2.5 Stars ( )

Superman Dawnbreaker is the fourth and final DC Icons book. Ever since the Icons series was announced I wanted to collect them. Being a fan of all the superhero movies that are coming out with a rapid speed I was curious if DC could pull me in. Mixing YA authors with teenage superheroes did seem a good idea.

The story is about superman (duh). Clark Kent is a sixteen-year-old living in smallville, a small community somewhere in Kansas. Lately people have been disappearing. Not just everybody but people from a certain background. As Clark makes new friends and tries to solve the mystery that revolves in his small town, he has to get used to new powers that suddenly emerge.

I started this series with a new found love for Wonder Woman. I wasn’t a big fan of the movie and to see her really shine and get a spotlight in a well written story was amazing. With Batman the series really went downhill. Catwoman was okay to say the least and with superman they kind of picked it a little back up again. The fun parts of this story were seeing Clark in action. Him discovering new powers and having to deal with the information where he’s from. I liked Clark as a main character and I could relate to him quite a bit. The world building of Smallville was pretty good. I could easily imagine a small town with farmers working everywhere, still with a center where all the stuff always happens. What I liked most about this book was the inclusion of Mexican race issues. Even though some of it felt pretty forced the overall message and theme was well done.
What I didn’t care for in this book was the actual plot of the mystery. For some reason I just couldn’t care about the bigger picture and seeing everything unfold. Maybe if the book had been a little bit longer and I could have spent more time with the cast the overall story would have grown on me. But as it is written it felt more of an “I need to put in some superhero plot to satisfy everyone”.

Having read the whole series this was a solid end piece.
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Superman: Dawnbreaker is the fourth DC Icons novel, this one written by Matt de la Peña.

First, let me just say that I wasn’t aware of the sexual harrassment accusations against de la Peña, or I would have steered clear of the book and definitely not have spent any money on it. I only just learned about it when I googled him for this review. So, please think carefully before you throw any money at him.

Content Note: (critical treatment of) racism

Plot:
Clark Kent would be a normal teenager in Smallville – if it wasn’t for the fact that he has superhuman powers. He has always had them, not knowing why or how, but now they’re getting stronger. As does his urge to help, even though heroics run counter to his parents’ plea that he keeps his powers under wraps. When he hears about people disappearing from Smallville from his classmate Gloria Alvarez, he asks his best friend and school reporter Lana Lang for help figuring out what is going on.

Superman: Dawnbreaker is a slightly disappointing take on Superman, I thought. The character’s potential remained untapped for me, although I did appreciate it that the book talks a lot about racism and the precarious situation of (Mexican) immigrants.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2021/07/28/superman-dawnbreaker-matt-de-la-pena/ ( )

Caveat: I'm not a big Superman fan. I find he can be a very black or white character that doesn't handle moral ambiguity well. That being said, I enjoyed this book. I watched Smallville, and this novel gave far more insight into Clark's journey to Superman. There were lots of nice shoutouts to various incarnations of the character, same as in the other books in this series. The plot was solid and only slightly obvious. It does take awhile for all the pieces to fall into place. I hope they have more books in this series. ( )

Listened to audio narrated by Andrew Eiden. I enjoyed most of the narration but was surprised there wasn't more accents used for the Latino characters.

Teen age Clark Kent knows he's different and can do things other cannot but it seems every day he's discovering something new. Worried and stressed about his new out of control powers, strange things start to happen in his small town and he feels compelled to solve it, with the help of his best friend Lois Lane.

Watching Clark come to terms with his powers, learning where he really came from and how he settled into being a superhero was an enjoyable read.

The author has a clear message he wants to convey about immigrants, racism, discrimination and other social issues besides telling Clark's story. I would have enjoyed a less heavy handed approach."

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