Superboy #1

Overall: As opposed to actually being one story, this comic was more like a few little stories that I assume will lead to something big down the road. First off the Phantom Stranger appears before Superboy and talks cryptically to him, because that's what the Phantom Stranger does best. As near as I could tell, the Stranger was warning SB that his actions will draw some great trouble to Smallville, and that SB needs to prepare himself. From there, SB is told by his best friend in Smallville(Simon Valentine)that he knows Conner Kent and Superboy are one and the same. Before SB can confirm or deny these allegations, Parasite attacks SB. The two tear up part of Main Street before SB takes the battle to an abandoned wheat field. Severely weakened by Parasite's sneak attack, SB realizes that he doesn't have enough strength left to deal with Parasite head on, so he uses his tactile telekinesis to smother Parasite with thousands of little wheat grains, knocking the villain out cold. Simon manages to catch up to SB and before they can get SB somewhere to rest up from the battle with Parasite, Poison Ivy wraps the boys up in vines and exclaims that she was too late to save Smallville.

I really have no complaints here. Being the first issue of a new series, this issue had to do a lot of set-up work, which is exactly what it accomplished, all while adding a quick Parasite battle as well. We now know SB will be facing some sort of dire threat to Smallville(duh!), that his friend Simon knows about his secret identity, and that villains such as Parasite and Poison Ivy were being drawn to Smallville for some reason. I'm not really sure what more I could want from a set-up issue... However, now that things have been set up, the next few issues should go a long way in deciding just how good a series this comic winds up being.

Score: 8 out of 10.Hmm, with the exception of that third panel, EVERY ONE of those other things have happened already!