Superman’s Good Guy Gang (graphic novel for young readers)

Did Superman immediately display superpowers as a child or did he grow into them? It depends on which Earth, which multiverse, or which narrative continuity you might be reading. DC Comics can be downright Schrodinger-esque. Two contradictory events can be true at the same time. It just depends on where you look. In this graphic novel for young readers, Superman had powers at age eight, but don’t call him Superboy in Rob Justus’s Superman’s Good Guy Gang, which just released.

Superman has all his grown-up powers, but he doesn’t believe it is cool to hang out with six-year-olds like little Lex Luthor. Instead, he forms a “Good Guy Club” with Guy Gardener and Hawkgirl, even though she’s not a guy. In fact, negotiating their name is a highly fraught business. Some also might question Gardener’s “good guy” credibility. However, his atrocious bowl-cut makes more sense at that age.

Regardless, the trio must band together to fight the renegade milk-shake-making robot Luthor innocently created to get Superman’s attention. As it happens, Justus somewhat follows the trend of some of the recent Superman comics, by inviting sympathy for Luthor. Arguably, he might just be the most likable character.

Nevertheless, Good Guy Gang is an accessible introduction to the DC characters for 5 to 7 year-olds. Justus’s art is colorful, but there is a softness to the lines that feels much more akin to children’s books than graphic novels. Yet, there is also a snappiness to his dialogue that older completist-fans will appreciate, while still sounding authentic for the young target demographic.

For longtime fans, Good Guy Gang should be a good way to usher your kids and younger siblings into DC fandom. Obviously, that is the idea, since it released during the “Summer of Superman.” Fortunately, there is a refreshingly complete absence of objectionably, political, or ideological subject matter or references, so parents can purchase and pass it along with confidence. Recommended for geek families, Superman’s Good Guy Gang is now on-sale at book and comic retailers.