Written by John Moore
Art by Jim Mooney; Ty Templeton; Nansi Hoolahan; & John Costanza
Cover Art Featuring TV Series Actors Gerard Christopher & Stacy Haiduk as Superboy & Lana Lang
SUMMARY:
Published for February 1990, DC Comics adapts the syndicated 1988-1992 TV series. Entitled simply “The Superboy,” eighteen-year old Clark Kent performs a heroic feat during a late summer Smallville drag race. The next morning, Clark and childhood friend Lana Lang head off as freshmen to attend Florida’s Shuster University. The two childhood friends meet Clark’s obnoxious new roommate, T.J. White, who is the son of Daily Planet Editor Perry White.
Clark finds himself improvising to avert a campus blackout crisis re: a mysterious meteor. Donning his Superboy costume for the first time, Clark soars into action to save the university. At sea, Clark inadvertently frees an unknown alien from the meteor, only to receive his first enigmatic hint that he isn’t really an Earthling. Seeing the next day’s newspaper, Lana, T.J., and Clark all sense that a new hero’s career has just launched.
REVIEW:
Sporting decent artwork, this inaugural issue works off the TV series’ first season premise that Clark Kent’s debut as Superboy occurs as a college freshman. Hence, this issue is a ‘prequel’ to the first episode. The cast’s likenesses are non-existent, as DC Comics opts for an otherwise conventional Superboy adventure. Still, to its credit, this comic aspires to entertain without resorting to cheap violence or profanities. Even if it’s a middling read, Superboy # 1 is a kid-friendly option for readers not previously familiar with this incarnation of the future Man of Steel.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
There’s a single-page introduction for an ongoing letters-and-answers column.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 5 Stars
