Saga of the Super Sons

Superman/Batman: Saga of the Super Sons by Bob Haney
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Superman Junior and Batman Junior drive around the country on a motorcycle, taking on criminals and struggling to live up to their fathers' legacies.

Saga of the Super Sons collects World's Finest Comics #215, 216, 221, 222, 224, 228, 230, 231, 233, 238, 242, 263, and Elseworlds 80-Page Giant #1.

"What if Batman and Superman had sons that followed in their footsteps?" is the core concept of Saga of the Super-Sons. Unfortunately, the Super-Sons don't do anything that super in most of the stories.

Written by that Zany Bob Haney, the stories are kind of simplistic, some even silly, compared to what Marvel was doing during the same time period. The Super-Sons take on a lot of mundane criminals, as well as Lex Luthor and the occasional alien. I would say these stories would be part of DC's young adult line if they were published today. Haney's attempts at youth slang are kind of embarrassing. Dick Dillin, DC's workhorse at the time, provides the bulk of the art, although Curt Swan and Rich Buckler each take the helm on an issue. Dillin's art is reliable but nothing spectacular.

All that being said, the stories are passably entertaining, despite ridiculous plot twists out of the 1950s, like Batman faking his death to teach Dick and Bruce Junior a lesson. The Denny O'Neil-Rich Buckler story explains the previous tales away as a simulation in Superman's Fortress of Solitude, explaining something that didn't really need explaining. Even in the 1970s, I think the kids were smart enough to know the Super-Sons weren't part of continuity.

Saga of the Super-Sons is an entertaining yet disappointing story from the dying days of the Silver Age. 2 out of 5 stars.

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