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We Are Legends
City Boy
Explore the DC Universe like never before alongside City Boy, in a major series in DC’s We Are Legends initiative, starring all-new legendary Asian-American heroes!
We Are Legends expands the DC Universe with authentic stories starring characters of Asian descent, as told by Asian talent!
Meet a new Korean hero named…City Boy! Or at least, that’s the best translation of what the cities call him. City Boy, a.k.a. Cameron Kim, is just trying to make a living by using his powers of being able to speak to cities to find lost and hidden goods to pawn, and it’s only just enough to get by. And those abilities mean he hears everything everywhere all the time, including each city’s histories and the truths behind them. (It’s very loud in his head and something he has to live with.)
As his powers get stronger, the cities start forming animal avatars from scraps in order to physically travel alongside him on his adventures. Of course, Gotham is a rat avatar made of city scraps, but what about Metropolis, Blüdhaven, Amnesty Bay, or even Themyscira? And not all cities are so kind…
Written by comics superstar Greg Pak and illustrated by Minkyu Jung, this volume collects City Boy #1-6, the debut of a brand-new hero with a never-before-seen connection to the DC Universe!
We Are Legends expands the DC Universe with authentic stories starring characters of Asian descent, as told by Asian talent!
Meet a new Korean hero named…City Boy! Or at least, that’s the best translation of what the cities call him. City Boy, a.k.a. Cameron Kim, is just trying to make a living by using his powers of being able to speak to cities to find lost and hidden goods to pawn, and it’s only just enough to get by. And those abilities mean he hears everything everywhere all the time, including each city’s histories and the truths behind them. (It’s very loud in his head and something he has to live with.)
As his powers get stronger, the cities start forming animal avatars from scraps in order to physically travel alongside him on his adventures. Of course, Gotham is a rat avatar made of city scraps, but what about Metropolis, Blüdhaven, Amnesty Bay, or even Themyscira? And not all cities are so kind…
Written by comics superstar Greg Pak and illustrated by Minkyu Jung, this volume collects City Boy #1-6, the debut of a brand-new hero with a never-before-seen connection to the DC Universe!
168 pages, Paperback
First published April 16, 2024
3 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Greg Pak
1,647 books579 followersGreg Pak is an award-winning Korean American comic book writer and filmmaker currently writing "Lawful" for BOOM and "Sam Wilson: Captain America" (with Evan Narcisse) for Marvel. Pak wrote the "Princess Who Saved Herself" children's book and the “Code Monkey Save World” graphic novel based on the songs of Jonathan Coulton and co-wrote (with Fred Van Lente) the acclaimed “Make Comics Like the Pros” how-to book. Pak's other work includes "Planet Hulk," "Darth Vader," "Mech Cadet Yu," "Ronin Island," "Action Comics," and "Magneto Testament."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
December 5, 2023
Greg Pak knocks it out of the park with this one.
City Boy is about a guy named Cameron Kim who can actually speak to cities. Basically the cities form into living beings with him near and he can talk and control them. Basically similar to Swamp Thing with plants, but him with cities. Unique power set with a fun character who's been through the ringer to say the least.
Cameron's character growth really works for me. A angry kid at the start, who learns to accept and let go. Be something greater. Getting to see him interact with some of the most hopeful and best heroes like Superman, Nightwing, and even Swamp Thing helped build him into a new person. And him letting go of the past, of his abonnement issues, really worked for me.
A very nice mini, and introduction to the character, check this one out if you can!
City Boy is about a guy named Cameron Kim who can actually speak to cities. Basically the cities form into living beings with him near and he can talk and control them. Basically similar to Swamp Thing with plants, but him with cities. Unique power set with a fun character who's been through the ringer to say the least.
Cameron's character growth really works for me. A angry kid at the start, who learns to accept and let go. Be something greater. Getting to see him interact with some of the most hopeful and best heroes like Superman, Nightwing, and even Swamp Thing helped build him into a new person. And him letting go of the past, of his abonnement issues, really worked for me.
A very nice mini, and introduction to the character, check this one out if you can!
July 8, 2024
This was an interesting read. They have something unique and special with this character, but I think it needs more time to grow and expand.
Cameron Kim, aka City Boy (part of DC's "We Are Legends" initiative which combines Asian characters with Asian storytellers) has the ability to not only explore the city more thoroughly than most ever could via a unique vision (kind of like a spiritual x-ray of sorts) but also can tap into the "soul" of a city and bring it to life for its defense. We get to see the Dragon of Metropolis, the Bat of Bludhaven, and the Rat of Gotham. We get team ups with Superman, Nightwing, Batman, and Swamp Thing, but the doctor (who plays a part in Cameron's origin story) is kind of generic and forgettable.
