Superboy (Kon-El)

Superboy
Superboy flies into action. Art by Mike McKone.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Adventures of Superman #500 (June 1993)
Created by	Karl Kesel Tom Grummett
In-story information
Alter ego	Kon-El
Species	Kryptonian/Human hybrid (Formerly metahuman clone)
Place of origin	Earth
Team affiliations	Project Cadmus The Ravers Legion of Super-Heroes Team Superman Young Justice Teen Titans
Notable aliases	Conner Kent, Carl Krummet, "The Metropolis Kid", Experiment 13, "Superman", The Boy of Steel, The Teen of Steel, Kid, Project: Lionel, S.B.
Abilities	(advanced) hand to hand combatant Tactile telekinesis Kryptonian powers: Flight Invulnerability Superhuman speed Superhuman strength Superhuman hearing X-ray vision Heat vision Telescopic vision Super breath

Superboy (Kon-El) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe. A modern update of the original Superboy (who is a younger version of Superman), the character first appeared in Adventures of Superman #500 (June 1993), and was created by writer Karl Kesel and artist Tom Grummett.

Originally a metahuman clone of human origin genetically engineered to look like Superman with simulated powers, he was retconned in Teen Titans vol. 3, #1 (September 2003) as a Kryptonian/human hybrid clone of Superman and his arch nemesis Lex Luthor.

Fictional character biography

Origin

After the death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday, Project Cadmus Executive Director Paul Westfield wanted to create a clone replacement of Superman that would follow the agendas of Project Cadmus as well as his own personal agenda. Failing to acquire the bodies of Superman and Doomsday by federal authority when Lex Luthor and his security force Team Luthor puts a halt to their plans, a Cadmus team secretly steals Superman's body from the tomb with Westfield overseeing the entire operation. Superman's body was sent to the Project Cadmus genetic research facility to begin the planning stages of creating the clone in secret via a DNA sample from Superman and implanted brain pattern scans taken when Superman was alive by the genetically engineered "DNAlien" Dubbilex. After the Guardian discovered what Westfield had done, Westfield was able to convince him that it was for a noble purpose. Unable to create a clone because it was impossible to obtain a direct DNA sample from Superman's indestructible body, and because the usual cloning techniques were useless on his alien physiology, Superman's body was given an electron capillary scan by the other directors of Cadmus formerly known as the Newsboy Legion. They were able to use the results of the scan along with educated guesswork to create data stored on a disc that contained a close approximation of Superman's actual genetic code data. While the scanning team wanted to test the experimental "digital DNA" and thought about a suggestion made by the Guardian to make clones of the Guardian to fill the void during the DNA testing, Westfield wanted to create the clone of Superman immediately. He sends Auron, a cybernetic super-soldier cloned from the Guardian and created by Westfield's secret genetic engineering team, to retrieve the disk by force via the code word "Sanction Blue". Before Westfield could obtain the disk, the clones of the original Newsboy Legion convinced Auron that he was just like the original Guardian based on having a link with him via his DNA. He rebels against Cadmus and departs with the digital DNA disk to protect Superman's legacy.

After the Auron situation and the retrieval of Superman's body by Lois Lane, the Matrix Supergirl, and Lex Luthor, Westfield and his secret genetic engineering team went by other means to create a Superman clone that they could immediately rush into production. Instead of a direct clone of Superman, they decided to genetically alter a human clone to look like Superman and made the clone to be the closest human equivalent to a Kryptonian as they could based on their research. Carl Packard, the project head of Auron's creation, was the project head for the clone's creation and was given full authority to explore whatever methods to create the clone while Westfield provided him with the sole DNA cellstock that he felt would make the clone easier to control. During their research when they had Superman's body, Westfield's scientists discovered a bio-electric aura surrounding Superman's body that provided some of Superman's powers such as invulnerability, flight through a form of self-telekinesis, protection from getting dirty and protection from skin-tight clothing to be damaged. The aura was translated into a telekinetic field for a human that would give the clone the ability to simulate Superman's powers such as flight, invulnerability, and strength. This was later known as "tactile telekinesis" by the scientists. After twelve failed attempts, the clone known as Experiment 13 was grown from a single cell to a teenage boy in less than a week and was a complete success. The clone was given implanted memories and underwent an artificial maturation process intended to match the age of the original Superman. This clone was released from his cloning tube too early, however, and emerged as a teenager. While at first calling himself "Superman", he would later be known as Superboy.

Superboy (1993-2002)

A Superboy series debuted in 1994 and lasted for 100 issues, ending in 2002. Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett were the creative team for the majority of the first 30 issues. Ron Marz took over as writer of the series from issues #31 through #41 with a few other issues penned by him after his run on the series. Eddie Berganza wrote issue #44 and Barbara Kesel took over writing duties from issues #42 to #49. Kesel and Grummett returned to the book in issue #50.

Young Justice (1998-2003)

Superboy is a founding member of Young Justice, a group of teenage heroes who intended to one day be the next Justice League.

Superboy first encountered his future teammate Robin after the latter called Rex Leech requesting Superboy's help in defeating Metallo in Gotham City while Superboy was judging the first "Miss Kryptonite" pageant in Hawaii. While Superboy and Robin seemingly defeated Metallo, Poison Ivy takes control of Superboy. Robin follows Superboy and Poison Ivy to Kauai, where Poison Ivy released vines all over the island. Metallo shows up in Kauai as well and the team of Superboy and Robin defeated them. It was during this that Superboy discovered that he had a weakness to Kryptonite radiation that made him sick in the presence of it as guessed by Professor Hamilton. He also teamed up with future Young Justice member Captain Marvel Jr. against mental projections of Knockout, Chain Lightning, Captain Nazi, Silversword, Superman, and Captain Marvel.

Although Young Justice's first mission was technically the rescuing of the metahuman ghost-girl, Secret, the group did not officially form until an incident in which the world's adult population was kidnapped and transfers them to a copy Earth, by a pre-teen with godlike powers. Teaming up with Robin and Impulse, the three teen heroes manage to defeat Bedlam and return everything to normal. Soon after, they agreed to form an official team, dubbed "Young Justice" by the media. Soon after they are joined by Secret, Arrowette, Wonder Girl, and others. Although Superboy and Robin begin with an argumentative relationship similar to the one shared by Superman & Batman as well as leadership struggles, they became allies and friends. Superboy and Wonder Girl's relationship is developed throughout Young Justice. At first, Wonder Girl's infatuation with Superboy is unnoticed. In the final issue of Young Justice, both Wonder Girl and Superboy reveal they have feelings for each other. After the events of Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day and the apparent death of Donna Troy, Young Justice disbands with Superboy, Robin, Impulse, and Wonder Girl going their own separate ways.

Teen Titans (2003-2006)

Cover of Teen Titans (vol. 3) #2 (2006). Art by Mike McKone.

Now based in Smallville with a new civilian identity as Clark Kent's cousin "Conner Kent", Superboy is asked by Superman to accept Cyborg's invitation to join a new incarnation of the Teen Titans with his former Young Justice teammates Robin, Impulse, and Wonder Girl. Also on the team are Teen Titans veterans Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy. Superboy is retconned from the original premise of a human clone of Paul Westfield with restructured DNA (based on a genetic template from Roxy Leech) to a hybrid of Superman's Kryptonian DNA and Paul Westfield's human DNA. After the new team gathers at Titans Tower in San Francisco Bay, it is revealed via an email sent to Robin that Superboy's human DNA is not from Paul Westfield but from Superman's foe Lex Luthor.

During Superboy's first adventures with the Teen Titans, his Kryptonian powers start to manifest. In a battle with Jericho, Superboy's body gets possessed by him and Jericho was able to exhibit heat vision and other Superman-like powers. At first Superboy seems to have a hard time controlling his powers but he soon adjusts. Later, during Wonder Girl and Conner's first date, Superboy is forcibly sucked through a time portal to the 31st century.

When Superboy reappears, he is wearing the classic Superboy outfit (with a Legion belt buckle). This was the result of 31st century minions of Darkseid stealing Earth's mightiest heroes from the past and turning them into warriors of the future Apokolips. Because Conner is a clone of Superman, he is mistakenly taken, because they thought he was actually Kal-El. When their error is realized, Conner is left drifting in 31st century space. Conner is found by Phantom Girl's mother and the United Planets and is soon formally inducted into the Legion of Super-Heroes. When Conner is seen by the people of the 31st century, he is revered as a great legend of the Superman mythos. He then helps the Legion defeat Darkseid and his corrupted heroes, which consist of Superman, Green Lantern, Orion, Wonder Woman, Lobo, Big Barda, Firestorm, White Martian, and Hawkwoman, who were abducted and manipulated into his service. After Darkseid and his minions are defeated, the Legion returns the past heroes to their proper places in time (as seen in the "Foundations" storyline in The Legion #25-30). Conner suffers from short term memory loss after his time jump and cannot remember exactly when he vanished from the past. Because of this, Brainiac 5 refuses to send him back until they discover his point of departure. After months of probing Conner's mind, Saturn Girl finally discovers the point at which he left the past. With this newfound information, Superboy is sent back to the 21st century a second or two after he left.

It appears to Cassie as though he was only away for a couple seconds, but Superboy has spent five months in the 31st century with the Legion of Super-Heroes fighting the Fatal Five-Hundred. He returns to enlist the help of the Titans, bringing them to the future where they help the Legion to victory.

On the return trip home, they accidentally arrive ten years in the future instead of the present. The Teen Titans meet adult versions of themselves. Superboy finds that he is now Superman, Tim is Batman, Cassie is Wonder Woman, and Bart is the Flash. In this alternate future, Conner has greater control of his powers, Cassie chooses him over Captain Marvel Jr., Lex Luthor is his mentor/father figure, and the Titans are "freakin' bad guys".

They discuss the possibility of breaking up the team when they get back to the present, but Cyborg 2.0 tells them that the future developed the way it did because the team was not together during the "Crisis".

Brainiac and Luthor lead an attack against the young heroes of the Teen Titans and the Outsiders using a brainwashed Superboy and Indigo. Luthor reveals that the reason he had donated his DNA to help create Superboy was to create a sleeper agent that he could use to destroy Superman. He revealed that he was involved with "Project: Superman" (a.k.a. "Project: Lionel"), and he had implanted verbal commands into Superboy under Cadmus director Paul Westfield's nose. This eventually led to near disaster, as Luthor was able to "unlock" the potential of Kon-El.

Under Luthor's influence, Superboy's power magnitude was at a level he rarely displayed on his own. Conner defeats his team, including tearing Cyborg apart at his mechanical pieces, breaking Robin's arm, and savagely beating his own girlfriend. He then shakes off the brainwashing.

Afterwards, Conner takes a leave of absence from the Titans and secludes himself in the Kents' home. He is unsure as to whether or not, being a clone, he even has a soul. There, Raven shows him that he had a young soul that was stronger than his inner demons and steadily growing.

Infinite Crisis: The Death of Superboy (2005-2006)

In the DC Comics' limited series Infinite Crisis, the other-dimensional Superboy-Prime watches Conner during his seclusion in Smallville. Resentful of Conner, who he claims has lower standards than his own despite a seemingly perfect life, Superboy-Prime attacks him, telling him that he should be his replacement.

Possessing an apparent strength advantage, Superboy-Prime pulverizes Conner, badly injuring him, until the Teen Titans, Doom Patrol, and Justice Society of America join the fray, leading to a climactic battle where various Flashes pull Superboy-Prime into the Speed Force.

The battle against Superboy-Prime overtaxes Conner's body. His body begins to fall apart to the point that even JSA physician Doctor Mid-Nite cannot aid him. Knowing that Lex Luthor wants to keep Superboy alive as much as the Titans do, Robin leads Speedy, Wonder Girl, and Beast Boy to find a cure, while Raven keeps watch over him.

The Titans succeed, and they immediately administer the cure to Conner, who makes a complete recovery; however, Luthor informs Robin it will only work that one time.

In the Teen Titans Annual, Wonder Girl volunteers to look after Conner as he recovers while the other Titans are called away to organize the relief effort in a decimated Blüdhaven, since her powers are slowly vanishing due to events in Wonder Woman and Infinite Crisis. Conner awakens, and he and Wonder Girl spend time alone, reminiscing and longing for "simpler times".

Thinking this may be their last night together, the two consummate their relationship in the Kent barn. The two of them are later discovered by Jonathan and Martha Kent.

The death of Superboy. Art by Phil Jimenez from Infinite Crisis #6 (2006).

Luthor gives Conner the means to find Alexander Luthor, a sliver of the crystalline construct that Alexander is using to monitor reality. Superboy leaves a powerless Cassie in the care of the Kents in order to respond to a distress call from Titan's Tower in San Francisco. There he meets up with Nightwing, who sent the call. Being the only two heroes available to deal with the situation, Conner and Nightwing bond as they make their way north to Alexander's fortress. Conner and Nightwing are later rejoined by a now repowered Wonder Girl and together they infiltrate Alexander Luthor's base and foil his plans. They free Martian Manhunter, Power Girl, Black Adam, Lady Quark, Nightshade, Breach, and The Ray, but the tide of the battle turns with the return of Superboy-Prime.

Superboy-Prime makes short work of many of the heroes and then turns his sights on Nightwing. Before Prime can touch Nightwing, an enraged Conner attacks him. Conner and Superboy-Prime battle intensely, until Prime catches one of his punches, crushing Conner's right hand in the process. Despite being vastly overpowered, Conner fights bravely and defiantly manages to hold his own for a time. In a last-ditch effort Conner rushes into Superboy-Prime, sending both of them headlong into Alexander Luthor's multiverse tower.

The machine explodes, re-merging the worlds and apparently foiling Alexander Luthor's plans for good. Conner, fatally injured from the explosion, lies dying in the arms of Wonder Girl. When Cassie tells him that he had saved the Earth, Conner replies, "I know, Cass. Isn't it cool?" Moments later, he dies. Batman, Wonder Woman, Kal-El, Nightwing, and Kal-L arrive, too late to save Conner's life. Later, Superman mourns Conner's death while cradling his body.

Conner was buried under his civilian name in Metropolis, alongside the bodies of Kal-L (the Earth-Two Superman) and his wife Lois Lane Kent, for over a year.

Crisis aftermath (2006-2009)

In 52, although Conner is dead, he is not forgotten. Wonder Girl leads a memorial broadcast over the Internet, and she and hundreds of others pay their final respects to Conner in a traditional Kryptonian way. It is revealed that the mourners are part of a resurrection cult supposedly based on Kryptonian theology, which Wonder Girl and Ralph Dibny refer to as the "Cult of Conner". Dibny hypothesizes that the cult and Wonder Girl are responsible for defacing the tombstone of his wife Sue Dibny with an inverted Superman insignia (the insignia is the Kryptonian symbol for hope; when inverted, it is the symbol for resurrection). Wonder Girl later encounters the strange, enigmatic hero called Supernova. Cassie introduces herself but is confused that he does not recognize her. When Supernova flies away, she calls him "Kon-El."

Three weeks later, surveillance footage is shown to Lex Luthor by an enthusiastic scientist who assumes that Kon-El is still alive. Luthor dismisses this belief, convinced that Supernova is not Kon-El but Superman. In week 37, it is revealed that Supernova is not Conner but in fact Booster Gold.

In Week 51, Batman and Robin return from their journey across the globe. When the heroes appear at Superboy's memorial on the first anniversary of his death, Robin is wearing a new costume using colors of black and red from Superboy's last uniform. Wonder Girl also changes her costume to honor Superboy as well, wearing a Golden Age Wonder Woman-themed T-shirt and denim jeans.

Superboy memorial statues are erected in Metropolis next to Superman's statue and in San Francisco outside of Titans Tower. One year later, Lex Luthor still mourns Conner's death as he considers him his own son. Meanwhile, unknown to his teammates or even Superman, Robin is attempting secretly to recreate Superboy using DNA from Superman and Luthor. Robin has a glass case memorial to Conner, which contains Conner's last costume, the jeans and S-shield T-shirt, similar to the memorial Batman keeps for the second Robin, Jason Todd. Supergirl took another one of his other T-shirts from the Kent farm and gave it to Wonder Girl.

Robin immediately wonders if Raven may be able to resurrect Superboy, as she has done recently for Jericho. However, Raven explains that she cannot since Superboy's soul has transcended into another plane of existence.

New Krypton and return to the Titans (2009-2010)

Superman writer James Robinson stated in an interview that Superboy was originally going to star in Action Comics, following the departure of Superman to New Krypton.

