Superboy, The Boy of Steel follows the events surrounding the return of Conner Kent to Smallville in the aftermath of the Final Crisis Story Arc. It's revealed that this Conner is a clone generated from the DNA of both Superman and Lex Luthor. While Conner fights on the side of good, he appears to be conflicted internally, always hoping to do good and morally weighing his choices based on the personalities from which he was born from.
Being an actual younger version of this universe's Superman, he's given the surname of Kent and lives on the Kent farm in Smallville with Clark's(and technically his mother)Martha, and Krypto, the super-powered Kryptonian dog. Conner has also been bestowed the Kryptonian name of Kon-El. He attends Smallville High like Clark once did, and just tries to fit in while juggling his responsibilities of a newly resurrected Super-Hero.
During his return to Smallville, Conner tries to come to grips with the recent events that have come to pass. He searches for answers, mostly about Lex Luthor and whether or not he's actually capable of doing any good. Along the way he tries to salvage his relationship with Wonder Girl who tells him that in a moment of vulnerability when he was dead/away, she and Tim Drake shared a kiss together. Being unrealistically forgiving about it, Conner says that he understands and that he's sorry she had been put through all of the because of him, the former couple then share a kiss under the moon-lit sky. Conner also tries to re-forge his friendship with Tim Drake who's taken up the mantle of Red Robin, he reveals to Conner that he believes that Bruce(who's currently considered deceased)is alive or that apart of him still exists somewhere, and that he needs to find him/it. They both agree to help in each-others respective quests, and come to a rather quick, yet mutual understanding about the Wonder Girl incident.
Earlier on while attempting to follow in Clark's footsteps by doing some good, Conner helps out a teenage girl who falls though a wooden bridge while checking out a problem with her bike. We catch up with her later on, vandalizing a doctor's office during the later hours of the night. Conner intervenes and recalls that she's always asleep in class, bringing to light a rumor told to him where people stated that she was into "bad things." She tells him about how her life is too stressful, having to take care of her wheel-chair bound mother, and that she attacked that specific doctor for not helping them out due to a lack of health insurance. The girl whose name is Lori, has her story interrupted when Lex Luthor arrives at her door and is shockingly revealed to be her "Uncle." Lori pleads with Lex to help her mother(his sister). Connor recounting the boasting of Luthor that humanity's advancement is held back by Superman, tells him the Superman is indeed off-world and challenges him to do some good by saving Lori's mother. Lex agrees but demands that Conner help him in the process or that he'll bring harm to Lori. Conner successfully manages to gather the necessary ingredients for the cure, Lex administers it to Lori's mother and for a minute all is well, she can walk again! Everyone, especially Conner is stunned, he couldn't believe that Lex had actually done a feat of good. However not all is as it seems, as Lex quickly gives her a shot of purple liquid that once again makes her bound to her wheel-chair, also putting her in a catatonic-like state. Conner is infuriated and attacks Lex, which is then in-turn saved by Brainiac(whom he had busted out earlier, when it was really all just Brainiac allowing him to do so)Lex states that only he knows the answer, and will never give it up unless Superman is dead.
The Arc ends with the newly reformed Teen Titans(Red Robin, Wonder Girl, Superboy, and Kid Flash)surrounding a campfire. Connor recounts his journey and comes to the realization that he'll never be like Lex, and needs to stop living up to the idea of becoming either just Lex or Clark, instead he needs to be his own man. He states that life is what you make of it and that everyone is responsible for shaping their own destiny.
My thoughts:
I personally liked this story. Having never really been into the Superboy story, knowing that it was very similar to Superman's. However this was an interesting resurrection tale(seems like all of DC is heading in this direction as of late). You really got to dive into the mind of Connor Kent. From his internal struggle to find out which of the two he was more like, and if he could or couldn't find a balance between them. And the personal journey to reunite with his comrades/friends, trying to absolve his past sins. What really caught me was the twist of Conner being not only cloned from Superman, but Lex Luthor as well. For me, this was a perfect introduction to Superboy and I'll probably end up checking out the follow-ups to this Arc!
Personal Thanks!:
I'd like to personally thank A Comic Shop (especially my friend Mike)for providing me with ample quantities of kick-ass material! Seriously, if you're in Florida, within the Winter Park area, and love comics...then stop on over. It's the best and only place to fulfill all your Comic-y needs! And I'd also like to throw a shout-out to Lewis Lovhaug a.k.a. Linkara for continuing to reignite my love for comics with your reviews, they kick-ass!
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