Superboy Book One: Trouble in Paradise

Superboy (1994) #0-10

by Karl Kesel, Tom Grummett (Illustrator)

Spinning out of the classic graphic novels DEATH OF SUPERMAN and REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN, Superman's clone is flying solo in his own series, SUPERBOY BOOK ONE: TROUBLE IN PARADISE! Collected for the first time ever, Superman writer and artists Karl Kesel, Tom Grummett, Doug Hazlewood and others introduce the new Superboy to the world, and if you ask the Boy of Steel, the world couldn't be luckier.

Wanting to be his own hero, Superboy embarks on a world tour only to settle in the state of Hawaii. Along with his companions Roxy, Rex and Dubbilex, Superboy settles down in the island paradise, declares himself the Hero of Hawaii and looks forward to basking in his superhero fame.

Like many well laid plans, Superboy's life quickly becomes more complicated than he could ever image. Stricken by the clone plague ravaging Metropolis, Superboy must fight his own rogues gallery, including the likes of Knockout, Sidearm, Scavenger, the Silicon Dragons and King Shark.

Features SUPERBOY #0-10.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Comic Book, Superman, Superheroes

272 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1994

About the author

Karl Kesel (Victor, New York) is an American comics writer and inker whose works have primarily been under contract for DC Comics. He is a member of Periscope Studio. In 2017, he started Panic Button Press with Tom Grummett to publish the creator-owned graphic novel Section Zero.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was OK. The stories aren't very strong. Most of the issues consist of Superboy macking on girls until the villain appears. Two issues are part of a larger crossover, When World's Collide, where the DC and Milestone universes merge. Superboy gets the clone plague and unfortunately that gets resolved in another comic not collected here. It's very frustrating. Tom Grummett's art is good. He appears to be in full on John Byrne mode here.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting start to a new Superman family member. Good art and writing. Recommended

[SzaraReadsComics · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like Kon but it is quite prominent that's it's not a new book with the female sexualisation and else everything wrong with most 90s comics. But It was pleasant to read something set in Hawaii instead of a typical superhero city, despite the omnipresent women in bikinis. I have a soft spot for this kind of art so the "old" style was a plus for me. It's a shame it collects only strictly"Superboy" issues as some of them were parts of bigger events/crossovers and we were given just parts of a story.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really want to give this a higher rating as some of the stories are my favourites of my youth, the first 5 or so issues.

6 & 7 are parts of the Milestone crossover "Worlds Collide" and suffer as part of a collection without the other parts.

The collected issues even proclaim "Stop! Don't read this until you've read ... ". A bit hard when it's not collected eh?

8 is a zero hour crossover, 0 recaps the origin and 9 & 10 are by guest artist Hubert Ramos.

3 1/2 is about the right rating imo.

Looking forward to more volumes.

[Ryan Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up for nostalgia. This was my jam as a preteen in the ‘90s, but some things are better left as fond memories. Revisiting this now was a big bummer. Basically if you made a list of everything wrong with ‘90s comics, they’ll all be in here.

I can’t help that I loved this as it was coming out and he’ll always be my Superboy. But I should have left this one in the past.

[Clay Bartel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I own the first 13 single issues or this run. Think this volume came out shortly after I collected those single issues... I love the idea, fashion and character of 90s superboy, not sure if this series got better as it went on ... if they collect more volumes I'll likely get it. But I stopped collecting the singles cause the story was not complex enough. Felt very freak of the week ... not a big enough complex story arc and when the cross over starts I decided that I wasnt interested in exploring further. Since I wanted a story contained within the series...

It's fun though. Between 3 and 4 stars, will collect the second volume if released for sure.

Also looking forward to the three new DC Universe volumes of young justice that feature this 90s fashioned Superboy.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first favorite comic when I was a kid, so I'm glad to see it collected finally (here's hoping there are more volumes coming). I'm even happier that it holds up (though not terribly surprised, as I've reread the originals a few times since they were first published) with dynamic action, funny humor, strong characters, and memorable villains. Kesel laid so many seeds in these early issues, and Grummett draws the heck out of it.

[Shadowdenizen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-Read from original issues.

While I try to be honest and disclosure in my reviews, fair warning; this review may be written thru rose-colored glasses, as both COnnor Kent/Kon-El Superboy, and this run in particular are absolute guilty pleasures for me! (I still have the complete run bagged and boarded in my long-boxes.)

That said.. This books is VERY 90's, which is both a good and a bad thing! Spinning out of the "Death/Return of Superman", they strive to separate Superboy from the "Standard" Metropolis setting of the Superman-family books, and it mostly works pretty well. (In true 90's fashion there's definitely undertones of sexualization in this title, especially in early going.)

