Superboy

Clint Ciroula | Kandor Archives

In a letter to Jack Liebowitz at Detective Comics dated November 30, 1938, Jerry Siegel proposed a series based on "the adventures of Superman as a youth." Liebowitz responded on December 2, 1938, effectively declining the pitch. Jerry submitted a 13-page Superboy script in December 1940, but the story went unpublished. In the June 21, 1941, issue of The Saturday Evening Post, Jerry promoted the character as "Superman before he developed a social conscience."

A copyright ashcan for a Superboy comic book was produced by Detective Comics in late 1941 with a cover date of January 1942. The Steranko History of Comics, Vol. 2 incorrectly claims that Superboy was modeled after Captain Marvel, Jr., who first appeared in Whiz Comics #25 (December 1941).

The Superboy series was put on hold once the United States entered World War II. Jerry Siegel was drafted into the Army on June 28, 1943, and later stationed at Hickam Field on Oahu, Hawaii. In a letter dated October 1, 1944, Joe Shuster informed Jerry that a five-page Superboy feature had been completed. The story was copyrighted on November 18, 1944.

Superboy first appeared in More Fun Comics #101 (January–February 1945). The universe is designated as the Silver Age Earth-One in DC Comics continuity. The Golden Age Superman of Earth-Two did not begin his career until reaching adulthood.



Don Cameron provided the scripts for the next six Superboy features in More Fun Comics #102–107. The artwork was produced by the Joe Shuster Shop. The first cover appearance of Superboy is More Fun Comics #104 (July 1945), by Henry Boltinoff. Superboy stories were moved to Adventure Comics beginning with issue #103 (April 1946).

While in the Army, publicist Albert Zugsmith encouraged Jerry Siegel to pursue legal action. Siegel was discharged on January 21, 1946, and he spent the next year negotiating with Jack Liebowitz over fair compensation and creator rights. In April 1947, Siegel and Shuster sued National Comic Publications for the rights to Superman and Superboy plus a share of past profits. On April 12, 1948, the New York Supreme Court decided that Superman belonged to National and Superboy belonged to Siegel. Superboy was sold to National for $94,013.16 and most of the payment was spent on legal costs.

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were immediately released from National and all Superman properties. Their names were removed from story bylines after Action Comics #118, Adventure Comics #126, Superman #51, and World's Finest Comics #33. Legal battles for Superman and Superboy would continue over the next 70 years.

Superboy is the sixth DC Comics character to receive a solo title. Superboy #1 (March–April 1949) appeared on newsstands in January 1949. The Superboy logo was designed by Ira Schnapp.

Krypto "The Superdog from Krypton!" first appeared in Adventure Comics #210 (March 1955). Krypto was created by writer Otto Binder and artist Curt Swan. As a puppy, Krypto lived with baby Kal-El on Krypton. Jor-El placed Krypto in an experimental rocket that veered off course before arriving on Earth. The super-powered dog causes mischief and Superboy is almost exposed by Lana Lang. Before Superboy decides what to do with the new pet, Krypto leaves Earth to roam the universe.

The Legion of Super-Heroes first appeared in Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958). The team was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino for a one-time Superboy adventure in the 30th century of Earth-One.

Beginning with Superboy #197 (September 1973), the series was billed as Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes. The series was officially retitled Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes for issues #222–258 (December 1976–December 1979). Superboy leaves the Legion and the series continued as Legion of Super-Heroes #259 (January 1980).

A new solo Superboy title relaunched as The New Adventures of Superboy. The series was published for 54 issues (January 1980–June 1984). Cary Bates, Paul Kupperberg, and E. Nelson Bridwell provided the majority of scripts. All 54 issues feature stories penciled by Kurt Schaffenberger.

The crossover event introduced Superboy-Prime in DC Comics Presents #87 (November 1985). Superboy-Prime was created by Elliot S. Maggin and Curt Swan. An alternate Kal-El was teleported from Krypton to the "real world" of Earth-Prime where the DC Universe exists in fiction.

Superboy-Prime is immune to magic and does not have the power limitations of Superman. Red sunlight and kryptonite from Earth-Prime can harm Superboy-Prime. After the Anti-Monitor is defeated in Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 (March 1986), New Earth is created and Superboy-Prime is transported to a "paradise dimension."

Crisis on Infinite Earths led to continuity problems for Legion of Super-Heroes stories in the 30th century. On New Earth, Superman never became Superboy and Supergirl never existed.

