Fans of the Smallville television series are often astonished to learn that Lana Lang took a long time to arrive as part of the Superman/Superboy mythos. The second major “LL” in Superman’s life debuted in Superboy #10 (Sept-Oct. 1950), nearly six years after Superboy was introduced in More Fun Comics #101 (Jan-Feb. 1945).
For such an iconic DC issue, it’s odd that there’s no indication of Lana’s debut on the cover. Likewise, as I pointed out in the previous “Nolan’s Niche,” the introduction of kryptonite to comic books in Superman #61 (Nov-Dec. 1949) was also ignored on the cover. Superman #10 features a comedy cover of Superboy doing a rope trick in front of three kid “cowboys” on an urban street.
Nevertheless, this issue has to rank as one of DC’s icons of the 1950s. “The Girl in Superboy’s Life” may have been intended only as an amusing example of how a neighbor could complicate the teenage Clark Kent’s life. Yet Lana Lang must have been well-received, for she took a larger and larger role in what limited continuity there was at the time
Superboy #10 — valued at $98 in Overstreet “good” — is the best issue to aim for other than Superboy #1 (March-April 1949), if you aren’t a completist. In my opinion, this is among the most undervalued DCs of the 1950s. Superboy #1, listed at $806 in “good,” features an interesting flashback lead story, in that it’s half-Superman, half-Superboy — even though Superboy had been running for five years (switching to Adventure Comics with #103 in 1946 after seven appearances in More Fun). Superboy #1 also features a nifty but illogical hoax story, “Superboy vs. Mighty Boy,” one of the first of many one-shot appearances by costumed people in the Superboy and Superman stories of the 1950s. These are special, considering how few superheroes were published outside of DC during that decade.
Superboy #5 (Nov-Dec 1949) features a story with an ironic title: “Superboy Meets Supergirl.” In this one, the Boy of Steel helps an ultra-athletic European girl, who just happens to be of royal blood, to perform “super feats.” It’s a fun story, but it’s nowhere near as important an issue as #10. The real Supergirl, of course, wouldn’t appear for nearly 10 more years!
Superbaby debuts in #8 (May-June 1950), making that issue third in importance behind only #1 and #10 in my book. I wasn’t always fond of Superbaby stories, but DC really did a nice job on this first one. Superman #106 (July 1956), with a marvelous Luthor cover by Wayne Boring, reprised this Superbaby story and was the first issue of Superman I ever read. Talk about getting in on the ground floor! DC opted to reprint the Superbaby story from Superman #106 in Superman Annual #1 in 1960, rather than the story from Superboy #8. That’s understandable, since DC apparently felt the first true Superbaby story might have been either too long or too dated to be reprinted in 1960.
One of the best pieces of Americana that DC ever published appears in Superboy #13 (March-April 1951), the cover-featured “Super Boy Scout of Smallville.” Issue #13 also features the third Lana Lang story in Superboy, following her second appearance in #11. Not many people realize Lana appeared in #11 and #13, since her fourth appearance in Superboy #16 (Sept-Oct. 1951) is actually her first appearance on the cover. Surprisingly, she isn’t identified on this cover, which seems odd given the icon that Lana would become.
The last humorous Superboy cover — and the last not to feature a given story — is the “painting the picket fence in a few seconds” theme for #18 (Feb-March 1952). Ironically, the Kents were pictured in their front yard in a similar scene for #3 (July-Aug 1949), only this time Superboy was trimming their hedge with no picket fence in sight! But DC apparently felt the comic would sell better if a story was cover-featured. Lana Lang’s first highlighted cover appearance was in #21 (Aug-Sept 1952) for “Lana Lang, Magician.”
DC considered Superboy’s title important enough to give it the maximum 44 pages through #37 (Dec. 1954). With the last pre-Comics Code issue, Superboy’s story count was reduced to eight pages in #38 (Jan. 1955). When I began encountering DC back issues in 1956-57, the first two years I read comics, I remember thinking how much more I liked the 12- and 10-pagers in the 52-page and 44-page issues. I still feel that way, although there are lots of good eight-page DC stories in the 10-cent issues from 1955-61.
DC came up with an amazingly different version of Superbaby in #26 (June-July 1953), “The Super-Tot of Smallville,”only three years after the original Superbaby epic. It’s a cute story, but it does not reprise his arrival in the rocket from Krypton, the way the Superbaby story in #8 does. In fact, reading these two stories, it’s fascinating to note how different they really are. Anyone who read #26 but not #8 would have no idea how the Kents came to find and adopt Superboy. I’ve always thought the story in #26 makes that issue more collectible for that reason. In fact, the name “Superbaby” is never used!
Superboy #27 (Aug.-Sept. 1953) has long been listed as one of DC’s “low distribution” issues. I’m not really convinced how much scarcer it is than others of the period, but it’s true that I haven’t seen it too often. For the cover feature “Clark Kent, Runaway!,” Superboy appears on the cover only on a billboard warning the public, “Be careful! Prevent forest fires!” This appeared nine years after the U.S. Forest Service created Smokey the Bear for posters, but it might be the second appearance of a comic character in this regard.
Superboy’s cover appearances in pre-Code days tended to be erratic and original. In the same year he appeared on the cover with a green-skinned giant in #30 (Jan 1954), Superboy is cover-featured as a one-man band on #34 (July 1954) for “The Hep-Cats of Smallville.” I love these period-piece stories in Superboy, although there are lots of anachronisms and inconsistencies. If the Superman of 1954 is supposed to be about 29, then the phrase “hep-cats” was surely not part of Superboy’s teen years!
Superboy #6 (Jan. -Feb. 1950) also features a wonderful Americana cover with two bobby-soxers (one of which looks a lot like Lana Lang before there was a Lana Lang) staring dreamy-eyed at a poster: “To the girls of Smallville High — Superboy.” This issue also features the debut of the ridiculous villain Humpty Dumpty, known as “The Hobby Robber.” DC even put him on the covers of #7 and #9 before dispensing of him, thank heavens!
This is a guest article. The thoughts and opinions in this piece are those of their author and are not necessarily the thoughts of the Certified Collectibles Group.
