[7.7/10] I found myself surprisingly compelled by Victor Stone’s story here. I knew Cyborg’s origins from the likes of Teen Titans, Justice League: War, and god help me, Batman v. Superman. So I didn’t expect to be terribly moved by seeing him emerge here.
But this really worked on me. Some of it comes down to the well-sketched relationship between Victor and his father Silas. We get more of Victor as a godo kid who wishes his weather weren’t so distant and showed greater care for his own son, and we see more of Silas as an aloof man who seems to put more stock into his work than his boy. The personal issues between them are standard, but fleshed out enough to matter.
Some of it is the coolness of having Khary Payton (the voice of Cyborg in Teen Titans and others projects), voicing Silas here, giving the story some full circle qualities. Some of it is the graphicness of witnessing what happens to Victor, his exposed skeleton and organs, bloody and murmuring which drives home the horror of the accident that befell him. (And seriously, OSHA needs to do an audit of Star Labs after simply opening a door into a power cable causes an explosion.) Some of it is the desperation of a father turning to an alien device he’s been told is “pure evil” because it might save the son who’s only there for this accident because he wanted to confront that dad who didn't pay enough attention to him.
But I think a lot of it comes from the tremendous performance from Zeno Robinson as Victor. There’s such incredible anger and hurt in his voice when he excoriates his father for his negligence, or laments that he too is a “freak” now. The realness of the performance sells the realness of the moment, and makes this the best Cyborg origin I’ve seen on any screen big or small.
The other stories here are good as well. Seeing Violet and Forager (now dubbed Jason Bugg with two Gs and gifted a human glamor charm from Zatanna) attend their first day of high school is a fun, more low stakes treat. I assume Harper Row turns out to be some important superhero figure given the credits, but for now, I like her as a vaguely Daria-esque punk who welcomes Violet and Forager and treats them with kindness, in contrast to their skeptical classmates. Someone who’s compassionate and accepting of oddballs is always going to win me over, and her sharp sarcastic wit doesn’t hurt either.
I also like the twist that Violet’s stomach ache is connected to Victor’s experience with the fatherbx/ The same indigo light that infuses him in his “murderous” mode overomes Violet when she develops a heretofore unknown indigo aura. The fact that she shows up to cure Victor is the fatherbox’s influence, without necessarily knowing how or why could have been a cheap twist. Instead, it establishes a connection between Halo and New God technology, and provides a reason to bring Cyborg into the fold. In particular, I’m glad that he affirms to his dad that the fatherbox’ influence is gone, but he still wants to get away because his life has been ruined by this accident and he doesn’t want to speak to his dad. Again, what could easily have fallen into melodrama comes off as authentic, which isn’t an easy feat given the high volume approach here.
The same goes for Nightwing’s confrontation with Brion. Geo-Force’s anger over the League not clueing him in as to what’s going on with his sister is natural, and frankly, Dick’s responses aren’t great. But I like Dick diagnosing that Brion’s not really mad at the established superheroes, who he knows are doing all that they can, but rather fixated on other issues involving his brother, his expulsion from his home, and the difficulties of having to be content with “patience.” There are some cliches involved, but I appreciate Nightwing treating the situation seriously and helping Brion see a way forward rather than fixating on the past.
Overall, this one delivers a gripping origin for Cyborg, has fun with the Outsiders’ first day of school, and finds new psychological depths for Brion. Not bad at all.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-07-06T00:33:58Z
[7.7/10] I found myself surprisingly compelled by Victor Stone’s story here. I knew Cyborg’s origins from the likes of Teen Titans, Justice League: War, and god help me, Batman v. Superman. So I didn’t expect to be terribly moved by seeing him emerge here.
But this really worked on me. Some of it comes down to the well-sketched relationship between Victor and his father Silas. We get more of Victor as a godo kid who wishes his weather weren’t so distant and showed greater care for his own son, and we see more of Silas as an aloof man who seems to put more stock into his work than his boy. The personal issues between them are standard, but fleshed out enough to matter.
Some of it is the coolness of having Khary Payton (the voice of Cyborg in Teen Titans and others projects), voicing Silas here, giving the story some full circle qualities. Some of it is the graphicness of witnessing what happens to Victor, his exposed skeleton and organs, bloody and murmuring which drives home the horror of the accident that befell him. (And seriously, OSHA needs to do an audit of Star Labs after simply opening a door into a power cable causes an explosion.) Some of it is the desperation of a father turning to an alien device he’s been told is “pure evil” because it might save the son who’s only there for this accident because he wanted to confront that dad who didn't pay enough attention to him.
But I think a lot of it comes from the tremendous performance from Zeno Robinson as Victor. There’s such incredible anger and hurt in his voice when he excoriates his father for his negligence, or laments that he too is a “freak” now. The realness of the performance sells the realness of the moment, and makes this the best Cyborg origin I’ve seen on any screen big or small.
The other stories here are good as well. Seeing Violet and Forager (now dubbed Jason Bugg with two Gs and gifted a human glamor charm from Zatanna) attend their first day of high school is a fun, more low stakes treat. I assume Harper Row turns out to be some important superhero figure given the credits, but for now, I like her as a vaguely Daria-esque punk who welcomes Violet and Forager and treats them with kindness, in contrast to their skeptical classmates. Someone who’s compassionate and accepting of oddballs is always going to win me over, and her sharp sarcastic wit doesn’t hurt either.
I also like the twist that Violet’s stomach ache is connected to Victor’s experience with the fatherbx/ The same indigo light that infuses him in his “murderous” mode overomes Violet when she develops a heretofore unknown indigo aura. The fact that she shows up to cure Victor is the fatherbox’s influence, without necessarily knowing how or why could have been a cheap twist. Instead, it establishes a connection between Halo and New God technology, and provides a reason to bring Cyborg into the fold. In particular, I’m glad that he affirms to his dad that the fatherbox’ influence is gone, but he still wants to get away because his life has been ruined by this accident and he doesn’t want to speak to his dad. Again, what could easily have fallen into melodrama comes off as authentic, which isn’t an easy feat given the high volume approach here.
The same goes for Nightwing’s confrontation with Brion. Geo-Force’s anger over the League not clueing him in as to what’s going on with his sister is natural, and frankly, Dick’s responses aren’t great. But I like Dick diagnosing that Brion’s not really mad at the established superheroes, who he knows are doing all that they can, but rather fixated on other issues involving his brother, his expulsion from his home, and the difficulties of having to be content with “patience.” There are some cliches involved, but I appreciate Nightwing treating the situation seriously and helping Brion see a way forward rather than fixating on the past.
Overall, this one delivers a gripping origin for Cyborg, has fun with the Outsiders’ first day of school, and finds new psychological depths for Brion. Not bad at all.