The Pocket Universe Superboy first appeared in Legion of Super-Heroes #37 (August 1987). The Time Trapper created a Pocket Universe containing a copy of Krypton and Earth-One. The Pocket Universe Superboy is manipulated to capture the Legionnaires. After an encounter with Superman, the Pocket Universe Superboy joins the Legion to stop the Time Trapper. The Pocket Universe Superboy sacrifices himself to save the multiverse in Legion of Super-Heroes #38, "The Greatest Hero of Them All" (September 1987).

The Superboy of New Earth first appeared in The Adventures of Superman #500 (Early June 1993). The character was created by Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett for the "Reign of the Supermen!" storyline. The Cadmus Project cloned a "DNAlien" using genetic templates of Superman and Cadmus director Paul Westfield. "Experiment 13" escapes the facility before fully maturing and markets himself as Superman.

The 16-year-old clone takes the name of Superboy in The Adventures of Superman #506 (November 1993). A fourth Superboy series was launched in October 1994.

A clone of Superboy known as Match debuted in Superboy vol. 4 #35 (January 1997). Match has the same powers and weaknesses as Connor.

Superman gives Superboy the Kryptonian name Kon-El in Superboy vol. 4, #59 (February 1999). The name honors a cousin adopted by the House of El. Superboy briefly used the identity of Carl Krummet, an anagram of the creators' names.

Superboy-Prime returned as the main protagonist of the "Infinite Crisis" crossover event. Superboy-Prime and Alexander Luthor, Jr. of Earth-Three escape the "paradise dimension," altering the multiverse. After being imprisoned under red sunlight for years, Superboy-Prime creates a yellow-sun containment suit based on the Anti-Monitor armor. Kon-El is killed battling Superboy-Prime in Infinite Crisis #6 (May 2006).

After being defeated by Superman, Superboy-Prime is arrested by the Green Lantern Corps in Infinite Crisis #7 (June 2006). The Guardians of the Universe imprison Superboy-Prime inside of a red Sun-Eater on Oa, where he carves the Superman emblem into his chest.

Superboy-Prime is freed from Oa during "The Sinestro Corps War" in Green Lantern Sinestro Corps Special #1 (August 2007). In Green Lantern #25 (January 2008), a Guardian explodes and sends Superboy-Prime into the multiverse timestream.

In Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #1 (October 2008), Time Trapper locates Superboy-Prime and sends him to 31st century Smallville. Outraged to be forgotten by society, Superboy-Prime travels to the prison planet of Takron-Galtos and frees the Legion of Super-Villains.

Kon-El was reanimated in the 30th century using Kryptonian technology and DNA from Lex Luthor. Kon-El returns to face Superboy-Prime in Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #5 (September 2009). The Time Trapper is ultimately revealed to be an older Superboy-Prime. The resulting paradox transports Superboy-Prime back to his home in the "real world" of Earth-Prime.

A fifth Superboy series featuring Kon-El was published for eleven issues (January 2011–October 2011). Conner and Krypto live in Smallville with Martha Kent. The series was rebooted again following the "Flashpoint" crossover and "The New 52" relaunch.

The sixth volume of Superboy was published for 34 issues (November 2011– October 2014). On Prime Earth, Jonathan Lane Kent is the son of Superman and Lois Lane of an alternate future. A Superboy clone is created using DNA from Jonathan. Supergirl names the clone Kon-El, which means "abomination in the House of El." Jon sacrifices himself to send Kon-El to the present time as the only Superboy. 

Jonathan Samuel Kent, the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, first appeared in Convergence: Superman #2 (July 2015). The name is derived from his grandfathers Jonathan Kent and Samuel Lane. Jon Kent was created by writer and artist Dan Jurgens. Lois originally gave birth to Jon in the Batcave of Thomas Wayne, the Batman of the "Flashpoint" timeline. Jon is formally introduced as Superboy in Superman vol. 4, #6 (November 2016).

The origin of Jon Kent was retconned following the four-part "Superman: Reborn" storyline of the "DC Universe Rebirth". In Action Comics #977 (Early June 2017), Kelex displays archive imagery of Jon being born inside of the Fortress of Solitude on Prime Earth.

Jon teamed up with Damien Wayne as Robin in the 16-issue series Super Sons (April 2017–⁠July 2018). A previous "Super Sons" team of Superman Jr. and Batman Jr. on Earth-154 appeared in World's Finest Comics #215 (January 1973).

After spending years imprisoned by Ultraman on Earth-3, Jon returned to Prime Earth as a 17-year-old in Superman vol. 5, #6 (February 2019). The Future State version of Jon Kent as Superman first appeared as a vision in Dark Nights: Death Metal #7 (March 2021). Jon received a solo title in the fall of 2021 with Superman: Son of Kal-El. The series attracted extensive media coverage once it was revealed that Jon is bisexual in issue #5 (January 2022).

