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Superboy is a comic book superhero that appeared in DC Comics. There have been a few characters with the Superboy name. The Superboy of the Silver Age of Comics is fondly and nostagically remembered by most long time comics fans. The Modern Age of Comics Superboy played a big part in the Superman legend since his first appearance during the Death of Superman story arc back in 1992. Both characters have had their own long-running and successful comic book, though neither is being published today.
Silver Age Superboy
| Superboy (Silver Age)
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| Gender
| Male
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| Publisher
| DC Comics
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| Origin
| Krypton
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| First Appearance
| More Fun Comics #101 (1944)
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| Creator(s)
| Don Cameron, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster
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| Alter ego
| Kal-El
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| Aliases
| Clark Kent
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| Abilities
| Superhuman strength, flight, invulnerability, heat vision, microscopic vision, telescopic vision, X-ray vision, super hearing, regeneration, freezing breath, super-speed.
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| Affiliations
| The Legion of Super-Heroes
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Actually created during The Golden Age of Comics, the Superboy character really came into his own during The Silver Age of Comics.
Character History
Superboy was "the adventures of Superman when he was a boy" growing up im the small American town of Smallville. When the infant Kal-El lands on Earth, he gains his super-powers almost immediately. When Jonathan and Martha Kent find the infant in the rocket, they bring him to a local orphanage and legally adopt him. They have quite a time disciplining the super-powered infant, but he manages to grow up with all the right values that a good small town upbringing can impart. As a youth, Superboy's existence is revealed to the world. He quickly developes a system to keep his secret identity as Clark Kent hidden. He digs a tunnel from his basement to the local woods, so he will never be seen leaving the Kent home. He and Police Chief Parker develop a system where he would signal Superboy by pressing a button. The button would switch on a particular lamp in the Kent home, and Superboy would know he was needed. This system is later extended to other authorities, like the President. As Clark, he begins a lifelong practice of wearing glasses made from the glass in the space ship that brought him to Earth (to withstand his heat and x-ray vision) and takes on a generally mild personality.
The rest of his supporting cast consists of:
Lana Lang, the curious girl next door who suspects him of being Superboy, though she can never prove it. Lana is his unofficial sweetheart, though they are usually shown to be "just friends".
Pete Ross, best friend to both Superboy and Clark. Unknown to Superboy, Pete early on learns Clark's secret. Pete decided not to tell Clark that he knows, but secretly help him in any way he can from behind the scenes. When there was trouble, Pete would often create distractions and excuses so that Clark could run off and change to Superboy. Clark never caught on to what his best friend was doing.
Krypto, the super-dog from Krypton. Like his master, Krypto was sent up in a rocket before Krypton exploded, which eventually made its way to earth. Krypto had all of Superboy's powers, and was an incredibly loyal and well-behaved dog (after his first appearance).
The Legion of Super-Heroes, a group of super-powered teens from the 30th century. A throw-away idea for a single Superboy story, the Legion became so popular that Superboy became a supporting character in his own book.
Eventually, John and Martha Kent die of a rare tropical disease, and Superboy leaves his childhood behind. He would soon move to Metropolis and become Superman.
In 1985, this Superboy was wiped from DC continuity when they decided to re-start the Superman saga. In this version, Superman didn't fully develop his powers until he was an adult, so Superman was never Superboy.
Modern Age Superboy
When Superman is apparently killed by Doomsday, the world mourns his passing. Several characters appear claiming to continue Superman's work, each claiming to be the next Superman. One of them is an apparently teen-aged boy in a leather jacket. This character would become the Superboy of the Modern Age of Comics.
Character History
Superboy is created by Project Cadmus to replace Superman. He is an imperfect duplicate of Superman, cloned partly from his Kryptonian DNA. Unfortunately, the secret of cloning Kryptonian DNA proved elusive, and the scientists at Cadmus needed to combine it with human DNA to make it work. This results in a super-powered human of a very different kind.
At first, Superboy only has the powers of "tactile telekinesis", which allows him to move and affect things that he touches, including his own body. With this power, Superboy can immitate the Kryptonian powers of flight and strength.
This Superboy begins as the least mature Superboy ever. He seems very conceited, self-centered, insecure, and obsessed with women. Because of this, many feel he was is most realistic teen-age superhero depicted in comics.
After helping (the now revived) Superman and other heroes in a number of crisis', Superboy eventually becomes an accepted part of the superhero community. He becomes friends with Robin (Tim Drake) as well as Impulse and other teen heroes around at the time.
When he first showed up, he thought he was going to replace Superman.
It isn't long before this Superboy becomes friends with Superman. Superman takes him in as a younger brother. He brings him to the Kent home in Smallville to live, and invites him to take the Earth name Conner Kent and the Kryptonian name Kon-El. Conner matures a lot during this time, and finds himself in a romance with the Modern Age Wonder Girl, and a member of Young Justice, the Teen Titans, and even the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Conner is surprised when he starts to develop more Kryptonian super-powers. But he gets the shock of his life when it is discovered that the human DNA used to create Superboy was from Lex Luthor. This discovery affects Conner profoundly, and gives the young hero a terrible identity crisis. Conner worries he might have inherited a propensity for evil from his Luthor DNA. He is very confused, and took a time out living with Johnathan and Martha Kent in Smallville. It is there we find him at the outset of the giant crossover series that would alter the DC Universe and its continuity again, Infinite Crisis.
In Infinite Crisis#6, Superboy sacrifices his life to save the entire multi-verse. Unquestionably, he dies the hero of the entire story line. Not a bad finish for a clone.
Superboy Prime
Superboy Prime is a Superboy from a parallel universe, who has played a large part in the two giant limited crossover series, Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) and the Infinite Crisis (2006). He began as a hero, but ended up a frustrated and violent teen-ager who crossed the line by killing the Modern Age Superboy. He is now a villain, obsessed with the destruction of our universe and the recreation of his own.
Other Mediums
TV
The Adventures of Superboy An animated series that was part of the New Adventures of Superman (1966) cartoon program.
Superboy (1988) a live action TV series starring John Haymes Newton, later replaced by Gerard Christopher.
Smallville (2001) the live action series starring Tom Welling, is an imagined prequel to the career of Superman.
Special Legal Note
Note: In a recent court battle, the right to use the name "Superboy" has been taken away from DC Comics, and awarded to the heirs of the late Jerry Siegle. Those new to comic books may not realize that Jerry Siegle, along with Joe Shuster, created the Superman character way back in the 1930s. While this is unfortunate for comics fans, it was probably not an unjust ruling. At any rate, though you may see a "young Clark Kent" or a "young Superman" appearing in the Superman franchise, it is unlikely that you will be seeing a character actually referred to as "Superboy" in the near future.
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