Superboy #18
Superboy #18 is a solid representative issue from the early run of DC's Smallville-based Boy of Steel title, capturing the storytelling formula that made the series a fixture of early-1950s DC Comics: Lana Lang's recurring attempts to bask in Superboy's reflected glory, the Kents' nurturing domestic world, and a skeptical outside world that still questions whether Superboy actually exists. The 'Superboy's Big Brother!' story — in which the Kents temporarily adopt an older boy who begins impersonating Superboy — is a compact example of the identity-anxiety plots that would define the franchise for decades. The issue also preserves a complete C.C. Beck-drawn Captain Tootsie one-page advertisement, making it a document of how Golden Age commercial art and superhero comics intersected on the same page.
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By early 1952, the Superboy solo title was under the hands-on editorship of Jack Schiff, who served as actual editor while Whitney Ellsworth held the credited masthead position — a common behind-the-scenes arrangement at National Comics Publications during this era. Win Mortimer, the house cover artist for the Superman family of titles at the time, provided the cover. Interior art duties were split between Curt Swan (inked by John Fischetti on the Lana Lang lead story) and John Sikela, both workhorses of the early Superboy line. The public service insert scripted by Jack Schiff and drawn by Bob Oksner, starring DC's teen character Buzzy, reflects DC's active participation in 1950s civic-minded comics publishing.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: February 1952 (on-sale January 1952); published by National Comics Publications, Inc. (DC Comics); 44 pages, full color.
- Cover art by Win Mortimer, who was DC's primary cover artist for the Superman family of titles in this period.
- Lead story 'Lana Lang Movie Star!' — pencils by Curt Swan, inks by John Fischetti — features Lana being offered a Hollywood jungle-picture role after Superboy secretly engineers her 'animal queen' stunts, then engineers himself as her co-star to keep her ego in check.
- 'Superboy's Big Brother!' (pencils by John Sikela) involves the Kent family adopting a slightly older boy named Robert who begins wearing a Superboy costume — an early instance of the impersonation/identity-threat plotting that runs throughout the Silver Age title.
- 'The Men Who Doubted Superboy!' (pencils by John Sikela) sends a scientific committee to Smallville to verify or debunk Superboy's existence, while an unscrupulous local tries to profit from the investigation.
- Actual editor was Jack Schiff; Whitney Ellsworth was the credited editorial name on the indicia — consistent with DC's standard editorial structure across the Superman-family line at this time.
- Contains a one-page Tootsie Roll advertisement, 'Captain Tootsie and the Radar Rescue,' drawn by C.C. Beck — Captain Tootsie was an advertising mascot Beck co-created with writer Rod Reed in 1943, and his kid sidekick Rollo (part of the Secret Legion) appears alongside him.
- Public service announcement 'Be Yourself — Your Best Self!' stars DC's teen character Buzzy, scripted by Jack Schiff with art by Bob Oksner, reflecting DC's mid-century practice of embedding civic-minded content throughout its line.
Cast · 11 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Lana is offered a Hollywood movie role based on stunts Superboy secretly helped her do.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).