Get the Exclusive Scoop on Adventures of the Super Sons From Writer Peter J. Tomasi

It’s never a happy day when a comic is cancelled, but some conclusions sting more than others. The surprise announcement that fan-favorite DC Comics series Super Sons would end with issue #16 and the Super Sons/Dynomutt Special #1, both out May 30th, left readers despondent; in addition to the pure fun factor of Damian Wayne and Jon Kent’s buddy adventures as Robin and Superboy, respectively, the series served as an excellent entry point to the DC universe for fans across the age spectrum. Writer Peter J. Tomasi and artists including Jorge Jiménez and Carlo Barberi nailed a tone and approach that allowed longtime DC readers to share the series with their own young wards, and Damian and Jon, for all of their spectacular skills and abilities, always felt like actual preteens—an all-too-rare trait among super-powered kid characters.

We here at Paste are thrilled, then, to confirm that Tomasi isn’t done with Jon and Damian’s heroic friendship just yet. Beginning August 1st, 2018, Tomasi and current Super Sons artist Carlo Barberi will reunite for Adventures of the Super Sons, a brand-new series that picks up right where Super Sons #16 leaves off. As Tomasi explains in the chat below, Adventures of the Super Sons is designed to be a seamless continuation for fans of the current title, as well as a jumping-on point for readers who haven’t been following Jon and Damian’s antics. The first issue introduces a group of alien troublemakers known as the Gang, who idolize Earth’s villains and emulate them in their own unexpected ways. Tomasi also teases that Robin and Superboy will venture through intergalactic tour of DC’s different genre comics over the course of the series, from Romance to Western and everything in between.

For more about Adventures of the Super Sons, as well as an exclusive first look at Dan Mora’s first cover, Barberi’s interior artwork for Super Sons #16 and Fernando Pasarin’s interior artwork for the Super Sons/Dynomutt Special #1, keep reading below, and be sure to check out the new series when it debuts on August 1st.

Adventures of the Super Sons #1 Cover Art by Dan Mora

Adventures of the Super Sons #1
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artist: Carlo Barberi w/ Art Thibert
Cover Artist: Dan Mora
Variant Cover Artist: Jorge Jiménez
Release Date: August 1, 2018
The Super-Sons are back in an all-new miniseries written by Peter J. Tomasi! Check out the lost and secret adventures of Damian Wayne (Robin) and Jon Kent (Superboy) in this flashback miniseries that takes a deep dive into the bombastic bromance between the sons of the DC Universe’s greatest heroes. It’s an epic dual storyline that transcends current events, as Superboy and Robin find themselves targets of an interstellar team of young badasses called the Gang.

Paste Magazine: There was such an outpouring of disappointment online when it was announced that #16 was the final issue of the current run. Why do you think Damian and Jonathan struck such a chord with readers, especially since they’re, relatively speaking, pretty new characters?
Peter Tomasi: I think they [struck a chord] because it’s a fun comic and I take great pains to make sure that the kids act like kids, and that the story, the way I wanted to construct it, was sort of all-ages, eight to 80. I didn’t want to put any limitations and I didn’t want to dumb it down. I think people really related to having something they could have a lot of fun with, and didn’t tie into a ton of continuity across the DCU.

I actually had a lot of experiences at shows over the course of the last year of a parents with their kids coming up dressed as Jon Kent and Damian, just thanking me for having a book out there that they could enjoy along with their kids, and read it and absorb it that way. So it was a real nice surprise that people have connected with it.

Paste Magazine: Super Sons is also headed for the DC Zoom line of middle-grade OGNs, but your series has never shied away from serious danger and high stakes. How do you balance writing relatable preteens in a world with murderous Amazo bots and unhinged alternate-future doppelgangers and all sorts of other threats?
Tomasi: [Laughs] With great care. You need to have some threat, obviously, to these kids. You have Jonathan Kent, who as we’ve progressed, has shown amazing powers. We’ve got Damian who, as you can’t escape it, his history, his back-story, is as a trained assassin. So we have to accept those tenets and at the same time have a lot of fun with it. So some of this stuff will seem a bit foreboding, but it was really key for us to handle it writing- and art-wise is that it came across in a way that wasn’t crazy scary, and continued the fun while they were handling serious stuff along the way.

Paste Magazine: Aside from Grant Morrison, you’re probably the creator most associated with Damian. What keeps you coming back to his voice and dynamic—and attitude—within the DC universe?
Tomasi: Luck, for one. I’ve been given the book, and Grant was nice enough to—I remember at the time, I think Dan DiDio had asked him who he thought should continue with Batman & Robin and he said I should take the baton, and that was awesome. And in terms of just continuing on with Damian, he’s one of those characters who, as a writer, you lock into. It happened with Guy Gardner, it happened with Batman, Superman—there’re some characters that you really just gear into. Damian’s voice is easy; you sort of just get out of the way. Once you start writing the scene, he takes over and the dialogue flows and the actions flow from his personality and who he is. It’s one of those lucky things as a writer that you’re able to plug into a character and get so invested in him. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’d love to write anything that Damian’s in, but of course he’s a company-wide character who’s used in many books. But it is a lot of fun when I can just keep him in my own little DCU area and use him as much as possible.

Paste Magazine: Where does Adventures of the Super Sons pick up with Jon and Damian? What do new readers need to know going into this new series?
Tomasi: Our book takes place between the Superman Special #1 that just came out and Man of Steel #1. You could read Super Sons #16 and go right into Adventures and there’ll be no bumps in the road. You won’t have to have picked up any other book or anything. You can just open that book and it’s a pure gateway, if you’re enjoying Super Sons now, it’s a continuation of that relationship, and at the same time, if you’re a new reader, it’s a perfect opportunity to join the book. It’s a really big welcoming-mat first issue. We wanted to cover both bases, for the readers who’ve been on board and the new ones hopefully to come.