Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul's run on Adventure Comics thus far has been fairly low key in comparison to everything else going on in the DCU right now, and issue #3 is no different. It's a welcome change of pace for such a high profile series to take this approach, and gives fans the chance to slow down a bit amongst all the epic madness of the events going on. While I love my epic madness as much as the next guy, Johns is clearly equally adept at writing touching character moments as he is sweeping space operas. Issue #3 finds Conner reunited with his best friend Tim Drake, now moonlighting as Red Robin, for the first time since his return from the grave.
Interestingly enough, just like he did with Cassie in the issue before this one, Johns seems to focus more on Tim's thoughts and feelings at the current time than he does on Conner's, the main character of the book. In a mere few pages of Adventure Comics, I learned more about Tim's fragile emotional state since Bruce Wayne's "death" and the fallout of Final Crisis than I did through four issues of Red Robin. While that doesn't really say much for Red Robin, it says bundles about the quality and specificity of Johns' words. That's not to say that Conner's role in the issue is slighted. Through his conversation with Tim (and Cassie in #2), Johns explores many different notions within the character, very much playing into the arcs overall purpose: why has Conner come back from the dead?
Johns has a true talent for great scene work. There are two prime examples in this issue alone that show this off, one being a scene in which Conner finally gets Tim to open up, and another where Conner scolds Krypto for capturing a bunch of Superboy's former villains and collecting them into a pile outside of Smallville High, as though they were bones. Both scenes have clear motivation and change the characters in a significant way through key pacing and meticulously chosen dialog.
As usual, Manapul's work continues to be stellar, emphasizing the subdued features of the story with the use of closeups (including plenty of Krypto, just for me), significance in panel composition, and simple layouts that allow for more dramatic pacing of the dialog. It's definitely going to hit hard when Johns and Manapul leave the book after issue #6, but at least we can rest assured that the new Flash ongoing is in good hands.
Unfortunately, the book does falter in its Legion of Super-Heroes co-feature, which is a bit disconcerting considering that these are the characters that will presumably be inheriting the book upon Johns and Manapul's departure. Since issue #1's co-feature that centered on Starman, Johns and co-writer of the Legion feature Michael Shoemaker have failed to recapture the playful tone that it started out on, instead focusing on the family drama of Lightning Lad in issue #2, and now the juvenile jealousy of Polar Boy, though they are able to create some witty banter at points.
Despite having its moments, the Legion co-feature just isn't up to snuff with some of the other quality co-features currently running in the other DC books, and I would gladly sacrifice it to drop the price of the book back down to $2.99. The co-feature aside, Adventure is shaping up to be a - dare I say it - heartwarming story that is arguably the most important Kon-El story since the character debuted in the early 1990's.
