Volume 1 (1949–1977) The first series featured the original Superboy, a teenage incarnation of the Man of Steel. It began publication in 1949, four years after the character's debut in
More Fun Comics #101 (January 1945). The majority of the stories were set in the rural town of
Smallville during the character's youth, including tales of his
toddlerhood. Comics historian
Les Daniels noted that early Superboy stories seemed to celebrate the virtues of life in America's small towns, and that covers in the book made Smallville look like a "dreamworld" where few problems existed. The supporting cast included Superboy's adoptive parents
Jonathan and Martha Kent, his over-inquisitive classmate and neighbor
Lana Lang, best friend
Pete Ross who was secretly aware of Superboy's true identity as Clark Kent, Smallville Police
Chief Parker, and the super-powered canine
Krypto. With the exception of a teenage
Lex Luthor, who was a frequent foe of the Boy of Steel, almost none of the featured villains appeared more than once. Fuzzy the Krypto Mouse, a character who appeared in a single story in
Superboy #65 (June 1958), inspired a similar character created by writer
Art Baltazar in 2012.
Bizarro debuted in
Superboy #68 (Oct. 1958). For much of this period, DC also published Superboy tales in
Adventure Comics, which began featuring the Boy of Steel regularly in issue #103 (April 1946). In 1962,
Superboy was the second best selling comic book in the United States, surpassed only by
Superman in sales. The
Legion of Super-Heroes starred in their own backup feature starting with #172 (March 1971).
Nick Cardy was the cover artist for
Superboy for issues #182–198 and 200–206.
Dave Cockrum began drawing the Legion feature with issue #184 (April 1972), again increasing the team's popularity.
Wildfire made his first appearance as ERG-1 in the Legion back-up feature in issue #195. With issue #197 (September 1973), the Legion became permanent co-stars, and the cover logo became "Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes" while the title of the book itself remained
Superboy. Crafted by
Cary Bates and Cockrum, the feature proved popular and saw such events as the wedding of
Bouncing Boy and
Duo Damsel in issue #200 (Feb. 1974). Issues #202 (June 1974) and #205 (Dec. 1974) of the series were in the
100 Page Super Spectacular format. Cockrum was replaced on art by
Mike Grell as of issue #203 (August 1974) which featured the death of Invisible Kid. With issue #222 (Dec. 1976), the cover logo became "Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes" and the book's title itself followed with issue #231 (Sept. 1977). The character
Dawnstar was introduced in issue #226 (April 1977). A backup story in issue #236 served as a lead-in to ''
All-New Collectors' Edition #C-55 which featured the wedding of longtime Legion members Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad. Writer Paul Levitz and artists James Sherman and Joe Staton crafted "Earthwar" a five-issue storyline in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes
#241–245 (July–Nov. 1978). A story originally scheduled to appear in DC Special Series was split apart and published in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes
#250-251 due to the DC Implosion. Starting with issue #259 (Jan. 1980), the title was changed to Legion of Super-Heroes
(vol. 2), and the Boy of Steel left both the team and the book. Though Superboy later rejoined, he made only occasional appearances in the series that once bore his name, and the series remained a Legion book until its last issue, Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes'' #354 (Dec. 1987).
The New Adventures of Superboy (1980–1984) The second series was actually titled
The New Adventures of Superboy. It was launched to provide readers with monthly
Smallville-based Superboy tales, which had largely disappeared after the Legion became co-stars of the original
Superboy title, before re-emerging for brief stints in
Adventure Comics and
The Superman Family between 1977–1979. The series continued monthly publication for a total of 54 issues, with virtually all issues being pencilled by longtime
Lois Lane artist
Kurt Schaffenberger. Issue #50 (Feb. 1984) featured a Legion of Super-Heroes guest appearance with
Keith Giffen splitting the story's art duties with Schaffenberger.
Superboy Spectacular #1 (March 1980) was DC's first direct sales-only title. Briefly, the series also included a "
Dial H for Hero" back-up feature which told the story of
Chris King and Vicki Grant, two teenagers who could change into a variety of superheroes based on reader submissions. The feature was originally presented in
Adventure Comics, but moved to
Superboy shortly after
Adventure Comics ended its run as a monthly comic.
Volume 2 (1989–1991) The third series (vol. 2) was different from other Superman or Superboy titles in that it was set in the continuity of the
Superboy television series, as opposed to the regular
DC Universe (as the original Superboy was erased from mainstream DC continuity after the 1985 miniseries
Crisis on Infinite Earths, with Superman beginning his superhero career as an adult). Its intent was to explore some of the unseen tales and events that the TV series could not. The series originally carried the cover title
Superboy: The Comic Book with issue #1 (Feb. 1990) having a photo cover with the show's stars
Gerard Christopher and
Stacy Haiduk, although the title in the indicia was simply
Superboy. After issue #11, the series changed its cover title to
The Adventures of Superboy, a change reflected in the indicia beginning with issue #18. The series was published monthly until it went bi-monthly for its final three issues, and remained in publication for 22 issues to the end of 1991 (cover dated Feb. 1992), and a concluding one-issue
Special in 1992.
Volume 3 (1994–2002) A
new Superboy was introduced in
The Adventures of Superman #500 (June 1993) in the prelude to the third story arc "Reign of the Supermen" in the storyline "
The Death of Superman". Originally established as a human clone genetically altered to imitate Superman's powers created by
Project Cadmus, the new Superboy became the focus of
The Adventures of Superman, written by
Karl Kesel and pencilled by
Tom Grummett. The character was then given his own title wherein he became the resident superhero of Hawaii; Kesel and Grummett carried over as the series' first creative team, and also retained Superboy's supporting cast including love interest Tana Moon, unscrupulous agent
Rex Leech and his daughter Roxy, and fellow Cadmus creation
Dubbilex.
Knockout first appeared in issue #1 (Feb. 1994) and became a recurring antagonist for Superboy. During this time, Superboy also became an honorary member of the Legion of Super-Heroes during one of the team's journeys to the present day. Kesel and Grummett left the series after issue #30. Subsequently, the series was mainly written by
Ron Marz and
Barbara Kesel; pencillers included Ramon Bernado,
Sal Buscema, and
Georges Jeanty. During this period, Superboy also appeared in the companion title
Superboy and the Ravers, which ran for 19 issues. Kesel and Grummett returned to the series with issue #50. The creative team's second run saw major status quo shifts, including Superboy moving away from Hawaii and becoming employed by Project Cadmus, and the introduction of new regular supporting characters including Dr
Serling Roquette, Mickey Cannon, and
Guardian. Superboy was also given the
Kryptonian name Kon-El. Kesel and Grummett's second run concluded with issue #79. A new regular creative team of writer
Joe Kelly and penciller
Pasqual Ferry began on the series with issue #83;
Eddie Berganza began as co-writer with issue #87. The creative team changed again in issue #94, with the new writing team of
Jimmy Palmiotti and
Dan DiDio and penciller
John McCrea; this run saw Kon-El move to an apartment building in the Suicide Slum section of
Metropolis, with an entirely new supporting cast and set of street-level villains. The series was cancelled at issue #100 (with Kesel and Grummett returning for the prologue section of the finale; cover dated July 2002), having run for 102 issues altogether, including
#0 and
#1,000,000.
Volume 4 (2010–2011) A new
Superboy series starring Kon-El debuted with a January 2011 cover date, written by
Jeff Lemire and drawn by Pier Gallo. In the intervening time between series, Kon-El had been
retconned as a hybrid clone created from the DNA of Superman and Lex Luthor; Clark Kent's history as the original Superboy had also been restored to the main DC continuity. Kon-El, assuming the human identity of Conner Kent, lives with
Martha Kent and
Krypto in
Smallville. Superboy.
Superboy (vol. 4) ended as a result of DC Comics relaunching their entire line of comics in September 2011.
Volume 5 (2011–2014) As part of
The New 52 relaunch in September 2011, the
Superboy series began with a new first issue. with Kon-El returning in the finale.
Collected editions •
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives •
Volume 1 includes
Superboy #86, #89, and #98, 255 pages, 1991, •
Volume 3 includes
Superboy #117, 224 pages, 1993, •
Volume 4 includes
Superboy #124-125, 224 pages, 1994, •
Volume 8 includes
Superboy #147, 240 pages, February 1999, •
Volume 10 collects
Superboy #172-173, #183-184, #188, #190-191, #193, #195, #197-202, 232 pages, October 2000, •
Volume 11 collects
Superboy #203-212, 224 pages, August 2001, •
Volume 12 collects
Superboy #212-223, 240 pages, May 2003, •
Volume 13 collects
Superboy #224-233, 240 pages, May 2012, •
Showcase Presents: The Legion of Super-Heroes •
Volume 1 includes
Superboy #86, 89, 98, and 117, 560 pages, April 2007, •
Volume 2 includes
Superboy #117 and 125, 528 pages, April 2008, •
Volume 4 includes
Superboy #172-173, 176, 183-184, 188, 190-191, 512 pages, October 2010, •
Superboy: The Greatest Team-Ups Ever Told includes
Superboy #55, 63, 80, 121, 171, 182 and
The New Adventures of Superboy #13, 168 pages, January 2010, •
The New 52 •
Superboy Volume 1: Incubation collects
Superboy vol. 5 #1-7, 160 pages, August 2012, •
The Culling: Rise of the Ravagers collects
Superboy vol. 5 #8-9;
Legion Lost vol. 2 #8-9;
Teen Titans vol. 4 #8-9, and
Teen Titans Annual #1, 176 pages, January 2013, •
Superboy Volume 2: Extraction collects
Superboy vol. 5 #0, #8-12;
Teen Titans vol. 4 #10, 160 pages, Mayz 2013, •
Superboy Volume 3: Lost collects
Superboy vol. 5 #13-19;
Superboy Annual vol. 5 #1, 200 pages, December 2013 •
Superboy Volume 4: Blood and Steel collects
Superboy vol. 5 #20-27, 160 pages, July 2014 •
Superboy Volume 5: Paradox collects
Superboy vol. 5 #0, #28-34; ''Superboy: Future's End'' #1, 232 pages, January 2015 ==See also==