I'd love to see more of the character, but he definitely needs a strong villain of his own, or maybe a street level rival that isn't a generic gangster.... maybe a semi-flirty love interest for some "will they - won't they".
Overall, a good start to the character. Looking forward to more. Recommend.
Cameron Kim, aka City Boy (part of DC's "We Are Legends" initiative which combines Asian characters with Asian storytellers) has the ability to not only explore the city more thoroughly than most ever could via a unique vision (kind of like a spiritual x-ray of sorts) but also can tap into the "soul" of a city and bring it to life for its defense. We get to see the Dragon of Metropolis, the Bat of Bludhaven, and the Rat of Gotham. We get team ups with Superman, Nightwing, Batman, and Swamp Thing, but the doctor (who plays a part in Cameron's origin story) is kind of generic and forgettable.
I'd love to see more of the character, but he definitely needs a strong villain of his own, or maybe a street level rival that isn't a generic gangster.... maybe a semi-flirty love interest for some "will they - won't they".
Overall, a good start to the character. Looking forward to more. Recommend.
July 2, 2024
The reason I liked this is simply that this is not a conventional super-hero story, although it contains all the right elements. Also, this should be a 3.5 star-rating but you know the Goodreads drill on fractional rankings.
At the root of this is a young adult male's search for his mother, after he was abandoned at a very young age. Cameron never does learn the reason why, but seems satisfied by knowing that his mother was happy in her new life. He's searching for purpose and gets some fatherly advice from Superman, some assistance from Nightwing, and a better understanding of his capabilities and responsibilities from Swamp Thing.
Until his discovery by some more powerful beings in Issue #1, he's under-utilized his abilities. Cosmic villain Darkseid wants him to create New Apokolips on Earth by manifesting each city's avatars so they can link up and convert all of the green on the planet to bleak concrete and steel.
The story was effective and somewhat heart-warming.
At the root of this is a young adult male's search for his mother, after he was abandoned at a very young age. Cameron never does learn the reason why, but seems satisfied by knowing that his mother was happy in her new life. He's searching for purpose and gets some fatherly advice from Superman, some assistance from Nightwing, and a better understanding of his capabilities and responsibilities from Swamp Thing.
Until his discovery by some more powerful beings in Issue #1, he's under-utilized his abilities. Cosmic villain Darkseid wants him to create New Apokolips on Earth by manifesting each city's avatars so they can link up and convert all of the green on the planet to bleak concrete and steel.
The story was effective and somewhat heart-warming.
May 16, 2024
So he's a reality warper? The ambiguity of his powers kinda irks me. City Boy is an attempt by Pak and collaborators to make a new Asian hero, but his power is to talk to cities and manifest them as metal beings??? A lot of this never connected with me, like somehow Darkseid wants him to herald a new apokolipse on earth? Why would Darkseid care? And if it not that he was running into familiar heroes. I was never sure where this story was going. I enjoyed enough of it, but it needed something more to keep me invested
March 5, 2025
Checked this out because Swamp Thing plays a pretty big role, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that’s this new character is a new take on Jack Hawskmoor from The Authority, another of my favorite characters. Very cool. Starts small but the stakes end up being pretty big. I’ll be keeping an eye out for more of this character.
September 7, 2024
City Boy is a kid who, uh, can control cities. Like, he can find things anywhere in the city (super map powers!) and can also generate a monstrous (or pet-like) avatar of a city. Weird power set to write a whole comic book about! But here we are.
City Boy isn't bad, given how strange the main character's deal is. Basically, this is a volume about unexplored trauma, which you would not guess from the whole "I can control cities" thing. Also, City Boy is facing off with minions of Darkseid, which seems like an over-extension for an introduction to the character. ()
Really, though, the whole point of City Boy seems to be to have the sad little dude meet other DC heroes like Superman and Swamp Thing, and slowly learn to control his powers (and overcome the trauma of being abandoned by his mom as a child). That latter part of the story is surprisingly well done. All the "superhero" stuff is far too silly.
City Boy isn't bad, given how strange the main character's deal is. Basically, this is a volume about unexplored trauma, which you would not guess from the whole "I can control cities" thing. Also, City Boy is facing off with minions of Darkseid, which seems like an over-extension for an introduction to the character. ()
Really, though, the whole point of City Boy seems to be to have the sad little dude meet other DC heroes like Superman and Swamp Thing, and slowly learn to control his powers (and overcome the trauma of being abandoned by his mom as a child). That latter part of the story is surprisingly well done. All the "superhero" stuff is far too silly.