Since his return, Conner has been seen playing a supporting role in the Superman story arc Man of Valor starring Mon-El, who has been filling in for Superman as the Man of Steel is on New Krypton. Mon-El asks Conner to enter the Fortress of Solitude using his DNA from Superman and retrieve his rocket from Daxam. Conner and Mon-El join a secret team of Legion of Super-Heroes in the present. They go to New Krypton to help defeat Brainiac without destroying the bottle cities that will one day join the United Planets and are the future home of the members of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

In Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton, Superboy teams with the Legion of Super-Heroes, assisting them with their mission. However, Zod orders for the arrest of the team, branding them "terrorists." However, Superboy and the Legion quickly subdue the Kryptonian soldiers, only to be attacked by Supergirl's mother Alura, who mistakes him as a terrorist, based on her previous experience with Superwoman. After this controversy is cleared up, Superboy joins Supergirl and the Legion to enter Brainiac's ship. In the ship, Superboy encounters Lex, who shrinks him, placing him in the bottle of the re-shrunk Kandor. There, he would find himself at odds with Zod, who subdues Conner, and leads his army out of the bottle with sun crystals. Superboy is eventually freed from the regrown bottle by Supergirl, just in time to transplant blood to an injured Superman.

Following the events of Last Stand of New Krypton, Superboy is rounded up with Guardian, Steel, Nightwing, Flamebird, and Krypto in War of the Supermen who join together to expose and stop General Lane's plans to wipe out the Kryptonians.

After Static, now a part of the DC Universe, is kidnapped while visiting his hometown of Dakota, the Teen Titans head there to rescue him. Frustrated by the lack of progress the team is having, Beast Boy phones Cyborg (now a member of the Justice League) for help. Cyborg angrily tells Beast Boy to handle his own problems, but later rethinks his position and calls Bart and Conner to S.T.A.R. Labs to talk about returning to the Titans. The rest of the Titans try to rescue Static from a massively powerful metahuman known as Holocaust, but they are easily defeated. As Holocaust prepares to finish off the heroes, Conner, Bart, and Cyborg burst through the walls, preparing to face the villain. Conner remarks that it's time for him to come out of his retirement from the Titans.

Conner desperately tries to defeat the villain, but Holocaust proves powerful enough to not only absorb almost all of Conner's attacks, but also injure the Kryptonian with his own. Conner and Bart are able to distract Holocaust long enough for the other Titans to escape, and eventually the combined might of the entire team is able to stop him. On the trip back to San Francisco, Conner asks Cassie if she is ignoring him, and she simply replies by saying that she is.

Superboy (2010-2011)

Following the conclusion of War of the Supermen, writer Jeff Lemire and Italian artist Pier Gallo launched a new Superboy series. The series begins with Conner resettling his life in Smallville, directly continuing the Adventure Comics arc. The Phantom Stranger warns Conner that a new darkness that lies within Smallville is to be unleashed in the near future. Back at school, Conner avoids Lori Luthor, as he is still unsure of his feelings for her. While walking home, Conner is confronted by Simon Valentine, a local kid who Conner has befriended, who tells him he knows his secret. Conner is then abruptly attacked by the Parasite who hopes to drain Superboy's powers and use them to kill Superman. Superboy defeats the Parasite, but his powers are shot. He and Simon are suddenly attacked by the surrounding plants and Poison Ivy appears, telling them that it is too late to save Smallville.

Conner and Simon initially believe that Poison Ivy is responsible for the plants attacking them, but she reveals that her powers, and perhaps all plant elementals, have been drained. She asks Superboy for help and he begrudgingly agrees to help her find the source leaving Simon and Krypto to guard Parasite until help arrives. Simon, feeling left out, decides to take some samples of Parasite's cells and goes back to his lab leaving Krypto to guard Parasite. In the meantime, Superboy and Poison Ivy track down the source of the mutant plants back to the barn of a farm belonging to Mr. Gillam in the center of the surrounding vegetation. when they enter they find Gillam ensnared to a huge device with what looks like a bomb and a timer.

Poison Ivy wants to remove Gillam by force, to which Superboy objects to with fear that removing him might kill him. Gillam then proceeds to tell them that they must "find the broken silo" which neither of them understand. In the meantime, Simon examines the cell samples of the Parasite and gets an idea while looking at a tank of frogs that he has been working on. Poison Ivy, who has become tired by Superboy's conscience decides to rip the wires that were coming out of Gillam's chest. Superboy is outraged, but by doing this, stops the process that was going on and regains control of her powers and is in the process of ensnaring Superboy, when Simon shows up controlling his frogs which have now been infused with the Parasite's powers.

Simon uses his frogs to overpower and incapacitate Poison Ivy, Superboy then sees that the timer on the device is about to reach zero and takes the main component and flies off to detonate it safely away. When the timer then hits zero, there is a blinding flash of light that somehow show's Conner's skeleton but otherwise does nothing and then the device melts in Superboy's hands. In the meantime, while Krypto is guarding the Parasite, something happens that sucks the Parasite into the earth. When Superboy returns to the barn, Simon discovers a tablet with strange writings on it that Simon cannot decipher.

Both Conner and Simon are wondering about the broken silo and what the hieroglyphs might mean, so then, Conner flies to the hospital with Mr. Gillam leaving Simon to guard Poison Ivy while the authorities arrive. Later that night, two men in farming outfits are talking, one of them mentions that the device worked like it was supposed to and it got a full scan of Superboy, they would never find the gateway or the broken silo and that someone, or something, called Tannarak assured him of that, and when their plot succeeded Smallville would belong to them.

The next day, something awakens Krypto at four-thirty in the morning, which in turn, awakens Conner and Martha Kent. Conner is still worried over what happened with the plants and how helpless he was to prevent the crops from being ruined. Martha tells him that he should not worry about it because the community is stronger than Conner gives them credit for. She then suggests that if he feels that strongly about it he should ask someone from the superhero community to give him a hand.

While walking to school, Conner calls Bart Allen who shows up at Conner's location. Conner suggests to Bart that there should be the first Superboy/Kid Flash race with proceeds to help those affected by the plant attack. Bart agrees to it and then tells Conner that he has been feeling a headache ever since he came into Smallville. Later that day Conner is going between classes when Simon shows up and wants to talk to him about what happened the day before.

Conner then warns him that doing so in the school was dangerous and that if he wanted to be friends with Superboy he would have to give up being friends with Conner Kent. This is something that hurt Simon's feelings. At the end of one of his classes, suddenly Superboy gets a huge headache and all of a sudden, the rest of the students at Smallville High start to pass out, all except Lori. She sees Conner stagger into a classroom where he removes his shirt and exposes his black Superboy shirt which Lori then expresses that she has suspected of Conner being Superboy for a while. She asks Superboy for help pretending that she did not see him take off his shirt, and as they are walking down the hallway a portal opens up and a boy wearing a costume comes out.

As soon as the boy came out of the portal the pain subsided and Superboy could function normally. The boy introduces himself as Sanjay Mehra, AKA Psyonic Lad. Psyonic Lad claims that he comes from the future and he "thought" his way to Superboy's time seeking him out. At that same moment three men follow the portal and one of them blasts Superboy unconscious.

A battle ensues between the armored men and Psyonic Lad as well as Superboy when he recovers. These men are adaptive and download defenses against Superboy and Psyonic Lad and the battle goes on until Simon shows up, at which point they suddenly flee back through the portal. Sanjay then tells them that they would not return since they only can travel by following his thought patterns.

They wonder why Lori was not affected by his psychic wave and after Sanjay scans her reveals that Lori has latent psychic abilities which he offers to help awaken later on with practice. Lori and Superboy agree to meet later at her house, and then takes Simon and Sanjay back to the Kent farm. Sanjay explains that he comes from the year 2216, to answer a question that Superboy had wondered about if he was a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

He also explains that the armored individuals are Science hunters, the later forms from the Science Police in modern times. He also tells them that in his future the Science Hunters are led by the Prime-Hunter who controls the world from Smallville which has become a huge city by then. He goes on to show them where he comes from using images in his mind, where he reveals that no one really knows who the Prime-Hunter is exactly but he rules the world with an iron fist from Smallville which is its own city-state in his time. The heroes there were a small resistance force, of which Psyonic Lad is a member of. Unfortunately, all the heroes were killed and Psyonic Lad is the last survivor. He traveled back in time to be tutored by Superboy on how to be a better hero.

Superboy offers to gather the Titans and go to the future with him and stop Prime Hunter but Sanjay refuses saying that it is his destiny to stop him himself. Superboy agrees to help and Martha opens her home to him. Sanjay wishes to repay their generosity to which Simon suggests to do a mental scan of Mr. Gillam. when they get to the hospital he begins, and reveals that Gillam found the tablet with the emblems and the two men that were talking before capture him. Later the two men are talking to Tannarak who tells them they just need Gillam to attract Superboy otherwise they already know everything else.