These issues are mostly fun standalone issues, establishing the personality of Superboy, and introducing (or re-introducing) the supporting cast, including Dubbilex, Roxy Leech, Tana Moon, and villians such as Knockout, King Shark, and the Silicon Dragons.

OVerall a fun, entertaining read, made even better by the art of Tom Grummet. (I've always adored his art, and for me, he has the seminal depiction of this incarnation of Superboy.)

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primeiro eu preciso dizer que foi uma sábia decisão da PaniniTM mudar este encadernado de capa dura para capa cartão. Acredito que assim a vida da publicação acabe durando mais do que se fosse com hardcover. Estamos vivendo no Brasil um revival dos anos 1990 em que qualquer material daquela época que as editoras lancem viram hype. O Superboy do Havaí, Con-El, faz parte desse buzz. Suas histórias são charmosas, mas não passam muito disso. Mesmo quando deveriam ter um humor mais mordaz, como no caso da tentativa de fazer uma animação baseada nele, na edição 4, a coisa fica bem morna. As aventuras são legais, sim, mas parecem não ser o suficiente. Além disso temos duas edições que se relacionam com a saga Mundos Colidem, crossover com a Milestone, que o leitor entra e sai sem entender nada. Poderiam ter ficado de fora do encadernado e dado espaço para novas histórias. Destaque para a trama relacionada com Zero Hora em que o Superboy do Havaí enfrenta o Superboy Original, muito bem trabalhada. Em geral o encadernado tem histórias boas, na média, okays.

[Highland G · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would have got 3 starts but since it has many unfinished stories due to only containing the Superboy issues and not the vital crossing issues from other books its barely gets a 2.
This book was ok but I couldn’t decide because focusing on its own story development or jumping into many an (incomplete) crossover arc.
I would recommend you Skip this and read Young Justice instead.

[Christopher (Donut) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun comics for kids of all ages.

[Liz.Loki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adding this to my shelf as a reminder that I read this comic run (all 100 issues).

From what I read so far, I like Superboy as a character but I really wish the writers didn't include a lot of weird stuff, like the fact that he was groomed by two adult women and it's written as if it's ok for this teenager to have had these gross relationships. I get it was written in the 90s but it's still not an excuse.

I did like the identity struggles Superboy deals with, though. He's a clone of Superman so he based his identity around that, he hasn't a clue of who he actually is as a person, and it's interesting to read about him slowly discovering himself.
That's why I will keep reading this comic run, despite the many things that I don't like about it. I love Superboy too much, I have to keep reading.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who grew up in Hawaii, it’s clear to me that the writers had only a superficial understanding of Hawaii. I realize that the original series came out 20 years ago, back when the entertainment industry didn’t understand how important representation is. But I’m Asian, and Hawaii has a substantial Asian population, and yet... there are no Asians in the book. At all. What’s up with that, DC?

The series has characters of Native Hawaiian descent, and the story does delve a bit into Hawaiian culture without partaking in too much white-splaining. But overall, if you’re going to have a comic book series set primarily in Hawaii, you NEED to have a writer who A) grew up in Hawaii or B) has been to Hawaii and has properly immersed themselves in the culture, NOT just as a tourist. Looking at maps of Hawaii just to include real-life locations doesn’t count.

You need writers and artists who can properly represent Hawaii’s vibrant multiculturalism. You need a writer who knows the local culture, and knows that both Native Hawaiians and Asians deserve to be represented and SEEN in any story about Hawaii (not just Native Hawaiians and white people). That wasn’t the case here.

[Bruno Poço · Rating 3 out of 5]

#1 - vs o multibraço e um monte de personagens apresentados , rex e a filha , o dubilex, o policial , a jornalista e a dançarina bem forte

#2 - a dançarina de nome ray torna se a Nocaute e desafia o superboy na porrada e rouba a lança de lono para o provocar

#3 - enfrenta necrófago um paranóico poderoso que acabou com a lança no rescaldo da luta anterior com a nocaute

#4 - uma aventura passada no episódio piloto do seu desenho animado onde rex é o protagonista

#5 - superboy está a morrer com uma doença que ataca clones mas tem de enfrentar um guerreiro voador prateado

#6 - batalha dura contra o parasita , breve aparição do super homem pois isto é parte 3 de um crossover “quando mundos colidem” com a milestone Comics

