A lot of big things are happening right now with the Superman Family. The Man of Steel himself is currently locked in a thrilling storyline with foe-turned-possible-friend Lex Luthor. Jon Kent, meanwhile, is currently starring in his second solo book. But where’s that leave Superboy? Well, starting this month, we’ll follow the adventures of the Super Black Sheep himself with Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow from writer Kenny Porter and artist Jahnoy Lindsay.
The book/story first debuted last year when it won DC’s annual Round Robin, beating out titles like Constantine & The Demon and Green Lantern: Light at the End of Forever. In this series, Superboy finds himself struggling amid a post-Dark Crisis DCU, as he tries to be a hero even when there’s “so many Supers in Metropolis” and he’s decidedly without his usual squadmates of Robin, Flash, etc. The resulting journey (which isn’t necessarily locked into just Earth) sees Superboy spreading his wings sick leather jacket in a tale of finding one’s purpose and growing up the hard way.
With issue #1 of Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow out today (April 18), Porter was kind enough to answer a few questions via email. That includes his earliest connection with Superboy, the focus on “new-ness,” and what we can expect from this compelling voyage.
And be sure to enjoy the exclusive set of preview pages!
Courtesy of DC Comics.
AIPT: Having basically entered a strange new universe post-Dark Crisis, Conner feels alone. Why is that a compelling place to start?
Kenny Porter: Great question! It’s compelling to me because Conner has always been an outsider in the Superman family. He’s a clone, he’s half Clark Kent and half Lex Luthor, and now he has to deal with the fact that he was literally outside of the universe while it was rebooted and manipulated. Following Dark Crisis, Conner is really looking for what his role in this new DC Universe is going to be and how he can make his mark.
AIPT: You wrote the recent Flash miniseries, The Fastest Man Alive. Are there any overlaps or comparisons between Barry and Conner at all?
KP: I think there’s a big overlap with that version of Barry Allen and Conner Kent in the third issue of The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive. I won’t go into too much detail, but Conner has always been the showboating member of the Superman family. If we were to compare them to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, he’d definitely be the Raphael of the group. He loves his family, but he gets frustrated, is quick to jump into a fight, and loves to show off. We’re going to explore that a lot in this new series and how that can get Conner into trouble, similarly to how it did for Barry in the third issue of The Fastest Man Alive.
Courtesy of DC Comics.
AIPT: Without spoiling too much, what can you tell us about the Cosmoteers?
KP: The Cosmoteers are a group of freedom fighters tied to the Dominators in some way (no spoilers). They’re like a cosmic version of Young Justice or the Teen Titans that grew up having to kill in order to survive. Conner is going to recognize that, and we’ll see an interesting dynamic between them as Conner and the Cosmoteers find themselves on a similar path.
AIPT: What’s it mean for this series to have won the 2022 Round Robin challenge?
KP: To me, it means that fans really love this character and that he’s been due for the spotlight for some time. It also means a lot to me and Jahnoy Lindsay because we put so much love and care into that pitch for the Round Robin challenge.
This series was one I had come up with before the Round Robin tournament. When Bendis had reintroduced Conner back in the new Young Justice book and in Action Comics, it got my brain spinning. I’ve always loved the character and I thought, if I was going to take him in a new direction after this reintroduction, this is exactly what I’d do. So, I wrote it up as a pitch and submitted it. They thought it would be great for the Round Robin challenge.
Courtesy of DC Comics.
The fact that it resonated with so many DC fans means the world to me and to Jahnoy. And I have to give a shout out to my editor Andrew Marino for believing in this story and letting us have so much creative freedom. He’s championed this story from the beginning and to know that the fans did as well fills my heart with joy.
AIPT: Talk to me about the artwork of Jahnoy Lindsay. What did that awesome, totally ‘90s energy bring to your story?
KP: Jahnoy is so talented. We got paired up for the Round Robin and I was absolutely floored by his work. He captured the energy and tone I was picturing while I was writing it, and then he added his own flair and style that made it his own.
Very early on we talked about how we wanted to infuse a Dragon Ball Z energy into Superboy. If he’s going out into space, we wanted it to be his “Namek Saga” and “Frieza Saga.” Which, for people unfamiliar with Dragon Ball Z, was the part in the story the characters went off world and started encountering alien fighters with weirder powers and stronger abilities than what they were used to. That’s the kind of flavor we wanted to give the book and I think Jahnoy nailed it. Plus, I feel like as a big fan of both the Superman books and Dragon Ball Z, there’s a lot of fun overlap there tonally that we can play with.
Courtesy of DC Comics.
AIPT: Is Conner the most Superman-ian of the entire Super Family? He totally jumps in on just a wing and a prayer and wants to help without always thinking it through all the way.
KP: I think that’s one of Conner’s biggest strengths as a member of the Superman Family. He has Clark’s drive to jump right in and help people, but you’re right, he doesn’t always think it through all the way. While it’s one of his best aspects as a Super Hero, it can sometimes be his biggest flaw. We’re going to see a lot of how those aspects define him in this series.
AIPT: What else can we expect from the rest of this series?
KP: We’re going to see Conner struggle both physically and emotionally with where he wants to go in the future, all leading up to the new status quo in the current run of the Superman books in Superman and Action Comics. This series works as a prequel leading up to Action Comics #1051, which is why he’s wearing a different jacket.
Without spoiling anything, I think a big theme of this series is just the word “new.” We give readers something cool and new in each issue, because that’s what I love about big bombastic superhero comics. It’s big action, big stakes, and big emotions. Conner has been out of the spotlight for too long and I want people to have the big blockbuster adventure he deserves while getting a truly emotional story they can connect with.
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