Later they are discussing what they have found out at the Kent farm where Simon decides to go home for the day and Conner shows Sanjay to his room and goes off to meet Lori. Later Conner gets to Lori's house and they talk about the feelings for each other and Conner learns that Lori smokes. Superboy then reveals that he is having problems with Cassie and that he is feeling burnt out emotionally about it to which he suggests that both he and Lori should keep their distance for the time being. This is something that does not sit well with Lori. In the meantime Psyonic Lad makes contact with a woman from his time, where he reveals that he was planning to earn Superboy's trust and enter his inner sanctum, and when the time was right he plans on killing him. Afterward, Lori sits in the field in her farm wishing that Superboy would come down and take her away to a better life, something that he never does and goes back inside hoping that maybe tomorrow he would.

The next day, Superboy is flying with Krypto thinking of all the things that have happened so far. No answers come to his head and he feels even worse over his break-up with Wonder Girl. He arrives at the starting line where he is going to have his race with Kid Flash and sees that the Titans are there watching as well, but is very disappointed when he sees that Wonder Girl is not among them, saying that even Ravager is with them. Raven gives him a look of sympathy which makes Superboy even more determined to win the race.

Pete Ross is there as the Master of Ceremonies and states that with the help of the Wayne Foundation, Steve Danton, and The Baron Winter Fund they have gathered half a million dollars to help the farmers and small business owners of Smallville that were affected by the Parasite and giant plant attacks. The race starts and Krypto goes along with them, through a path that Mister Terrific has plotted out for them. The path makes them circle the world several times over in different directions and the race is transmitted via the Justice League satellite. During their path they make stops along the way to stop robberies and defeat several supervillans like the Royal Flush Gang and King Shark. They decide to stop on top of the Giza Pyramid where Bart tries to cheer up Conner because Cassie did not show up to watch, which makes Conner feel better, but makes Bart decide to take the lead.

In the meantime, Sanjay is watching the race when he turns over to see the Titans and sees that a man is watching him. Sanjay blinks and the man is gone.

After going around several more parts in Asia and the Middle East, Superboy and Kid Flash make their way back to Smallville to the finish line, when they cross the Luthor farm. At that moment, Superboy looks over and he sees the Phantom Stranger standing there and then vanishes. Conner wonders what Lori's farm has to do with the weird things going on but shakes it off as the trio makes their way to the finish line, only to have Krypto win the race. While everyone is celebrating, Superboy tells Raven and Simon about his sighting of the Phantom Stranger and they wonder how Lori is tied into all of this.

Later that night, Lori goes outside to wait for Conner to pass by, like she always does, and gets tired and decides that she is tired of waiting for someone to rescue her. She seems to have decided to leave and drops her cigarette on the ground and goes back into the house, but what she does not realize is that right by where she dropped the cigarette is a rock with the same hieroglyphs as the kind found in Mr. Gillam's farm.

In a tie in with the Reign of Doomsday crossover, Doomsday subsequently attacks Superboy while the young hero is returning home from Titans Tower, literally appearing from out of nowhere hundreds of feet in the air. While the two fight, Superboy notes that Doomsday is significantly stronger than he was when they last met, and that he now appears to possess the ability of flight. Badly injured, Superboy attempts to fight off the creature, only to be overwhelmed when Doomsday somehow begins to mimic Superboy's trademark tactile telekinesis, which allows him to attack him from long distances. After beating Superboy into submission, Doomsday grabs him and teleports back to the ruins of New Krypton, where he enters a large alien spacecraft with his prisoner.

After Superboy returns from his battle with Doomsday, he awakens in the Kent Farm and looks outside to see complete devastation as far as the eye can see. Conner flies across the destroyed Smallville looking for signs of life and finds one person left alive, Lori. When Superboy asks for an explanation she reveals that the one that caused all this was Superboy himself. As it turns out, she was only the bait as Red Robin and a group calling themselves the New Titans were waiting there for Superboy. As Superboy demands an explanation Tim reveals that Superboy has systematically annihilated all the heroes of Earth, and he is here to claim vengeance for Batman and Wonder Girl. Superboy reluctantly fights the New Titans and then is aided by Simon who is wearing a suit similar to Lex Luthor. Simon kills the New Titans with no remorse and then kills Lori as well. This sends Conner into a rage and Simon reveals that this is how things are supposed to be since he is a Valentine and Superboy is a Luthor. After Superboy kills Simon he is confronted by Lex who congratulates him on a job well done for destroying the earth. Lex wishes that Conner embrace his Luthor heritage, and suddenly Martha Kent appears and tells him to fight it, that that is not who Conner is. After some internal struggle he turns away from it and finds that the voice that he had been hearing was not Martha, but instead, Psyonic Lad who tells him that he must use his Tactile Telekinesis to remove an alien thing that was stuck on him. Earlier Superboy and Psyonic Lad had traveled to a spaceship that was headed for earth. After going inside they found the bridge and saw the lone pilot had a strange red ooze on his chest. Psyonic Lad had suggested that Superboy remove it with his Tactile Telekinesis, which Superboy attempted to do. Unfortunately, the creature attached to him and the whole episode had been all in Conner's mind. When they returned to earth, Steel analyses the creature and remarks that it is similar to a creature that Superman encountered called the Black Mercy, which had made Superman live his greatest desires. Steel, then, dubbed this creature the Red Mercy since it made one feel his or her greatest fears. Inside the ship they found a lot of weapons as well. What troubled Steel was that he analysed the flight trajectory of the ship and saw that they were headed not just to earth, but specifically to Smallville.

The Phantom Stranger ponders that he has been waiting for the upcoming moment for centuries and also is surprised that the one that would help him complete his "greatest work" would be Superboy as he watches him fly by. He then turns into a flock of ravens and flies away. First, he heads to the Kent Farm, where Psyonic Lad is talking to the mysterious woman that sent him on his mission to kill Superboy. Sanjay is having second thoughts about killing him and implies that Conner may become the Prime Hunter in the future. the Livestock becomes agitated and goes to see what is going on and finds the flock of ravens, which Sanjay tries to read the mind of, only to discover that it is the Phantom Stranger and quickly shuts Psyonic Lad out.

Later, Simon is trying to get back to his projects that he has been neglecting as of late. As he starts to work on a weather machine the flock of ravens flies by and takes the machine that Simon was working on.

Krypto and Superboy are flying by downtown Smallville, when Krypto flies down to meet Mr. Lynch, who Conner had met in the first issue and had given him a wooden carving. Lynch asks Superboy if he had read up on Smallville's history. Superboy denies meeting him since he met him as Conner not Superboy. Mr. Lynch shrugs it off and begins to tell Superboy a story of Smallville's past during the frontier days.

In those days, the law of the town was Sheriff Nate Kent, who is presumably the Kent's ancestor, and Albert Valentine, who is presumably Simon's ancestor. Kent and Valentine were tough but fair Sheriffs, and knew there was trouble when Eben Took became a resident of Smallville. Took had been a doctor in England but had been shunned from England for his arcane practices. Took had three children who married when they grew but kept to the Took compound. One day a boy named Jonathan Talbot had disappeared and was found dead in the Smallville swamp. The thing that drew Kent to the Took was that Talbot's body had been mutilated and arcane symbols were carved into his chest. Kent and Valentine assembled a posse and headed to the Took compound. Took's children and grandchildren tried to prevent the posse from entering and started a brawl with them. One of the members of the posse then started a fire that consumed the compound that killed the entire Took family. But, Kent followed Eben Took to his concrete silo and while investigating found a trap door where he found Took and a mysterious figure performing an occult ceremony with the boy's missing parts. Took using magic closed the trap door and as Kent was exiting the building the Silo exploded.

Mr. Lynch made reference to this as 'the broken silo' that Conner and friends have been looking for since the incident with Poison Ivy, at which point Conner saw that Mr. Lynch had been taken over by the Phantom Stranger. The Stranger proceeds to warm Conner of three things, one that 'she' is in danger, two, that who Conner calls friend is not, and three that the next time they meet it won't be him but he must follow. When Conner demands an explanation Mr. Lynch falls unconscious and Simon's machine falls from the sky as the flock of ravens flies by. At that moment, Simon finds Conner and points out that everyone in town has fallen asleep standing up or doing whatever they were doing. The reason they were not affected was because Psyonic Lad shielded them from whatever the Phantom Stranger did. Conner told Simon that he knew what the broken silo was and cross-referencing maps using his GPS discovers that the farm standing where the Took compound used to be was the Luthor farm.