#7 - parte 8 do crossover, juntos lutam contra portal , alterador da realidade

#8 - uma anomalia relacionada com o evento zero hora , trás o superboy pre crise aos dias de hoje onde encontra o superboy actual (pouca interferência neste título o q é positivo , n ficam a faltar partes)

0# - aqui conhece o prof hamilton que lhe fornece uns óculos com raio x e visão de calor entre outras coisas que o boy passa a usar em aventuras futuras , conta tb as primeiras lembranças dele e o primeiro combate , por azar com o multibraco 😝

#9 - enfrenta o tubarão rei

#10 - surge um transmutador de nome B.E.M. , a relação entre ele e tana avança

———- os números desenhados por Humberto Ramos
———- os números do crossover mundos colidem , falta um monte de coisas , principalmente a cura para a doença dos clones

+++++ o desenho de grummet, muito byrniesc
+++++ o tom divertido da série , o boy é um género de spiderman , com piadas e tudo , e cheio de babes
+++++ os personagens secundários são muito cativantes , todos com personalidades diferentes e complementar3s

[Marcelo Soares · Rating 3 out of 5]

Que Jon Kent que nada, mermão!
Aqui é Superboy no Havaí!
No meio dos anos 90, depois da morte do Superman, a DC lançou quatro heróis "substitutos" para cobrir o lugar do Azulão, dois viraram vilões - Eradicador e Cyborg-Superman (que nome ridículo) -, dois viraram heróis - Superboy e Aço -, nenhum fez muito sucesso na vida, e todos, em algum momento, foram retconados virando conceitos cada vez mais diferentes dos originais.
De qualquer maneira, o Superboy chega no Havaí com sua trupe - empresário picareta, filha gatinha do empresário e o DNAlien Dubbilex - e a confusão começa, verdade que boa parte das histórias pode ser resumida à fórmula: Superboy tentando pegar uma gatinha até aparecer o vilão, Superboy apanhando do vilão, Superboy descobre alguma coisa sobre ele mesmo e derrota o vilão. Então não há nada demais; há o debut de dois personagens que vão voltar a aparecer na DC - Nocaute e Tubarão Rei - com diferentes níveis de sucesso; há algumas edições de crossover - When Worlds Collides com a Milestone e Zero Hora - que atrapalham um pouco, afinal não são resolvidas no encadernado.
Há todos os defeitos dos gibis da época; exceto ombreiras; porém há uma diversão que só os gibis da DC tinham, a Marvel estava muito ocupada em competir com ela mesma tentando emular o sucesso dos X-Men, é um gibi leve, divertido, bom pra ler no ônibus voltando do cursinho, não vai mudar a vida de ninguém ou a cultura quadrinística nem nada parecido, mas pra ler deitado num sofá enquanto espera o resultado de mais uma eleição que vai mudar tudo de novo pela última vez, vale.

[Mr. Stick · Rating 2 out of 5]

"TIME TO PUMP UP THE VOLUME!"
- Superboy, issue #1, page 1; (ab)using the first of many pre-millenium pop-culture catchphrases.

This book is a plethora of cringy references to the 80's and 90's interspersed with periodic superhero comic book action. Mostly, it's a graphic testament to how narrowly teenagers in the 90's were perceived by early-to-middle-aged working professionals.
Superboy's an obnoxious twerp, rockin' a 90210 haircut, a second-hand power ranger outfit and dialogue repurposed from a TGIF sitcom marathon. A shirtless Marky Mark singin' Good Vibrations would've been the cherry on top of this nostalgia sundae.
Moreover, who is this B-side cast of Cheers understudies that Superboy got stuck with. An attractive young blonde who's in love with S.B. and he straight up s@#$s on her in every issue, her dirt bag con artist dad who pretends he's some kind of talent manager and finally, an alien lookin' telepath who can't keep out of anyone's personal thoughts. Worse than the Hulk's crew.
All said, this really wasn't bad. It wasn't particularly good, but it wasn't bad. While Karl Kesel's writing was nothing special, Tom Grummett penciled the first 8 issues beautifully. Humbert Ramos took over the art in issue 9 and I wasn't impressed. The 90's was a weird time and the progression of comic art shows it. There was certainly some entertainment value, but it really shows that the people who oversaw this title were either oblivious, or had very little regard, for the kids who might read it.
Two stars.

[RJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

These first issues are fun, but things really heat up after this. In addition to these, I read the rest of the Kesel written issues in this run, making up about 60 issues. Fun, breezy dialogue even if it is a bit corny at times and he's more often than not teamed with Tom Grummett on art duties making things look nice and slick. What will really make this run shine is if you're a fan of comics legend Jack Kirby. Kesel and Grummett spend the vast majority of their run paying tribute to the master by incorporating his ideas from comics like The Fourth World, OMAC, The Demon, and Kamandi. Jack Kirby died in 1994, the year this series began. I have to imagine this would influence them in how hard they would lean into incorporating his DNA into these stories and I'm glad they did. At a time when his cultural cache was at a low point, I'm sure Kesel and Grummett helped old fans remember his amazing skill and imagination while introducing new fans to his far out concepts. Kirby the man may be gone, but with creators like these keeping his spirit of invention alive, what he was can never truly die.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you know what should really screw up a trade of the first ten issues of a trade? Crossovers. It never struck me at the time just how many of them there were in the first year of this title when I first read them. Maybe because I was reading Superboy and the four main Supertitles at the time.
It is annoying that it doesn't include them or at least a summary page.

Another thing that can ruin a book's first year is fill in issues. And this one has two and a half. Tom Grummett was getting a tad overworked what with a double sized all hands-on deck issue over in the super titles PLUS that summer's upcoming annuals where he was contributing to both The Adventures of Superman and the Superboy annuals.

But it helps that one of the fill ins was by Batman Adventures artist Mike Parobeck (an artist who dies far too soon). And say what you will about Humberto Ramos as a person, he knows how to draw a comic.

This issue rises above the nostalgia of the early to mid 90s. It remains as fun now as it was then. It is the type of title I wish DC and Marvel still did.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected to hate this because this era's Superboy was always a joke to me but I had a good time with this. Its basically about Superboy trying to carve out his own piece of the superhero world by heading to Hawaii. It is pure 90s goofiness and its fun for the most part. There are some decent antagonists debuting here (King Shark & Knockout). The book did suffer from DC editorial throwing part of a bigger crossover in this collection. There was also some odd things like Superboy's relationship with Tana while he's underage, his insane and overt horniness that everyone seems okay with, and the coloring on the Hawaiians. Tom Grummett's art was classic and very nostalgic. Overall, a fun and silly read.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't say I was ever the biggest Superboy fan, but his series was a bit of fun. This trade wasn't due to the nature of the issues collected. There were two seemingly random chapters from a multi-part crossover, a Zero Hour tie-in, and a clone plague storyline that was settled in a different title. As such, the collected issues read as choppy stuff with plot points missing because said plot points never appeared in this particular reprinted series.

[Nicolas · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is kind of dumb run, but what really kills it is DC's maddening approach to collecting issues. Like many of their collections it included impartial crossovers. They even left the "don't read this unless you've read the first half" banner on one of the issues. It's insane. I will say, I loved the Zero Hour bit with Silver Age Superboy. I guess I should give this props for reminding how much I like old-school Superboy.

[Echoes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The individual issues were highly entertaining but there was not a lot of cohesion to them. Those first issues of the Superboy comic involved a lot of crossovers with other titles and this collection only gave issues 0-10 of the main comic. I was looking for a complete story and was left hanging half the time. But it was a trip seeing the early days of Conner Kent before he became the character I love from Teen Titans. “Tactile Telekinesis!”

[Tee-Jay Ndjoze-Siririka · Rating 5 out of 5]

SuperBoy IS THAT DUDE

What can I say. One of my favourite heroes come to life.
This books doesn't make you miss Superman.
THIS is really about building Superboy's image and it's perfect.
I won't lie I kind of enjoyed his relationship with Tana. She's more was Lois lane and that is better. He gets her and she gets him.

Make this a film.

I do have one request. I NEED MORE VOLUMES!!!

[Gus Casals · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very fond memories of this run, but the collection doesn't really do it any favors. Within 11 issues, at least are three full blown crossovers with non-included series and issues.
Kessel is a great writer and the dialogue is funny but has dated quite a bit. Gorgeous art by the always reliable Tom Grummet.

[ISMOTU · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new Superboy for a new generation. The 90's hits hard in this first volume by Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett. He leaves Metropolis and ends up in Hawaii learning about his powers and the meaning of heroism at the same time. Fun stuff.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story itself started out well enough but then the story was pulled into crossovers and the format of this book only included Superboy issues. Missing stories for several issues killed my interest halfway through. I would not recommend this for anyone wanting a complete story.

[Summer Seeds · Rating 5 out of 5]

90's Superboy is my absolute favorite!

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty enjoyable. Issue #4 was absolutely hilarious.

[Richie Cheese · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate Tana Moon with a passion GET AWAY FROM THAT 16 YEAR OLD

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more as Connor Kent is such a good character but so many of these stories feel really middle of the road.