For a long time when Superboy appeared in comics it was easily understood as the adventures of a younger Clark Kent, a Clark Kent who was still a boy- tween, teen- who had began his super-hero career as a youth in Smallville.  One of the outcomes of the Crisis on Infinite Earths was to streamline the Superman mythos. One of the changes wrought on the Man of Steel was eliminating his career as Superboy. When he first appeared in Action Comics #1, Superman was depicted as having first appeared as an adult making this change a return to the original depiction of the start of his career. Clark first appeared as Superboy in More Fun Comics #101 way back in 1945. He was shown as a young boy, with his 10th birthday the subject of one of the earliest stories. This retconned his earlier original Golden Age origin- Clark Kent’s super-career now had begun when he was still a boy.
 Superboy would be the lead feature in Adventure Comics after moving over from More Fun in 1946 until issue #300 in 1962 when the new lead was the spin off from his series, the Legion of Super-Heroes.  Superboy had his own eponymously titled series that began in 1949 and ran until 1976, also eventually being taken over by the Legion.
Eliminating Superman’s career as Superboy probably affected the Legion of Super-Heroes more than Superman himself. The Legion hinged on having been inspired by the exploits of Superboy and in their first appearance in Adventure Comics #247. Without Superboy in continuity it required a number of changes over the years that attempted to account for the 20th century inspiration for the Legion.Â
Superboy Returns
DC Comics has announced that Superboy returns to continuity in a new run on Action Comics by Mark Waid. This Summer Superboy comes full circle with new adventures of Superman as a boy! Â
The Press release from DC:
“Acclaimed writer Mark Waid returns to Superman this summer with artist Skylar Patridge (in her DC ongoing series debut) as the new creative team on one of DC’s flagship titles, Action Comics. Beginning with June’s Action Comics #1087, this new team also takes the series in a new direction, spotlighting Clark Kent as Superboy, in his hometown of Smallville on the Kent family farm.
“I start the book with Clark as a 15-year-old boy, learning to be a superhero for the first time,” said Waid. “What is that like, learning to use your powers at that age? What kind of challenges are you facing? Skylar and I are also bringing Smallville a little more up to date—it still has that rustic feel to it, but farms don’t look like that anymore.”
This can’t-miss story, with ties to the present storylines in DC’s comic books, takes the Boy of Steel to unexpected heights as he figures out what being a hero truly means. First stop, Metropolis’s Expo of Tomorrow! Will Clark be able to blend into the crowd? Or is Superboy about to make his public debut?! Action Comics #1087 will have a main cover by Ryan Sook, plus variants by Skylar Patridge, David Talaski, and Lesley “Leirix” Le.”
Mark Waid’s run on Action Comics a few months ago was an excellent set of 12 weekly issues. Waid reintroduced Legionnaire Mon-El and it makes complete sense to see Waid explore Clark’s adventures as Superboy. Skylar Patridge joins the book on art. Patridge illustrated the Supergirl back up stories in most of Waid’s recent issues of Action Comics and did a wonderful job. She is a great addition to the creative team!
This is part of DC’s “Summer of Superman” initiative and begins when Superboy returns in Action Comics #1087. Come back to DC Comics News for more news and comic reviews!
