Superboy #159
September 1969
Cover art by: Neal Adams
Story: The Day it Rained Superboys!
Writer: Frank Robbins
Pencils: Bob Brown
Inks: Wally Wood
There are a few issues I had to work through on this comic. First, the middle aged Kents was a big hurdle for me. I've heard of them before, but I am pretty sure this is the first time I have seen them. Quite a jarring sight.
Next, we once again have Luthor (yes he is the bad guy here) using the name Rothul. How many times is Superboy/man going to fall for that one. Also, I always thought he and Supes are supposed to contemporaries. If so then we have a teenage kid who can completely fool the United States government with fake facial hair and glasses. Or he and Superboy are no longer roughly the same age.
Going back to the Kents for a moment here. They are just way to accepting of the fact that the Boy of Steel has turned evil. Then they just as easily sway back to the other side. Refusing to believe it. Pretty wish-washy folks if you ask me.
We never learn how Luthor was able to turn Superboy's robots evil either. (That is why it is raining Superboy!) Plus, they just did the evil robot bit a few issues earlier.
I did like the scenes of the robots causing all of the destruction across the world. Those were really well done.
When did the US military quit using biplanes? A serious question, as they were using them here to destroy the renegade robots and engage Superboy. Needless to say I can't really recommend this comic as there is just so much wrong going on here.
That being said. The art is great. Brown and Wood are both great with the action pieces as well as the smaller more static moments. Great variations on the faces as well. Plus, I just love that cover.
Replies
If so then we have a teenage kid who can completely fool the United States government with fake facial hair and glasses. Or he and Superboy are no longer roughly the same age.
IIRC, when Luthor was introduced to the Superboy series (and finally acquired a first name!) he was presented as about two years older than Clark. Of course, this was before the middle-aged Kents, so who knows? I know that before his introduction to the Superboy series he was drawn to appear significantly older than Superman.
When did the US military quit using biplanes? A serious question, as they were using them here to destroy the renegade robots and engage Superboy.
From what I've been able to dig up, the U.S. military was using bi-planes until the 1938 to 1941 time period, when they began phasing them out. Except for training uses, they apparently were not used by the U.S. in WWII. Some other countries were still using them in WWII.This explains why the military used them to shoot down King Kong in the 1933 movie. This makes it sound like DC still had Superboy set in the 1930s in a 1969 comic, which doesn't sound right.
The early Luthor, with red hair, was either young or middle-aged; given Shuster's style one can't tell, but he could have been the same age as Superman (who I think was supposed to be a young man; he was referred to as a young man in the radio show). The Golden Age bald and heavy-set Luthor strikes me as physically robust, so he might be youngish or middle-aged. On the other hand, the Golden Age newspaper strip (in the stories I can think of) depicted Luthor as old and thin, like the early Ultra-Humanite (but not in a wheelchair). The story "The Battle of the Atoms!" in Superman #38, drawn by Sam Citron, featured an old, thin Luthor, but not one as wizened as he could get in the newspaper strip. The Wayne Boring Luthor of the 50s was heavy-set, with a paunch that pegs him as middle-aged or elderly.
In his first couple of appearances in the Superboy feature Luthor was depicted as older than Superboy, but neither of those versions took. In "Superboy Meets Amazing Man" in Superboy #59 he was an adult, bald and heavy-set. In "Superboy Meets Robin the Boy Wonder" in Adventure Comics #253 he was an adult, but only balding and not yet overweight.