3 out of 5

The cadence at the time of these late 70s issues was to do a feature and a back-up for three issues, then a “novel-length” issue of the feature. For #453, Bob Rozakis came on board to forefront Superboy (billed as “a new solo series”) and, according to the letters, to try to give the hero a distinct identity from Superman. His opening issue has a nice concept for that, as a young girl “wishes” for powers and gets them, giving S-Boy the opportunity to step up and do the parent thing, and the disruption to his day as a summer camp counselor, along with the quirky applications of his powers) vibes with this being a teen experience. Unfortunately, artists John Calnan and Murphy Anderson didn’t get the not-Superman note, and draw both S-Boy and Clark as a beefed up adult.

For #454 and 455, most of the conceit goes out the window, besides some scenery dressing, like Clark living with Ma and Pa Kent. In these issues, Juan Ortiz takes over and effects a slightly more youthful look (his panels are much more excitingly framed, at the very least), but the story feels like any given Superman bit, with the townsfolk being turned green with supposed kryptonite poisoning, and Clark battling a couple foes through his suffering to turn things back to normal. Rozakis is never a very complex writer, and stretching this out to two issues is just that: a stretch. It entertains, but if these issues were to be Superboy’s chance to spring into the spotlight, they’re very mundane – perhaps why a new writer was brought in for the following ish.

Paul Kupperberg does an Aqualad backup with Carl Potts and various inkers. ‘Lad’s search for his parents leads him – very clunkily – to some well-kept Atlantean secrets. The ending of this feels super rushed, but the pieces of the story included here are otherwise pretty compelling, and Potts art – especially when inking himself – has a lot of weight.