City Boy #1, from DC Comics, takes us into the life of an Asian teen, living on the streets of Metropolis. You see, as a little kid, Cameron’s mom dropped him off in the city square into the hands of his grandfather and walked away. Well, it appears that young Cameron ran away from Grandpa instead and fended for himself. City Boy now lives by his wits, scraping along by selling items to pawn shops.
Writer Greg Pak does his best to contrast today’s scruffy-alley life of City Boy with the gleaming towers of the metro skyline.
Artist Minkyu Jung (with Sunny Gho on colours and Wes Abbott on lettering, Jessica Chen editor) gives us Asian characters who somehow look less Asian than I was expecting. But their facial features aside, we enter into an aspect of Metropolis that is filled with street hustlers, protection rackets, and unsavoury individuals who are quick to turn troubles into opportunities.
Speaking of opportunities, hey, City Boy has a powerful gift, one that makes him a valuable ally, or a cash cow!
I enjoyed learning of the origin of City Boy’s origins and the Asian cultural aspects of the story and characters. It’s a fascinating world, full of colour, drama, and potential. And now that City Boy has ‘cast his vote’, as we mysteriously say, let’s hope that future issues will fulfill the potential of this concept.
DC Comics, City Boy #1, assume a price of $3.99 for 23 pages of content.
Newsdesk