In the meantime Lori was out smoking in her usual spot when a flash of light from the arcane stones flashes and reveals a trap door. When she opens it a flash of light engulfs her and she screams. When Superboy, Simon and Psyonic Lad arrive, they find the trap door and the Phantom Stranger reveals that Lori was taken inside. Under the trap door they find the altar that Took used when he shut out Sheriff Kent and the Stranger reveals a stairway underneath. the stairs go down for what appears to be several miles and they are lined with a thin layer of lead to prevent presumably either Superboy or Superman from peering down inside it. When they arrive at the bottom, they find a huge cave with what appears to be a labor camp of zombies and other strange creatures.

The zombies seem to be farming strange giant plants and tending to evil looking pig creatures among other things. The Phantom Stranger goes on to explain that these creatures all work in a hive mind, and they are waiting for the time to destroy Smallville. He goes on to reveal that they are in Hollowville, and that in spite of Superman's invulnerability he would be susceptible to their magic, if he was ever to find Hollowville. They have a factory like building that is rendering the population of Smallville helpless. Psyonic Lad senses where Lori is being held captive and the Stranger separates the group in two, sending Simon and Psyonic Lad to where Lori is and he and Superboy go off to the factory. In the factory Superboy gets a better look at the creatures and sees that they are Golems made possibly from the original family members of the Took family and are being controlled by Tannarak who turns out to be one of the Phantom Stranger's oldest enemies.

In the meantime, Simon and Psyonic Lad track down where Lori is being held. As they walk Simon suggests that Psyonic Lad change his name to "Psion" to shorten his name. When they arrive to the barn where Lori is being held, she is less than pleased to see who her rescuers are, as she was hoping that Superboy would be the one to rescue her. As Lori and Simon get into an argument about the color of Simon's Parasite Frogs Psion gets a message from the woman in the future who urges him to kill Simon while he has a chance, because as it turns out, Simon will become the Prime Hunter in the future. Psion refuses to kill Simon because he has become friends with him and knows that there is good in him, the argument escalates in his mind that Lori and Simon take notice. As he tries to explain that it was just a headache they are attacked by the Parasite who is now under the employ of the Hollow Men, and with Psion disabled the rest of the Hollow Men take notice of them.

Superboy and the Phantom Stranger enter the factory building and they find that the whole building is full of hundreds of clones of Superboy. Superboy realizes that the machine is Gillam's farm was a scanning device and that is the reason they were able to clone him. The Stranger explains that they are merely hollow shells and that they are going to be filled with the souls of the people in Smallville. Superboy wonders how he knows this and the Stranger reveals that he is the one responsible for this. At that moment, Eben Took and his sons appear, and the Stranger attacks Superboy and Krypto. He tries to lunge at Took who merely swats him away with tremendous force. With Superboy defeated, the Stranger reveals that he is not the Phantom Stranger at all, and the impostor Stranger has captured the real Phantom Stranger in a magical circle.

It is revealed that in 45,025 B.C., Tannarak tried to conquer Atlantis with an army of clones, but he was stopped by a wizard named Arion along with help of the Phantom Stranger, both of whom vanquished Tannarak and his army. Later, in the 10th Century a group of Vikings were investigating a cave that had runes they could not understand. As they went deeper into the cave, the lead Viking discovers an army of soulless clones of himself. Again, the Phantom Stranger appears and reveals that the court magician Tannarak had created these clones and would use the souls of the people. Fortunately for all, Tannarak did not wait long enough between attempts so he was weak. The Vikings then made short work of the clones by burning them. In 1884, Eben Took is praying asking God why he had taken his youngest son. He is suddenly interrupted by his sons as Tannarak comes calling in a carriage. Tannarak offers to bring back his youngest son, promising that he can make life from the dead soil in Took's farm. Later on, it is revealed that it was indeed Took's children who were the ones that kidnapped Johnathan Talbot, and they took him in order to bring back their younger brother. Took is disappointed because the ritual did not work to which Tannarak replies that it is work that can take decades which angers Took. Tannarak then promises that he can make Took and his family immortal by making a blood pact with him which he accepts.

In the present, Tannarak tries to entice Superboy to do the same and lead his army. Superboy declines his offer by blasting him with his heat vision. Tannarak then stops him using his magic revealing that the souls of the people of Smallville are now floating in limbo awaiting to be put in the Superboy clones.

Tannarak reveals that he is using the souls in Limbo to power the clones and that this is the most powerful army that he has created. Meanwhile back in the barn, Simon and Lori are facing down the Parasite. They are quite worried because Psion, the only one with powers, is now unconscious. Simon tries to use his Parasite frogs on the Parasite which turns out to be futile. When the Parasite slams him against the wall, he instructs Lori to use the helmet that he has been wearing. Lori blasts the Parasite with a powerful ray that throws the Parasite into the pen with the zombie pigs. Lori is horrified that Simon casually wears this around, but Simon reveals that unfortunately it only has one charge which means they are vulnerable to the Hollow Men that are breaking down the barn doors.

Meanwhile, Tannarak is taunting the Phantom Stranger for his choice in allies and claims that he is stronger than the last time they fought. The Stranger reveals that he had been talking through Mr. Lynch the whole time that he had been captured, which was roughly around the time that he discovered Hollowville. He reveals that the wood carving that he gave Superboy as Lynch is actually a weapon in which he had stored enough of his power to escape the snare. Superboy then tosses it to him and the Stranger is set free.

Meanwhile, Simon and Lori are doing all they can from barricading themselves from the Hollow Men. Simon figures out that the Hollow Men are being controlled by a radio frequency. Back at the clone room, Superboy manages to free himself from the clutches of Took and his sons, and he then sends Krypto to destroy the radio tower on top of the building. Superboy manages to defeat Took's sons, and then Krypto takes care of Eben himself. Superboy then sees in a monitor that Lori and Simon are about to be overrun by Hollow Men and goes to the main control panel and destroys it, at the same time, Lori starts to press buttons on a scrambler that Simon was carrying, at that moment, the Hollow Men start to fall apart, both Lori and Superboy thinking they were the ones that defeated them. At that moment Psion then wakes up.

The Phantom Stranger then looms over a defeated Tannarak demanding that he release the souls of the people in Smallville to which Tannarak refuses. At that moment, Simon and the others come into the building and at that moment Psion realizes that he can feel the souls of the people of Smallville, and with the help of the Phantom Stranger he manages to release them from Limbo and then returns them to their bodies.

Defeated, Tannarak then takes the life essence from the Took family and then escapes. With Tannarak gone, Hollowville begins to fall and collapse on itself. Superboy is worried for the clones which, both the Phantom Stranger and Lori, reassure him that he is the only one that matters because unlike the clones he has a soul and that's what matters.

The Phantom Stranger then transports the group and the Parasite to the surface and tells them that he will chase Tannarak, even though he might already be gone, and with that he bids Superboy and his friends farewell. Simon questions Sanjay about what he was saying when he zoned out and Psion gives him a flimsy excuse that Simon does not believe. In the end, Superboy sits once more atop the Smallville water tower, he ponders what it would have been like to have been a normal human once more, he realizes that he is where he needs to be and surrounded by the friends that suit him just fine and realizes that he is happy with his life the way it is.

It was announced by DC comics that all of their series will come to an end and be relaunched in September 2011, and with this announcement, Superboy ends with issue 11.

Relaunch (2011-Present)

As part of the DC Comics company-wide relaunch in September 2011, Superboy will start with a new issue number 1 with a new creative team. He is now cloned by an organization called N.O.W.H.E.R.E.

The series begins as Superboy is looking out from a cryogenic tube in which he floats lost in thought, as he ponders things such as why they call him Superboy, and why they keep doing tests on him. Outside, two doctors are wondering why Superboy has never registered any brain activity, and inside, Superboy answers that it is because his thoughts are not concentrated in his brain alone, but his entire body 'thinks.'

Outside the doctors decide that Superboy is a failed experiment, and decide to do an autopsy on him, for which they are going to inject him with cyanide. Doctor Caitlin Fairchild, who is the scientist that cares about Superboy the most, thinks at him to fight, to which Superboy then bursts out of his cryogenic tube. Superboy somehow goes on to kill everyone in the laboratory and destroy it, except Dr. Fairchild, who enters the room again when the carnage finishes.

