REVIEW – City Boy #1

Do you remember the first time that you found your favorite hero?  Those first few pages of your first Batman comic.  Maybe seeing The Flash for the first time in the pages of a Justice League story?  You just never know when, or where, your new favorite characters are going to come from.  That's why I love it when new heroes get introduced, because you just never know.  That's one of the reasons I had to check out City Boy from DC.

I know I was a few days late to the party here, but you might have missed it too, so let me help you.  In this story we meet Cameron Kim.  You might have already seen him in Wildstorm or Lazarus Planet: Legends Reborn, but this is HIS story.  His power is quite unique, because cities speak to him.  He hears and sees what other people can't, which really opens up some endless possibilities.  It might sound like fun, but things get pretty serious for Cameron really quick in this first issue.

We get a flashback or two that tells us that he has a bit of a mystery in his past, and a heartbreaking one at that.  It could explain why he comes off the way that he does in this story, but it does beg the question of how important those early years were for him.  We also quickly find out just how dangerous his power could be if it fell into the wrong hands.  Those wrong hands also might not realize just how powerful Cameron really is.  It's possibly that Cameron himself doesn't even fully realize his potential yet.

Remember, it's not all good things here.  Having a city speak to you means that you get it all...the good and the bad.  You feel that burden on Cameron at times, even in this first issue, which adds some extra depth to the story.  Oh, and remember those wrong hands I was just talking about?  You won't believe who we see in the final page of this first issue.  Cameron is about to draw some VERY unwanted attention.

I'll admit, one of the driving forces behind me wanting to give this book a try was seeing that Greg Pak was writing it.  You can always count on Greg for solid character building and unique story elements.  I hadn't mentioned up to this point that Cameron is a hero of Korean descent, because it's not a major part of his story up to this point.  Should that become more important later on, you're in good hands with Greg Pak for sure.

It would be really simple to just let these powers show up without fanfare, but Minkyu Jung takes it to the next level.  We get to see Cameron's powers come to life in unique ways and have almost an x-ray effect.  We also get a quick look at the origin of his powers, which Jung really did a great job with.  Adding a lot of extra pop and detail, while also tying it to the present day in just a few panels.  Speaking of art, there are a lot of great variant covers for this book that you might want to check out as well.

The Dawn of DC was sure to be filled with some new heroes.  This is definitely a good start, because everything about City Boy feels fresh and exciting.  This book really sets itself up for the long haul, because with this power, the possibilities really are endless.  I couldn't help but think about all of the places that Cameron could go and how his powers would work there.  I do hope that we get more on his origin as well, but for now, I'm just having fun seeing where this thing goes.  More, please!