Superboy #1

Feb 1994 · DC · 1.50 USD; 1.95 CAD; 0.70 GBP

📊 ~50,047 copies sold its debut month

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“Trouble in Paradise”

★ 1st appearance — Knockout

About this Issue

Superboy #1 (February 1994) marks the formal solo launch of Kon-El, the cloned Superboy who emerged from the 'Death of Superman' saga, giving DC's newest Man of Steel his own ongoing stage and establishing him as a genuinely distinct character rather than a Superman substitute. The issue plants the series' defining geographic hook — Hawaii as Superboy's home turf rather than Metropolis or Smallville — and introduces Knockout, a renegade Female Fury from Apokolips whose morally complex arc across the series would eventually extend into Gail Simone's Secret Six run years later. By spinning the character out of the 'Reign of the Supermen' crossover into his own ongoing, DC signaled that Kon-El had enough creative legs to sustain a long-running book, a bet that proved correct: the series ran 102 issues over eight years.

writer Karl Kesel · artist Tom Grummett · inker Doug Hazlewood · colorist Tom McCraw · letterer Richard Starkings · cover Tom Grummett, Karl Kesel

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Raw (NM) $5,532

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History

Writer Karl Kesel and penciller Tom Grummett had already co-created Kon-El together in The Adventures of Superman #500 (June 1993), and DC kept the team intact when the solo title launched in February 1994 as part of the 'Reign of Tomorrow' publishing wave — a cluster of new books spun directly out of the 'Reign of the Supermen' event. Grummett had only launched a Robin ongoing with Chuck Dixon three months prior, making this an exceptionally productive stretch for him within the Superman and Bat-office families simultaneously. Inker Doug Hazlewood and colorist Tom McCraw rounded out the core production team, and a Dynamic Forces variant edition — signed by Kesel and Hazlewood and limited to 5,000 copies with a certificate of authenticity — was produced at launch.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Knockout (Kay), a renegade Female Fury from Apokolips, created by Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett — she later became a core member of Gail Simone's Secret Six.
Written by Karl Kesel; pencilled by Tom Grummett; inked by Doug Hazlewood; colored by Tom McCraw; cover by Tom Grummett.
Story title: 'Trouble in Paradise!' — establishes Superboy (Kon-El) relocating to Honolulu, Hawaii, with supporting cast Dubbilex, Rex Leech, and Roxy Leech carried over from The Adventures of Superman.
Published February 1994 (cover date); launched as part of the 'Reign of Tomorrow' wave of titles, a direct spin-off from the 'Reign of the Supermen' and 'Death of Superman' story arc.
Kon-El is established in this series as a human clone genetically engineered by Project Cadmus to simulate Superman's powers — his origin as a partial Lex Luthor DNA clone was a later retcon, not present at launch.
Cyborg villain Sidearm also appears in issue #1 as Superboy's first in-series antagonist alongside the debut of Knockout.
A Dynamic Forces signed edition, limited to 5,000 copies and signed by Kesel and Hazlewood with a certificate of authenticity, was produced at launch.
DC collected this issue and the early run (through #11, plus #0) in the trade paperback Superboy Book 1: Trouble in Paradise (2018); Knockout later received her first animated appearance in the DC animated film Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (voiced by Cissy Jones).