One month later, Superboy is in class, in a high school 'somewhere in the heart of Kansas', where the teacher asks a question to Superboy, to which he replies automatically, while pondering how he knew the answer. As class is dismissed for the day, he is approached by Rose Wilson, who acts very direct but very sweet towards Superboy, and they walk home together. While lost in conversation, Superboy fails to notice a house that's on fire and both Rose and he simply walk past it. Superboy then goes on about his day as he lives with the Helpworths, his adoptive family. Later it is shown that all of these events have happened in a virtually simulated world in which Dr. Fairchild is monitoring. One of the things that bothers Dr. Fairchild the most is that he passed and ignored the burning building four previous times as well, and is trying to understand why he does so and why either his human or Kryptonian donor would have chosen to live in the heartland of Kansas. As all the workers in the laboratory leave for the night, Dr. Fairchild is approached by the real Rose Wilson, who is shown to be not quite as nice, but a lot more crass than her version in the virtual world. Rose's purpose is to put down Superboy if ever he was to go out of control.

At the same time, it is shown that N.O.W.H.E.R.E has a mole that is sending information to Lois Lane. Dr. Umber is sending Ms. Lane plans of the facility that is described to go on for miles, and is an organization with mysterious objectives that is made up of different cells all over the world and control the media. Umber believes that they are being arrogant because they have Superboy on their side.

In the meantime, Dr. Fairchild is summoned because Zaniel Templar, a higher-up in N.O.W.H.E.R.E, wants to send Superboy on his first mission.

In a flashback to a month prior when Superboy escaped from his test tube, we see that he is being cradled by Dr. Fairchild, when Colonel Maudlin comes in with the intention of killing Superboy. Superboy is not worried and uses his Tactile Telekinesis to disassemble Maudlin's men's weapons and armor. He is studying them and thinking about what his next move is going to be, and when Dr. Fairchild sees that she can't talk him out of killing them, she uses her powers to throw Superboy at some of the wreckage and knocks him unconscious.

In the present day, we see that Dr. Fairchild is still concerned about sending Superboy on a mission. Templar, however, is not concerned about this, and loads him into a flying ship. Rose and Dr. Fairchild have an argument about Superboy being a killing machine. When on the plane, Superboy meets the real Rose Wilson for the first time, and realizes that she is not the kind girl that he met in the VR program. Superboy can feel that she is afraid while Rose tries to mask it. Templar comments that Rose is the only person that is treating Superboy much as a handler would treat a lion.

When they get to the place where they are going, Superboy is trying to analyze Rose and can't figure out whether she is very brave or very stupid. Both Rose and Superboy disembark from the plane. It turns out that where they are is a holding facility for powerful aliens. Superboy uses his Tactile Telekinesis and finds out that all the guards have been killed, and the perpetrators are a floor below. As the aliens bust through the floor to attack, Superboy is almost tempted to let them go, figuring that they are just as much a prisoner of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. as he is, and even though they may be killers, it is not fair they may be prisoners when Rose is running free, and she is also a killer. But for now he figures that if he does what N.O.W.H.E.R.E. wants, he might find a way to escape their clutches.

As Rose begins to attack the creatures and sees that the bullets do nothing to them, Superboy unleashes his tactile telekinesis. Unfortunately this only aggravates the two prisoners and they beat him until he is unconscious. Rose manages to kill the prisoners, when the entire building starts to shake. As it turns out, Superboy's tactile telekinesis is going haywire. From Superboy's point of view he is sensing the entire building, but the readings are so intense it is interfering with the plane's capability to fly. Rose manages to escape but the entire prison falls apart.

When Superboy wakes up he is in a pool of lava. He estimates that he is a mile below the earth's surface. He realizes that the incident in the prison was his fault and that he had panicked. He tries to stand up, but when he tries to grab on to a rock he is burned, which makes him wonder how he is able to lie in a pool of lava with no discomfort, yet when he touches something hot, he is burned. He realizes that he has to think about using his powers, and that is what makes them work. He finally figures out how to get out of the pool, but doesn't realize that he is being watched.

In the meantime, the members of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. that were observing the prison fall are wondering what to do next. Rose was being diligent about her work, and was going to track down Superboy, which she told Dr. Fairchild psychically. Both of them had the ability to do so, but Dr. Fairchild reveals that it hurt her to do so.

While all this is going on, two kids are making out near a mountain, when Superboy surfaces rather violently. At first, they are both afraid of him for what he might do to them,. When Superboy reveals that he was just passing by, when the boy hits him with a tire iron. This only angers Superboy, which makes the boy just cower behind his car. When the girl sees how cowardly her boyfriend was, she begins to flirt with Superboy. Superboy is trying to understand what she is doing, and figures that regular girls are very forward, remembering the Rose Wilson simulation, and how forward it was towards him. The girl asks Superboy to take her home which, is a few miles away, and he obliges. He picks her up and at super speed, flies her back to town. When he stops he sees that she is about to pass out from lack of oxygen to breathe. She becomes angry at him, and when Superboy tries to apologize, the nearby fountain erupts and the pipes tie Superboy up. When Superboy escapes, he sees a woman surrounded by lava is facing him down. She claims she was imprisoned in the same facility which Superboy had brought down. She reveals to him that she can tell that he is both Kryptonian and human as well. As they fight, Superboy tries to cope with the new information, holding on to the hope that he is only human. The woman tries to kill Superboy before he reaches his full potential. At that moment, she begins to melt, and Superboy is wondering if he was doing that with his powers. The townpeople come out and witness the fight, and all of them are terrified to see, what it looks to them, that Superboy killed the mysterious woman. Superboy decides to leave before he uses his powers to hurt anyone else.

When Superboy returns to N.O.W.H.E.R.E., he tracks down Dr. Fairchild. Knowing that she is probably the only one that can give him the answers that he desires, he decides to force them out of her. To his surprise, she grows in height and in muscle mass, and takes Superboy by the throat, saying that after all she has done for him, she refuses to fall to her knees and beg for her life, and that if he wants to talk power then she goes first.

It has also been shown that he will be a member of the new Teen Titans.

Powers, abilities, and equipment

Tactile telekinesis

Originally, Superboy's only superpower is a telekinetic force field that surrounds his body and granted him abilities that approximated some of Superman's powers such as super strength, flight and invulnerability. The field allowed Superboy to lift heavy objects by extending the field around him and deflect any solid object that came into contact with him. The field also allowed Superboy the ability to manipulate objects that he came into tactile contact with, bend them into any shape that he could visualize mentally, and disassemble things such as machines and other complex constructions by touch. Under Knockout's training, Superboy learned new ways to use his tactile telekinesis such as projecting telekinetic force waves to blast pieces of ground and extending his field to another person. Superboy can also manipulate solid masses such as volumes of sand or dust causing the individual particles to fly apart in an explosive manner to create particle clouds or a forceful attack. He can also perform the same with solid masses that are splintered, such as a cracked slab of concrete or fractured pane of glass. The telekinetic field also lets Superboy break free of an opponent's grip by pushing the field outward to force the opponent away and he is also able to create an air pocket around himself enabling him to breathe in outer space. In addition, he demonstrated the ability to extend his telekinetic field around other people that he touches to make them invulnerable. He also learned a trick from his older and more experienced alternate self, Black Zero, that allowed him to freeze people where they stood if he was touching the same surface that they were standing on.

The main disadvantage of Superboy's tactile telekinetic ability is that while his field could withstand physical force, the field is less effective in blocking radiant or conductive energy such as fire and laser fire. This left Superboy slightly more susceptible to energy-based attacks. While less effective against gaseous materials, he could manipulate water with a degree of difficulty and project his tactile telekinesis to create a current he could fire while underwater. He can also use his telekinetic field to deflect lava and prevent himself from being burned. Although Superboy was vulnerable to Kryptonite and magic, he was immune to the effects of a creature called "The Four-Armed Terror" which Superman was highly allergic to. Another advantage of Superboy's telekinesis is that it does not use up his solar energy like Superman's powers. In "The Final Night", the Earth's sun was being eaten by a Sun-Eater which severely weakened Superman but Superboy's power level remained the same and he was able to use his tactile telekinesis at his normal power levels.

The process that made Superboy's human physiology genetically similar to that of a Kryptonian was done in such detail that he was a living solar battery like Superman, had a weakness to Kryptonite radiation that made him physically ill, and it was theorized that there was a possibility for him to gain superpowers that did not derive from tactile telekinesis when he matured like Superman or if Superboy was aged to full adulthood as planned by Project Cadmus. As explained by his alternate timeline counterpart Black Zero and shown when Superboy himself was aged to an adult by Klarion, Superboy gained new powers such as heat vision and super hearing when he matured to full age as well as gained a higher form of increased telekinesis, strength and greater invulnerability.

