I've become. They turned me into this monster. They turned me into a villain. But I was Superboy. Why didn't they give me a happy ending?' And by 'they', he's talking about the writers and artists and editorial staff of DC Comics. That's where his 'stories' originate in his world. But on the final page they do give him a little bit of hope. 
They give him Laurie back. The problem? She doesn't show it, but . . she's also wearing a Black Lantern ring. So where does this story go from here? It may be a while before we find out. This chapter was beautifully brought to us by Geoff Johns, Sterling Gates and Jerry Ordway. This truly is the character that we love to hate. It'll be interesting to see where he pops up next. Meanwhile, in the back-up story, Connor comes across his own 'Lori', in the girl that he met at school. He catches her doing a little vandalism. She's hit the Smallville Clinic. Connor tries to talk to her but I think he's overwhelmed by his conflicting emotions. On one hand he knows she's doing wrong, but on the other . . she does seem to have a pretty valid reason for her anger . . her mother is in bad shape, and this doctor has refused to help her once her insurance ran out. So Lori is acting out. I think Connor is trying to tell her that she's wrong, but . . he can also see her point . . feel her frustration. They're at her house talking when there's a knock on the door. It seems that Lori is niece of Lex Luthor . . and he's standing at the door, with a box of Kryptonite, as Connor and Krypto lay on the floor in the hall. It appears that Lex has finally shown up to claim what he thinks is rightfully his . . Connor Kent/Superboy . . a clone that Lex made with his and Superman's own DNA. This has made me wonder . . since these 2 worlds are so closely related, there's a Superboy and Laurie and Lex in both worlds . . is Superboy-Prime's Laurie also related to Alexander? And if so, what affect does that have on that story? Hmmm . . lots of questions, and very little answers. At least not yet. But that's the beauty of one of Geoff's stories. That and the fantastic interaction between Connor and Lori. You can almost feel his frustration and confusion as he's trying to figure out her motives and reasons. And Lori isn't doing anything to help ease his confusion. If anything, her advances are adding to it . . making things more complicated. I thought it was a great chapter, and I'm beginning to love Francis Manapul's interpretation of this character. Simply fantastic. I can't wait to see where all of these characters go from here. Adventure Comics is back . . long live Adventure!
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