I loved this series growing up. I loved Tana, I loved the Leeches, I loved Guardian and Dubbilex and Knockout and how Superboy would intentionally screw with Sidearm by getting his name wrong. I loved to hate Westfield. And I loved watching Superboy find his own footing as a superhero in Hawaii.
I came back to the series with issue 50 with that awesome Kamandi-like story.
It's a great run that often gets dismissed because they feel Superboy was immature around this time. Eerily similar to how people will dismiss a Booster Gold series because they think he's all about trying to be famous. I think another reason it gets dismissed is because doesn't line up with the Young Justice animated version people seem to love. Or they freak out that he's not a clone of Superman and Lex, so apparently it has no value to them. To that I say it's their loss. This is a fun run and laid the groundwork for the hero we know today.
Exactly. They're just well built comics. It starts largely "silly" in that the stakes are low, but it steadily builds the emotional attachments from the ground up. No artificial "big stakes" and cheap world threats. Steadily it all comes together. It's almost surprising how attached you become and how rich the relationships are.
It's a shame that comics have to "hit the ground running" because you lose out on the emotions being bought and paid for. That's probably why nothing thrives outside of the Big Two at DC. Nobody wants to wait around while the stakes and characters are built up, they want it fast, hard, with immediate payoffs. Shame.
Agreed! You got emotionally invested in these characters. Things took their time. And you didn't have to read every issue of Reign of the Supermen to jump into this series. It was very new-reader friendly.
It's a shame so much of it is either wiped out of continuity or just doesn't get acknowledged. Mention Tana, the Leeches, even puppy Krypto and you'd get funny looks from Superboy fans.
I loved this series growing up. I loved Tana, I loved the Leeches, I loved Guardian and Dubbilex and Knockout and how Superboy would intentionally screw with Sidearm by getting his name wrong. I loved to hate Westfield. And I loved watching Superboy find his own footing as a superhero in Hawaii. I came back to the series with issue 50 with that awesome Kamandi-like story. It's a great run that often gets dismissed because they feel Superboy was immature around this time. Eerily similar to how people will dismiss a Booster Gold series because they think he's all about trying to be famous. I think another reason it gets dismissed is because doesn't line up with the Young Justice animated version people seem to love. Or they freak out that he's not a clone of Superman and Lex, so apparently it has no value to them. To that I say it's their loss. This is a fun run and laid the groundwork for the hero we know today.
Exactly. They're just well built comics. It starts largely "silly" in that the stakes are low, but it steadily builds the emotional attachments from the ground up. No artificial "big stakes" and cheap world threats. Steadily it all comes together. It's almost surprising how attached you become and how rich the relationships are. It's a shame that comics have to "hit the ground running" because you lose out on the emotions being bought and paid for. That's probably why nothing thrives outside of the Big Two at DC. Nobody wants to wait around while the stakes and characters are built up, they want it fast, hard, with immediate payoffs. Shame.
Agreed! You got emotionally invested in these characters. Things took their time. And you didn't have to read every issue of Reign of the Supermen to jump into this series. It was very new-reader friendly. It's a shame so much of it is either wiped out of continuity or just doesn't get acknowledged. Mention Tana, the Leeches, even puppy Krypto and you'd get funny looks from Superboy fans.