In 2020, DC Comics released Superboy: A Celebration of 75 Years. The 448-page hardcover collection features Superboy stories published from 1994–2019.

During the "Dawn of DC" initiative, Connor wore a new jacket similar to Kara Zor-El in the new Superman Family. The new designs debuted in Superman vol. 6, #1 (April 2023).

Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow (June 2023–December 2023) is a limited six-issue series featuring Kon-El. Following the events of "Infinite Frontier," Connor is searching for his purpose in the new Superman Family. After receiving a galactic distress signal, Superboy teleports to an uncharted planet.

In 1961, a pilot episode was produced for The Adventures of Superboy television series. The black-and-white show was created as a successor to The Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves. Johnny Rockwell starred as the first actor to portray Superboy. Bunny Henning was cast as the first Lana Lang.

Superboy was voiced by Bob Hastings in The Adventures of Superboy, a series of 34 animated shorts produced by Filmation. The Superboy segments appeared in The New Adventures of Superman (1966–⁠1970), The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure (1967–⁠1968), The Batman/Superman Hour (1968–⁠1969), and The Superman/Batman Adventures (1991). Superboy was voiced by Danny Dark in the Challenge of the Superfriends segment "History of Doom" (December 23, 1978) and by Jerry Dexter in the Super Friends short "Return of the Phantoms" (October 8, 1983).

The Superboy television series aired in syndication for four seasons from October 8, 1988, to May 17, 1992. The series was created by Ilya and Alexander Salkind, producers of the Superman and Supergirl films. Clark attends Shuster University in Siegelville and works for the school newspaper Shuster Herald. The first season starred John Haymes Newton as Superboy and Clark Kent. The roles were played by Gerard Christopher for the remaining three seasons. The series was titled The Adventures of Superboy for the third and fourth seasons.

The clone Superboy appears as a playable character in The Death and Return of Superman video game. The game was released by Sunsoft for the Super NES in August 1994. A Sega Genesis version rated MA-13 followed in 1995. Guinness World Records 2009 lists the title as the "First superhero game to tie into a contemporary storyline." The game features digitized artwork reproduced from the "Doomsday!" and "Reign of the Supermen!" comic book arcs.

Smallville aired for ten seasons on The WB from October 16, 2001, to May 13, 2011. The series starred Tom Welling as a young Clark Kent in his adopted Kansas hometown. The character is only referred to as "Superboy" once by Arthur Curry in the fifth season. The final season features a character named Conner Kent played by Lucas Grabeel. Similar to Kon-El, Conner was cloned using DNA from Clark and Lex. Conner wears the same black t-shirt and emblem as Kon-El in the comic books. In 2019, Tom Welling returned as Clark during the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event on The CW.

An animated Legion of Super-Heroes series aired from September 23, 2006, to April 5, 2008. Due to the legal battle over the rights to Superboy, the animated character was referred to as a young Superman.

Superboy is voiced by Nolan North in the animated Young Justice series. The show originally aired from November 26, 2010, to June 9, 2022. Similar to Kon-El, Superboy is a 16-year-old clone created from the DNA of Superman and Lex Luthor. The animated character is given the name Conner Kent by Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter.

Joshua Orpin stars as Conner Kent in the Titans television series. The character debuted in the episode "Conner" on October 11, 2019. Originally named "Project-13," Conner is a hybrid clone of Superman and Lex Luthor created by Cadmus Laboratories. Conner frees Kyrpto and escapes after killing the scientists.

The CW series Superman & Lois premiered on February 23, 2021. An alternate version of Jonathan Kent named Jon-El wears a costume based on the Superboy design from the "Reign of the Supermen!" Jonathan and Jon-El were portrayed by Jordan Elsass.

Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons was released to home video on October 18, 2022. The animated film stars Jack Dylan Grazer as Jon Kent. Superboy and Robin team up to defeat Starro and save the Justice League.

The first Superboy (Stålpojken) trading cards were distributed in 1968 with the Pop-nytt TV Pussel and TV68 Popbilder collections from Sweden.

The clone Superboy Kon-El first appeared on a promo card for the 1993 DC Bloodlines Trading Cards series. The card is included with poly-bagged editions of The Adventures of Superman #500 (Early June 1993).

Jonathan Lane Kent first appeared in DC Comics: The New 52, released in 2012 by Cryptozoic Entertainment.

Superboy-Prime first appeared in the 2016 War of Light expansion from Dice Masters.

Jonathan Samuel Kent first appeared in 2022 with the Superman Jon Kent: Future State action figure from McFarlane Toys.