Superboy
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Superboy is the name of several DC Comics superheroes, most of them youthful incarnations of Superman.
The first, and arguably best-known, Superboy was simply Superman as an adolescent, acting as a superhero in his hometown of Smallville. The character was featured in several series from the 1940s until the 1980s and developed a mythos and supporting cast of his own, including parents Ma and Pa Kent, love interest Lana Lang and the time traveling allies the Legion of Super-Heroes.
When DC rewrote much of its continuity in 1985, Superman’s history was changed so that he never took a costumed identity until adulthood, erasing Superboy, although not all aspects of the backstory created in Superboy comics, from the current canonical history of Superman.
Still the character was adapted into a Superboy television series (1988–1992) and into the highly successful Smallville (2001–present), which, although not actually a "Superboy" series, features a teenaged Clark Kent and many aspects of Superboy comics.
In 1993, DC introduced a new, modernized Superboy, a teenaged clone of Superman, who was featured in an eponymous series from 1994 until 2002.
Due to DC Comics’ complex “Multiverse”, several other Superboys have appeared, most notable of which is the mentally unstable Superboy-Prime.
Kal-El, the original Superboy
Originally, Superboy was simply Superman as a youth and was essentially treated as a junior version of Superman. To that end, Superboy wore the Superman costume and his alter ego Clark Kent wore glasses as a disguise for his civilian identity. The character was created without the permission of Superman's creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, a fact which increased an already-growing rift between them and the publisher, DC Comics.Superboy first appeared in More Fun Comics #101 (1944), and the feature soon moved to Adventure Comics. In 1949 Superboy was given his own self-titled comic-book. It was at this point that a supporting cast began to grow up around the character. The only major characters to appear in the early years were Jonathan and Martha (or "Ma and Pa") Kent. The 8th issue of Superboy saw the first adventure of "Superbaby," a character which extended the "Junior Superman" concept to that of a super-powered toddler. The 10th issue of Superboy featured the first appearance of Lana Lang, a character that would become a romantic foil for both Superboy and for the grown-up Superman. In the early 1960s, Clark Kent's best friend Pete Ross and Smallville Police Chief Parker rounded out the supporting cast.
Setting
Beginning in Superboy #2, the adventures of Superboy took place in Smallville, USA, a town whose exact location was never specified in the Superboy stories, though it was usually placed close to Metropolis (Smallville was placed in Kansas a few years after the original Superboy character ceased to be published, but Smallville's location, like other fictional cities, is not permanent).In the earliest stories, the time period in which Superboy's adventures were set was never clearly defined, with some adventures seemingly taking place in the same year the story was published (one example being a 1952 story with Lana Lang participating in a "Miss Smallville of 1952" contest). In the late 1950s, Superman comic editor Mort Weisinger decided to place all of Superboy's adventures in an early-to-mid-1930s setting (in light of Superman's first comic appearance being in 1938). In the early 1970s, the Superboy writing staff decided to "update" Superboy by setting his book on a "floating timeline," taking place perpetually 15 years or so behind whatever the then-current year was; this resulted in the 1970s stories featuring Superboy being set in the 1950s. Starting with the debut in 1980 of a new Superboy comic, the Boy of Steel's era was moved up again, to take place in the late 1960s/early 1970s.
Enemies of Superboy
Some of Superman's foes, such as the Phantom Zone villains, made their first appearance in Superboy stories, and some (such as Mr. Mxyzptlk) also appeared as younger versions of themselves in the Superboy stories. The most famous example of this is the young Lex Luthor. In a story purporting to reveal the origin of the enmity between Luthor and Superman, Lex Luthor was a teenage boy the same age as Superboy, and the two became best friends after Lex moved to Smallville. Superboy built a fully-stocked laboratory for Lex in order for the latter to conduct his experiments, while Lex searched for a cure for Superboy's weakness to Kryptonite. However, when a fire in Lex's lab forced Superboy to destroy an important experiment Lex was working on in order to save his life, the chemicals used caused Lex to lose all of his hair. Lex blamed Superboy for destroying his experiment and his hair loss, accusing the Boy of Steel of jealousy over his brilliance, with Lex swearing to prove to the world that he was superior to Superboy. Lex did this by trying to implement a series of scientific quality-of-life improvements for Smallville's residents; however, each invention of Lex's wound up backfiring, resulting in the needed intervention of Superboy. This series of setbacks, along with the earlier lab accident, resulted in Lex deciding to dedicate his life to destroying Superboy. Thereafter, Lex Luthor and Superboy were arch-enemies.Legion of Super-Heroes
A Superboy story called "The Legion of Super-Heroes" in a 1958 issue of Adventure Comics featured three super-powered teenagers from the 30th century who offered Superboy membership in their super-hero club, the Legion of Super-Heroes. Although this was intended as nothing more than a one-shot tale, the characters went on to spin off into their own series in Adventure Comics beginning in 1962. In the 1970s, the Superboy comic began regularly featuring the Legion until the title was officially renamed first Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes and finally Legion of Super-Heroes in 1980, ousting Superboy from the comic altogether. It was the most successful spin-off of the Superman titles and has endured throughout various incarnations over the years.A new series called New Adventures of Superboy ran from 1980 to 1984, and a four-issue miniseries called Superman: The Secret Years (featuring Superboy in his junior year of college, and how he changed his name to Superman) was published in 1985. Shortly after this miniseries was published, a Superboy career was discarded from Superman's continuity after the 1985-1986 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths and writer John Byrne's 1986 revamp of Superman's origin, The Man of Steel.