May 16, 2024
This is the end of my read through of the We Are Legends initiative. The concept, IMO, was created by Warren Ellis and they just could have turned Jack Hawksmoor Asian and possibly gotten a better story.
I will give Pak, an author I've not been wowed by yet, credit for really trying to craft some character with Cameron. Perhaps, he was hamstrung by editorial saying, "We need some big conflict, so introduce Darkseid into this story about a teen who can talk with cities."
When the really interesting stuff is about Cameron living on the streets and his trauma from being abandoned by his mother at three. That was the interesting part of the story. Not the talking/controlling city's avatars and destruction.
I will give Pak, an author I've not been wowed by yet, credit for really trying to craft some character with Cameron. Perhaps, he was hamstrung by editorial saying, "We need some big conflict, so introduce Darkseid into this story about a teen who can talk with cities."
When the really interesting stuff is about Cameron living on the streets and his trauma from being abandoned by his mother at three. That was the interesting part of the story. Not the talking/controlling city's avatars and destruction.
Read
December 31, 2025I changed my mind on not including graphic novels/comics. also this was very fun. Overall a bit on the nose at points but an interesting concept and I like Cameron! Nightwing at the end saying that his mum loved Cameron though—he might be right to some extent but after everything we saw felt dumb lol.
May 30, 2024
Very interesting concept I hope to see more of
May 15, 2024
I actually wouldn't mind if we never saw City Boy again after this or only in very small cameos. Not because I don't like the book, the opposite actually. I really liked this. In some ways, for a story from a person with Super Powers who might never be a hero. I really do feel like this was an excellent story of how both the heroes and the villains wanted City Boy to be something he never wanted. Some demanded him to be a hero, others a villain but in reality he just wanted closure with his mother. The story ended with great closure and peace. It was a calm happy ending. And if I don't ever see City Boy in comics again, I will be ok with that. He seems like he found his place, and maybe its in his own story, one that we never will get to see. It feels ok to leave him in this good place. Truly a different type of read. Everyone should give this mini a try.
May 1, 2024
This is a really great idea for a character, both the actual powers and the backstory. The execution of that character is the best part of the book. Cameron is a very engaging character, and not just because of his powerset. I mostly just wish there were less guest stars in this miniseries. Nightwing, Superman, and Swamp Thing all have major appearances, and Batman gets in a fairly minor one. I'm not complaining about how the characters were written, and Superman was particularly good. I just felt like it took a little too much attention away from Cameron.
January 12, 2025
Collects a story from Wildstorm 30th Anniversary Special and a story from Lazarus Planet: Heroes Reborn, plus City Boy #1-6, all written by Greg Pak with art by Minkyu Jun (and a few pages of art in issue #5 by Mike Choi).
Cameron Kim has the power to "talk" to cities, similar to Swamp Thing's power to "talk" to The Green. As he travels from Blüdhaven to Gotham City to Metropolis, we see him conjure up the avatars of those cities to battle his antagonist, a somewhat generic mad scientist who is working for Darkseid in an attempt to turn the entire Earth into a giant city for Darkseid's nebulous purposes. Along the way he teams up with Nightwing, Batman, Superman, and Swamp Thing from whom he learns life lessons. There's a lot of potential here, but it's mostly wasted on weak motivations by the villains and the unresolved mystery of where Cameron's mother disappeared to when he was three years old. At this point, I'm not sure I really care enough about Cameron to want to read more of his exploits. Minkyu Jun's artwork is very good, but not terribly distinctive.
Cameron Kim has the power to "talk" to cities, similar to Swamp Thing's power to "talk" to The Green. As he travels from Blüdhaven to Gotham City to Metropolis, we see him conjure up the avatars of those cities to battle his antagonist, a somewhat generic mad scientist who is working for Darkseid in an attempt to turn the entire Earth into a giant city for Darkseid's nebulous purposes. Along the way he teams up with Nightwing, Batman, Superman, and Swamp Thing from whom he learns life lessons. There's a lot of potential here, but it's mostly wasted on weak motivations by the villains and the unresolved mystery of where Cameron's mother disappeared to when he was three years old. At this point, I'm not sure I really care enough about Cameron to want to read more of his exploits. Minkyu Jun's artwork is very good, but not terribly distinctive.
June 14, 2025
One of my favorite new dc characters in a while. I like how personal and emotional his story is, and his powers are super interesting. I think what holds it back are few minor things.