In DC's new 52 universe, it seems that Superboy has not yet obtained all of his Kryptonian powers and his only abilities is his tactile telekinesis and a degree of superhuman strength ( a weight machine shows he is able to lift in excess of Three tons with no strain at all in issue 5). In this version, it seems that his tactile telekinesis is far more powerful than in previous incarnations, it now operates like regular telekinesis and beyond, letting him sense the world around him, and even seeing the world around him by extending his tactile telekinesis field outwards. It has become so powerful that when he escaped his stasis tube he managed to destroy the entire laboratory he was in, and killed everyone inside save for Dr. Caitlin Fairchild who escaped. Also, using his tactile telekinesis, he is able to maintain in the air the things that he has taken apart, and even choke people much in the style of Darth Vader and shatter windows from a distance and send out shockwaves of force. Later he has shown that his power is so immense that he managed to destroy an entire prison complex while he was unconscious, which leads to believe that he doesn't have complete control over the power.

In this version his telekinesis is closely tied to his peculiar genetic makeup, made of three different strands (human, Kryptonian and an unknown, additional strand). When the villainous Kryptonian H'El manages to disrupt his DNA, and Superman uses his Kryptonian Armor to stabilize Superboy's condition, his Tactile Telekinesis fades to nothing, replaced by Kryptonian powers and abilities.

Kryptonian powers

Main article: Powers and abilities of Superman

During Teen Titans, Superboy developed Kryptonian powers including heat vision, x-ray vision, and super-hearing. He also developed Kryptonian invulnerability. He also has developed Kryptonian level super strength, as shown when he battled the hugely powerful Superboy-Prime and even managed to damage him with some of his blows, when some characters such as Black Adam could not. When the Titans encountered their future selves, he found his future self had greater telekinetic abilities (no longer limited to tactile telekinesis), was stronger, more durable, and faster. Superboy later states that he has developed telescopic vision and eventually figures out how to use his freeze breath. It has also been shown in Teen Titans that he is much faster, traveling from San Francisco to the Arctic in less than an hour whilst carrying Nightwing. Superboy, like Superman, derives his Kryptonian powers from the absorption of solar energy from the Earth's yellow sun, and he is as vulnerable to Kryptonite and magic as is the Man of Steel.

In the Titans Tomorrow storyarc, the Kon-El Superman exhibits full Kryptonian abilities and full telekinesis with greater control of his telekinetic fields. In a fight with the future Captain Marvel, he shields himself from a magic attack, an advantage the modern Superman has never had.

A recent issue of Adventure Comics explained that since his return to life he had been trained in the use of heightened mental blocks to defend against mind control and influences, such as the brainwashing Luthor used on him. It was with this training that he was able to briefly pierce the control of the Black Lantern ring, using his heat vision to give Wonder Girl the clue needed to free him from it.

Because both Superboy and Superman as a boy absorbed less solar energy than Superman as an adult, Superboy is also less able to process the appropriate amount of solar energy as fast as Superman could: as a result, overtaxing his powers to the point of physical depletion would spell his death, as his body would literally begin to feed on itself, unable to absorb solar energy fast enough to restore itself.

Original Power Loss

After 2003 when Superboy was retconned to be a hybrid clone of Superman and Lex Luthor his original powers seemed to change without explanation. His tactile telekinesis wasn't used as much and in the small amounts that it was used, it was significantly weaker than in his 1993-2002 incarnation. His newly developed Kryptonian powers seemed to replace his tactile telekinesis altogether. Superboy claimed that he didn't use his tactile telekinesis because he wanted to be more like Superman, which is inconsistent with previous depictions of continuity. Superboy's subconscious tactile telekinetic powers gave him a level of invulnerability and strength that wasn't always portrayed after the retcon. Superboy also demonstrated a vulnerability to fire and heat on several occasions. He learned a variety of ways in which to use his tactile telekinetic powers creatively that aren't used anymore. Superboy also showed to possess advantages over Superman's powers such as needing much less solar energy to power his tactile telekinesis than Superman did to power his Kryptonian powers, as seen during The Final Night crossover when Earth's sun was being eaten and diminished Superman's powers but Superboy seemed unaffected. But in The Last Stand of New Krypton story arc Superboy was shrunken down and trapped in the bottle city of Kandor with no yellow sunlight and completely lost his powers. Whether the inconsistencies in Superboy's powers are the result of misinformed writers or of Superboy-Prime altering reality when he was trapped in Alexander Luthor's "Paradise Dimension" is unclear.

Costumes and equipment

• Original costume: In his first appearance, Superboy has a black, blue and red costume with yellow accents and the red and yellow s-shield on his chest, black boots with yellow accents, two black belts with a yellow belt on the right leg, red gloves, fade haircut. The Newsboy Legion gave him a black leather jacket that belonged to a Cadmus worker and when he signed with WGBS, he started wearing black leather jackets with the yellow s-shield on the back along with the addition of black shades and a gold earring to his outfit. He had a red cape that was left behind at Project Cadmus and he later appeared with it when he was changed into an adult during "Sins of Youth". Superboy acquires red "super-goggles" from Professor Hamilton after giving Superboy a cellular diagnostic at S.T.A.R. Labs. The goggles provided him with x-ray vision like Superman but also included other vision powers including heat vision and infrared vision capabilities. The goggles are briefly lost during a mission with the Suicide Squad and then used against Superboy by The Technician, a criminal inventor. After re-acquiring the goggles, Superboy decides to rely on his natural abilities and destroys the goggles rather than risk them falling into the wrong hands again.

• "Superboy: The Last Boy On Earth": During the "Superboy: The Last Boy On Earth" saga, his hair is grown past the shoulders with a look similar to the Jack Kirby character Kamandi; blue torn shorts, red boots, red gloves, and a stone necklace with a red and yellow "S" medallion that resembled the S-shield but was the serpentine mark of the slave trader Sacker. He is later given a blue tunic.

• Post "Sins of Youth": When he was depowered after the "Sins of Youth" storyline, his costume was a black t-shirt with red and yellow S-shield, blue pants, red gloves, red boots, and a yellow utility belt. He used a Legion flight ring to fly and later used a gold wrist guard designed by the Gadget Guru of the Hairies that was powered by the same Legion flight ring. It enabled Superboy to fly and hid a gold S-shield made of expandable alloy that Superboy used for combat. The S-shield could also be launched from Superboy's wrist guard.

• Updated Costume: His next costume is a blue and dark red outfit with a blue and red jacket of matching design, red gloves and boots with yellow accents, red shades of an advanced design, and a new haircut.

• Teen Titans look: His Teen Titans outfit and current look is a more civilian look featuring jeans and a black T-shirt with a red s-shield. He sports a contemporary short haircut. In the "Superboy and the Legion" storyline from Teen Titans, he wears the classic Superman costume, but with a Legion belt buckle. During the five months he spends in the future, he grows his hair to match Superman.

• Redesign: In the New 52 Teen Titans relaunch, Superboy will have a new costume. The costume features a sleeveless black shirt, half-fingered black gloves similar to first costume, black pants and black boots. The only trace of the S-Shield is a red barcode tattoo on his right arm.

Identities

Initially, Superboy is known as "Experiment 13". When he escaped from Cadmus, he used the name "Superman". Those who would not accept him as Superman would refer to him as "The Kid", "Superkid", and "Superboy", a name he hated. After Superman's return, Superman let him use the name "Superboy" and continue to wear the S-shield. During the time, he had no other identity, with Tana Moon calling him "Kid" and Roxy Leech calling him "S.B.". Later, Superman gives him his first real name "Kon-El" (after a descendant of the second House of El and Superman's cousin in spirit). While undercover at Montridge High, Superboy's first attempt at a human alias name is Carl Krummet, a play on the names of Kon-El's creators. When Superboy relocated to Smallville at the beginning of Teen Titans, he was given a civilian identity by Superman: Conner Kent, cousin to Clark.

Legal dispute

A March 23, 2006 court decision returned rights to the Superboy character to Jerry Siegel's heirs. The decision, issued six days before Superboy's death in Infinite Crisis #6 hit the shelves, states that the Siegels have owned 'Superboy' since November 17, 2004.

