Giant Superboy Menace

Back to the happier days of Smallville, at a time when Superboy (Superman as a boy) patrolled the city, keeping it safe from those who might wish it harm.

Here, in 80 Page Giant #10 (May, 1965), is a collection of some of Superboy's greatest foes....the worst of the worst menaces the young Boy of Steel had to face as he grew into Superman-hood, all under a cover by Curt Swan and George Klein.

Adventure Comics #205

The adventure starts off with "The Journey Of The Second Superboy" from Adventure Comics #205 (October, 1954) by Bill Finger, Curt Swan and Sy Barry, with Curt and Sy also providing the cover.

This story has Superboy meeting up with Kral, a young lad from Titan, Saturn's moon, who lands at the Kent homestead.  The lad, like Superboy, is an orphan, but Kral is also an advance scout for an invasion fleet from Titan.  Kral works with Superboy, learning of Earth's defenses and Superboy's weaknesses, and takes the Boy of Steel to Titan, planning to expose him to Kryptonite.  While on Titan, Superboy shows the moon's leaders his powers, claiming all Earthmen have them.  Kral, who was touched by his time on Earth, doesn't expose Superboy's lie to prevent a war neither want, and the two super-powered lads part as friends.

Adventure Comics #250

Next up is another invasion of Smallville, but on a smaller scale.  It is "The Imposter From The Year 2958" from Adventure Comics #250 (July, 1958) by Bill Finger and John Sikela, with a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye.

This time around, the invader is from the future, a criminal called Lorac-7, who has come to the past to steal cobalt.  Superboy is ready, protecting the cobalt of Smallville, but can't help but suspect those around him, including his principal, Professor Lang, and even the mayor....until he realizes Lorac-7 is disguised as Lana Lang, whom he catches, and sends back to the future, but without her getting any cobalt for her evil plans.

Oddly, this villain had no connection to the Legion of Super-Heroes, but, to be fair, they had only appeared once before this, three issues prior.

Superboy #83

"The Dreams Of Doom" is the next reprint, from Superboy #83 (September, 1960) by Jerry Siegel and George Papp, under a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye, introducing Superboy to his greatest menace of the time!

Superboy and Krypto are both having dreams of a menace, that of the Kryptonite Kid and his dog, but this nightmare proves to be real, as the Kryptonite Kid and his dog show up to chase the Boy and Dog of Steel out of Smallville.  Clark and his pet won't go, but a villain with the power to turn things into Kryptonite almost proves too much of Kal-El, at least until Mxyzptlk shows up, banishing the villain and his mutt, as Mxyzptlk wants the honor of finishing off Superboy one day (which he can't do if this new villain does).

Along with Kryptonite Kid's dog, Krypto faced other canine menaces, which they detail in a one page feature here, including Luthor's dog, Destructo.

Adventure Comics #271

From Adventure Comics #271 (April, 1960) with a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye, and story by Jerry Siegel and Al Plastino, is a story of an event that would change all of Smallville..."How Luthor Met Superboy".

It's an origin as old as time.  Boy saves superhero from Kryptonite meteor, superhero creates boy (who is a fan) a super scientific lab, boy makes big breakthrough, but is careless and starts a fire, superhero breaks into lab to stop the blaze, causing the boy's hair to fall out, creating his greatest foe!

Luthor, of course, is the biggest threat to Superboy, and later, to Superman, and even rated his own Giant (though, it was battles with Superman), and this tale was also reprinted larger than life in a Limited Collectors' Edition (as well as other places).

Adventure Comics #264

Next up is the reprint from Adventure Comics #264 (September, 1959) by Otto Binder and George Papp, all under a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye, with Superboy encountering an alien menace that would make him into "The Hapless Hero".

Superboy faces off against Space-Boy, the alien Zall-Dix, who has come to Earth, looking to exchange minds, with this new alien taking the place of Superboy.  Superboy obviously objects to this, so Space-Boy causes Superboy's powers to malfunction, making the Boy of Steel a menace to his town.  Superboy finally does agree to the mind-swap, but, Clark's dad, Jonathan Kent, interferes, which impresses Space-Boy, who heads out into space towards home.

Adventure Comics #255

Last but not least, readers get to see "The Splitting Of Superboy" from Adventure Comics #255 (December, 1958) by Otto Binder and George Papp, with a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye.

