When the Crisis on Infinite Earths hit, one of the changes to the DCU's history that resulted from that event was that Clark Kent's adventures during the Silver and Bronze Ages of Comics as Superboy was removed from canon. In the post-Crisis DCU, Clark Kent started the superhero gig when he was already an adult. However, the idea of a teenage Superman never really went away.
The Death of Superman storyline in 1993 saw an opportunity for the creatives of the Superman books at the time to introduce a new take on the Boy of Steel. In Adventures of Superman #500 (June 1993), writer Karl Kesel and artist Tom Grummett introduced the Modern Age Superboy, a metahuman clone created by cloning experts Project Cadmus. The lone would literally be just known as "Superboy" due to his not getting a proper name for a time. Eventually, he would be given the Earth name Conner Kent, and the Kryptonian name Kon-El.
This Superboy would eventually go on to join Young Justice and the Teen Titans. Conner would survive the New 52 reboot, albeit with a new origin (created by the organization N.O.W.H.E.R.E., first introduced in the Doom Patrol book). Then DC Rebirth hit, and his history became a whole confusing mess.
Conner would go on to appear in media outside of comics. He would appear in Smallville portrayed by Jakob Davies, Connor Stanhope, and Lucas Grabeel. He would also appear in the live-action Titans series portrayed by Joshua Orbin. The character would also appear in cartoons. Conner was one of the main characters of the Young Justice series, voiced by Nolan North. He also appeared in the Reign of the Supermen animated film, voiced by Cameron Monaghan. While Conner did not appear in the Legion of Super-Heroes animated series, he was one of the inspirations for the character of Superman X, voiced by Yuri Lowenthal.
The comic I'm looking at here was actually the third Superboy title DC had published. The first one went from 1949 to 1977, which then got followed up by The New Adventures of Superboy which went from 1980-1984. The second Superboy series had lasted from 1989 to 1991, and it was a comic tie-in to the Superboy live-action TV series. All these series focused on the Clark Kent Superboy. This 1994 Superboy series was the first to focus on the future Kon-El. It would last until 2002. And with that out of the way, let's take a look at Superboy #1!
The cover is pretty good, albeit a bit basic. A Tom Grummett piece, it depicts our hero flying over Hawaii with the sun rising behind him. It's a very well-drawn piece, but there's not much I can say about it. It's just Superboy flying. That's it.
"Trouble in Paradise"
Writer: Karl Kesel
Penciler: Tom Grummett
Inker: Doug Hazelwood
Colorist: Tom McCraw
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Editor: Frank Pittarese
Executive Editor: Jenette Khan
The story begins with Superboy flying over the skies of Hawaii.
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| "Wheeeeeeeee!" |
Superboy is able to use his "tactile telekinesis" (He has the power to telekinetically manipulate anything he touches) to give Sidearm some Mighty Sand to the Face, allowing the girl (named Roxy) to escape. She's there with her father Rex Leech and Dubbilex. Dubbilex is an artificial lifeform, created by the same people who created Superboy.
Sidearm tries to use his robotic weapon system to slice her open like a stuck pig, but Superboy is able to stop it, and use his power to disassemble the arm. The two continue to fight, but Sidearm is able to use his robotic arm to choke Superboy. The young metahuman takes to the air as the police arrive.
Meet Sam Makoa. Federal agent, Native Hawaiian, and not a fan of superheroes. It's here we learn that Rex Leech was here with Superboy as part of a "Supertour"...and the man is not the best with money, considering his history of debts. Hawaii was the last stop of the American leg of the tour. Rex sells Superboy merchandise, and he also stages a rescue for Superboy.
Sidearm happened to be in the area, and that's how we got here. And it's that this point Superboy and Sidearm crash into the ground.
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| "That'll hurt!" |
We next shift scene to a bar in Honolulu's Chinatown. At a bar, a rather stunning redhead is enjoying a drink and watching Superboy layeth the smackethdown on Sidearm. She thinks Superboy is kind of cute...in a jailbait-y way. Yeah, keep in mind here, this Superboy looked a teenager, but was actually only about a few months old. He is a clone of Superman, after all.
A sailor who has had a few hundred too many asks the redhead to dance. The lady, named "Kay", gives him her duffel bag to hold...which ends up making him fall to the ground. What is in that bag? Oh, just the usual girl stuff: Clothes, beauty items, couple hundred pounds of weights. You know, the essentials for any lady. Kay shows that she is eager to meet the Boy of Steel.
We next look in at a police station in Honolulu. A mysterious item has arrived for Sam Makoa: a green cube. I would say that it's a bootleg Cosmic Cube, but this is the DC Universe. The Hawaiian G-Man knows exactly what this is: A calling card from a group called the Silicon Dragons.
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| When the Dragons send a message, they do it in style! |
After the battle, Superboy is being interviewed by some media folks, who are wondering if he's going to be sticking around. He admits that he likes the islands, but he's going to be leaving soon. However, he may be finding himself staying around a while longer when an old friend of his reveals herself.
Superboy had last crossed paths with Miss Tana Moon back in Metropolis during the events of Action Comics #693 (November 1993), and the two had met in Adventures of Superman #501 (June 1993). She had just taken up a reporting job for KONA-TV, and she lives in Hawaii now.
This comic was pretty good. What it did very well was set up Superboy's new status quo for his series. He's going to operate out of Hawaii, we meet the supporting cast, we get some storylines set up, it does everything a first issue should do. We get a very good idea of Superboy's personality: confident, cocky, a bit girl-crazy, but no less a hero in his own way. It's a well-written first issue. Tom Grummett in my opinion is a criminally-underrated artist. He always turns in some very fine work. His characters are expressive, and he's a great storyteller. His work is always a joy to look at, and I think he deserves to be regarded as a great artist.
I know people like to bash the 90s when it comes to comics, and there are understandable reasons why. *coughRobLiefeldcough* But there were some good things going on comics-wise, you just had to look around a bit. And Superman's little corner of the DCU at the time was actually very good. Superboy's title was no exception. Early-90s Superman was enjoyable, and as I have said in the past, deserves a lot more love in my opinion.
If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2018 trade paperback Superboy Book 1: Trouble in Paradise. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! Join me next time as we join the Amazing Amazon, Wonder Woman, as she undertakes her third labor...
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