Even though DC Comics does not own the rights to the "Superboy" name, Geoff Johns and Dan DiDio have stated that the decision to kill off the character had nothing to do with the court case, and that they could have just renamed the character.^{[citation needed]} Following the conclusion of Infinite Crisis, Didio compared Superboy's death to Spock's death in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (who was subsequently resurrected), and also stated that he was "as dead as Blue Beetle".

In the Teen Titans' Secret Origins, a back-up story in the weekly 52 series, an illustration of Superboy had to be changed to one of Wonder Girl because of the legal dispute.

On the cover of Teen Titans #46, Match's insignia (a reverse version of Conner's) is obscured, and in Supergirl #18 (2007), Conner's "S" on his statue is covered. Almost all references to the character refer to him as "Conner".

Recently, it has appeared the legal status has been near dropped,^{[citation needed]} as the Superboy name has been used as normal in several books such as Teen Titans since his return in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds, with his 'S' shield no longer obscured.

In other media

Television

• The second season of the Legion of Super-Heroes television series features a future version of Superman alongside the Clark Kent version. This second Superman called Kell-El aka Superman X (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal) is a clone of the original Superman; he's from the 41st century and was created to oppose the villainous being Imperiex. Kell-El has a different variety of powers than Superman and is immune to kryptonite due to it being a part of him. The character's concept is based on the Kon-El Superboy, Eradicator, and Lar Gand, wearing a costume that is similar to Kon-El's costume from Superboy #83, worn towards the end of his series and before Young Justice was disbanded.

Superboy as he appears in Young Justice.

• Superboy makes his first animated appearance in the Young Justice animated series. The character is voiced by Nolan North. He has been referred to as the "breakout character" of the show by its producers and is the only member of Young Justice from the comics to appear as a member of the team in the first season, with other characters either appearing or joining next season. He first wore a white form-fitting solar suit and later wears a black t-shirt with the Superman logo across his chest and blue army-type pants with brown work boots. The result of Project Cadmus' "Project Kr" in the two-part pilot "Independence Day", Superboy is a sixteen-week-old genomorph clone of Superman, created as an animalistic living weapon by Project Cadmus and Dr. Mark Desmond to either replace Superman if he falls or destroy him should he go rogue. Kept in a pod at a sublevel beneath the Cadmus facility, he was telepathically force-fed advanced knowledge in various areas including languages, history, math, reading, writing, culture, etc. While he possesses Superman's super strength, telescopic vision, infrared vision, super hearing, and invulnerability, these powers are not at Superman's level. In addition, he lacks Superman's other powers, due to being part-human. After being released by Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash, defeating the transformed Desmond (a.k.a. Blockbuster) and the Justice League's arrival, Superboy meets Superman, who has since found it uncomfortable being around his clone, and Superboy's failed attempts to work with and talk to Superman make Superboy angry and irrational. He has a burgeoning romantic relationship with Martian Manhunter's niece, M'gann. In "Targets", Superboy is given the name "Conner Kent"; the first name suggested by M'gann after the love interest of a sitcom titled "Hello Megan" whom he greatly resembles; and the surname by Martian Manhunter after Superman's surname, which Miss Martian thought was in homage to Doctor Fate (Kent Nelson). At the end of "Terrors", he kisses Miss Martian after Killer Frost had almost killed her. Since then, the two have started a romantic relationship, but attempted to kept it from their teammates, showing their affection in privacy or speaking telepathically about their feelings. In "Agendas", Superboy learns that he is the half-human clone of Lex Luthor, who gives him Shield-shaped patches to defeat the Superclone Match. Afterwards, Lex tells him to keep the shields as a gift "from a father to his son" and quotes "Red Sun" to incapacitate Superboy when he tries to attack him. After recovering hours later, he chose to keep the "shields". In "Performance", Superboy displayed signs of addiction to the "shields", using them continuously in the field, but making him more aggressive when fighting Parasite. In "Usual Suspects", Superboy confesses to the Team that he has been using the shields that withheld his human DNA and that the DNA that was used to create him was also from Lex Luthor after a message from him told Superboy to meet him on Santa Prisco for a restock on the "shields." When Superboy meets up with Lex Luthor on Santa Prisco, Miss Martian and Artemis also arrive to find Lex Luthor accompanied by Queen Bee, Bane, Blockbuster, Cheshire, and Sportsmaster. Lex Luthor quotes "Red Sun" to immobilize Superboy. When the rest of the Team arrives after Miss Martian freed Superboy, Luthor admits the rest of the programs that would've enabled Lex Luthor to control Superboy weren't installed in time by Dr. Desmond. In "Auld Acquaintance", He and Superman finally interact and reveal their civilian identies to one another. In the five-year gap, Superboy remained with the team sporting a long-sleeved Superman T-shirt, but retaining his appearance from season one, due being force grown. He's now more relaxed, intelligent, and more reliant on strategy and technology in battles. In the episode "Alienated", his relationship with Superman has visibly improved. Kal-El refers to Superboy as his little brother and gives him the Kryptonian name Kon-El. At some point, he ended his relationship with Miss Martian in part of him not outwardly aging, and for violently probing their enemies' minds for information and leaving them in a catatonic state. Even more, she attempted to erase his memory of this argument. After M'gann broke up with Lagoon Boy and realized she still loved Connor and with the death of Wally West, they both chose to renew their relationship as they felt life was to short to allow their feelings to hide away any longer.

Lucas Grabeel as Alexander Luthor/Conner Kent on Smallville.

• Conner Kent appears in the final season of the television series Smallville, marking his first live-action appearance. The character is introduced as Alexander Luthor and originally designated as LX-15 as he's the last clone of Lex Luthor and then appears as "Conner" based from his second designation Cognitional Neuroplastic Replicant (CNR) after it was discovered he's a hybrid clone of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor (a reversal of his comic book origin). Alexander Luthor/Conner Kent was portrayed by Jakob Davies as a 6-year-old in the episodes "Lazarus" and "Isis", Connor Stanhope (the actor that previously portrayed Lex as a pre-adolescent during seasons seven and eight) as a 12-year-old in "Harvest", and Lucas Grabeel (the actor that previously portrayed Lex as a teenager during season six) as a teenager in "Beacon" and "Scion". Introduced in the season premiere "Lazarus", the existence of Alexander was discovered in Cadmus Labs by Tess Mercer. In the episode "Isis", Alexander is physically 6-year-old as he starts bonding with Tess in a mother/son-like fashion. However, the episode "Harvest" shows Alexander as a physically 12-year-old affected with all of the memories and emotions of Lex to the point that he shaved bald to resemble Lex. In the episode "Luthor", Clark discovers Alexander's existence. In the episode "Beacon", Alexander is a physical teenager and mentally unstable as he was discovered by an alternate universe version of Lionel Luthor but his and Lionel's relationship went wrong quickly and Clark and Tess promised to help him. In the episode "Scion", Conner's powers from Clark's DNA manifest while he lost all of Lex's memories. Lionel tries to force him to reject Clark's side of his heritage, but he eventually rejects Lex's side. Afterwards, Conner is shown wearing his typical black t-shirt and jean attire at the end of the episode, telling Clark he wishes to join him as a hero when the time is right and Clark enrolls him at Smallville High School and gives him the Kent surname. In "Kent", Conner was mentioned visiting Martha Kent. In the two-hours series finale, Conner was originally set to make a cameo appearance where he walks with Martha to their seats during Clark and Lois Lane's wedding but Lucas Grabeel was unavailable due filming Switched at Birth. In the series finale, Lionel had Tess kidnapped and reveals that Conner's heart was supposed to be used to resurrect Lex but she hid him too well.

Film

Although Superboy's character does not appear in the Superman: Doomsday direct-to-DVD movie, elements from his history are used for a second Superman (a clone of the original one) appears towards the end of the movie. Additionally, one of Lex Luthor's partially grown Superman clones resembles Superboy (Conner Kent/Kon-El) in appearance.

Video games

• Superboy was a playable character in the SNES and Genesis video game The Death and Return of Superman video game in 1994, with the other Supermen included.

• Superboy is a playable character in the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita versions of Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes.

• Superboy will appear as a playable character in the upcoming video game Young Justice: Legacy based on the animated series where Nolan North will reprise the role.

Reception

This version of Superboy has been ranked as the 196th greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard Magazine. IGN also ranked Superboy as the 83rd greatest comic book hero of all time stating the genetic clone of Superman and Lex Luthor often bears the weight of the world on his burly shoulders. But over the years he's managed to carve his own legacy and win a large legion of fans.

See also

• Alternative versions of Superman
• Superman character and cast

External links

• Smallville version of Conner Kent