Acquired at Comiccon, part two: Superboy and the Ravers 1-4

You could probably come to a fairly accurate estimate of what I paid for the Canadian and Fleur de Lys figurines described in the previous post.  Those don't tend to come cheap.

However, I feel worse about having paid $5 for the first four issues of Superboy and the Ravers.  Great Caesar's Ghost, what a lousy book.  But what the hell do you want, it's from the 90's! It was to be expected.

In describing Krimzon Kaine earlier, I stated that when a creator goes through great lengths to make a character cool, said character can often come off like a clown.  Exhibit A: Superboy.  The leather jacket, earring, round glasses and shaved sides...They wanted him to look cool, but he ends up looking like a male prostitute.

But who cares?  I bought the book for a little exposure to Sparx (top left), one of few Canadian characters in the DC Comics pantheon.

There is a huge cast in this book (or at least the first three issues that I've read) but Sparx still manages to carve out a presence.  She's the lovable sweetheart type who likes puppies and wants everyone to be friends.  However, she initiates the whole thing by taking Superboy to the "Event Horizon" intergalactic rave (???!!) in the first place, and for this I can never forgive her.

All right, maybe it's not THAT bad.  The art is very flashy and there are interesting guest-appearances by a Darkstar character and Adam Strange.  It may be that there are parts of the story with which I'm not familiar because I did not read Superboy's series at the time or the subsequent issues in this series.

Sparx is likable enough.  In fact, her ultra-nice behaviour is a refreshing change from all the posers and attitude in the rest of the book. But not to the point that I'd be in any hurry to continue buying back issues of this book. 

According to comicvine, other members of the Force Family appear in later issues.  That may be interesting, but I'd just as soon direct my attention to Canadian characters that have greater potential for exposure down the road.