I think it could have used more room to breath. Second, from what I understand he's a metahuman so he was born with these powers and they were just amplified by technology, and I know this sounds stupid, but this is a very strange power to be born with. I think they really needed to say he had some connection to the new gods, or say this is some kind of magic as I don't think this fits in the realm of powers you can handwave with pseudo science. Honestly swamp things already in the book, say he has a connection to they grey or whatever and make him the city equivalent of swamp thing or animal man. Third, part of me likes that we never see him find peace with his mother, I think that's unique, I just wish we either had more focus on his dad, or put a more concrete bow on their relationship.
I think it could have used more room to breath. Second, from what I understand he's a metahuman so he was born with these powers and they were just amplified by technology, and I know this sounds stupid, but this is a very strange power to be born with. I think they really needed to say he had some connection to the new gods, or say this is some kind of magic as I don't think this fits in the realm of powers you can handwave with pseudo science. Honestly swamp things already in the book, say he has a connection to they grey or whatever and make him the city equivalent of swamp thing or animal man. Third, part of me likes that we never see him find peace with his mother, I think that's unique, I just wish we either had more focus on his dad, or put a more concrete bow on their relationship.
July 18, 2024
City Boy is the final book in DC’s we are Legends line and it’s the weakest of the bunch but it’s definitely still good. In it we get the story of Cameron Kim, a Korean American kid who struggles with feelings of isolationism and being an outsider. Those feelings are reinforced because as a child he was abandoned by his mother. Through an accident Cameron gains the power to communicate with cities, he knows how they���re feeling, he can find hidden treasures in them, and he can shape them to help him fight. The cities also create their own avatars which is pretty cool. Intergang wants to use his powers for their own means so Cameron team up with Superman, Nightwing, Batman, and Swamp Thing to stop them and figure out his place in the world. Greg Pak does a good job at getting us inside of this characters head and really empathizing with him. Minkyu Jung creates really interesting cityscapes and I like his designs for the city avatars. I would like to see Cameron appear again.
July 19, 2025
This was a fun concept but the execution was a little bit odd.
Cameron can “talk” to cities and uses his power to find lost items and pawn them for money. He gets sucked into a plot to merge Gotham, Blüdhaven, and Metropolis into a giant city that smothers the whole world, leading Darkseid into taking over.
He’s grappling with mommy issues in the background of all of this. I liked the idea of the city avatars taking form, but I felt like this never really came together in a satisfying way. When I picked this up I was expecting it to be a few slice of life or smaller stories with cameos from bigger heroes, and I feel like that would have been a better introduction to the character and his power level.
Blüdhaven sitting on Dick’s shoulder was cute though.
Cameron can “talk” to cities and uses his power to find lost items and pawn them for money. He gets sucked into a plot to merge Gotham, Blüdhaven, and Metropolis into a giant city that smothers the whole world, leading Darkseid into taking over.
He’s grappling with mommy issues in the background of all of this. I liked the idea of the city avatars taking form, but I felt like this never really came together in a satisfying way. When I picked this up I was expecting it to be a few slice of life or smaller stories with cameos from bigger heroes, and I feel like that would have been a better introduction to the character and his power level.
Blüdhaven sitting on Dick’s shoulder was cute though.
April 11, 2024
Similar to the 'Milestone Initiative', DC is pushing 'We Are Legends' to showcase new talent written by (and focusing on AAPI) creators.
City Boy is a direct result of the 'Lazarus Planet' crossover event. He has the ability to awaken the ...consciousness of the city he's in. He's got unresolved issues with his mother, having been abandoned. Leave it to Darkseid to take that soft spot and try and control the boy and his power.
If City Boy awakens enough cities, the Earth might be doomed to be a New Apokolips.
-----
Bonus: Now we have the Parliament of Gears? Dang
Bonus Bonus: He's no Jack Hawksmoor, but could be clutch ...
City Boy is a direct result of the 'Lazarus Planet' crossover event. He has the ability to awaken the ...consciousness of the city he's in. He's got unresolved issues with his mother, having been abandoned. Leave it to Darkseid to take that soft spot and try and control the boy and his power.
If City Boy awakens enough cities, the Earth might be doomed to be a New Apokolips.
-----
Bonus: Now we have the Parliament of Gears? Dang
Bonus Bonus: He's no Jack Hawksmoor, but could be clutch ...
April 12, 2024
City Boy is probably my favourite We Are Legends book. It's not a new idea, a guy who controls the spirits of cities (hey, Jack Hawksmoor), but it's executed in a different, more personal way.
