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DC Anniversary Celebrations
Superboy: A Celebration of 75 Years
When Superman was introduced to comics readers, he established a new superhero strong, courageous, optimistic, yet humble. Fans couldn't get enough of him and they wanted to learn more about the formative years of Clark Kent. Thus, Superboy was born.
Superboy had many adventures growing up in Smallville, Kansas, and he also became a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, but eventually the Boy of Steel had to grow up into the Man of Steel. However, that wasn't the end. Through the decades, talents such as Jim Shooter, Gerry Conway, Geoff Johns, and Brian Michael Bendis have picked up the torch from original creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and have found inventive ways to introduce new Superboys with their own distinct powers and personalities.
A Celebration of 75 Years honors the Boy of Steel's legacy by collecting over 400 pages of tales from Kal-El's early years in the Midwest, his futuristic escapades with the Legion of Super-Heroes, and the further adventures of characters who have gone on to bear the title of Superboy such as the brash clone Conner Kent; the tragic Superboy-Prime; and the funloving son of Lois Lane and Clark, Jonathan Kent.
Superboy had many adventures growing up in Smallville, Kansas, and he also became a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, but eventually the Boy of Steel had to grow up into the Man of Steel. However, that wasn't the end. Through the decades, talents such as Jim Shooter, Gerry Conway, Geoff Johns, and Brian Michael Bendis have picked up the torch from original creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and have found inventive ways to introduce new Superboys with their own distinct powers and personalities.
A Celebration of 75 Years honors the Boy of Steel's legacy by collecting over 400 pages of tales from Kal-El's early years in the Midwest, his futuristic escapades with the Legion of Super-Heroes, and the further adventures of characters who have gone on to bear the title of Superboy such as the brash clone Conner Kent; the tragic Superboy-Prime; and the funloving son of Lois Lane and Clark, Jonathan Kent.
440 pages, Hardcover
Published July 7, 2020
12 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Jerry Siegel
619 books81 followersJerome "Jerry" Siegel, who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S. Fine, was the American co-creator of Superman (along with Joe Shuster), the first of the great comic book superheroes and one of the most recognizable icons of the 20th century.
He and Shuster were inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993.
He and Shuster were inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 29, 2025
This 2020 anthology commemorates three-quarters of a century of the titular junior superhero via a selection of comic book issues from across that span. In fact, it turns out that four different Kryptonians have each worn the mantle of Superboy at one point or another, all of whom are represented here: there's Clark Kent himself as a young man (having origin adventures roughly similar to TV's Smallville), a parallel-universe version of him eventually known as Superboy-Prime, a later clone named Conner who adopts the S.B. title too, and finally Superman's own son Jon.
It's an interesting history, thankfully accompanied by a few interstitial pages from writer Karl Kesel explaining and contextualizing such matters. I haven't read very widely in DC Comics myself, but I love hearing about how any fictional mythos builds up over time like that. It's especially neat in the earlier installments to see the introduction of elements and individuals like Krypto the superdog, Lana Lang, and the futuristic Legion of Super-Heroes who will go on to be somewhat iconic in the canon.
With that being said, I do have some caveats here. This isn't an omnibus, so the selected stories often have huge gaps between them, which is a particular problem in the pieces from the past few decades, when comics have grown highly serialized. Whereas the initial tales are basically standalone, the more recent ones presented in this fashion feel confusing and incomplete -- containing extraneous links to larger ongoing narratives that aren't readily comprehensible in isolation, and generally not even coming to any immediately satisfying conclusion. The overall result becomes more of a piecemeal sampler, which rather undercuts my enjoyment in the end.
Admittedly those contents were never meant to be read this way, but then again, I'm not rating or reviewing them in their original runs. As an intentionally-designed production itself, the present volume doesn't exactly sell me on the charms that it's aiming to.
[Content warning for gun violence, domestic abuse, and gore.]
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It's an interesting history, thankfully accompanied by a few interstitial pages from writer Karl Kesel explaining and contextualizing such matters. I haven't read very widely in DC Comics myself, but I love hearing about how any fictional mythos builds up over time like that. It's especially neat in the earlier installments to see the introduction of elements and individuals like Krypto the superdog, Lana Lang, and the futuristic Legion of Super-Heroes who will go on to be somewhat iconic in the canon.
With that being said, I do have some caveats here. This isn't an omnibus, so the selected stories often have huge gaps between them, which is a particular problem in the pieces from the past few decades, when comics have grown highly serialized. Whereas the initial tales are basically standalone, the more recent ones presented in this fashion feel confusing and incomplete -- containing extraneous links to larger ongoing narratives that aren't readily comprehensible in isolation, and generally not even coming to any immediately satisfying conclusion. The overall result becomes more of a piecemeal sampler, which rather undercuts my enjoyment in the end.
Admittedly those contents were never meant to be read this way, but then again, I'm not rating or reviewing them in their original runs. As an intentionally-designed production itself, the present volume doesn't exactly sell me on the charms that it's aiming to.
[Content warning for gun violence, domestic abuse, and gore.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/lesserjoke
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
July 23, 2020
If you're a fan of Superboy then you're in the right place. A pretty thorough history of the kid throughout the ages,my only wish is that there would have been a little more focus on his silver age friendships and adventures.
August 24, 2020
Nice collection & sampling of all five Superboys (4 good, one evil)
August 23, 2020
The early stories (through 1985) are best, in my opinion, though there are some nice moments in the later ones.
November 26, 2020
best book to introduce boys to science (script take ideas from popular sience) technology (ideas from popular mechanics) and science fiction
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November 26, 2020recomendable para interesar niños en temas de la escuela ya que los datos son sacados de popular science, popular mechanics y revistas de historia
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews