Superboy’s 1945 debut put a new spin on the Man of Steel, but it wasn’t until a couple of years later that he got his very own pseudo-Lois Lane. Your Major Spoilers Retro Review of Superboy #10 awaits!

SUPERBOY #10

Writer:  Bill Finger
Penciler: John Sikela
Inker: John Sikela
Colorist: Uncredited
Letterer: Uncredited
Editor: Whitney Ellsworth/Jack Schiff
Publisher: Superman DC National Comics (DC Comics)
Cover Price: 10 Cents
Current Near-Mint Pricing: $2,083.00 (for some reason)
Release Date: July 24, 1950

Previously in Superboy: It took seven years after the debut of the Man of Steel to come up with the conceit that he might have had powers as a child, and once they did, the Boy of Tomorrow got the proverbial full court press, Silver Age style. A new supporting cast, the bucolic hometown setting of Smallville, and the forever “ten or twelve years ago” time frame made Superboy an immediate success, leading to his solo book in 1949. Of course, one thing that Silver Age comics specialized in was “unlikely coincidences,” and so, since SuperMAN had Lois Lane chasing the secret of his identity, SuperBOY could have possibly had a girlfrenemy all his own.

Enter Lana Lang!

Using his steel cone like a candle snuffer (which makes it clear that this story is supposed to take place in the ’30s), Superboy saves Smallville’s history in a single “fwump.” After his heroic save, Lana approaches Superboy to introduce herself, something that young Master Kent isn’t thrilled about. After all, she almost gave the whole game away!

Enter the fickle finger of fate. As Lana’s parents jet off to Africa to “collect rare animals” (which sounds a lot like a safari to me), Clark realizes that Lana is going to be even closer than before. He barely manages to get around a forgetful Ma Kent asking him to “saw five cords of wood” before he heads off to school with silly dodge, but Lana isn’t going to fall for the banana in the tailpipe the welded-together handsaws.

And then, the other shoe drops!

With the fire revealed to be arson, Superboy is horrified to see the city turning on their own, running through possible suspects and settling upon an ex-convict as their scapegoat. When City Hall is targeted by The Man Who Hates Smallville, Superboy makes the save, just in time for the Smallville hoi polloi to declare Mr. Garris public enemy number one…

All the hoi polloi, I should say, except for Miss Lang.

Superboy’s sexist comment causes Lana to retort that “maybe Clark Kent will” help her, essentially blackmailing the world’s mightiest boy into doing what she wants. He clashes with the would-be saboteur, discovering that the perpetrator is actually local real-estate agent Ezra Keener, a Dickensian villain who wants to destroy Smallville’s land records so that he can claim ownership of the whole town! After sidelining another attempt by Lana to suss out his identity, Kal-El has had enough, setting off to Africa to fix the problem at its source.

This book is an important brick in the assembly of Superboy’s world as a separate corner of Superman’s, which will eventually lead us into the days of robot doubles, the Legion, secret tunnels and more, and Finger’s addition of Lana makes Superboy #10 stand out as the first of a new era, earning 3.5 out of 5 stars overall. If nothing else, this story gives us the career of Kristen Kreuk, for which viewers of the early 2000s will probably give a hearty salute.

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SUPERBOY #10

67%

67%

The Man Behind The Best Of Batman

The addition of Lana is the first of a number of things that bring Superboy into the classic shape Silver Age fans remember, but it's retro enough that the sexism is pretty bothersome, but it's nice that she gets to be clever, creative and focused on justice for an ex-convict.

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