Superboy

Superboy is the name of several fictional characters that have been published by DC Comics, most of them youthful incarnations of Superman. These characters have also been the main characters of four ongoing Superboy comic book series published by DC.

The first, and arguably best-known, Superboy was simply Superman as a boy, acting as a superhero in Smallville, where Kal-El (Superboy's Kryptonian name) lives under his secret identity, Clark Kent. The character was featured in several series from the 1940s until the 1980s, with long runs appearing in Adventure Comics and two eponymous series, Superboy and The New Adventures of Superboy. He developed a mythos and supporting cast of his own, including foster parents Ma and Pa Kent, love interest Lana Lang, and time traveling allies the Legion of Super-Heroes.

When DC Comics rewrote much of its continuity in 1986, Superman's history was changed so that he never took a costumed identity until adulthood, erasing Superboy from the canonical history of Superman, although many aspects of the backstory created in Superboy comics, such as Clark's friendship with Lana Lang, remained. In the last few years, some additional features of Superboy's history, such as his tenure in the Legion, have also been reintroduced into the story of Superman's youth.

Superboy (Jon Lane Kent)

Jon Lane Kent is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain in the DC Comics universe. He is the son of Superman and Lois Lane from an alternate future, and the latest character to assume the mantle of Superboy.

Fictional character biography

Origin

In an alternate future, Superman married Lois Lane and had a son, whom he named Jon Lane Kent. Jon's hybrid Kryptonian/human physiology proved to be unstable, causing him to fall ill and die shortly before his fourth birthday. In grief, Superman and Lois retreated to the Fortress of Solitude and were never heard from again.

However, this death was not the end for Jon. A time traveler from the 30th century, the man who would later be known as Harvest, arrived and retrieved Jon's body, recognizing his condition to be a kind of torpor rather than true death. Using future technology and chronal energy he had infused his own body with, Harvest revived Jon and took him as his own son, intending to use him as a weapon against metahumans. He trained Jon to hate all metahumans, despite being one himself, and the two lead a genocidal campaign against metahumans.

Superboy (TV series)

Superboy is an American television series based on the fictional DC Comics comic book character Superman's early years as Superboy. The show ran from 1988–1992 in syndication. It was renamed The Adventures of Superboy at the start of the third season.

Background

The Superboy series was brought to the screen by executive producers Ilya and Alexander Salkind, the producers of the first three Superman movies and the 1984 Supergirl movie. This series and the release of the 1988 Superman animated series on CBS coincided with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Superman character that year. Ironically, the series came about a year after DC Comics had "erased" the character of Superboy from their continuity in The Man of Steel reboot by John Byrne. Nevertheless, the show went on in October 1988 with John Haymes Newton playing the lead role of Superboy/Clark Kent, along with Stacy Haiduk as love interest Lana Lang and Jim Calvert as Clark's college roommate T.J. White.

Siegel & Shuster