Kozz, an alien from Mars, uses Red Kryptonite to split the Boy of Steel into two...Superboy and Clark Kent!  Superboy has powers (and morals) while Clark Kent has neither.   This causes problems, with Clark leaving the Kent household (with Kryptonite).  Superboy takes on a new identity, as Flying Spirit, a native American.  Clark uses the Kryptonite and even Lana Lang to search for Superboy, and eventually the two battle, using Superboy robots.  Clark wins by cheating, but damages his robot control device, which explodes, killing him, allowing Superboy to go back to being Clark Kent.

This wasn't the first time Clark Kent would face off against his heroic alter ego, and wouldn't be the last, as Superman and Clark Kent had many fights over the years!

This isn't the only collection of Superboy tales, the Boy of Steel had an Annual, a few 100 Page DC Super Spectaculars, and many oversized issues of his own title as well, committed to his adventures, as well as those of other young heroes.

Superboy's Bad Dog Days

Superboy lucked out and got himself a good dog with his buddy, Krypto, who premiered in Adventure Comics #210 (March ,1955 by Otto Binder, Curt Swan and Sy Barry).  Krypto was a superdog, and battled evil along with his master....but, as Superboy had foes of his own, so, too, did Krypto develop his own little four-legged rogue's gallery.

Here's a couple of the evil pets that arrived to menace the Dog of Steel!

Kryptonite Dog

Superboy was weakened by Kryptonite...so he would have no more dangerous foe that a kid who could turn ordinary objects into Kryptonite...like the Kryptonite Kid!  The Kryptonite Kid premiered in Superboy #83 (September, 1960,  by Jerry Siegel and George Papp) with "The Dreams Of Doom", where Superboy and Krypto had dreams of a Kryptonite Kid and his dog, causing trouble for the duo....and then appearing in reality to really cause trouble!  The Kryptonite Kid had been a criminal sent into space as part of an experiment, and he and his dog were exposed to a cloud of Kryptonite, changing them into beings which could change other things into Kryptonite.  The Kid wanted to settle on Earth, and thus Superboy and Krypto had to go.  Things looked bleak for the Boy and Dog of Steel....until a young Mr. Mxyzpltk showed up and banished the Kryptonite duo to the 5th Dimension for a time (which also changed all the items back from Kryptonite), saving the Smallville super-hero and his best friend.  Why would his enemy save him?  Because....if Superboy and Krypto died, who would Mr. Mzyzpltk torment?

The Kryptonite Dog and his master return in "The Kryptonite Kid" of Superboy #99 (September, 1962, by Jerry Siegel and George Papp), having gotten out of the 5th Dimensional prison. The Kryptonite duo attack Superboy, paralyzing him, but Superboy does escape....but has to turn Krypto over to the Kryptonite Kid.  Superboy does, but on board his ship, Krypto seems unaffected by Kryptonite....and when the Kryptonite Kid and his dog come out of a red cloud, they appear much nicer, returning to Earth to congratulate Superboy, and return Krypto (who was really a Krypto robot....Superboy had robots of himself at this time, so why not Krypto too?).  The red cloud changed Kryptonite Kid and his dog into Red Kryptonite, which has strange, temporary qualities, and in this case, turned the two good for a time. 

Would that it had lasted.....

The Kryptonite Dog never returned, but the Kryptonite Kid did, appearing in Adventure Comics #454 (November-December, 1977) and later, grown up, to menace Superman, in Superman #299 (May, 1976), and both of those times, Lex Luthor was present....

Destructo

Luthor is Superboy's greatest menace, but, he's only human, and would have a pet of his own.  Destructo premiered in Superboy #92 (October, 1961 by Otto Binder and George Papp, and a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye) as "Krypto's Arch Enemy".  Luthor made a machine to give himself super-powers, but his dog got in front of it instead.  Luthor, ever the schemer, made his dog look like Krypto, and sent him to cause mischief, getting Krypto blamed, causing the Dog of Steel trouble in Smallville.   Krypto brings the police to Luthor's hideout, where they figure out the truth, but not before Luthor is able to remove Krypto's powers via the machine...which forces Krypto to be smart, using Kryptonite against Destructo, until Luthor returns Krypto's powers.  Then, Superboy returns from a mission in space, and uses the machine to remove Destructo's powers, and takes Luthor off to reform school (which also seemed to make Luthor abandon pets, as Destructo never appeared again...).

Superboy #83 was reprinted in 80 Page Giant #10 (May, 1965) and in the Superboy Spectacular #1 of 1980, Superboy #99 was reprinted in the Best of DC #7 (September-October, 1980) and Superboy #92 was reprinted in Superboy #138 (May-June, 1967) proving that even bad dogs get to have their day....at least twice!