Post-Crisis appearances
From 1989 to 1991, D.C Comics published a new comic series based of the TV series The Adventures of Superboy(1988). The series was originally titled: , from #1 -10. After issue #11 - 21, the series changed it's title to The Adventures of Superboy as well as displaying a short-white box next to the title (logo) which read "As Seen on TV." The Series concluded in a 'One-Shot" Special, which wrapped up all the adventures and stories from the previous issues, as having been day dream fantasies from the 'post-crisis' (Earth-1) young Clark Kent. None of them had actually taken place, only in his imagination. It kinda became a companion piece to 'John Byrne's Man of Steel (mini-series).Pocket Universe
Following John Byrne's revamp of Superman, a new version of Superboy was introduced as a means of patching the Legion of Super-Heroes' continuity, which was undermined by the removal of Kal-El's Superboy career. The new Superboy was said to have come from a Pocket Universe (created by a Legion enemy, the Time Trapper) whose history was much like that of the Pre-Crisis Earth-One (until the intervention of Phantom Zone criminals). The Pocket Universe Superboy was soon killed (as seen in Legion of Super-Heroes (volume 4) #38, taken by Neil Gaiman's Death).After the event known as the Zero Hour, the original Legion were said to have come from an alternate timeline. The new version introduced after that were said to have interacted once with a teenaged Clark Kent, but their main inspiration was said to have been Lar Gand rather than him. The Legion of Super-Heroes was revamped again later, retconning the second version as having come from yet another alternate timeline. It is unknown if the third and current, revamped version of the Legion will ever meet a teenaged Clark Kent or a Superboy akin to the classic version using Hypertime as an explanation. While it remains possible, as Mark Waid (who introduced Grant Morrison's creation of Hypertime in The Kingdom), is the current writer of the series, DC Comics editor-in-chief Dan DiDio said stories published in the near future will not re-visit the concept of Hypertime again. Nevertheless, recent titles have shown Supergirl interacting with the Legion.
Zero Hour and Hypertime
During the 1994 storyline known as Zero Hour, Conner Kent, the modern Superboy, encountered a version of Superboy exactly like the original, who had resurfaced due to temporal disruptions involving what's now known in the DC Universe as Hypertime. Eventually, this Superboy seemingly vanished, reverting to his own alternate timeline.However, during a later trip through Hypertime, Kon-El once again discovered this Superboy while finding himself in that version's reality. During this visit, Kon-El discovered that this Superboy was a young Clark Kent, and by this means realized the Superman of his timeline must therefore be an adult Clark Kent. After returning to the mainstream DCU, Kon-El revealed to Superman that he now knew his secret identity.
Superboy-Prime
A version of Superboy was created in 1985 just before Crisis on Infinite Earths, who came from the parallel Earth known as Earth-Prime, where Superman and the other DC superheroes only existed as fictional characters.
At the end of the Crisis, Superboy joined Alexander Luthor, Jr. of Earth-Three and the Lois Lane and Superman of Earth-Two in a "paradise dimension".
In DC's Infinite Crisis miniseries, Superboy-Prime, Alex Luthor, and Superman and Lois Kent of Earth-Two were revealed to have been watching the DC Universe since they entered the "paradise dimension". Unhappy with what they've been seeing, they decided to take action, and returned to the post-Crisis DC Universe. However, his time in exile has warped Superboy-Prime's mind, turning him into a murderous, uncontrollable psychopath obsessed with punishing those who he feels denied the life he feels he should have led, had he not been exiled into the "paradise dimension" by Alex Luthor.
