Superman: Dawnbreaker

Nominated for the 2020 Buckeye Teen Book Award. I thoroughly enjoyed this Clark Kent-as-a-teen-in-Smallville story; I also liked how current events were brought into the Superworld (Clark helps to rescue kidnapped local Latino immigrant farm workers, and of course, as he learns that he's an immigrant to our world, there's all the natural parallels with that.) I always love seeing how different writers show Clark reacting when he develops his various powers, and this one had some of that as well. Nice Lana-as-best-friend but possibly-more, and Lex is his typical arrogant secretive self. Now I want to do a marathon rewatch of the tv show Smallville!

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.

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 show more 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. show less

Superman: Dawnbreaker is book four in the DC Icons series. I actually read this novel and listened to the other, so I wonder if I liked the others better because of the audio.

Clark Kent lives in Smallville and happily helps his parents, but something odd is happening in town. A large company arrives in town and gentrification is taking place. Clark's best friend, Lana, wants to be a journalist and has discovered that people have disappeared but no one seems to notice. Also, racism rears its ugly head in a ballot measure that Clark hopes the people know is wrong. He also meets the owner of the company's son, Bryan, and becomes friends with him and his friend, Lex. These conflicts represent the outline of the novel.

Clark agrees to help show more Lana research what's going on. The Mankins Corporation's large facility seems secretive and there are strange people around town acting odd and buying up land. They even try to buy the Kent's land. Most of the novel involves Clark meeting his friends and getting a little information while trying to hide abilities that keep showing up. He can now see through walls; he feels like he can fly although he hasn't; he has more strength; and he can freeze things. He questions whether he should ask his parents about what's going on because they've always been supportive.

The novel is engaging and has current issues with the Latinos and how they can be treated by uninformed and prejudiced people. You also get to experience Clark learning about who he is. I enjoyed reading it, but I didn't pick it up easily. Lex Luthor's introduction leaves room for much more in the future. If you like superheroes, this series is a great place to spend time. show less

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 show more Clark's story. I would have enjoyed a less heavy handed approach."

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I know very little about Superman lore, so I don't know how accurate this origin story is but I enjoyed it. Not quite as good as the Batman or Catwoman stories in this series it was still an exciting contender. Young, high-school Clark Kent was very believable and I liked the surprise of his powers.

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 show more 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/ show less