Superboy #1 - A Street-Smart Fish Out of Water in a World He Never Made

[shakalooloo]

So, where can a boy go when there are just too many Super-folk already around to need his help? Maybe... the one place not corrupted by capitalism?











Kenny Porter, writer; Jahnoy Lindsay, artist; Lucas Gattoni, letterer

Comments

[superfangirl1]

Great set up for Conner to strike out on his own. I also like that the writer show off hisunique set of powers with his tactile telekinesis while fighting the villains.

Are Jon and Conner supposed to be the same age or is Conner supposed to be younger?

[shakalooloo]

Judging solely by how similar they look in Action Comics, I'm prepared to say they're roughly the same age, though Conner sure does seem a lot younger looking in this issue, so I guess that's up to artist style.

[beyondthefringe]

It's still kind of weird to see both Bart and Conner reverting back to basically their '90s/early Young Justice looks and feels after all of the development/progress they seemed to make in Teen Titans and beyond.

Of course, just getting them back at all after the New 52 erased/replaced them (with substandard imposters) may be a blessing. Though having to then find a place for them alongside their even newer replacements (i.e. Ace and Jon) is proving awkward.

[tcampbell1000]

No kidding. I can totally relate to Superboy not knowing who he is here, because...I don't know who he is, either! [Rim shot.]

Like, bringing back "Nineties Superboy" isn't really a viable option, much as I might like it personally. His original supporting cast are not coming back, his early lewdness probably wouldn't come off as harmless now, and there aren't many comics writers who have Karl Kesel's gift with (then-)contemporary slang.

But that was by far his most interesting period of development. It's hard for me to muster much enthusiasm for the "Black-T-shirt Conner" we got leading up to Infinite Crisis or the almost personality-free crowd-scene-filler we've gotten post-resurrection. For a while, the big selling points seemed to be his bonds with Cassie, Tim, and Bart, but we don't really see them hang out any more. Much as I didn't enjoy the Dark Crisis: Young Justice Sucks And You Suck For Reading It miniseries, at least I bought into its idea that Conner would want to go back to his early days. Back when he was trying way too hard to be cool and yet somehow sort of was.

It's kind of funny, in retrospect, that Conner's first running gag was "Don't call me Superboy, I'm SUPERMAN!" and everyone laughed at him, even when Kal-El was dead...but now Jon Kent is doing the same thing, sometimes while standing right next to his dad, and everyone takes it seriously.

Going to space is not the worst idea, at least. Superboy seems to thrive best when he's surrounded by an array of colorful characters, and the less connected they are to Superman or the Justice League, the better. Heck, if we're going all in on the multiverse idea, and we clearly are, then maybe Conner's best bet is just to find a universe without a Superman in it and set up shop there. The Adam West Batman universe seems like it has a nice setup, and the superheroes do use motorcycles there, so his fashions might not be out of place.