At the end of Infinite Crisis, it is revealed that Superboy Prime is being kept prisoner by Guardians of the Universe on the planet Oa.
Kon-El, the modern Superboy
A new Superboy, a clone created to replace the seemingly dead Superman (as opposed to a younger version of Superman), was introduced in 1993. His initial abilities were based on a form of tactile telekinesis by which he could fly and simulate Superman's strength and limited invulnerability.
His initial incarnation was that of a stereotypical irreverent teenager, and in his early stories he seemed at least as interested in women and licensing his image as crimefighting; however, as Superboy's character has developed, he has matured considerably.
In Teen Titans (volume 3) #1, it was revealed that Superboy had been created from both Superman's and Lex Luthor's DNA, with Lex Luthor replacing the DNA samples of Cadmus Project director Paul Westfield that would create Superboy so he could have a sleeper agent among the superhero community. In recent comics, Superboy has begun to display more Kryptonian-style superpowers, including heat vision, telescopic vision, and x-ray vision, but has shown resistance to Luthor's manipulation after one experience.
Superboy had a romance with fellow Young Justice and Teen Titans member Wonder Girl (Cassandra Sandsmark), that resulted in a night of love-making in the Kent Family barn before he flew off to participate in one of the final battles of Infinite Crisis.
During Infinite Crisis, he fought Superboy-Prime twice, the second time driving them both into the Tower that Alexander Luthor, Jr. was using to create the "perfect Earth". Kon-El was killed in the resulting explosion.
Trivia
- Kurt Busiek's miniseries , a story about a man who exists in the "real world" and is named Clark Kent after the comic book character, who discovers he possesses powers similar to Superman, was inspired by the concept of the Superboy of Earth-Prime.
Legal status
Superboy is currently the subject of a legal battle between Time Warner, the owner of DC Comics and the estate of Jerry Siegel. The Siegels argue that the character of "Superboy" was an independent contractor at the time of the original Superboy pitch, and DC wasn't interested. After returning from World War II, Siegel found that DC published a Superboy story using ideas from his original pitch.Federal judge Ronald S. W. Lew issued a summary judgment ruling that the Siegel heirs had the right to revoke their copyright assignment to Superboy and had successfully reclaimed the rights as of November 17, 2004. Warner Bros. replied that it "respectfully disagrees" with the ruling and will appeal.
Consequences of the ruling
- The ruling throws into question the ownership of Smallville episodes that have run since that date. At stake is a potentially sizable portion of profits from the Smallville TV program.
- The death of the modern Superboy was not implemented because of the verdict. It was deemed necessary for dramatic beats, seeing as how the character could simply be renamed.
- The new Legion of Super-Heroes cartoon will feature "a young Superman" instead of "Superboy."
Adaptations in other media
The Superboy character has made the transition to television and film on multiple occasions, both in live action and animated series.
- The Adventures of Superboy (1961) - television series (though only a pilot was produced)
- Superboy (1966) - film by Andy Warhol
- The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure (1967–1968) - animated television series which featured Superboy among other characters
- Superfriends - Superboy makes two appearances in the show's run. The first one is when the Hall Of Justice computer runs a tape showing Lex Luthor's origin. The other is in a short episode where Phantom Zone criminals go back in time to fight Superboy. He's saved by the arrival of Superman and Hal Jordan/Green Lantern.
- Superboy (1988–1992) - television series starring John Haymes Newton (1988–1989) and Gerard Christopher (1989–1992), and Stacy Haiduk as Lana Lang
- Smallville (2001—) - television series starring Tom Welling; though not actually a "Superboy" series, this series stars a teenaged Clark Kent.
- Justice League Unlimited - In the episode [Kid Stuff,] Morgan le Fay transforms Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern into 8-year-olds after Mordred uses his magic to remove all adults from Earth. While not referred to as Superboy, eight-year-old Superman is at the same age that young Clark Kent assumed the career in the comics.
- A "young Superman" will appear in a new animated series entitled Legion of Super Heroes. [link][link] The original press releases stated Superboy would be featured, and the original title was Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes.
External links
- [Comicbloc]Official site of Geoff Johns. Author of Infinite Crisis
- [link] An Article on Newsarama on the Siegel/Superboy Legal Issues
- [Superboy Lives!] A website devoted to the pre-Crisis Superboy
- [Toonopedia entry on Superboy]
- [Supermanica:Superboy] Supermanica entry on the pre-Crisis Superboy
- [Index of the Earth-One Superboy's adventures]
- [Superman Through the Ages:The Origin of Superboy-Prime!]
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