Superboy #1 (1990) Comic Book Review

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing pretty well. I'm back with another comic book review. This week I'm taking a look at the first issue of Superboy from 1990. Unlike the previous Superboy comic book series, this series isn't part of the main DC continuity. Instead it's based on the 1988 TV series starring John Haymes Newton (season 1) and Gerard Christopher (seasons 2-4) as Clark Kent/Superboy, Stacy Haiduk as Lana Lang, and Scott James Wells (season 1) and Sherman Howard (seasons 2-4) as Lex Luthor. Let's get right into it.

DC Comics was no stranger to doing comic books based on TV shows as they'd done comics based on the Star Trek franchise since 1984, and would go on to do comics based on various animated, and live action, TV show adaptations of DC Comics properties right up to present day. So it's no surprise that they did a comic book based on Superboy/The Adventures of Superboy, given that it was the longest running live action TV show based on a DC Comics character since Adventures of Superman ended after six seasons in 1958, as Batman, Wonder Woman, and Shazam! all ended after three seasons in the '60s and '70s.

I picked this issue up at a flea market that Brad and I went to on Saturday, the same one that I got the Clueless DVD at, and it was actually a big surprise as I'd never seen an issue of this series before. I knew it existed thanks to research on various DC titles over the years, but I'd never come across an issue before. So when I saw it in one of the long boxes that the flea market had, I grabbed it as it was $2 per issue. It's actually really good. I'm not familiar with the issue's writer, John Moore, but I do know Jim Mooney's work from various Batman and Superman comics from the '50s and '60s. I'm also familiar with Ty Templeton's work as he did alot of work on The Batman Adventures and The Batman & Robin Adventures comics based on Batman: The Animated Series throughout the early to mid '90s.

This issue acts as a prequel to the TV show, as it shows Clark and Lana leaving Smallville to head to Schuster University in Florida. I don't know if the entire comic book series is a prequel to the show, or if it's just this issue. Like with Star Trek in 1966, Superboy aired its first chronological episode as the series's fifth episode, where Superboy has his first public appearance, so it's likely this issue is the prequel, and then the rest of the series continues on in tandem with the TV show. Though I have no idea how far into the show the comic gets given that by the time this issue came out, the show was already halfway through its second season and the comic ran for 22 issues, ending in 1992, shortly before the TV show ended its fourth and final season. 

This is a good issue. I haven't seen a ton of the show, but I have seen at least an episode or two, so this was a great lead in to the TV show. However, because Clark and Lana resemble their comic book counterparts more than they do Gerard Christopher (or John Haymes Newton) and Stacy Haiduk, and T.J. White (Perry White's son in the show) isn't from the main DC continuity, this could easily have been on another Earth, if the Multiverse hadn't been erased during Crisis on Infinite Earths only five years earlier. So if you didn't know the TV show, you could still read this issue and get something out of it as a fan of Superman. 

Like I said, this issue covers Clark and Lana's departure from Smallville and their change into the characters they are in the TV show. Which is interesting, because it feels like a transition from the comic to the TV show. The story feels like a mix of John Byrne's Superman origin story, Superman: The Man of Steel, which was Superman's modern origin at the time this issue came out, and Geoff Johns's Superman: Secret Origins from 2009, which was 19 years away at this point. Still though there were elements of both stories in this issue, even if those elements were on a much smaller scale than either of those stories are.

Overall, I really enjoyed this issue. I'd recommend it, but given how long it took me to find a copy, and the fact that it's not in any collected edition, I'd say there's a very slim chance of finding a copy, in any condition. I got lucky on Saturday for sure. If you do find a copy though, I do recommend reading it. Even if you've never seen the TV show it's based on.

Alright my friends, that's going to be it for me for today. I'll be back tomorrow for my review of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 and my thoughts on the series as a whole now that it's complete, with the series finale having dropped on Paramount+ today, with it airing on CTV Sci-Fi Channel here in Canada tonight at 9 pm. So until then have a great evening and I will talk to you all later. Take care.