You get some Intergang, some Darkseid, some Nightwing, some Superman, and Swamp Thing's involved too, which always raises my interest in a book. But Cameron's story is always at the core of things.
I have no idea how Minkyu Jung managed to draw this book and Doctor Aphra at the same time, but he does, and there's no drop in quality between either of them.
Solid. I hope we get to see City Boy again, especially if he and Jack ever get to cross paths.
You get some Intergang, some Darkseid, some Nightwing, some Superman, and Swamp Thing's involved too, which always raises my interest in a book. But Cameron's story is always at the core of things.
I have no idea how Minkyu Jung managed to draw this book and Doctor Aphra at the same time, but he does, and there's no drop in quality between either of them.
Solid. I hope we get to see City Boy again, especially if he and Jack ever get to cross paths.
November 20, 2024
City Boy was such a joy to read, particularly as someone who’s dealt with loss/abandonment. I really loved Cameron’s arc and I think it’s a real shame that this series was slept on, even compared to the rest of the We Are Legends line, because I’d love to read more of him. I can easily see more adventures with Cameron traveling to different cities throughout the DCU, making new connections, and maybe finding his place in the world. I hope Greg and Minkyu get a chance to do more with this character, or at least that someone else does in the future.
February 13, 2025
I'm not a superhero comics kinda girl, but this was good for what it is and especially for a teen audience. I liked that Cameron is a character who struggles to reconcile the person he's been with the person he would like to be--I think a lot of teens can relate to that. Lucky for City Boy, he has some superpowered mentors who are willing to look out for him and offer advice. As usual for comic books, I wish there had been more space for the story beats to develop more, but this storyline was no worse than others I've seen in that way.
May 19, 2025
4.25 stars. One of the things I really love about DC is how the cities feel like characters of their own, and this story really literalized that. Even just the single first page of this trade exemplarizes that in endearing me to a new setting efficiently and effectively. I loved the core idea here, and it was executed well. I just wish it'd had more time as many of the story beats didn't have time to get more that surface deep. If it'd had more time, I think this would have been a 5 star for me.
December 23, 2024
Cameron you will forever be iconic. I loved the ‘We are legends’ to see and to read about other heroes written by many people from different races and ethnicities, where we delve more into the whole, are there others hero’s that don’t operate in North America and are iconic? Or they do but it takes place in other places. And the heroes aren’t written in a weird way where you can tell the writer is not a part of the culture the character was from.
February 22, 2025
Oh my gosh??? This was amazing! Cameron is not a superhero in the traditional sense. He has powers, but he uses them mostly to make a living. There was so much emotion in this book, I really felt for Cameron and was rooting for him. One thing limited 6-issue series like these usually struggle with is pacing, but I thought the pacing on was excellent. I would love to see City Boy again!
December 16, 2025
Refreshing!
This story and character is refreshing for DC. From childhood trauma to the challenges of grief, the story is much more about overcoming the misuse of powers. It's about embracing one's yearning for closure, embracing grief, and accepting what couldn't be controlled. A great, refreshing story from DC!
This story and character is refreshing for DC. From childhood trauma to the challenges of grief, the story is much more about overcoming the misuse of powers. It's about embracing one's yearning for closure, embracing grief, and accepting what couldn't be controlled. A great, refreshing story from DC!
November 11, 2024
SLEEPER CHARACTER. He’s korean american. It’s so gas. His powers are coo, he “controls” cities & basically manifests the vibe. Kinda made me view life from a diff perspective, view surroundings like living thing & the ppl living in it all contribute to it. — We need more, run up those salesssss
January 15, 2025
Started off so good until i don't understand how his power work anymore. a bit messy from climax till the end. but entertaining enough. not a bad read. beautiful drawing though. love the team-up with Superman & Nightwing. Issues with Swamp-Thing are a bit messed.
3.5/5
3.5/5
October 15, 2025
Another excellent entry in the We Are Legends line, City Boy feels straight out of N.K. Jemisin’s The Cities We Became as the series meditates on the relationship between space and identity as a source of power.
July 19, 2024
I can’t believe DC put this out. It feels very Indie and I am here for that. It was very good. Pak is a great storyteller. The art is on point. There are so many stories to tell here.
December 14, 2024
This just never clicked for me. I think I wanted a little more character for Cameron since he's kinda just another young Jack Hawksmoor.
May 17, 2025
Obsessed, really good
June 19, 2025
I liked it. My dumbass thought it was just a comic, not that it was part of damn DC. Either way, decent story. Interesting kid and powers. Loved seeing the supers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews