Superboy
Superboy (German: Super-Junge or Über-Junge ) is a fictional comic figure from the US comic publisher DC . The rights to the figure are owned by the DC owner Time Warner . The character - who is mostly identified as a youthful incarnation of the comic hero Superman , another character owned by Time Warner - was and is the title character of numerous entertainment products, especially comics and television series. In the past, the television series The Adventures of Superboy (1961), The Adventures of Superboy (1966–1969), Superboy (1988–1992), and in the present the television series Smallville (2001–2011) were also devoted to the adventures of the Boy of Steel of the designated character.
Versions of the figure
Superboy I (Clark Kent / Kal-El)
The first Superboy whose adventures DC released is none other than Superman in his childhood days. Under the famous exposition phrase The Adventures of Superman back when he was a boy , which introduced almost every Superboy story, numerous comic books appeared between 1944 and 1986 that dealt with the superhero's childhood experiences. The first of these booklets was More Fun Comics # 101, Superboy's debut edition. The inventors of this original incarnation of the Superboy figure were the Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster as well as the artist Don Cameron.
The adventures of this first Superboy take place mainly in the fictional American town of Smallville in Kansas. Behind Superboy is the boy Kal-El, who comes from the futuristic planet Krypton . His parents sent him to earth as a baby in a spaceship to save him from the destruction of his home planet, which was doomed due to a natural disaster. There Superboy grows up under the name Clark Kent with the farmer couple Jonathan and Martha Kent, who find his spaceship and adopt him under the name Clark Kent in place of their son. As the boy grows up, he discovers that the rays of the earthly sun give him enormous powers and decides to use them for the benefit of his fellow human beings. For this purpose, he dresses in a costume with a cape and S emblem (for “Superboy”), which is practically identical to the later Superman uniform and which is a smaller size. To protect his family, Superboy hides his identity by wearing glasses and well-parted hair as Clark Kent, while he takes off his glasses and lets his hair fall "wildly" during his assignments as Superboy.
Shortly after Superboy appeared as a feature in the More Fun Comics series, the series was moved to the Adventure Comics series . In 1949 the character was finally given a series of its own. In this series, Superboy was joined by some very popular supporting characters: Ma and Pa Kent, Superboy's foster parents, were joined by Clark Kent's nosy school friend Lana Lang in Superboy # 10, and in the early 1960s Clark Kent's best friend Pete Ross as well as the village policeman Chief Parker.
The location of the Superboy stories was first identified as Smallville, USA in Superboy # 2. In the early years of the Superboy series, the city was located near Metropolis, the setting for the adventures that Superboy would later experience as Superman. Later Superboy adventures eventually established the state of Kansas as the state that Smallville should be located in. The time in which the Superboy stories took place was usually even less defined: Some of them were set in the present (i.e. the year in which the story was published), but some were also set back to the 1930s. Later, the concept of a floating timeline was developed , that is, the Superboy stories were played continuously 15 years ahead of the present, so Superboy stories from 1970 played in 1955, stories from 1975 in 1960 etc. With the legion of superheroes first appeared in the series in 1958 in the history of The Legion of Super-Heroes , a whole host of occasional minor characters was introduced: A clique of young people from the 30th century who took Superboy as their role model and supported him in his fight for the good. The Legion proved so popular that it was included in the title of the Superboy series in 1975, which was henceforth Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes .
The Superboy stories dealt with topics of the most diverse range: The most common motif were the arguments Superboys with the suspicious, in love with him, village beauty Lana Lang, who tried again and again to prove her suspicion of an identity of Superboy with Clark Kent, only to end up to be dissuaded from this idea by clever trickery in every story. It was only possible for a short time to dissuade Lana from her suspicions, which she would develop again soon afterwards in a new adventure. There were also tricky everyday situations and puzzles that Superboy had to cope with, as well as conflicts with youthful versions of the later Superman villains such as Mr. Mxyzptlk from the 5th dimension or Lex Luthor. Luther's hatred of Superman was explained within the Superboy stories by the fact that he rescued the young Luthor, a brilliant scientist who had been his friend to date, from his burning laboratory after a laboratory accident and accidentally destroyed one of Luther's experiments, which led to it causes Luthor who inhales toxic fumes to lose his hair. Out of hatred because of the loss of his hair through the fault of Superman's youthful incarnation - so the Superboy story - Luthor later became the arch enemy of the Superboy who had matured into Superman.
After the Superboy series was discontinued in 1980, it was immediately restarted as The Adventures of Superboy . This series ran from 1980 to 1984. This was followed by the four-part miniseries Superboy: The Secret Years (1985), which contains the last adventures of the classic Superboy - which take place during his first year in college (Superboy # 321; Maple Street, Farm. Business).
Superboy II (Connor Kent / Kon-El)
The second Superboy is not the youthful Superman, but a clone of Superman's.
As a clone of Superman, Superboy originally didn't have a "real" name. Later he got the name Kon-El from Superman. In his secret identity he now bears the name Connor Kent. Kon-El is not a pure clone of Superman, but also partly carries the genes of Lex Luthor . This character died in the series "Infinite Crisis" in the fight against Superboy Prime and was revived in the story "Legion of 3 Worlds".
Superboy Prime (Clark Kent)
Superboy-Prime is an alternate version of Superboy that was first introduced in the 1985 comic book DC Comics Presents # 87 (author: Elliot S! Maggin , illustrator: Curt Swan ). There he lives as a normal boy named Clark Kent on the alternative earth version Earth-Prime.
Unlike the stories that take place in the universe of the planet " Earth-1 ", Superman and the other DC heroes on Earth-Prime only exist as fictional characters. Accordingly, there are no “real” superheroes on Earth Prime, only heroes that Clark and the other inhabitants of the planet read about in comic books. Clark initially grows up as a normal boy in the household of his adoptive parents Jerry and Naomi Kent, until he miraculously achieves the same superpowers as his role model Superboy (Kal-El). These first manifest themselves when he attended a costume party as a teenager. First of all, he watches over his home as the only super being for a while, until the Superman of Earth-1 manages to break through the dimensional barrier separating Earth-1 and Earth-Prime and meet Superboy-Prime.
During the " Crisis on Infinite Earths " storyline, Superboy Prime's home is finally destroyed and he is transported into the dimension of "real" superheroes. At the end of the crisis, he, the scientist Alexander Luthor from Earth-3 , as well as Superman and Lois Lane from Earth-2 - the only survivors from their respective homes - retreat into the so-called paradise dimension, which exists apart from the reality of the other DC characters .
From the paradise dimension, the five observe the new (and only) earth. However, Superboy is increasingly dissatisfied and frustrated with the course of events there, and feels “cheated out of his fate of being a hero”. He eventually falls - like Alexander Luthor - into insanity, with the result that he and Luthor decide to overhaul the "inadequate, flawed" current earth and create a "perfect" new earth. They flee from the paradise dimension as Superboy-Prime smashes the "walls of reality" and opens the way to earth for them. There they try from now on to change reality in their own way. Superboy-Prime also tries to assassinate the Superboy of this earth, the Kon-El version of the character, and to take his place.
On earth both cause chaos, they cause a war between the planets Rann and Thangar, destroy the headquarters of the JLA, ensure the establishment of the "Secret Society of Super Villains" and much more. In doing so, they also change reality, which among other things results in the resurrection of some dead like the late Robin Jason Todd and contradicting résumés of other heroes (like Donna Troy or the Legion of Superheroes).
When the heroes of the earth, as well as the other inhabitants of the paradise dimension, become aware of the actions of the two, it comes to a long series of fights, in the course of which Kon-El dies in the fight with Superboy-Prime. He himself is finally defeated by the supermen of Earths-1 and -2, after they first drag him through Krypton's red sun Rao - which robs them of all their powers - in order to then fight against each other. The Superman of Earth-2 sacrifices his life in this fight in order to be able to overpower Superboy-Prime. After his defeat, Superboy-Prime is held captive in a special prison, a Sun-Eater, by the space cops of the Green Lantern Corps near the planet Oa.
During the Sinestro Corps Wars, however, he is freed by the members of the Sinestro Corps, with several Green Lanterns having to lose their lives. He fights in the war together with the Sinetro-Corps, the cyborg Hank Henshaw and the Anti-Monitor against the Green Lantern Corps, as well as against the heroes of the earth and is later by the Lantern Sodam Yat, who becomes the new Ion, in engaged in a difficult battle but cannot be defeated. Prime's attack cannot be stopped until one of the Guardians of the Universe sacrifices himself, with Superboy-Prime being transferred to the Multiverse.
During the countdown to the Final Crisis, he ages due to the enormous amounts of energy he absorbs and thus becomes Superman Prime. As this he kills several characters and heroes from different parallel earths in the course of the story and does not shy away from the destruction of entire earths. In the end, however, he is the only one who is able to destroy the former hero Captain Atom, who became a megalomaniac monarch, by tearing the villain's protective suit. By doing this, the entire universe in which the struggle took place was destroyed.
Comic series
Since the 1940s, DC Comics has launched a long line of series under the title Superboy .
From February 1990 to February 1992, DC published the series Superboy. The Comic Book (# 1-10), which was based on the Superboy television series, which ran on US television at the time and was located in a special continuity outside the continuity of the other Superboy or Superboy comics. To make this clear, the addition "As Seen on TV" always appeared on the title pages of the series. In 1991 the series was renamed The Adventures of Superboy with issue # 11 and continued under this title until issue # 22, which appeared in February 1992. The threads of this series were finally brought together in the One-Shot Superboy Special # 1, in which the Superboy. The Comic Book / Adventures of Superboy stories were incorporated into the continuity of regular Superman comics, eventually revealing that all of the events in the series were nothing more than one long daydream of Clark Kent's youth.
Between 1994 and 2002, DC released a series titled Superboy which focused on the "Kon-El" version of Superboy. The series appeared on a monthly basis and reached a total of one hundred and two regular issues (issues # 1 to # 100, and the separate issues Superboy # 0 [1994] and Superboy # 1,000,000 [1998]) as well as a number of special issues . In addition to the monthly series, three special editions with a double size, designated as Superboy Annual , as well as the crossover editions Superboy Doubleshot and Superboy Plus # 1 and # 2 were published.
The main authors of this superboy series were Karl Kesel , Ron Marz and Joe Kelly . The most important cartoonists in the series were Tom Grummett and Ramon Bernadó . In addition, the Inker Doug Hazlewood and the colorist Glenn Whitmore were involved in a particularly large number of issues in the series.
Characters in the Superboy stories
Minor characters
Dubbilex
Dubbilex is a telepathic being who appeared as a constant supporting character in the Superboy series of the 1990s. It is a so -called DNAlien created by the so-called `` Project Cadmus '' , a secret genetic research facility of the US government that appears regularly in the Superman / Superboy stories. H. a clone creature created in Cadmus laboratories by combining extraterrestrial and human DNA. Outwardly, Dubbilex, who made his debut in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen # 136 from March 1971 (author and illustrator: Jack Kirby), appears as a lean, medium-sized man with a stone-like gray textured skin and two small protrusions of horns on his head.
Unlike its creator, the mad scientist and former Cadmus director Dabney Donovan, one of Superman's worst enemies, Dubbilex is a downright good-natured creature. He mostly wears a purple and white jumpsuit. Thanks to its extraterrestrial DNA, it has the ability to communicate telepathically with other living beings - even over long distances. In addition, he can shoot strong waves of energy using his thoughts alone and move objects and people through telekinesis.
In the Superman comics of the 1970s, Dubbilex was introduced as a being created by Donovan who turned away from his master and instead worked for his successor as an agent of the Cadmus project. Thanks to his special skills, he is primarily entrusted by the project managers with collecting information that could be of interest to Cadmus. In the Superman stories of the 1970s-1990s and the 200s, he comes into contact with Superman again and again, whom he occasionally supports on his adventures. The relationship between the two has always been described as friendly and respectful, albeit slightly distant. In stories that take place in Cadmus, he usually works with his closest friends there, the Guardian, the head of security at Cadmus, and the Newsboy Legion. A longstanding leitmotif of the Superman series in the early 1990s was Dubbilex's relationship with the dodgy head of the project, Paul Westfield, characterized by mutual distrust.
In the first edition of the 1990s Superboy series, Dubbilex is commissioned by the Cadmus directors to accompany Superboy - in this version a creation of the project - on his world tour, to observe him and to inform Cadmus about the further development of the boy made of steel hold. When Superboy settles in Hawaii with the Leech family in the first storyline of the series, Dubbilex also moves into the Leech household. In the further course of the Superboy series, Dubbilex gradually develops into a mentor and fatherly friend of Superboys: He instructs him in the use of his superpowers and tries to convey moral values to him. The initially tense relationship between the extroverted Hallodri Superboy and the reserved-brooding Dubbilex - an intelligent but somewhat naive being in everyday life - finally gives way to a mutual intimate friendship: While Dubbilex drives Superboys maturation into a real hero, he develops under the influence of his protégé until the end of the series to a much more open and extroverted being. In addition, he gradually becomes friends with the leeches - who are initially very suspicious to him - and takes a dog named Krypto into his care. After Hawaii was exchanged for Cadmus as the location of the series in issue # 50, Dubbilex returns to his old role as a project collaborator: In the other Superboy stories up to # 100 and the Superman stories that have been published since then, he regularly acts as a leader from Cadmus Genetic Research.
Hillary Chang
Hillary Chang was a classmate of Superboy in the Superboy series in the 1990s. She attended the same class as him at his school in Hawaii and later took Superboy's dog Krypto (I) into her care.
Ray Garnes
Ray Garnes is a cameraman for Kona TV and starred in the 1990s Superboy series as the constant companion of Superboy's friend, television reporter Tana Moon, whose reports he captured with his camera. He was an affable, somewhat plump Hawaiian who mostly had a calming effect on the quick-tempered Tana.
Rex Leech
Rex Leech (English for "leech", free "sucker") is a windy businessman who stood by Superman's youthful clone Superboy as his personal manager for several years. Leech, who made his debut in Adventures of Superman 502 from July 1993 (author: Karl Kesel, draftsman: Tom Grummett), appeared in 1993 in the various Superman series and from 1993 to 1998 as a permanent supporting character in the Superboy series . He is a greedy, unsound and corrupt, but basically decent man with a talent to magically attract problems. Despite his unkempt appearance (long greasy hair, a somewhat puffy face, big belly which he unfavorably tucked under Hawaiian shirts ) Leech is a skilful marketing expert who knows how to turn every baseness into a bomb business.
Leech has an eventful past as a businessman, adventurer and con man in Las Vegas after what little has been revealed about his history . From a previous marriage, Leech has a daughter, Roxy, whom he is very close to. He met Superboy through Vincent Edge's mediation shortly after Superboy first appeared in public immediately after Superman's alleged death. Leech jointly persuaded the steel boy Roxy to make him his manager and within a short time brought toys, T-shirts and computer games for the young hero onto the market, which made a fortune for both of them. Leech even filed a patent on the Superman name , which Superboy was using at the time, so any use of the term earned him royalties. After Superman's resurrection from the dead, Leech agreed to waive the patent on the Superman name. Together with Superboy, Roxy and Superboy's friend Dubbilex, he went on a tour through the United States to promote Superboy , as his protégé now called himself, as his own brand. The dissimilar group eventually settled in Hawaii, where they made a country estate called "Compound" outside Hilo their home together.
In addition to his work as the manager of Superboy, Leech - who has a dubious past in the demi-world that has never been fully revealed - was a source of all sorts of adversities and entanglements in the Superboy series: criminals such as the killer Copperhead were variously hired to deal with old debts to collect from him or old business associates, citing ominous knowledge of his past activities, forcing Leech to maneuver Superboy into dangerous situations in order to capitalize on television broadcasts and the like. These Handel running in the background - which Superboy knew nothing about - then often formed the basis for the adventures told in the series. After Superboy left Hawaii in issue # 50 of the Superboy series and joined Project Cadmus as an employee , Leech left the series as a permanent supporting character and only appeared sporadically from then on. For example in issue 70, when he contacted Superboy with the request to help him "for the sake of the old days" to free his daughter from the power of a being called Pyra.
Roxy Leech
Roxy Leech is the daughter of Superboy's former manager Rex Leech. She appeared in 1993 in the various Superman series and from 1993 to 1998 as a permanent supporting character in the Superboy series. She made her debut in Adventures of Superman 502 from July 1993. Roxy is a pretty and adventurous girl, on the one hand a bit shrewd, but basically good character. Together with her father, Superboy and the alien Dubbilex, she moved to Hawaii shortly after her father started managing Superboy, where the group lived together in a family-like property called The Compound .
In the first editions of the Superboy series, Roxy had a secret love for the title hero and therefore constantly rivaled Superboy's friend Tana Moon. After she donated bone marrow to Superboy after a serious illness in order to cure him of a serious illness, the relationship between the two was finally placed on a platonic-sibling basis, since both are only genetically related since then. Roxy later joined the Hawaiian Police under Sam Makoa as a cadet. After leaving the Superboy series as a permanent supporting character with issue # 50, she occasionally appeared as a supporting character. For example, when she stole the Whiz Wagon, a flying racing car owned by Superboy's employer Cadmus, to take part in a race in the Wild Area to earn money to pay off her father's debt.
Sam Makoa
Sam Makoa is a Hawaiian police officer who helped the Kon-El-Superboy solve various cases in the Hawaii-set Superboy stories of the 1990s. He made his debut in Superboy # 1 from February 1994 (author: K. Kesel, illustrator: T. Grummet).
Makoa is introduced there as a native Hawaiian who is considered the toughest cop in the Honolulu Police Department. As head of the Special Crime Unit of the Hawaiian Police, Makoa and his team - which later also includes Roxy Leech, whose mentor Macoa temporarily acts as their mentor - supported Superboy in solving some criminal cases and arresting some of his opponents. In the first issues of the Superboy series of the 1990s, the Makoa of integrity is a role model for Superboy. Makoa's archenemy is the monstrous King Shark whom he single-handedly defeated when it first appeared - although only a normal person. Later on, Macoa played a key role in Superboy's victory over the Silicon Dragons crime syndicate and helped him on his journey to the “wild land” on a forgotten island in the Pacific.
Tana Moon
Tana Moon is the girlfriend of Superboy (Kon El) in the Superboy comics of the 1990s. It is first presented in Adventures of Superman # 501 from June 1993 (author: K. Kesel, draftsman: T. Grummet).
In this issue, Tana, a dark-skinned indigenous Hawaiian, comes to Metropolis to pursue a career as a reporter: after her application to the Daily Planet newspaper failed, she worked for the news channel WGBS for a while. For WGBS she reported in the following issues about the first heroic deeds of Superboy, who appeared in public for the first time at that time. Shortly afterwards, the two separate.
When Superboy moves to Hawaii, the two meet again and begin a relationship. This is on the one hand passionate and on the other hand characterized by constant tension. Problems arise on the one hand from the considerable age difference between the two (Moon is seven years older than Superboy) and on the other hand from Superboy's constant interest in other women. In Hawaii, Tana works as a reporter for the local television station Kona-TV. In Superboy # 75, Tana was murdered by the villain Amanda Spence.
Wild men
The Wild Men are hybrids of humans and predators who came from a "forgotten island" in the Pacific. Howler ("Howler"), Growler (growler) and Gorr are upright animals with human-like intelligence and behavioral tendencies: a wolf, a bear and a tiger who wear clothes, can use objects and can speak. They come from the Wild Land, a forgotten island in the Pacific, which is inhabited by numerous animal-like beings that are extremely human-like (fairy tale and mythical animals come to life, so to speak). The three adventurers helped Superboy when he was miraculously drifted into the Wild Land to survive various adventures and later left their home with him to get to know the world. In the "civilized world" they began a life as adventurers who traveled the entire globe in search of new challenges. In addition, they also repeatedly helped the boy made of steel , i.e. Superboy, to survive various adventures: They helped Superboy in the search for Tana Moon when she was missing for a long time and made a significant contribution to his victory over the criminal organization Agenda . The Wild Men originally made their debut in the Kamandi series, which tells the adventures of a boy who lives in a post-apocalyptic world where all other humans perished in a nuclear war and the earth is populated by human-like, intelligent animals. The almost forgotten characters were revived in Superboy # 50 from 1998 and integrated into the Superman series.
opponent
Amanda Spence
Amanda Spence is a terrorist with whom the Superboy of the Superboy series of the 1990s (Kon El) clashes several times. The figure first appears in Superboy # 31 from 1996 (author: R. Marz, draftsman: R. Bernado).
In later editions of the series it is gradually revealed that Spence - who poses as a journalist when she first appeared - works for an organization called The Agenda , which aims to bring Superboy under their control, to have a gene sample removed from him and to be able to breed from this an army of her subservient clones for the realization of her world domination plans. In later editions, Spence finally succeeds in capturing Superboy by ruse and breeding a clone of his named Match in the laboratory before Superboy can free himself from the violence of the Agenda and destroy their headquarters. In later editions of the series, Spence returns to take revenge for her defeat: She temporarily controls Superboy's home, the genetic research facility Cadmus , and murders his girlfriend Tana Moon before Superboy can defeat her again. It also turns out that she is the daughter of Paul Westfield, the creator of Superboy, for whom she harbors a personal hatred, which - somewhat oddly - she justifies by saying that it (a laboratory product) is the only thing after her father's death what remained of this.
Black Zero
Black Zero is something like Superboy's bad twin. In Superboy # 63 from May 1999 (author: K. Kesel, draftsman: T. Grummett) he is presented as an insane Superboy of a parallel dimension. The name of the character goes back to the story "The Man Who Destroyed Krypton" from Superman # 205 from 1968, which is about a mercenary named Black Zero who tries to destroy Superman's birth planet Krypton. In Superboy # 63, on the other hand, it is stated that the Superboy of the parallel dimension named itself after a historical Kryptonian terror organization that once tried to blow up the planet with a nuclear bomb.
In Superboy # 63-68 ("Hypertension") it is gradually revealed that the Superboy of the parallel dimension, like the Kon El-Superboy of the 1990s / 2000s, is a clone of Superman. Since Superman in this parallel dimension does not rise from the dead after his fight against the monster Doomsday, but remains finally dead, this Superboy matures into a grown man and finally takes on the legacy of his role model as Superman II. Unlike Kon El, this superboy suffers from pronounced fear of failure and fears that he will never live up to Superman's legacy. In addition, he believes he is despised by most people as a mere copy of the “real” superman. After this Supberoy / Superman accidentally caused the deaths of three hundred innocents in a fight with the villain Brainiac, an international campaign against the technology of cloning is launched in his world. During the hunt for clones, among others, Superboy's friend Guardian is killed. Superboy then develops the delusion of being the patron of all clones. Under his new name Black Zero (the name of a group of activists for the rights of clones to krypton), he takes control of the Cadmus project, the US government's clone research project, and forms an alliance with the scientist Dabney Donovan. Together with Donovan, he creates an army of clones from his friend Guardian, with the help of which he conquers the earth of his dimension. In the delusion of not only having to protect the clones of his world, Black Zero from now on travels one parallel dimension after the other with the help of the alien Metron to conquer the earths there and protect their clones. In doing so, he finally comes into conflict with Kon El Superboy, whom he chases through a long series of parallel worlds. Kon El can finally defeat Black Zero by gathering the Superboys of all parallel worlds and leading them together in the fight against his twin.
Kekona
Kekona is a destructive magical creature who roams the islands of the Hawaiian archipelago. The troll-like creature with whom the superboy of the series from the 1990s (Kon El) clashes several times appears for the first time in the magazine Adventures of Superman # 541 from December 1996 (author: K. Kesel, draftsman: Stuart Immonen). In this issue he is introduced as a member of the mythical people of the Menehune , a genre of funny looking stone-skinned creatures from Polynesian mythology who developed an advanced building culture in the ocean-pacific island world. As a magical being, Kekona has - despite his cute appearance - superhuman physical strength and stamina, the ability to fly and teleport to other places. His weakness is powerlessness against metal and especially iron, against which his magic is ineffective.
Out of hatred for the new-fangled buildings that were built in Hawaii in the 20th century - which spoil the old Menehun building culture - Kekona undertakes several wild destruction tours through the island's cities: He always does all sorts of new-fangled buildings - armed with an oversized magical sledgehammer To the ground, what usually calls Superboy as the protector of Hawaii and the police of the island on the scene. In the end, Superboy can always defeat Menehune, although he always has to rely on some "shooting help": On one occasion, the reporters Lois Lane and Clark Kent (# 541), another time the space hero Green Lantern ( Superboy # 47) in the fight against his cute opponent aside. After his second defeat by Superboy, Kekona is briefly arrested and put in chains that neutralize his powers, but then miraculously disappears from custody: hinted at because his people have summoned him to the Menehunes' secret courtroom to try him for violating theirs To hold code of honor accountable.
King Shark
King Shark , alias Nanaue, is a monstrous hybrid of human and shark, with whom Superboy has to deal several times. The figure first appears in Superboy # 0 from October 1994 (author: K. Kesel, draftsman: T. Grummett).
In his debut story, King Shark, who calls himself "Nanaue", appears as an approximately three meter tall, upright, superhumanly strong hybrid being made up of a human and a shark, who is freed from the high-security prison in Honolulu (Kulani Prison) by the Silicon Dragons Superboy, who interfered in their "business" as the protector of the island. Together with the police officer Sam Makoa, who defeated and arrested King Shark on his first appearance - which is only briefly retold in dialogues, but not shown on-page - Superboy finally succeeds in defeating the huge creature again and arresting it again.
In the further course of the Superboy series, King Shark appears several times to make life difficult for Superboy. The whole time it remains unclear whether Shark is the son of a Hawaiian woman and a mythical Shark God ("The king of all Sharks" or Shark God) or the product of a series of genetic experiments carried out in a research facility of the US government on one Island called "The Wild Land" were carried out. He tried several times to kill Makoa, whom he pathologically hates since his arrest. Once Shark, who can breathe underwater, accompanies Superboy and the so-called Suicide Squad on a trip to the Silicon Dragons headquarters, which is on the seabed, to help destroy it, which he is forced to do by an explosive device attached to his body. In the end, Shark kills Sidearm, a member of the Suicide Squad, and escapes - initially thought to be dead. Later he clashes with Superboy two more times: once when he is hunting bathers on the beach in Hawaii until Superboy drives him into the depths of the oceans (SB # 31), another time when he is with Superboy in the Wild Lands to each other.
Occasionally, other superheroes like Superman (Adventures of Superman # 608) and Aquaman also deal with King Shark. While the former prevents King Shark from killing his friend Jimmy Olsen, whom he is supposed to murder on behalf of a man named Manchester Black, Shark accompanies the latter - now more talkative and less violent - reluctantly on behalf of a group called "Dweller of the Depths" an odyssey through the oceans to act as Aquaman's assistant and helper. On an earlier occasion, Shark kills Aquaman's friend Neptune Perkins and is seriously injured by him in a duel, so that he has had a noticeable scar on his chest since then.
knockout
See: Knockout
match
Match is a clone of Superboy. He is first introduced in Superboy # 35 from January 1997 (author: R. Marz, draftsman: R. Bernado). In this booklet you learn that an organization called "The Agenda" has cloned Match from Superboy's genetic material in a secret laboratory complex. The original goal of the Agenda to create a whole army of Power / Superboy clones in order to usurp world domination with them, Superboy can prevent by destroying the Laboratories of the Agenda. However, the only Superboy clone that was finished at this point in time - Match - is far superior to the original in terms of strength: It has all of the Superboy's capabilities. He can also make himself invisible and change his shape at will. Thanks to the systematic prenatal feeding of knowledge into his brain, Match also has quasi-encyclopedic knowledge in almost all areas of knowledge. Due to its programming, Match is originally loyal to the leaders of the Agenda and fights against Superboy several times on their behalf. Match later manages to shake off his programming and break away from the agenda. After that he is active as a loner.
Scavenger
The Scavenger (Eng. "Scavenger") is a mentally ill man with whom Superboy has to fight several times. He first appears in Superboy # 2 from March 1994 (author: K. Kesel, draftsman: T. Grummett).
In this issue he is presented as a paranoid, gray-haired old man who is obsessed with the delusion that an unspecified, ominous enemy who actually never shows up is chasing him: to fight for the supposedly inevitable, eschatological "last fight" with To arm this enemy, the scavenger is constantly looking for weapons, equipment and other resources for his fight against his mysterious enemy. Among other things, he is looking for an ancient Hawaiian artifact known as the “Spear of Lono” and for the “H-Dial” dial (from the “ Dial H for Hero ” series). Since he gets these - once he has found them - mostly through criminal methods such as break-ins and theft, he keeps clashing with Superboy and Superman. In his delusion, Scavenger considers them to be his enemies' followers and henchmen. Due to his upgraded arsenal of high-tech weapons and his madness, the Scavenger figures, despite his unclear agenda, as one of the most dangerous opponents of the Superboy of the Superboy series from the 1990s (Kon El). In this series, he first lives in a cave in the crust of the moon, but looks for other quarters in later editions.
Sidearm
Sidearm is a chronically unsuccessful crook that the Superboy of the Superboy series of the 1990s (Kon El) has to deal with repeatedly. Sidearm, who is more of a nuisance than a threat, first appears in Superboy # 1 from 1994 and subsequently clashes with the young hero several times until he is killed by the monstrous King Shark in # 15.
Sidearm is a parody of the Spider-Man villain Doctor Octopus . Like him, he has a metal tentacle several meters long that he can control with his thoughts and use as a weapon. Sidearm's gear, cybernetic-linked to his body, is made by a man named The Technician, whom Superboy will encounter in later issues in the series. After the "born loser" Sidearm is stopped by Superboy on several raids (# 0, # 1), he is forced to rehabilitate the so-called Suicide Squad, a government organization that sends prisoners on risky commando missions in exchange for pardon Smashing the Silicon Dragons cartel and dies during the mission when his "teammate" King Shark tears him apart.
Silversword
Silversword (Silver Sword), alias Dr. Arnold Kaua is a criminal with whom the Hawaiian superboy of the 1990s (Kon El) had to deal with several times. Silversword, which first appeared in Superboy # 5 from June 1994 (author: K. Kesel, draftsman: T. Grummett) visually resembles the Hawaiian warrior and Prince King Kamehameha.
In his debut story, Kaua is introduced as the curator of the Museum of History of Hawaii, who accidentally comes into contact with a container while walking on the beach that contains a liquid silver extraterrestrial material he calls "anti-metal". When the container explodes, the material digs into Kaua's chest, where it initially remains as a sword-shaped emblem. When he discovered shortly thereafter that the "anti-metal" gives him superhuman strength - to cover his body on request with a silver metal skin which makes the ability him invulnerable him super strength and the ability lends to fly and herauszu weapons from his body morph ( mostly swords and other blades) - he declares himself to be the guardian of the traditions and values of Hawaii and begins to try to enforce them by force. After attacking a naval exercise - which in his opinion destroys the island's natural heritage - he comes into conflict with Superboy, who drives him to flight (# 8). In Superboy # 24 he returns and is defeated by Superboy and Knockout, but is able to escape again. Later, Silversword steals Lorno's spear, a powerful artifact of the indigenous people of Hawaii, from the island's natural history museum (# 45) and uses it to conjure up the volcano goddess Pele. Together, Superboy and Green Lantern Siversword - who finally recognizes the evil in Pele - succeeds in winning over Pele and defeating Pele. After that it remains gone (# 47).
Stinger
Stinger is a mercenary that the 1990s Superboy (Kon El) has to deal with on various occasions. He is a normal person who has no superpowers and instead relies on his fitness and high-tech equipment (vibrating cables, powerful firearms, rocket grenades attached to his wrist) and using a special combat suit that enables him to fight against "supermen" “To keep up. He made his debut in Adventures of Superman # 502 from July 1993 (author: K. Kesel, illustrator: T. Grummett).
Stinger is featured for the first time in a story in the Superman comics in which he challenges Superboy to a duel on the streets of Metropolis in front of the cameras. His clients are the managers of the television station WGBS, who are hoping for high ratings from the fight they are broadcasting live. With the help of Supergirl, Superboy can finally defeat Stinger. However, this one can escape. Stinger later works as a mercenary for the Silicon Dragons crime syndicate. On behalf of the Dragons, he sets a trap for the Suicide Squad, a special unit that Superboy also belongs to and that is tasked with stopping the gang. He meets Superboy again, who manages to bribe Stinger to change sides and fight with the squad against the Dragons. While the squad is about to destroy the dragons' hiding place and break the gang, Stinger disappears without a trace and has not reappeared since.
Technician
The Technician is an opponent of Superboy who usually stays in the background and provides other villains with technical aids for their arguments with him. He is shown for the first time as Superboy # 1 from February 1994 as a shadowy figure lurking in the background . His face is first seen in Superboy # 16 from June 1995.
The Technician is a tinkerer and collector who provides criminals with futuristic weapons and equipment for a fee. His customers include Superboy's opponent Sidearm. Later the technician himself - armed with a variety of technical equipment - competes against Superboy and is defeated. Even later, the Technician Superboy, who at this point is suffering from an unstable cellular structure, offers a cure for his illness. The alleged offer of help turns out to be a trap, the technician is again defeated, but can escape without reappearing ( Superboy and the Ravers # 15).
Movies and TV series
In 1961 an episode about Superboy (called The Adventures of Superboy ) was produced for the first time , but it remained a pilot film . In 1966, the artist Andy Warhol directed an unlicensed Superboy film on his own, but it was never shown publicly.
Between 1966 and 1969, the series The Adventures of Superboy, made up of 34 six-minute cartoons (three seasons), was produced on Superboy for US television. In this series, voice actor Bob Hastings lent him his voice. The animated series Ein Job für Superman (68 episodes, four seasons), in which Superboy also appeared, ran almost simultaneously from 1966 to 1970 .
Between 1988 and 1992 US television broadcast the series Superboy (100 episodes, four seasons) in which the title hero was first played by actor John Haymes Newton (1st season, 1988-89) and then by Gerard Christopher (2nd to 4th season) . Staffel, 1989-92) was embodied. Actress Stacy Haiduk took on the role of Lana Lang .
From 2001 to 2011 the series Smallville (217 episodes, ten seasons) ran, which was about Clark Kent's youth and took up many elements of the Superboy comics, but deliberately omitted the name Superboy . Clark Kent was played by Tom Welling .
Litigation
The Superboy character has long been the subject of a legal battle between the Time Warner corporation and the descendants of its inventor Jerry Siegel. Siegel's heirs claim that the character originally published by DC was Siegel's own creation and was thus his intellectual property. The DC makers had first rejected a draft submitted to them by Siegel and then used it - without first obtaining Siegel's consent.
In 2006, US federal judge Ronald SW Lew ruled that Siegel's heirs had a right to renew their copyright to Superboy and did so on November 17, 2004. Warner Brothers appealed the judgment. The court upheld a 2001 agreement between Siegel's heirs and Warner-owned DC Comics that Siegel's heirs had challenged. Under this agreement, Warner not only owns the rights to other Superman films, but also to Superboy.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The later destruction of Krypton, which is an integral part of the Superman myth, is traced back in this story to the fact that the nuclear bomb attack destroyed the geothermal stability of Krypton's core with a delay and set in motion a long-term development that began centuries later in the natural disaster which culminated in the destruction of the planet.
- ↑ Brief information on warholstars.org ( Memento of the original from February 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
